The Junior Wallabies were excellent in the second half of their 35-11 win in the World Rugby Under-20s Championship opener in South Africa. Their opponents,Georgia,are a big,physical side – but the young Australians went up two gears in terms of their intensity in the second half.
Angus Staniforth grabbed the headlines with two late tries,but the standout was St Joseph’s College product Ronan Leahy. The right winger was brilliant:skilled under the high ball,busy around the ruck in search for work,and excellent in the offload to set up Staniforth’s two tries.
Ronan Leahy impressed for the Junior Wallabies.Getty Images
It won’t be lost on long-suffering NSW Waratahs fans that Leahy now plays for the Western Force. No,you can’t keep them all,but questions must be asked about how NSW lost such an obvious talent.
New director of performance Simon Raiwalui – an outstanding hire – correctly described the Waratahs as a “success in waiting” but he is badly needed to bring a smart and hard-nosed approach to retention. Leahy,who can also play in the midfield,is another one who got away.
2. Beale injury raises another red flag
If turns out to be yet another Achilles,Rugby Australia needs to be relentless in asking why. In the past two years,Allan Ala’alatoa,Taniela Tupou,Harry Johnson-Holmes,Rob Leota and Quade Cooper have all suffered serious Achilles injuries,a toll that isn’t being replicated anywhere else in the world.
Kurtley Beale is carried off the pitch with a concerning injury while playing for Randwick in the Shute Shield.
Clearly,three of the injuries above are position-specific,and Cooper and Beale are both older athletes,but to have six Achilles injuries in two-and-a-half years looks like something more than bad luck.
Beale’s availability for Randwick isn’t the issue – as many Super Rugby and Test players as possible should be playing club rugby – but as colleague Iain Payten recently pointed out on Nine’sInside Line podcast,Australian rugby’s recent injury toll means there is no chance of New Zealand entering into any talent exchange agreements in Super Rugby Pacific.
3. Eddie’s experiment blows up again
Eddie Jones’ Japan XV were beaten 36-10 by the Māori All Blacks in Tokyo on Saturday,despite the fact that the Māori only assembled in Auckland on Monday,had relatively few genuine Super Rugby starters and even included two NPC players on the bench.
Eddie Jones watches on as his Japan XV side goes down to the Maori All Blacks.Getty Images
Australians know the drill here:Eddie Jones is backing younger players and the rewards mightn’t be evident for a few years. And,to a degree,that’s a valid point. Jones has definitely unearthed a potential star in university fullback Yoshitaka Yazaki,while Japan’s scrum dominated the Māori with their superior technique and low body positions.
However,there is also something to be said about winning,and the superb Japanese fans – who turned out in numbers for the Māori game – would probably swap the long-term visions for some short-term gratification.
4. Queensland’s smart Daugunu move
The Reds’ hoovering up of former Rebels players in positions they already look solid in is long overdue. Australian teams won’t win Super Rugby unless they have depth,and the expansion era has been a failure because the Force and Rebels have been too weak to qualify for the finals (bar once) but just strong enough to dilute the other teams (see point No.1).
Josh Canham and Filipo Daugunu will improve the Reds. The latter’s return to Queensland is particularly important because he’ll give them a different physical profile in the backline. That’s much needed – the current Reds lack a bit of physical presence in the wider challenges,with Suliasi Vunivalu unable to impose himself.
If I were Rugby Australia,my strategy for Super Rugby would be to strive to make the Reds and Waratahs strong in the knowledge that the Brumbies can look after themselves. With apologies to the Western Force,they would be the equivalent of Connacht in the Irish system.
5. July Test predictions
I think Joe Schmidt is the best coach the Wallabies have had in over a decade,although Robbie Deans’ win percentage shows that Wallabies fans do need a touch of realism when it comes to expectations.
Deans was axed despite a win rate of 58 per cent,a figure not matched by any of his four successors. Schmidt can achieve that,although a return to the glory years of Wallabies rugby are years away.
But I think Schmidt will win all three Tests in July,especially if he can get the Wallabies to buy into their new identity. By not picking anyone from overseas,he’s clearly telling the Wallabies that they’re the blokes to dig Australian rugby out of the hole. I see that same mentality in the under-20s,and it can be a powerful force.
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