The Wallabies - An Opinion

[.X.]

Gday folks, It's been a while.

But this one has been bugging me for a while.

First up, I must say categorically that I LOVE the Wallabies. They are the number 1 reason why I love Rugby. I have watched almost every Wallabies Rugby Test since 1991. However, I must admit I didn't watch the 2023 Rugby World Cup. I was not in the right headspace mentally and I feel it was the right move for my mental health.

Anyway, I love the Wallabies.

Now. According to World Rugby, the Wallabies are Ranked 9th in the World. With Argentina 6th, All Blacks 3rd, and South Africa Number 1, and the current Rugby World Champions.

This is my problem.

I don't believe the Wallabies are good enough to participate in The Rugby Championship. We get no benefit by repeatedly losing to the numbers 1 and 3 Ranks Teams in the world. Even if the Wallabies were able to snag a win off the All Blacks and the Springboks will not see us leap 4 or 5 Nations in the World Standings. It doesn't work like that.

It will take repeated success over a couple of years to see us work our way up the ladder of world Rankings. Lots of Hard Work.
I believe that the rugby-loving Australian public will appreciate the hard graft. And will start coming back. This means competing against Wales, Georgia, Japan, the USA and Canada. On a regular basis. for the next 3 or 4 years. We earn our right to come back to the Rugby Championship. And the Wallabies will hopefully find success again.

Anyway - that's my thought for the day/night.

Please be gentle with me.

[chibi]

I can see your point. Given the situation, I don't think Australia is good enough to participate in Super Rugby; I struggle to see what benefit we gain from losing repeatedly in that competition. It's certainly not a good "domestic" league shop-front if that's its purpose. Nor is it getting players up to world championship standard if that's its purpose.

[James]

I think we are in a slump, but to say we shouldn't be there is reactionary.

We have been comparable to our RC neighbours in the last 3 iterations of the U20s World Championship.

We are just not joining the junior to senior dots.

I don't think it'll take much to work our way back up the world rankings.

People forget, because we have tucked in the last 18 months, we beat RSA twice in 2021, once in 2022. We were agonisingly close to beating NZ last year in NZ and the year before (Foley's time wasting). I think we beat NZ in 2021, but I'm too lazy to check. We had agonisingly narrow away losses to France and Ireland at the end of 2022. It isn't all doom and gloom, it just has been this year and last.

Give Schmidt some time. I think we would've done better against RSA if we had: Tupou, an overseas lock (personally Philip), McReight, Korobeite, Rob Leota. Bell and 7As actually being match fit. We still would've lost, but it wouldn't have been so dire.

Chibi, you are right about Super Rugby, but that problem largely revolves around our poor pathways (no NRC!) and NZ being unwilling to dilute talent.

[GIGS20]

I don't think we have a Wallabies problem, so much as we have a development problem.

Maybe also a selection problem.

We don't have enough players, of high enough quality, competing for spots or playing anywhere near enough top class rugby. Now I'm pretty vocal about much of this being to protect the patch of a couple of expensive postcodes in Sydney and that's a factor, but it's also simple laziness and cronyism, which sees good talented blokes get screwed around by the system and leave in frustration (many of them have played for the force, either during the screeing around period or on return to Oz)

Yes we probably do need to play more matches against teams around us in the rankings, but that doesn't mean we need to leave TRC.

[Sheikh]

If Australia should leave The Rugby Championship because we are currently 9th (and play 1st, 3rd & 6th) then should Wales (11th) leave the Six Nations, because they have to play Ireland, France and England (all top 5)?

Surely we should be looking at how Argentina have improved as they were ranked 12th when they joined TRC in 2014. You improve by playing better teams, so I'd argue that playing Wales (11th), Georgia (12th), Japan (14th), the USA (19th) and Canada (21st) on a regular basis would only give us a sugar hit of wins and not a performance improvement.

After all, playing and winning everything in WSR and GRR for a couple of years didn't make the Force more competitive when we got back into Super Rugby.

[shasta]

should Wales (11th) leave the Six Nations, because they have to play Ireland, France and England (all top 5)?

That was my thought. Where would Ireland have been now had they taken a similar decision rather than make structural reforms??

The fly in the ointment is whether the naval gazers in Moore Park have the necessary fortitude to make real change rather than just one more misguided rort to shore up the Tahs. I think everyone knows the answer to that one.

[Hansie]

I too Love the Wallabies, even though I grew up in Seth Efrika and played Rugby there.

One massive difference is that a Springbok - and AB as well, would Die for their jumper. The value placed on wearing a Springbok jumper just cannot be emphasized enough. You dream of wearing that jumper as soon as you move from nappies to jocks. Any scout coming to your school and enticing you to play League would be escorted out, if you get contracted to play in Europe, you bust your a%$se to ensure Rassie knows how committed and skilled you are and when you get to your home after training with Toulon, Toulouse, Montpelier etc, you change right back into your Bokke jocks, shorts and shirt. Yes our boys belt out the anthem, yes they proudly wear the gold but its the ferocious, fanatical commitment to the jumper that I just don't see.

[shasta]

I'm not sure that is as true as it once was for the AB jumper in the pro era. In any case the sporting landscapes are different, as are the selection criteria. Comparing apples to rutabagas.

[Tazzmania]

My two cents worth, if you play weaker opposition you will become weaker, you need to play against better to get better.

Look at the Wallaroos, basically the NSW ladies team that steam rolls their opposition at that level yet in the international arena could not beat any of the top nations.