The Wallabies performed reasonably well in the 2007 Tri Nations as they were able to beat the, then world number one team the All Blacks. No one gave the Wallabies much of a chance to do well in the 07 World Cup and gee they proved all of them so right.
The Australian public, some former players and part of the ARU members had been blaming Eddie Jones for the downturn of the Wallabies forward play but under Connolly's reign there was not much improvement as they threw in the towel so early against the POMS. While the All Blacks and the Springboks had gone for younger blood the Wallabies with the blessing of Eddie Jones in 2003 and Connolly in 2007 had stuck to the aging players throughout the season.
It is important that a team has some experienced guys to guide the youngsters or else its going to be the same story, as the much fancied All Blacks was bamboozled by the impervious Wallabies defence in the 2003 World Cup semifinal. Never the less whatever happened that night, it was the POMS who reigned supreme the following week and took home the most prized trophy in modern rugby.
It took Rod Macqueen, the most successful coach in Australian rugby about three years to build a successful team. He molded a batch of young players like Stephen Larkham, Joe Roff, Mathew Burke and Ben Tune to finally reap the rewards in 1999 winning the World Cup and in 2001 when he guided the men in Green and Gold to their first series triumph over the British and Irish Lions. He was the creator of multiphase and added that extra dimension to the Australian Rugby.
On the other hand Eddie Jones had also worked tirelessly since he took over from Rod Macqueen in 2002. He took the Wallabies to the 2003 World Cup final and nearly won it when majority of the Aussie public had written them off. Maybe because of that Jones remained the coach of the Wallabies for so long.
The game plan that he used against the All Blacks was just awesome. All Blacks backline was so devastating that they destroyed their opponents until they met their match in the semifinal. Jones instructed his "boys" to starve the All Blacks of any quality possession and that was it, he didn't worry about the symptom, which was the ABs fast backline but went directly for the disease, which was to outmuscle and outplay the All Blacks forwards. He really shattered the ABs engine room. This clearly showed that he had more than enough capability to guide the Wallabies to the 2007 World Cup, unfortunately that dream of his was shattered.
John Connolly on the other hand also relied so much on the older blokes in the team that fringe players hardly got any game time. Young Berrick Barnes the last player to be picked in the Wallabies squad found himself playing in the quarter finals of a World Cup and he was lost in the forward power of the English.
Connolly didn't have much to show in the Wallabies trophy cabinet either. Though he had so many experienced campaigners, most of them were aging and prone to injuries, the biggest causality being Stephen Larkham. The ARU should do a lot more at grass root level instead of poaching players from the NRL. Upcoming stars like Tatafu Polotu Nau and Lachlan Turner were not even considered for the 07 season.
It would be difficult for any new coach to build a great team in a limited period of time but the Wallabies do have a couple of players in their side namely Lote Tuqiri and Mat Giteau both of whom have achieved so much in a short span of time and are now considered the seniors of the side. Tuqiri switched code in 2003 and in the same year did extremely well helping Wallabies reach the World Cup final.
While in 2002 young Mat Giteau went directly into the Wallabies squad to tour Europe from club rugby without even playing in the Super 12 competition. He became so successful that one of the Aussie commentators nicknamed him "Kid Dynamite".
The major problem faced by the Wallabies for the past few years has been the forwards especially the front who have not been able to gain any ascendancy over their counterparts. The scrum was never steady all throughout the Tri Nations series and the World Cup and that really affected the Wallabies performance as they depend so much on set plays to get tries. It was really painful to see the bigger nations destroying the Wallabies pack.
As for the backline they didn't do anything extraordinary but their work will definitely become easier once the forwards start giving them quality possession. Imagine players like Mat Giteau, Lote Tuqiri and Mortlock consistently getting quality balls on the front foot as these players are known to wreck any defensive pattern. The other important factor is the Wallabies "never say die attitude" was nowhere to be seen.
We are no longer seeing those last gasp lunges towards the try lines and those penalties being converted from difficult angles after the siren. Aussies in every sport are known to fight till the end hence the new coaching panel and the senior players will have to do their utmost to get that fighting spirit back in the Wallabies game.
Even at Super 14 level the Australian teams are doing so poorly with the Reds and the Waratahs occupying the last two places last season. The ARU should really consider opening a scrum school and start breading players. The Australian Provincial Championship should also continue as it would give players on the fringes more game time towards the end of season.
In the meantime the rugby lovers in the Land Down Under can just hope that the Wallabies under the guidance of a new coach can get back that wining formula which made them the most feared team in the world a few years ago.
All the best to the Wallabies on their upcoming assignment.
