The Wallabies coach Michael Cheika opines that Australia rugby needs higher intensity for them to attain that innovative tag they were known for.
The coach agrees with former Wallaby Rod Kafer who tasked the team on finding the right mechanism to succeed in the game today.
Kafer made the comments after being appointed into the coaching development position at Australian Rugby Union. Kafer said Australian sides were known for their innovation and creativity but that they were now too structured and predictable.
“The key from that attack perspective is more about the speed and intensity of it as well, being able to deliver that creativity at high speed,” Cheika said.
The coach added that the major difference in the style of play of Australian rugby compared to the past was the improved defence. He added that it was the “easier of the things to coach” unlike creative rugby that was more challenging. He claimed this was the reason more and more teams kick because it was usually easier to defend.
Kafer had asked that Australians stopped condemning kicking but Cheika insists that the Wallabies would generally avoid it.
“You see it [kicking] in our game sometimes – often we go off on long phases of play and then there’s an error – the other team kicks in down the field, scores, the momentum swings. It’s about finding the balance between both but I thinks [Kafer] is 100 percent right in that in Australia, that’s the way we want to play our rugby and that can come with definitely a little less kicking,” Cheika added.
He added that the team would need to keep the physical level high to play the attacking, creative style the team wants. The Wallabies need hard work to return to their glory days.