Tri-Nations

I was at a bucks party on Saturday night, which means I didn't watch the 3N decider until yesterday afternoon (carefully dodging any possible clues of the result for about 14 hours after the game).

Without getting deep on analysis, the Wallabies basically lost a close one which they very easily could have won. The clear difference between these two teams at a technical level was at the breakdown. The AB's were better by a nose at this area in the first half, but they dominated in the second half.

Much like defense, I think this comes down to attitude while still maintaining discipline to play within the scheme.

Some things that Robbie must contemplate before the International Test season begins in a couple of months:

1. Who's up for it, and who ain't? I wonder whether Palu would have been dropped if there had been a regular #8 training with the squad up until recently. He's a terrific player for the Tahs (and even in past Tests), but on current form I can't think of a single Test this year that he's done more good than bad. OTOH, Richard Brown looked pretty good in his debut. Do we need another flyhalf/12 in the squad of 30? (yes -- Quade Cooper?) Should Robbie start developing David Pocock at the expense of Phil Waugh? Do we need to tweak our outside backs? Basically: who's made progress since the domestic season began, and who is still "promising potential"?

2. Leadership. I hate to do this, but you also have to question Mortlock's captaincy. In the last two losses that we've had, it's ultimately come down to the team losing it's composure; in the case of this game, we just didn't have the mental fortitude to maintain the pressure we had built in the first 50 or 60 minutes, and that's when the AB's started to dictate the game. That really reflects on team leadership and ultimately captaincy. Robbie needs to work out whether tweaking makes the difference between the results now and instead the team delivering what the promise over the whole 80 mins.

3. Addressing the Flaws. The critics like to take shots at our kicking game which is absolutely fair. It's a no brainer, and if we can find a way to fix it then we should. This comes down to talent rather than to scheming and/or game planning. But on the game planning aspects, two areas where we are getting beat badly: a) Defensive overlaps and b) at the breakdown... We need to make the necessary adjustments over the next few months to stop our opponents exploiting us here. I have a sneaking suspicion there's already some ideas in place but being poorly executed on.

As crushing as that loss is, I think Robbie has made fantastic progress with this team. In fact, I'm really surprised he's got so much done so quickly.

But the reality of difficult decisions to be made to get to the top of the mountain can be a sobering thought!