What type of doctor was that? Was he asleep during the game?
Next, it will be the cleaners that will request a player to be suspended for having spat in the tunnel leading to the field.
The doctor failed to perform his duty of care at the right time. He is the one who should be suspended.

Is that a joke? The guy can’t even step on a rugby field without getting a concussion or picking up an injury. How is he going to do it in NFL? Oh yes, they have got big helmets and paddings but I am not sure this will help him get a contract. When a guy like Louis Rees-Zammit, a far better player than Petaia, can’t even crack it, I don’t see how he can make it… Too hard physically for him

Overall C rating is fair I guess, considering the depth of mediocrity the Wallabies were coming from. Though showing some signs of improvements, the defence remains a major concern as the Wallabies are very passive and give too much ground to the opposition by constantly being on the back foot. In that case, any individual mistake is paid cash and we have seen many…
The real issue is the lack of big ball carriers. Agree that Salakaia-Loto has shown that he can play at test level. I would have thought that Frost was going to impose himself but he lacks that power required against the best nations. Nigel Williams is probably more a 6 than a 2nd rower. That raises the question of where are the ball carriers – Shelton is stuck in Top 14 and will only be available for the November tests; I would have like to see what Hocking really looks like at the highest level before he is eligible for Japan. What happened to the Matt Philip of this world? Why has Staniforth always been ignored whereas he is one of the top 2nd rowers in Top 14? Where/when is the new generation of big guys coming through?
From the attacking point of view, this is work in progress but, can we, at the very least, stop throwing those “hail Mary” passes to no-one in the hope that we keep the momentum? It is putting the entire team on the back foot when they all have to retreat to recover those blunders.
Finally, when will we stop seeing the useless box kicks from the scrum halves (especially Gordon)? what is the purpose of those kicks as the Wallaby wingers are NEVER in a position to contest or win those balls. Australia is not South Africa that made that phase a major weapon thanks to du Preez, Habana and Pietersen in 2007 and continues to use it as an attacking weapon.
Overall, work in progress but not sure that, domestically, we have the cattle to be competitive.

Thank you for that analysis. The good thing is that the defence is probably the easiest thing to fix as England showed in 2023 where, after being hammered at home by France (10 – 53), managed to finished 3rd of the Rugby World Cup based on a great defensive effort. It will take time to fix all of the Wallabies’ problems but the defence should be the prime focus and should be reasonably easy to fix.

Ben Youngs has a very short memory. The 1998 Australasian tour of the English rugby team was not that flash with a 76- nil defeat against Australia and large defeats against a number of New Zealand sides, including the All Blacks. No-one, at the time, said, let’s stop playing against the English team as they are useless. 5 years later, that team won the World Cup. During the 6 Nations 2023, England was humiliated at home by France, 10 – 53 and managed to finished 3rd in the 2023 World Cup. So, a bit of moderation from his part would be good. It is obvious that the Wallabies team is in a complete rebuild phase and patience is required.
As per Mils’ comments, maybe the NZRU decision to kick out the South African teams from SR should be blamed for weakening the tournament. Also, there is a need for a rebuild phase after losing players as influential as Retallick, Sam Whitelock, Aaron Smith or Richie Mo’unga all in one go. Maybe Mils should also look at the weakness of the under 20 unable to win the Under 20 world championship, meaning that the young players are not up to the expected level compared to France and the UK….

Harsh but a fair reflection of the game and its outcome. The defensive play of the backline was absolutely dismal and the backs were outplayed like juniors.

When you look at the South African team that beat the AB, most of the overseas based players come from Japan which tends to prove that the Japanese League is not that bad and protects the physical integrity of the players. So we could easily look at players like Hocking, McMahon or Rory Arnold (if he comes back to his best)…

Hoy, you are making a very point. It is at the junior level that the key effort needs to be made to ensure a strong rebuild. That is when they acquire the skills and also some of the attitude required to play at the highest level. Unfortunately, since the 2019 generation, beaten finalists of the under 20 championship by France, that age group has not produced scintillating performances and we can feel that at the highest level. When we look at the French side, their multiple winning under 20 side has seen many of its key players promoted to the highest level like Ntamack or Woki, with a young wave coming up (Nouchi, Castro-Ferreira, Gailleton, Bielle-Barray…). Australia had a great generation in 2019 (McReight, Lolesio) but since then not too many game changers.
Unfortunately, the Australian coaching ranks have taken a battering. Widely appreciated and successful in the early 2000s, the Australian coaching has suffer a major decline. Time to give the emerging young coaches a chance to grow their skills and to focus on the junior ranks before they are totally pilfered by the rugby league clubs.

And, at the same time, the country is fascinated by the aerial ping pong show called AFL….

