The Australians have copped a roasting in the UK after losing the first Test to the British and Irish Lions.
Corey Parker has urged Rugby Australia to try and sign “four or five” of the NRL’s best players to make the Wallabies a rugby powerhouse once more. The Aussies went down 27-19 in the first Test against the British and Irish Lions on Saturday night, with two more matches to play.
And although the Wallabies fought back from being down 24-5, alarm bells were ringing about how the rest of the series might go. Speaking on SEN radio on Monday, Brisbane Broncos great Parker said Rugby Australia should be doing everything in their power to poach some of the NRL’s best talent.
They’ve already convinced Joseph Suaalii to jump ship on a $5 million deal, but that was offset by Mark Nawaqanitawase going the other way to league. “I watched every minute of the game – and I do follow the rugby because my son plays,” Parker said. “The Wallabies looked like a team that hadn’t had much preparation at all.
They did finish with more possession than the Lions, but our attacking raids were a real downside (to our game). If the Wallabies are fair dinkum, they need to go after at least four or five NRL players, to finish and play a style of football that will have them competing with the best in the world.”
Parker name-dropped State of Origin wingers Xavier Coates, Zac Lomax and Brian To’o as the perfect candidates for rugby to target. “The lack of ability to make metres, and the lack of ability to create an attacking raid, there was just no class in certain areas,” he said. “Late in that game a kick came over towards Harry Potter and he couldn’t get there quick enough.
“I’m talking guys like Xavier Coates, Zac Lomax and Brian To’o – these guys that score those tries 99 out of 100 times. They can create offloads, second phase play. I didn’t see any of that really. I just thought there was a real inability from the Wallabies to create anything, and they didn’t ask any questions of the defensive line.”
Parker was talking from an NRL perspective, but maybe that’s what the Wallabies need. “Maybe the Wallabies need to play a style of football that encompasses their best attacking weapons,” he said. “Joseph Suaalii isn’t a battering ram…our finishers on the edges need to be better.”
Wallabies under fire in UK over ‘un-Australian’ scenes
Unfortunately for the Wallabies it’s not just their style of play that’s being criticised. Back in the UK, a number of strange moments have been described as “un-Australian” that sum up a lack of killer instinct.
Wallabies captain Harry Wilson raised eyebrows when he opted to kick the ball dead to end the game, rather than keep fighting for some late points. And the sight of Wallabies players mingling with their rival players after the game has also caused some controversy.
World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward wrote for The Daily Mail: “What summed up the game for me was with the clock in the red and with the Lions winning 27-19, the Australian captain Harry Wilson kicked the ball out to end the game. Talk about a losing mentality.
“For me, it is the last play of the game so why not have a mentality to try and score as this could be the situation in seven days’ time, only closer? Why not rehearse this scenario? Why would any player, especially the captain, want to end the game? That in so many ways reflects the current state of Australian rugby which is clearly not in a great position.”
Former Lions player Tom Shanklin said on the BBC’s coverage: “It seemed weird that Australia were socialising with the Lions players, weird they kicked the ball out at the end, it was like it was a bonus-point loss. You want to see an Australia team deliver, to try and (show) some endeavour and they are lacking a lot in attack.
Former England winger Chris Ashton added: “In the post-match, Australia’s players were mixing and mingling with the Lions, they seemed really happy. I cannot get my head around (that), it seems they are almost happy that the Lions are there.”
Oliver Brown of the UK Telegraph wrote: “Australia were a pale imitation of the great Wallabies sides… Joe Schmidt’s side will require a miracle to achieve anything comparable. For large swathes of this game their performance was, quite simply, un-Australian, bereft of ferocity or any apparent belief they could win.
How odd, too, to see them mingling happily with the Lions at the final whistle, simply relieved that they had not suffered a humiliation. So much for the notion of a defeat, any defeat, eating away at the true Australian’s soul.”
