No quick fix for Aussie woe
27 Jan 2006
A detailed report into the Wobblies’ shocking 2005 season has revealed major deficiencies, confounding comments by ousted coach Eddie Groans that the team was “one win away” from getting things right.
Australian Rugby Union CEO Gary Flowers confirmed that the situation will not be immediately rectified by a new coach,
“If we are to be brutally honest, we are significantly behind many of our competitors in key areas of the game,” he told the local media.
“We remain number one in areas like defense but elsewhere –restarts, offloads, lineouts and scrummaging — we are deficient compared with our major rivals.
“What this review is telling us is that we are not simply one win away from getting things right,” he said.
The statistics revealed that the Aussies ranked a remarkably low 10th in winning their own lineouts and fifth in stealing their opponents’ lineouts.
They ranked sixth in getting quality ball from scrums, seventh in restart receptions and sixth in offloads.
“The clock is ticking but we will put the right structure and the right coaching team in place to put the Wallabies in a winning position for 2007,” Flowers continued.
“The good news is we know where we have to improve and we now have the platform to ensure that we do improve.”
54 Comments
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28 Jan 2006, 13:44 pm
harlequin, both the Brumbies and Wallabies had massive injury tolls last year and long losing streaks. The difference is the brumbies ended up 5th and close to the finals.
28 Jan 2006, 14:08 pm
The Tahs biased Sydney media that Keo normally sources from, has been awfully quiet since Whitaker announced his retirement from test rugby. Can’t beat the power of Gregan. I hope george gives up the captaincy to concentrate on his game. I would back Vickermann for the job i just hope Phil Waugh doesn’t get it, as he shouldn’t be starting.
30 Jan 2006, 11:01 am
BrumbyIV – good call. Thats exactly what the wobblies need to get back on track – a South African captain. Would defintiely be their first captain from Cape Town.
30 Jan 2006, 16:36 pm
Vickermann and Smith are probably the only forwards guarenteed a start. Sharpe another candidate had a woeful season last year
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