That second half capitulation was embarrassing to say the least. Totally outplayed in the collision phases, at the breakdown where we turn over so many balls. The defensive line proved very feeble and the Wallabies were lucky that Argentina was denied that first try.
I am still baffled by the poor kicking game of the Wallabies – when you compare the kicking game of the Boks, where each and every kick is contestable or purposely aimed with the Wallabies kicking game that aims at surrendering the ball to the opposition…
The restart phases are a major issue as the Wallabies put themselves immediately under pressure after a score. Koroibete is still a danger for the team as some of his actions are so reckless. Luckily, no yellow/red card yet, but it is a question of time.
Unfortunately, the under 20 are not really a shining light. There is a strong focus that should be put on the development of young players as there is a need for more depth in Australian rugby.

France cannot afford long tours due to their never ending Top14. They have now decided to send “development” teams for their summer tours. We saw that in Australia during covid, they did it again this year when their team toured Argentina, so they can protect their top players.

A true reflection of where Australian Rugby is at – not a top tier nation any longer and the South Hemisphere top dogs are now running away with their own tour. It will do nothing to help world rugby but, at least, the money should flow. Now, Will the public be interested to see the same teams playing again each other over and over? Dan Herbert and the RA board will have to quickly find ways to put Australian rugby back on track. At this stage, Australian Rugby will be left with hardly anything – the English players are already playing a lot of rugby so won’t be keen on a long tour; the Argentinian players are all playing in Europe, so won’t be keen to play more games; France has a very long season and now sends development teams on tour… That leaves Australia trying to find a place in a rugby landscape that will more and more ignore the Australians. And, if moving away from Super Rugby may be a good idea, it will finish isolating Australia which will only play in its own backyard and see the others playing competitive rugby. The demise of the Rugby Championship would be the final nail in the coffin. It is time to have rugby administrators with a vision but, that is very difficult to achieve when your first task is to try to keep Rugby Australia solvent.

James Slipper may be right that the players have to take accountability but I seriously question some of the tactics that were employed: the Wallabies keep on persevering with an idiotic kicking game that keeps on giving the ball back to the opposition without much effort. The box kick only works when it is perfectly executed and your wingers are competing. That is how Fourie du Preez was playing with Habana and Pietersen. The wallabies were never good at chasing those kicks. The kicking game from Lolesio was also useless as not putting any pressure on the Boks’ back 3. Result, the Wallabies kept returning the ball back to allow the Boks to put pressure on a defensive line that held as long as possible but was overwhelmed in the end. The second half saw the end of that stupid kicking game and the Wallabies able to apply more pressure on the Boks defence though lots of handling mistakes and poor execution prevented any more positive results. I am worried that the leadership team doe snot have a strong rugby brain to change the course of play during the game. If one thing does not work, let’s do something different. Hopefully, the return of some key players will improve the performance of areas such as the scrum. But, let’s face it, this is going to be a long rebuild and there is no magic wand here.

I don’t see it as a sign of disrespect. Rassie knows that he has an ageing team, especially upfront, and that he needs to bring on new players to make sure they have the necessary experience to take over from real monuments of the game. The South Africans are a rugby playing nation, so I do not have too much worry that they will do well. Now it is up to the wallabies to raise their game and be able to compete against a team that, on paper, looks weaker than the previous one.

Can we stop with that ridiculous GOAT debate? A poor creation of pundits when they do not have anything to write about.
It is undeniable that Dupont is a great player and has proven decisive in a number
of games, whether for his club, Stade Toulousain, or for France. He has now proven himself on the 7s circuit. He has been central to the victoires in the semi-final against South Africa and in the final against Fiji. Quite a number of great rugby players have not been able to cut it in the 7 format. So, he must be recognised for that.
At the same time, rugby is a team sport and no single player can be dominant without the 14 others. So, let’s stop that non-sense – Dupont is a great player, so were Gareth Edwards, Carter, McCaw, Etzebeth and many other players that we have had the pleasure of admiring through generations…

Can you amend the French team as Hugo Auradou is NOT going to play. You mentioned, in the article, that Briatte will take his place.

1 game under Scott Robertson and you are already jumping to conclusions? That is a bit hasty and not true. England has a team that is improving and not an easy opponent as they showed during the 6 Nations, beating Ireland and getting close to upset France. Though not at their best, the All Blacks produced some interesting things for that first outing. The scrum was strong, they had the overall domination of the game. It is not easy to replace players of the calibre of Arron Smith, especially when your designated replacement, Cam Roigard, is out for the season. It is not easy to step in the shoes of a Richie Mo’unga who finally found his form in his last 2 seasons with the AB. Replacing a world class second row pairing of Whitelock/Retallick was never going to happen overnight. So give us a break and wait for a few games before making such definitive statements.

