Andrew Slack: Sobering time for wannabe Wallabies

Andrew Slack

A couple of quieties might just have changed everything.

It's hard to know what effect last week's little nightclub adventure in Cape Town that saw Matt Henjak sent home in disgrace and Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri and Matt Dunning all fined, will have on the Wallabies' Tri-Nations hopes.

It's also hard to know what possessed members of the playing squad to be out until 4am, drunk or otherwise, less than 48 hours before a test against South Africa.
Even in the good old days when social preparations for a test were somewhat less suffocating than in today's professional world, drinking and late nights before a test were usually well and truly wound up by Tuesday at the latest.

Time will tell whether the Cape Town episode will have a galvanising effect on George Gregan's team or whether it will prove more of an earthquake that has potential to shatter confidence and the good ground gained in the opening forays of the Wallabies' 2005 international commitments. And much good ground had been gained.

Most observers in Australia would rate the team's efforts in the first four test matches of the year as their best early-season form.

Transposing comfortable wins against an under-strength Manu Samoa, a second-tier side such as Italy, a tired French team and a Springbok side who did not take their collective brain to Sydney, to the intensity of Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations matches is always a difficult task, but there's no question the Wallabies have looked sharp.

Before the jaunt to South Africa there would have been many positives for Eddie Jones as he spent all his waking hours [about 20 per day] analysing the good, the bad and the ugly of his side's performances.

Bad and ugly were rare and good was in abundance. At the top of the tree would have been the form of Stephen Larkham.

The Brumbies might have been ruing the fact that injury reduced his Super 12 season to the odd cameo appearance, but from a Wallabies perspective the break has done him a power of good and he hasn't looked fresher since his early days in the gold jersey.

Keep him on two sound legs and Australia could overcome any other unforseen adversities.

The backs around him have also looked pretty handy. Matt Giteau is developing into the world-class player most reckoned he would be, and Sailor, despite his nocturnal habits, is playing his best rugby since he made the switch from league.

Lock Nathan Sharpe is a better player than he was a year ago and, with Larkham, could be the key man if early promise is to be turned into worthwhile reward.

The worry, though, in Australia at the moment is what toll last week's misadventures on and off the field in South Africa will exact on the team.

Some uncharacteristic missed tackling and a horror patch of lineout imperfections cost them big-time in Johannesburg. But, to be fair, the South Africans were simply outstanding.

It may just have been one of those days. Whether one of those days happened partly as a result of the shenanigans that took place in the wee small hours a couple of days earlier is up for debate.

All games are, of course, important, but Loftus Versfeld on Sunday might just be the making or breaking of the Wallabies' year.

A bad defeat there and things could turn ugly. Success, and there will be a few celebratory drinks, even if my money is on Wendell and Lote opting for an early night.

* Andrew Slack is a former Wallaby.