Wobblies no threat in 3N

Bewildered Wallabies fans should feel grateful that many of the big boys will be back for the Tri Nations – with Benn Robinson, Stephen Moore, Will Genia, Nathan Sharpe and maybe even Digby Ioane among those scheduled to be around in time to tussle the Springboks and All Blacks next month.

Greg Growden, Sydney Morning Herald

Thank God for that – because there’s only so many Wallaby wanderings one can endure, and there is no real sense of relief in toppling a northern hemisphere team that have one eye on their holidays.

Last Saturday in Sydney the Wallabies were diabolical. And while beating Ireland last night will have them backslapping each other for a while, because any type of win by Australia in these trying times has to be cherished, it should not hide the fact that this side is a long way from convincing anyone they will be a Tri Nations threat.

The All Blacks and Springboks will watch video tapes of the Suncorp Stadium game and won’t exactly be thunderstruck by the experience.

It wouldn’t be surprising if they instead start handing out cigars to each other because they know there isn’t much in the Wallaby game plan to be worried about.

It was a case of a B-grade team beating a C-grade team in a harmless meander that often didn’t feel like a Test match.

BAD COMMUNICATION

In the end, the Wallabies win revolved around two moments of individual enlightenment from Luke Burgess and Quade Cooper, which isn’t surprising, because for most of the night they didn’t perform as a team. Communication seemed to be astray. Good chances were wasted because players didn’t seem to have much confidence in each other.

It was almost as if they thought that if they pushed it too far, someone would make a mistake, so it was probably wiser to play safe.

Once again, there was little spontaneity. A straight runner like Ioane was badly missed.

Some downtown kicks weren’t chased vigorously enough. Players found themselves isolated. Passing wasn’t crisp.

And just as worrying is that they were constantly penalised for a variety of indiscretions. The scrum was better, but the set piece continues to leak penalties and free kicks.

SELECTIONS

Even with numerous injured players returning, it is still time to seriously look at Wallaby selections. Surely they have to look at Lachie Turner or Peter Hynes on one wing, as Drew Mitchell was again unimpressive. He made several errors under no pressure at all.

And Berrick Barnes should be used somewhere. It has been quickly forgotten how important Barnes was in Australia’s best win of the season, when they cleverly tied up England in Perth. At least he is more certain in his ways than some of the present attacking players, who are just treading water.

Even in victory, Robbie Deans must keep this team on their toes. Team changes do that.