Hopefully RA will not destroy what has been the most successful Australian Super Rugby franchise, that has been able to unearth a number of talents and generate coaches that have always been highly recognised.
Now, Canberra never had the financial muscle to survive on its own once the RA funding was cancelled and there was no “white knight” to salvage them as the Western Force had so that was going to be the only possible outcome if the Brumbies were to be kept alive.

The tour from hell!
Now, we have to wait for the outcome of the investigation as, until then, they are “presumed innocent”, but it is unbelievable to see the naivety of those two young men who may have been caught in something far bigger than an innocent drunken tryst during a rugby tour.

The biggest worry is the front 5. When we saw how the Australian scrums were dominated by the Kiwi scrums, it should have sent shivers down the spine of the selectors. Losing Rodda is a huge as not calling overseas based second rowers. But, at the same time, the main area of weakness is in the front row. With Angus Bell out, the other props have all struggled. Let’s hope that Mike Cron will be able to build a strong scrum.
As mentioned, the other players are not of such great concern as the players who have been called up are as good if not better. Wondering whether Kerevi or Koroibete will be contacted… Maddocks has been good for Pau.

Thank you, Ben for this article, as you are raising the right question. Compared to Europe, there is no chance to get people madly supporting a team; it is not the mentality in Australia or NZ. So, if we want a world-class club competition, the chances are very slim, and no one will have the appetite to put the dollars on the table to support it. Though I still believe that the idea of allowing players to move to the club of their choice without hampering their chances for selection needs to be put in place.
The second concept is where we are at and I have the feeling that this is the only way it can go. Such a model still requires substantial money to maintain a wide group of professional players, so there need to be a different funding model put in place as the money is not coming from TV any longer.
I agree that a longer competition is needed but I would be against a long break to fit the international window. Also, you cannot continue playing during that international window when some teams will lose 12-13 players. France and England still continue playing during the 6 Nations but their international players are spread across a larger number of clubs, which tends to even the competition a bit.
The last option is not feasible – you cannot maintain a professional model with only 2-3 games a year as the club level cannot pay those players. Most of the SRP players will end up overseas, lost to Australian or NZ rugby for good.
There is a need to look outside the box and be more creative around the SRP product so it gets a wider following and an influx of money.

It looks like Joe Schmidt’s main role will be to rebuild the confidence of players scarred at the last World Cup. Hopefully, he will be able to reboot that team and start a winning cycle: new way of playing, new approach…. Australia has the chance to start that rebuild phase against a Welsh team that is also in complete reconstruction and a Georgian team that is hungry for world recognition but that the wallabies should be able to beat comfortably.

Except that every time he got in contact, he came out second best, seeing the number of concussions he had!

Obviously, he thought that he had nothing else to learn in union and was better off joining a code he never played. It is a bit sad as the guy, under good coaching guidance could have been a great 10. The exodus will only be accelerating now, with a number of disappointed players going to Europe, Japan, the US where they will take the money and plod along. I was recently reading that Caleb Timu (who played twice for the Wallabies) had just landed a new contract in the French Pro 2, the level under the Top 14, after being without contract since the World Cup. This guy has been moving from club to club in France, not being able to establish himself… but lost to Australian rugby.

Were the Rebels really set to fail? Rugby Australia has always wanted to make the code as national as possible. The only issue, and a main one, they never had the money to support the code expansion. When the AFL and NRL are expanding, they have the financial muscle to support the new clubs. They have strong broadcasters’ backing whereas RA, with their meagre TV deal are struggling to get ends meet. I would blame the various RA boards for their short-sightedness on many occasions – when Ziggy Forrest was ready to inject millions to maintain the Western Force in the competition as he was a threat to the establishment; when the Rebels tried a new model of funding but, as mentioned were prevented to recruit and had to spend big money attracting expensive has-beens from the Northern Hemisphere (some of them very noxious characters but the name will be kept silent).
Now, we hear that the broadcasters want more local content. How will they be satisfied now that one team has folded, leaving only 4 local teams? Maybe RA rushed a bit in condemning the Rebels and should have given a bit more time for the rescue deal to be completed though it is disappointing that one of the largest capital cities in Australia cannot support one rugby union professional team! I have heard of a “national” club competition. This has been tried before and has been axed because it was allegedly too expensive but it allowed a number of players to prove their worth and to coaches like Brad Thorn to emerge. Is it the plan for Australian rugby future? I don’t think so as we desperately need that exposure to outside rugby, New Zealand and South Africa, as they are the real markers in the Southern Hemisphere.