We're Having A Ball - Larkham

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday June 24, 2006

Greg Growden Chief Rugby Correspondent

AUSTRALIA v IRELAND

THE Wallabies back line are a lot happier, because they're no longer scared to make a mistake. And the Australian coaching panel are delighted tonight's Test against Ireland in Perth will provide the high-level physical and mental encounter required just before the season gets serious with the start of the Tri Nations.

The atmosphere at Camp Wallaby is the most relaxed it has been for some time - not surprising, considering the doom and gloom that surrounded the final months of their 2005 campaign in which only one Australian victory was scraped out of nine encounters, prompting a massive staff clean-out.

The effects of successive wins over World Cup holders England has seen the dark clouds separate. Whether the clouds lift entirely will depend a lot on what occurs at Subiaco Oval tonight.

So far the biorhythms are positive. Wallabies five-eighth Stephen Larkham has revealed the new Australian coaching panel's eagerness to allow the back line to use their head has had the desired effect. Scott Johnson, the Wallabies back-line coach, has had a lot to do with that, with his free spirit - which was so crucial in reviving Wales - immediately getting a response from the Australian players. Before his arrival this year the players were starting to wonder if they were battery hens rather than ballet dancers in footy boots.

It is early days, but a fresh outlook is allowing several crucial attacking players to again stretch out their shoulder blades, rather than feel inhibited by the pressure of their roles. While the team's possession rate is not yet overflowing, gradual improvements up front brings promise that life out wide could soon be flourishing, to the extent that Larkham is again relishing being Australia's prime playmaker. The handcuffs are off.

"Over the last two or three years, or even five years, we have been very structured in the first three phases," Larkham said yesterday. "It's now different, and the enthusiasm is a lot higher. If you do make a mistake you're not going to get into any trouble over it. This creates a very good environment in the team.

"And that's what you're seeing on the paddock. Everyone is enjoying themselves at the moment - throwing the ball around, and trying to read it on the run. And we have really talented footballers who can do that across the park. Now we're just trying to get the forwards to be more involved in that - because that's where we want to move to."

Ireland captain and the world's premier No.13 Brian O'Driscoll has noticed the difference.

"No discredit to the All Blacks, but I think the Aussie back line are probably a little bit smarter," O'Driscoll said yesterday. "They read the game extremely well, and early on exploit where they think you have frailties. It forces you to keep mixing your game up to keep them guessing. The second you get into a pattern is when they break you down."

And Wallabies coach John Connolly is as relieved that after England proved no more than a minor irritation, his team will get a proper workout from antagonistic, clever opposition. Even though Ireland have not won in Australian since 1979, they know how to upset Australia with an in-your-face attitude, where they restrict mistakes to a minimum and play tight football.

Whenever Australia have slackened off, Ireland have dominated, as in Dublin four years ago, and during the 2003 World Cup, where they could have so easily bumped the Wallabies out at the quarter-finals.

Australia feel threatened by aggressive foes, and Ireland, who twice stretched New Zealand this month, know they can use that to their advantage. It is the type of international where everyone has to lift, which is why Connolly is happy that this Test comes just two weeks before the Tri Nations opener in Christchurch.

The Ireland Test will remind every Wallaby, who may have been deceived by the England triumphs into believing that Test matches were a doddle, that international football is a mean business.

"This is the Test we have to have," Connolly said yesterday. "We need this game right at this moment. England give you a lot of opportunities. Ireland will give you absolutely nothing. It will be a totally different game to England. You won't get the same chances as you do against England, which at times was like playing a sevens match. Ireland will instead play between No.8 and No.10 all the time."

But Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan suggested yesterday that while his team may play tight, it also knows how to terrorise out wide.

"Our first Test against New Zealand could be described as a foot race. Last weekend's Test against the All Blacks in the rain was a boxing match. With the fine Perth weather, I think this Test will be another foot race," O'Sullivan said.

With the running spikes back on, a Wallabies victory is anticipated, but not guaranteed.

Ewen McKenzie - Page 80

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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