Raging favourites Wallabies must embrace their anger to upset All Blacks

By Wayne Smith August 9, 2021 â€" 11.50am

Let’s hope Tate McDermott represents what all the Wallabies are feeling after their loss to the All Blacks on Saturday. If he does, there might be some hope to cling to in the lead-up to the rematch at Eden Park this weekend.

It’s a common enough sight, chastened Wallabies players being interviewed after another loss to New Zealand in Auckland. In normal circumstances, their emotions range from guilt to self-justification to frustration to resignation. But the McDermott interview was instructive. Every time the interviewer offered a polite platitude, McDermott whacked it out of court. He wasn’t interested in excuses. He was angry.

Halfbacks are perpetually annoyed but McDermott had every right to be. I was sure as hell angry, too, but hearing it from the Wallabies â€" and he wasn’t the only one â€" gave me hope. Coach Dave Rennie has not managed to turn this side around overnight, but he has the players approaching the right mindset. And in this particular instance, anger was called for.

It wasn’t that the Wallabies had the All Blacks on toast, but it had been a chance to defeat them. There were fleeting moments when the Kiwis looked vulnerable. Aside from the late flurry, the only time the Wallabies exploited it was when Hunter Paisami stunned Richie Mo’unga by running a perfect line onto a long lineout throw. The Wallabies talk constantly about taking opportunities, but talk is cheap.

Twice in the first half, the Wallabies kicked ahead when they should have put the ball through the hands. Once by Paisami, once by Andrew Kellaway. These players were close to the Wallabies’ best â€" Paisami on his first-half display, in particularâ€" so they are not being singled out, but both times they had support outside them in the shape of Tom Banks and Jordan Petaia. They ignored them.

They should have brought them into the play if for no other reason than Banks and Petaia need as many carries as they can get at Test level. Both are immense talents but they need to settle down. Petaia has been criticised for being “underdone” and maybe he could have gone looking for more work. But his job was to be on his wing for moments like these, and he was. He simply wasn’t used. Passing them the ball was the right thing to do. More than that, it was what the situation demanded.

Tate McDermott looks over a scrum during Saturday’s game at Eden Park.Credit:Getty

They are gone in a flash, these ephemeral moments. One second, the All Blacks are all retreating. The next, they’re all over you. That is why McDermott was angry. Because he knew, because all the Wallabies knew, that they failed to exploit that momentary vulnerability.

This is what makes Bledisloe Tests so compelling. Glance away and you’re likely to miss an unbelievable play, usually from the All Blacks but sometimes from Australia. But a Springboks-Lions Test, even a series decider? By all means, look away.

It was not that the tension in the Cape Town Test was unbearable, it was because the match itself was. The ball was in play for 26 minutes in what was supposed to be an 80-minute game. One half alone took 63 minutes. Injury stoppages at every whistle blast, water boys cluttering up the field, match officials endlessly reviewing incidents to ensure Rassie Erasmus doesn’t make another video.

Then there was the rugby. Kick-off, lineout, scrum, scrum reset, penalty, lineout, scrum, repeat until your love of rugby has been utterly exhausted. Goodness knows how the players found time to squeeze in a Cheslin Kolbe attacking gem and a hideous driving maul try. The game dragged on interminably. And then the whole series turned on a debatable scrum penalty. Well done, South Africa, but a lot of damage has been done to rugby over the course of this contest.

But back to Eden Park. The All Blacks will come back better. They always do after a sloppy performance. But Australia can be better, too. Marika Koroibete can relieve Petaia on the wing and perhaps Isi Naisarani’s skill set at No.8 will be of more use than Harry Wilson’s, though I still believe Wilson has an important role to play in this series.

Matt To’omua did brilliantly off the bench, the best 17 minutes of his season. But it was only 17 minutes, and the Paisami-Len Ikitau midfield pairing is surely worth persevering with. Ditto for Darcy Swain. That is not to slight Matt Philip’s performance at lock. He has been wonderful. But Swain is going to be around for a long time and needs the experience of battling the All Blacks at their peak. Double ditto for Noah Lolesio.

It is all very well persevering with selections but what Australia must hold on to more than anything is their cold anger. That is what will trigger a breakthrough.

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