Wallabies won't get off Scot-free

BY GREG GROWDEN

Last updated 09:54 21/11/2009

GET OVER IT: Australia must get over their last-minute draw with Ireland.

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Australia must get over their last-minute draw with Ireland if they are to continue their domination of Scotland, writes Greg Growden in Edinburgh.

When the Wallabies headed north a month ago, they would have placed the Scotland Test at the bottom of the pecking order. Playing the All Blacks in Tokyo was always going to be tricky. England seem to rise against the Wallabies at Twickenham. And Ireland and Wales have for years on their home turf succeeded in destabilising the Australians. However, Scotland, who have repeatedly suffered massive defeats to the Wallabies, don't hold anywhere near the same aura. That is until this week.

Suddenly, this Murrayfield Test on Saturday (4.15am Sunday, Sydney time) has become the most crucial of internationals, with a sense of nervousness overwhelming the Wallabies, a team that has recently become accustomed to failure, and understand the circumstances if they become the first Australian side in 27 years and 17 encounters to lose to Scotland.

The grand slam is gone, and they didn't make a Tri Nations dent against the All Blacks in Japan, but if they suffer a defeat at Murrayfield for the first time since 1981, this northern hemisphere tour will turn into a disaster, and serious questions will have to be asked of the playing and coaching personnel.

The Wallabies aren't exactly shaky, but they're not billowing with confidence. That uncertainty is understandable, after the disappointment of letting the grand slam slip when they fell away in the final minutes in Dublin, allowing Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll to score the try that led to a draw. This result gutted the Wallabies. There was no more sombre Australian dressing room than at Croke Park last Sunday night.

The players struggled to come to terms with wasting the opportunity, allowing another team to run over the top of them in the final stages. They could rue certain refereeing decisions by Jonathan Kaplan, but if they had taken full use of several important attacking opportunities, which were wasted because players who had broken through the Irish defensive line at regular intervals had no one in support, they would have been far further ahead than seven points when the game went into the 80th minute.

And the reaction of Wallabies coach Robbie Deans after the Test said it all. He was near inconsolable. He is never exactly Charlie Chatterbox after a Test, but with the most pained expression imaginable, he struggled to get the words out.

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During his two seasons with the Wallabies, Deans has had to deal with some dreadful moments, in particular embarrassing efforts in Johannesburg last year and Wellington this season, but this one hit him hard. Like the players, he knew that an Ireland win was so crucial to the team's development, and would have made the last two weeks of this grand slam tour so invigorating. However, to wither again just created further doubts within the players and team management. It was a very flat group that left Dublin for Edinburgh on Monday.

And now they are involved in a Test which all revolves around survival. The Wallabies should win, because as Scotland showed against Fiji last weekend, they are an unimaginative team of scrappers.

But as this Australian team is so unpredictable, and at the most unexpected of times lower their standards to turn into the most infuriating rugby team running around, you cannot say with any authority they will win.

If they want to win, it will require a substantial improvement from what was on offer last weekend.

While parts of their game against Ireland were outstanding, in particular their scrummaging and back-row work, there were disconcerting signs. The lineout, once a Wallabies strong point, has gone off, again losing too many of their own throws. James Horwill and Mark Chisholm must step up and make a bigger impact. It is imperative that the two second-rowers have a presence in the game.

The midfield kicking also has to be more precise, with too many last week going straight down the throats of their Irish opponents. As disconcerting is that whenever Australia made a break - and Rocky Elsom and Adam Ashley-Cooper were involved in dangerous charges - the lack of support meant the moment was wasted.

Whereas the All Blacks and Ireland made full use of every attacking opportunity they got against Australia, the Wallabies too often fumble theirs. This lackadaisical attitude is also evident whenever a high midfield kick is booted through. Not enough players chase, and if they do, it is often a gentle amble.

Then there is the inability of the Wallabies to take full advantage whenever they get ahead of an opponent. How many times do you see after the Wallabies score, an immediate blunder from the kick-off or a mistake a short time afterwards that allows opponents straight back into the game?

But what has to really stop is those unnecessary moments of delirium whenever Australia score early. Drew Mitchell carried on as if he had just scored the World Cup-winning try when an O'Driscoll fumble gave him a charity five-pointer in the third minute. And this is not the first time this season the Wallabies have been guilty of premature celebration.

The real time to go berserk is at full-time when victory has been achieved. That sadly hasn't happened enough with the Wallabies this season, and has put them in the unenviable position of the success of their northern hemisphere tour hingeing around the Murrayfield Test result.

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