Wallabies closer than it looks

Another frustrating loss to the All Blacks on Saturday night in the Rugby Union!! That makes [8] in a row to the respected rivals from 'across the ditch.' I remember when it was considered Ok to wear an All Blacks canterbury vintage jersey [with the steinlager logo] to training because although Australia enjoyed the game we just knew they were better, so you were seen as a fan of the game, not a traitor to the cause!! Then along came the Ella's, the QLD teams of the 1980s and a golden era including [2] World Cups and a few Bledisloe Cup victories... suddenly we were 'fair dunkum'!!

Since that time the All Blacks have continued to ebb and flow, peaking between Cups but dominating world rugby most of the time and we have entered a rebuilding phase and employed a Kiwi coach [best man for the job, given the ARU rejected my own CV]!!

We are bringing through our Under 21 World Cup winners and blending them with 'old heads.' We are changing to try to play ball in hand rugby with a few players struggling to adjust and on Saturday night we lost the match before a ball was kicked.

Once Quade Cooper was suspended we were in trouble and they should have selected Barnes at 10 and left Giteau where he belongs. That said, we really only lost that game when 'idiot' Drew Mitchell was given a second 'yellow card' and resultant red card 'send off.' You cannot win Test rugby one player down with 40 to play!!

Cooper's absence blunted the wide running of Elsom [who looked out of sorts and Captained frustratingly] it meant we reverted to standard attack without the unpredicability AND we lacked composure and patience in the tight. The commentators noted some 15 phases of play at one point and I suggested it didn't matter if went to 23 as long as we held the ball... we didn't!

How can I claim we're not far off... If we held our ball in that game we got the closest of any team to beating them but once Mitchell went off they only needed to go wide from side to side and we couldn't keep up... 15 on 15 I think we still would have lost but they weren't perfect!! Bring on Christchurch... if only the weather stays dry and warm and the new Robbie Deans Grandstand inspires some more 'mongrel' which we showed the week before!!

I also would have subbed a few of those players at half time, not with 20 to go, just to stir things up a bit!!