Rennie is right to fire up The scourge of milking is a problem in rugby too

By Paul Cully July 18, 2021 â€" 12.50pm

Let’s see how the judicial process plays out with Marika Koroibete’s red card, which was a difficult decision for referee Ben O’Keeffe because the various camera angles seemed to offer contradictory evidence about his guilt. But there is another issue at play, one raised by Dave Rennie’s ‘milking’ allegations post-match.

Rennie is right to be worried. Earlier in the week, a Test coach (Rassie Erasmus) used his social media channel to effectively ask for greater punishment to be handed down to British and Irish Lion Owen Farrell for alleged high contact.

When you have a high-profile coach sending these signals like this, it really isn’t an enormous leap for players to take the next step and make sure ‘offenders’ are penalised by playing up their injuries. Enter France captain Anthony Jelonch, who dropped like a felled tree clutching his nose after he realised he had knocked the ball on in Koroibete’s tackle.

It’s not as if the ref’s job isn’t hard enough without this sort of carry on, and the best referee of the past 10 years - Nigel Owens - has been warning about play acting with increasing levels of urgency over the past year. Do not think for one second that rugby players are ethically purer than their football counterparts, or immune to the same ‘win at all costs’ pressures. Over to you, World Rugby.

2. Why Noah Lolesio will keep the No 10 jersey against the All Blacks.

By the time the opening Bledisloe Test rolls around on August 7, James O’Connor will have missed more than two months of action. The Reds No 10 hasn’t played since the Reds beat the Chiefs in Townsville in late May. Even if he shakes off his groin injury the Wallabies will be wary about chucking him into that Test match, not when Noah Lolesio performed so well on Saturday.

Noah Lolesio celebrates after scoring a try at Suncorp Stadium.Credit:Getty

Let’s stop looking for “perfection” from Lolesio. He’s 21 years old. Instead, look for influence and the appetite for the big moments. He ticked both of those boxes against France and deserves to hold on to the No 10 jersey. Wallabies coach Dave Rennie is a ‘if they are old enough they’re good enough’ selector: Aaron Cruden won two titles at the Chiefs under Rennie at the start of his career, and the Wallabies coach must be noting the parallels between the two.

3. The back row decisions that will signal the Wallabies’ intentions.

In a perverse sort of way, Marika Koroibete’s red card suited his Rebels teammate Isi Naisarani. The big Fijian is the best ‘tight’ loose forward in the country, with the vast majority of his best work done as a carrier one off the ruck. He doesn’t have Harry Wilson’s ability to roam wider or provide an offloads, but put a wall of defenders in front of him and he’ll get you over the gainline more often than not.

Rob Valetini of the Wallabies looks on after victory.Credit:Getty

So, Rennie’s selection at No 8 (and No 6) is going to show what sort of game the Wallabies intend to play against the All Blacks. My hunch is that he will go for Wilson, with Valetini and Lachlan Swinton in a race for the No 6 jersey that might be tighter than people imagine. Valetini gave away a soft penalty for high contact against France on a ground where he was yellow carded in the Super Rugby final.

4. Wallabies move to Camp I from the foot of the mountain.

Let’s not kid ourselves, the All Blacks will relish the Wallabies’ victory because it provides an edge leading into Bledisloe I at Eden Park. The more Australia celebrates the arrival of a ‘new generation’ the more the Kiwis will be determined to beat them. That’s the Kiwi mentality and Rennie knows it, so he’ll be keen to talk about the areas where the Wallabies need to improve.

That said, the Wallabies have made some progress since Rennie’s ‘foot of the mountain’ comments at the start of the series. The south side ascent at Everest has five stages, and the Wallabies have made it to Camp I.

Lukhan Salakaia-Loto of the Wallabies catches a ball from the re-start.Credit:Getty

The influence of Dan McKellar on this team is already palpable and the development of Darcy Swain and Tate McDermott, in particular, are tangible signs of improvement that didn’t exist a few short weeks ago.

Swain has exceeded expectations. He was good for the Brumbies this year but he was probably more influential against the French than he typically is at Super Rugby level. Camp I means there are four stages yet to climb, so the Wallabies still have a huge amount to do. But it’s better than base camp.

5. Wallabies defence took one on the chin and muscled up.

In our third Test preview, we noted a spell of pick and drive play by the French that the Wallabies struggled to deal with in the second Test.

Remarkably, at exactly the same point of the game - the start of the second half - the French tried the same thing. But the outcome was vastly different. A combination of Michael Hooper, Darcy Swain, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper and Allan Alaalatoa climbed into the French ball carriers, forcing them into a speculative drop goal attempt that missed the target.

That was good work by Wallabies defence coach Matt Taylor. The heat would have gone on him to come up with some solutions after Melbourne and his players delivered for him.

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