“Significant” attention on Australian coach development, more sports psychology help for players and better structures for leadership, trust and accountability inside the Wallabies are among the recommendations of a review into the 2019 season and Rugby World Cup campaign.
Rugby Australia released the “key recommendations” on Thursday after the review conducted by an independent panel of former Wallabies Pat Howard and Nathan Sharpe, and four-time Olympic rower Bo Hansen.
Following their disappointing quarter-final exit from the World Cup, all members of the 2019 Wallabies playing squad, along with coaching staff, provided input into the review via an online survey and through personal interviews as well.
In a release, Rugby Australia said the aim of the review was to help “build a framework for success for future international, Rugby World Cup and Olympic Games campaigns by its national teams.”
The panel’s full report, containing 40 recommendations, will not be made public but Rugby Australia released a document containing key “high level recommendations” across three areas: high performance alignment, coaching and leadership and culture.
The most extensive section focussed on the need for "ground up" high performance alignment between the Super Rugby clubs and Wallabies, a priority that has been formally recognised for several years but appears to be still more lip-service than reality. It's believed a major finding of the review was that players were still not arriving from the Super clubs with the right physical readiness to be successful in Test rugby.
Some of the touch points for controversy throughout 2019 appeared to be addressed in the panel’s review, notably the recommendation to “foster greater alignment between the Wallabies team and Rugby Australia administration so that each can be more aware of team and organisational priorities and goals and capitalise on opportunities to benefit the sport.”
After Wallabies coach Michael Cheika left his position post-World Cup, and said he had no relationship with CEO Raelene Castle as a parting shot, it emerged the pair had engaged in a heated argument at a function in the Australian embassy in Tokyo during the World Cup, over Cheika’s initial refusal to allow any Wallabies players to leave camp and attend the event.
Leadership structures inside the Wallabies environment also came under scrutiny, with the panel recommending that a “clearly defined Wallabies leadership group, to be selected using a formal process” is established in the future, along with a leadership development plan underneath it.
It’s unknown whether Michael Hooper’s captaincy will come into question next year but its understood the wider leadership group inside Cheika’s Wallabies was ill-defined and not used in any meaningful capacity.
While it’s understood the confidential 40-point report does get into the nuts-and-bolts of the Wallabies' World Cup campaign and lists positives and negatives, Rugby Australia’s release appeared to be deliberately focussed on the future, as opposed to a report card on Cheika's strategies and methodologies.
But Cheika’s strong personality and leadership style still appears to echo through some of the recommendations for the future, including the need for the Wallabies to have more sports psychology assistance (Cheika was not a huge believer), and a somewhat open-ended recommendation that the "Wallabies team identity and values include policies, processes and mechanisms to build trust and accountability within the team.”
The lack of an Australian candidate to take over from Cheika also means Rugby Australia’s coach succession work needs “signification attention and development”, according to the review panel.
That should cover all levels from academy upwards, including a "detailed coach ‘depth chart’ and individual development plans.”
“We … appreciate the detailed and open feedback provided by members of the Wallabies team and staff which has enabled the panel to deliver this very important piece of work,” Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle said in a release.
"It is clear from the review, the 2019 Wallabies are a team who were proud to represent our country and we thank the Head Coach for instilling this pride in what it means to represent Australia.
“We needed to look at what learnings we could take from our 2019 campaign from the viewpoint of the entire organisation to enable us to best prepare our teams for future success.
“While it is important that the Rugby public understands the outcomes of the review, we must also respect the confidentiality and integrity of the process which presents a blueprint for future Wallabies success. As such, we are releasing only a summary of in excess of 40 recommendations made.
“The report shows there are clearly areas needing development and improvement. Some of these can be addressed quickly and easily, while others will take time and a collective desire among our professional teams to implement and create real change.
“The report clearly shows that our work to develop an aligned and integrated National High Performance Plan needs continued focus and development, and additionally there are a number of areas where Rugby Australia can realign its focus to deliver a consistently high-performing Wallabies program.
“This supports the structural changes that were made to our High Performance environment in late 2018, and the appointment of the Director of Rugby to oversee the delivery of this holistic plan. We have also appointed coaching and team management personnel for the Wallabies program with the required skillsets to enable us to achieve our objectives, led by Head Coach Dave Rennie who will be given personal insight into all review findings.
“We will continue to keep the Rugby public informed on our progress as we work through the recommendations over the coming months.”
See below for the key recommendations as issued by Rugby Australia.
Key recommendations from the Review
Recommendations from the review have been categorised into three main pillars for the purposes of this release.
HIGH PERFORMANCE ALIGNMENT
Employ a “ground up” approach to prepare players for International Rugby with agreed alignment and delivery between Super Rugby programs and the Wallabies program across key focus areas:
* Formalised High Performance plans that underpin the commitment of each organisation to create winning teams at Super Rugby and National level including key measurable deliverables for each organisation
* Player physical and skill development targets
* Shared performance data management & analysis
* Player succession planning
* Integrated Academies with talent management plans and skill-specific coaching support
* Increased Medical, Integrity and Welfare support
COACHING
Coach succession planning requires significant attention and development:
*Coach and High Performance staff development – focus from Academy level to National level
* Develop detailed coach ‘depth chart’ and individual development plans
LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
* Ensure there is a clearly defined Wallabies leadership group, to be selected using a formal process
* Provide a formalised leadership development plan for the Wallabies leadership group
* Ensure the Wallabies team identity and values include policies, processes and mechanisms to build trust and accountability within the team
* Provide greater access to professional sports psychology services for Wallabies players
* Build and enhance team culture and identity by connecting with Wallabies teams of the past through further integration of Classic Wallabies into training camp and team environments
* Foster greater alignment between the Wallabies team and Rugby Australia administration so that each can be more aware of team and organisational priorities and goals and capitalise on opportunities to benefit the sport
