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What we learnt about Australian rugby in 2016

Paul Cully

1. Michael Cheika must change or the Wallabies will continue to struggle

Anyone for a Quade Cooper-Bernard Foley No.10-No.12 partnership? Or Will Skelton getting the captaincy two weeks after his mindless yellow card almost cost his side a Test match? Or more Mr Angry appearances at press conferences that almost assuredly rubbed every referee in the world up the wrong way?

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Foley: Wallabies were still getting used to Cheika

Bernard Foley says the team needs to acknowledge that there is no such thing as regaining momentum after the international break.

The Michael Cheika recipe did not work in 2016 and it won't work in 2017. Reports of Cheika laying down the law at training in the last week of the northern tour stunned me. There must be blokes in the side – and they are fully grown men after all – who are thinking, "Why is this bloke still shouting at me?"

The coach needs to evolve or the Wallabies will not succeed. 

2. Super Rugby and the Wallabies are inextricably linked

If an Australian Super Rugby side wins the competition it does not mean Bledisloe glory will follow. But I can guarantee you if all five franchises are struggling there is no chance of the Wallabies beating the All Blacks.

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Next year, the Wallabies' season starts in February, when we will find out if the Super Rugby franchises have learnt anything from 2016. The skill and fitness levels at some franchises last year was poor – let's be frank about this. They were lapped by the Kiwis and new Force coach David Wessels rightly called out his peers and said they were being outcoached.

That sort of accountability is a good starting point. Now let's see if the five franchises have taken this year's lessons on board.

In and out: Will Genia.

In and out: Will Genia. Photo: Getty Images

3. Giteau's law needs a second look

I was a fan of the eligibility clause last year, and for a lot of this year, but now I'm having second thoughts. That's not because Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell and Adam Ashley-Cooper barely got on the pitch, it's because the in-then-out situation with Will Genia is no way to build a team, and appeared to be having a profoundly deleterious effect on Nick Phipps.

Genia is blameless – of course he was going to play – but to have him unavailable for the last game of the tour was a poor look.

I feel sorry for Phipps. He's a better player than he showed, but it's not really about him, or Genia. It's about a situation where players drop in and out throughout the year and the effect that is having on those around them.

And while the Wallabies talk about alignment with the Super Rugby franchises, if they pick Genia or Kurtley Beale next year they'll be picking players over whom they have no influence for large parts of the year.

Promising start: Adam Coleman.

Promising start: Adam Coleman. Photo: Getty Images

4. There were still some diamonds in the rough

Adam Coleman and Rory Arnold came through strongly this year, while Lopeti Timani, Sefa Naivalu, Reece Hodge and Kyle Godwin had their moments. While it sounds like spin, there is some merit in Cheika's line about the investment in younger players and potential rewards down the track.

It won't stop there either. When Super Rugby starts up again the likes of Nic Stirzaker, hard-edged Brumbies second-rower Tom Staniforth, Reds prop Taniela Tupou and Waratahs No.8 Jed Holloway will go under the microscope to see if they can be more than just interesting prospects.

Super Rugby, despite its flaws, will be intriguing.

Class act: Sevens player Charlotte Caslick.

Class act: Sevens player Charlotte Caslick. Photo: Getty Images

5. Australia can produce world-class players

Their names are Charlotte Caslick, Alicia Quirk and the other members of the Sevens side that won gold in Rio. This was high-performance rugby at its purest: the fitness levels were incredible and there was a cohesion and skill level that embarrassed their well-paid male counterparts in the 15s game.

With the money they were on, I bet the sevens squad made some serious sacrifices to just get to Rio – it probably affected their families, too – so to produce what they did, on the biggest stage, was a phenomenal achievement. They now have a target on their backs – the recent loss to the Kiwis in Dubai showed that – but the role they played in advancing the game in Australia must never be forgotten.        

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