By Wayne Smith
A conservative man is Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, which is unfortunate because the moment has arrived for him to perform without a net.
After almost three seasons in the job, Rennie must accept that the many of the players he has invested in have fallen short. No fault of the players. Each has tried his best.
But if Australia were to double down on their bets at next year’s World Cup, they would be lucky to survive the quarter-final stage. That is assuming, of course, they can safely navigate their way around two familiar and troublesome rivals in the pool matches.
It is beyond belief that World Rugby finalised the World Cup draw three years out from the tournament, ensuring that Australia, who have slipped right down the rankings to ninth, will face Wales (ranked seventh) and Fiji (12) in the preliminary rounds. Meanwhile, Pool A will see France (2) and the All Blacks (4) square off in a match which twice has served as a World Cup final, while Ireland (1), the Springboks (3) and Scotland (6) will duke it out in Pool B. Pool D has its own intriguing challenges, with England (5) opposed by Argentina (8) and Japan (10).
But if the Wallabies are to take advantage of a most attractive draw, which would see them play England or Argentina in the quarters, some brutal selection calls must soon be made ahead of next month’s spring tour. Specifically, the trip cannot be wasted on players who cannot deliver.
Australia are desperate to find a playmaker, or at least a workable alternative to Quade Cooper who may or may not be fit for the World Cup. They know exactly what to expect from the current occupant of the No.10 jersey – Bernard Foley – the bad as well as the good.
Few of Rennie’s gambles during three years in the Wallabies job have paid off.Credit:Getty
While Foley came in for his share of criticism following the Eden Park mauling on Saturday, he was generally praised for his return to Test football a week earlier in Melbourne.
As it was, his many defensive lapses in that match were brushed over. And Wallabies fans would have been less charitably disposed towards him had they been aware he blatantly ignored referee Mathieu Raynal’s repeated instructions not to convert the Andrew Kellaway try but to await the verdict of the TMO. He went ahead and kicked it anyway.
All of this took place in the preamble to Raynal’s last-minute reversal of a Wallabies penalty, and it doesn’t take much imagination to connect one incident with the other. That’s a hard-won victory against the All Blacks squandered.
To take Foley on a spring tour would be a waste. If it becomes obvious he is needed for the World Cup, he can readily be brought back next year.
The Wallabies need to look beyond Bernard Foley with the World Cup just a year away.Credit:Getty
For the moment, however, Rennie should weigh up the performances of Waratahs’ playmakers Tane Edmed and Ben Donaldson and Perth-bound Hamish Stewart at 10 in the three Australia A “Tests” in Japan and then choose the best two to join Noah Lolesio on the Wallabies tour. Hodge can always act as the experienced back-up.
Rennie won’t do that, though. He will want the safety net – even one with gaping holes in it – that Foley’s experience provides.
One wonders, too, how far Rennie will push his obsession with Brumbies players.
By my calculations, he has chosen 18 of the Brumbies’ 35-man squad to play for Australia. That is a better than one-in-two chance of representing your country if you play for the ACT. Additionally, Hudson Creighton, Rory Scott and Ryan Lonergan have been named in Australia A, along with “established” fellow Brumbies players Tom Banks, Nick Frost, Lachie Lonergan, Caderyn Neville, Billy Pollard and Darcy Swain. Nor, by the by, should we explore the moral dilemmas raised by Swain’s Australia A selection.
No one is denying the Brumbies were the best Australian outfit during the trans-Tasman round when, frankly, the Waratahs and Reds were hard-hit by injuries.
But they only defeated the Tahs 27-20 in their one local derby, while squaring the series with Queensland. They were well beaten in Brisbane, 21-7, while the Canberra match was decided on the bell by Brumbies five-eighth Rodney Iona holding back Fraser McReight for a 16-12 win. Were it not for Iona’s actions, Brad Thorn would have led Dan McKellar 8-5 in head-to-head coaching clashes. Nor should we forget that this season the Brumbies edged out the Western Force 39-38 and scraped home 29-23 against the Melbourne Rebels.
In short, the Brumbies, while undoubtedly the best local side this year, did not have a monopoly on all the best players, certainly not to the degree reflected in Wallabies selections. Despite all the warnings, we have reached the end of the southern hemisphere season still no clearer of the merits of Tate McDermott, Edmed, Donaldson, Suliasi Vunivalu, Jock Campbell, and Perth-bound Stewart.
Rugby Australia has taken a bold leap in confirming Rennie’s position for another year. His position is safe. Now it is his turn to reciprocate.
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