“…you got smacked and you guys just gave up.” Kieran Read, former All Blacks captain, on the Wallabies in Sydney.
Kieran Read watched the Wallabies concede 43 points at Accor Stadium and blamed effort before structure.
“I’d be looking at, hey, you got put under you got smacked and you guys just gave up, you know, and I’d be talking about that more so than the structure,” Read said.
He said it on The Good, The Bad & Rugby Australia & New Zealand, released on Tuesday 20 October. Read, 127 Tests and a World Cup winner in 2011 and 2015, was answering Jeremy Paul.
The former Wallabies hooker had blamed the defensive system for the 43-21 loss on Saturday 17 October. Every Wallaby from that night is marked in the Wallabies’ player ratings from Sydney.
Did the Wallabies give up in Sydney, or were they simply beaten by a better side? Comments are open.
Kieran Read on the Wallabies: this happens at club rugby
Read’s starting point was how basic the mistakes were.
“That happens at club rugby and and I’m sure they they’ve got a defense coach and they’ve got a structure and there’s a structure there for them to use,” he said.
Everyone in that squad knows the system, in his view. “They’ve they’ve grown up with this stuff.”
So the conversation he would have is about character. “You can have the best structure in the world, but unless you actually show up, which they just haven’t been showing up.”
Paul compared a defensive line to a bicycle chain. Read answered with a joke.
“Do you know how hard it is to ride a bike? You know how hard it is to ride what you call a bicycle backwards? It’s real hard, man.”
“What I’m saying is like we can discuss all the facets. They just got dominated,” Read said.
The game was gone from the first collision
Read gave Paul some ground. “JP’s onto it though,” he said, and then explained where Sydney went wrong.
“Like you can’t start a game and just give up phys physically the game line to the All Blacks and that’s what happened right from the outset.”
The first half backs him: New Zealand led 36-7 at the break. Australia won the second half 14-7, which is the best case against him.
The long kick-offs handed the All Blacks an easy exit
Read’s most specific point was about the restarts.
“They didn’t use their strengths. They kicked long. All [Blacks] were able to exit which they’ve done really well.”
A long kick-off gives the receivers time to set a clearing kick. Australia then start their own possession from deep, under pressure, with New Zealand already lined up to hit.
“They could dominate collisions, win the turnovers. [McReight] can’t has no impact,” Read said.
Stuff’s full-time figures back half of it. New Zealand won six turnovers to Australia’s three. But the Wallabies won 90 per cent of their own lineouts, against New Zealand’s 73. The pressure he described showed up at the breakdown far more than in the throw.
Watch where the first Wallabies restart lands against England. A long kick with no chase line lets the opposition choose where the next lineout is.
Read thought the occasion should have lifted them
The crowd at Accor Stadium was 73,399. The Wallabies wore the cap number of Nathan Charles, 881, on their jerseys.
Nathan Charles, the former Wallabies hooker, is living with motor neurone disease. He was on the sideline on Saturday.
Read counted all of that as a reason the effort should have been there.
“You’ve got a nation that’s jumping in behind you. You’ve got a a massive crowd there that’s turning up.”
He named Charles among those watching. “Like you have to show a little bit more than that.”
Read still sees a way back for Les Kiss’s side
Read said the Wallabies have shown they can be in these games, and that part of the fix is technical.
“There there’s tactical things they can do to get better um but yeah I think mentally they were off,” he said.
What puzzled him was the timing. “I don’t know why because um all the things in that setup and lead up to that game should have meant that they should have come out of the blocks.”
Australia made 15 line breaks to New Zealand’s 16 in Sydney, and Read gave them that.
“To be fair, yes, they can make line breaks, but you can’t give up tries like they did.”
Les Kiss has less than three weeks before England on Sunday 8 November.
The full episode is on The Good, The Bad & Rugby ANZ’s YouTube channel.
Your turn: effort or structure?
Read says the Wallabies stopped showing up. Paul says nobody knew who they were marking.
Which one has to be fixed first before England on 8 November? Vote below.
Frequently asked
Who is Kieran Read?
Kieran Read is a former All Blacks captain and No 8. He played 127 Tests for New Zealand and won the World Cup in 2011 and 2015.
What was the score in the second Bledisloe Test?
New Zealand beat Australia 43-21 at Accor Stadium in Sydney on Saturday 17 October, after a 50-19 win at Eden Park.
When do the Wallabies play next?
Australia play England on Sunday 8 November, the first of their Nations Championship pool games.
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