IRB bosses take note: top two teams know how game should be played

Spiro Zavos
September 14, 2010
Saturday night's epic Test between the Wallabies and the All Blacks was watched by 70,288 spectators, including several IRB heavyweights, the chairman Bernard Lapasset, vice-chairman Bill Beaumont, chief executive Mike Miller and the boss of the referees, Paddy O'Brien. What they and the vast roaring crowd saw was 21st century rugby at its best.
The Test was everything the World Cup 2007 final between England and South Africa should have been, but was not. That final was a static match where both teams played for field position and penalties. On Saturday night, the ball was in play for long periods, with the All Blacks five times establishing seven phases of play, and the Wallabies once. There were only 33 kicks, and many of them had a scoring intent. There were five scrum resets, 14 lineouts, and 27 turnovers (12 to the Wallabies, 15 to the All Blacks). There was a thrilling unpredictability about the play, which is the glory of rugby.
Australia and New Zealand have led the way (remember the ELVs?) to write a set of laws and a way of interpreting them that allowed for the thrilling spectacle at ANZ Stadium. For years, forces in the IRB resisted these efforts. There is some justice, therefore, that the Wallabies (No.2 in the rankings) and the All Blacks (No.1) lead the world in running rugby.
This season the Wallabies have lost once each to England and the Springboks and three times to the All Blacks. But they have improved significantly. The scrum is much steadier, the lineout is stronger, with several steals against the All Blacks on Saturday night. The defence needs stiffening, with 22 tries leaked in the Tri Nations compared with nine by the All Blacks. And the goal-kicking by Matt Giteau is a moveable feast, with two defeats, to England and the All Blacks, both in Sydney, directly related to misses that should have been converted.
Importantly, the Wallabies have finally established a distinctive and winning pattern to their game. It exploits the width of the field with long, flat passes to the outside backs to create overlaps. This allows the fullback to come into the line out wide, as Kurtley Beale did twice on Saturday, forcing Conrad Smith into two missed tackles. Once the defence is stretched, Giteau and Quade Cooper start to flick inside passes for runners to storm down the unprotected midfield. The All Blacks, playing their midfield driving game, crossed the advantage line 81 per cent of the time compared with the 67 per cent by the Wallabies.