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The Wallabies have a serious problem
The Wallabies are flying high after two consecutive wins abroad, and the wins have come off the back of hard work, patience, and a set-piece which is steadily improving.
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Despite the success, the rose-tinted glass must be firmly and immediately packed away for now, because the Wallabies have two of their sternest Tests on this tour ahead.
Scotland and Ireland will be fierce, physical and fast, and unfortunately, Wales have just given them a road map to undo the Wallabies.
The Wallabies have a serious problem in their propping stocks, and it showed in their scrum at the weekend.
Welsh tighthead prop Archie Griffin put Angus Bell to the sword at scrum time in Cardiff.
You can bet Scottish props Pierre Schoeman (LHP), and Zander Fagerson (THP) looked at Griffin’s work and licked their lips.
Fagerson had a near ‘man of the match’ performance against the might of the Springboks a couple weeks ago, tackling like a demon and scrummaging as good as any Springbok.
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The Wallabies must be ready for the Scottish challenges to start up front.
On the tighthead side of the scrum, captain Allan Alaalatoa didn’t have the power to turn the tide against Wales, despite holding his own, Schoeman will feel he can have a go should AAA start.
In Cardiff, Bell’s replacement, James Slipper, has had patchy form all season and it begs the question, what are scrum coach Simon Cron and coach Joe Schmidt’s reservations about young Isaac Aedo Kailea?
He played solidly in his couple of performances this year, he offers starch in defence and ball carrying threat and aided the Melbourne Rebels scrum alongside Taniela Tupou.
Bell played 70-minutes at Twickenham and was asked to back it up with a 60-minute effort at the Principality last weekend because of an injury to Slipper, who was the replacement.
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It is a massive workload for the youngster, who is coming off the back of a heavily injury laden couple of years.
Working Bell to this point is a sure way to cook the youngster, even if he has been in stellar form in 2024.
Over on the tighthead side, there’s reports that Tupou has been carrying a knee injury.
An injury which was first thought to be so bad that he was advised not to tour but did so anyway.
Without Tupou, the Wallabies lose their weapon at scrum time, a big ball carrier, and almost 30kgs at set-piece time, and explosive power few in the world possess.
Experienced campaigner Tom Roberston was initially selected in the squad but has since returned to Australia with a calf injury, opening the door for youngster Zane Nonggorr.
Captain Alaalatoa carried much of the burden on the weekend putting in a 60-minute effort.
Without Tupou and an injury to either AAA or Bell, the Wallabies’ hopes of clinching their first grand slam in 40 years goes up in smoke.
Should any of them go down with a serious injury, it could jeopardise the entire British and Irish Lions tour, which is only eight months away.
Whether Tupou plays at Murrayfield remains to be seen, but if the injury is so bad that it could cost him his chance to play against the Lions, then the risk is too great.
Sadly, Schmidt’s hands appear to be tied as far as reinforcements go.
He has few alternatives on either side of the scrum, at home or abroad, who are currently healthy or ready to make a difference at Test level.
As such, Kailea must play against Scotland; he needs time in the saddle playing against some of these top tier sides to prepare him should he face the Lions next year.
Blake Schoupp is on the injury return as well as swing prop Harry Johnson-Holmes, and recently drafted Australia XV LHP Harry Hoopert, who all three will be fighting to be chosen for the Lions tour.
On the tighthead side, AAA has seen a uptick in form and can now steady the scrum, but he can’t turn the tide like Tupou.
Nonggorr has so far been uneventful at Test level, and he wasn’t a game changer for the Queensland Reds this year either.
The tighthead stocks are a concern across the board in Australia, few have the bulk, power, and experience to make a difference in the Test arena.
Young gun Massimo de Lutiis had a promising Australia XV debut at the weekend against England A.
However, despite his promising build and gym figures, numbers that even surpass Tupou’s, he is a few years away from being able to make it felt on the Test stage.
Bell must have his minutes managed, two almost 70-minutes efforts is a sure way to spend his vigour and risk injury.
Slipper, Kailea, and now possibly Hoopert must step up, and so too must Nonngorr.
The Wallabies have only a six-day turnaround from Scotland to their final match against Ireland at the Aviva, managing minutes is key.
Scotland will see the scrum as vulnerable part of the Wallabies’ game and will go after it for 80-minutes.
Scotland are a great attacking team and showed they have the defensive starch to go head-to-head with the world champion Springboks, the Wallabies must be ready for a bruising encounter in Edinburgh.
There’s a good nucleus being built by Schmidt but it’s time for those who have been holding the tackling bags to show what they’re made of.
It’s also high time they be given the trust and opportunity to do so, by the staff and players, to contribute to this building Wallabies side.
Go behind the scenes of both camps during the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2021. Binge watch exclusively on RugbyPass TV now
HJH will never become a decent prop at an international level, he's been at it a fair while and gone nowhere as far as I can see. A decent SR player and that's it.
Note to John Ferguson. I've been around rugby for a fair while but struggle to remember who is TH and who is LH. It would help if you put these two letters behind each player.
Cheers for your comment Ardy! Currently the most well known props are:
Loosehead props: Bell, Slipper, Kailea, Hoopert, Hodgman, Schoupp, Lambert, Gibbon, Fa'agase, Pearce, Kaihea
Tighthead props: Tupou, Alaalatoa, Nonggorr, Tauakipulu, Van Nek, de Lutiis,
Swing props (who can play both sides of the scrum): Johnson-Holmes, Roberston.
I actually thought slipper looked reinvigorated coming off the bench on the weekend - he made tackles with venom and was a pest at the ruck. He also looked to stabilise the scrum although still gave away 1 penalty from memory. I also remember Kailea starting earlier this year and getting towelled up at scrum time only for slipper to stabilise it in the 2nd half. If you want ball running and a power athlete around the ground, then I think you could make the pick of isaac over slipper. But, if its the scrum you're worried about then I think the old dog still may have a few more tricks up his sleeve then the young bull. Schmidt's selections have been shrewd thus far, no reason to doubt him at the minute. One other option would be to start BPA to help keep the scrum glued together.
Fair argument NH, IMHO I think Kailea has scrummed better, but should we get a look this weekend then I will be watching closely.
Schoeman is the only South African playing for another country that might, just might have got a game for South Africa, despite being too small. But he certainly knows how to scrum and I feel sorry for whichever Aussie is opposite him.
Kiwi coaches in Australia always run our best players in to the ground, or injury list. For obvious reasons.
Deans did it, Rennie did it.
Putting OJ's rampant xenophobia to one side, maybe some props are getting overplayed because of the lack of alternatives. Take Bell and Tupou (when he's fit) away and the drop-off is enormous. Slipper is no longer an international prop, Nonggorr never was. Kailea and de Lutiis might have to be thrown in, like De Groot and Lomax were a couple of years ago (they were only selected because of injury).
You must be anorexic by now with the amount of shit you spill out. Isnt it the convicts hiring the kiwi coaches?