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If Noah Lolesio deserves to be criticised, then so does Stephen Larkham.
It might be painful, unfashionable even, to point the finger at a Wallaby icon. But if Lolesio appears stationary, if his communication is poor, and he seldom has options in attack, can it really just be on him?
Larkham must be assessed as a coach and not as the legendary player he was.
It is seldom talked about in Australia, but Larkham returned from Munster having been heavily criticised for a perceived failure to develop young players and a conservative approach.
Many on the Emerald Isle branded his team’s attack as ‘one dimensional’.
When you consider that Ireland has provided an excellent environment for innovative coaches looking to resurrect careers or just get a shot, Larkham’s failure there is all the more perplexing. All the more stark when you consider that Ireland was the launching pad for Les Kiss.
Ciaran Fahey of OffTheBall.Com commented at the time that “Larkham has had plenty of time in Munster to imprint his identity on the team. Yet, years later, Munster’s attack is more limited… In recent weeks, they’ve been particularly poor, reverting to one-out runners and kicking the ball away too often”.
In January 2022, Donal Lenihan of the Irish Examiner wrote that “The penny is yet to drop that Munster require more strings to their bow to succeed against the powerful packs that always make it to the business end of the season. We have seen no evidence to suggest that Munster’s approach has changed one iota [since last season]”.
Of course, much of Larkham’s stay in Munster was disrupted by COVID-19, and he was not the head coach. He was charged with designing the attack.
Larkham was also quick to point out that commentators had to be ‘realistic’ and that the stats didn’t support that his Munster attack was overly reliant on the boot.
After an away win in Europe in January 2022, Larkham was asked if it was too late to add variety to the attack and replied, “Interesting question. When you ask that question and you see some comments like that, you’d have to ask what are you seeing in our game at the moment. What’s hurting us or not strong enough?”
Larkham clearly didn’t see a problem.
Nevertheless, large sections of the Irish media turned on Larkham for his apparent unwillingness to mix it up.
Coach Stephen Larkham of the Brumbies. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
Simon Lewis of the Irish Examiner called it a “perceived rigidity in sticking to pre-ordained strategies that result in a lack of offensive creativity”.
What jumps out when I watch the Brumbies is how few options Lolesio appears to have when he has the ball. Far fewer than when he went on tour with Joe Schmidt, by the way.
A significant part of that is his tendency to stand very flat and almost completely still when receiving the ball. It has become excruciating to watch.
You are almost begging him to stand a few strides deeper, get some oxygen and start running.
It is also a byproduct of too few Brumbies backs running onto the ball from depth and at pace. They all seem to be playing within a rigid structure, waiting for the next phase or the one after that.
These are coaching failures that have been apparent for longer than just this season.
Larkham clearly advocates a field position game plan where the Brumbies vaunted rolling maul and lineout has bailed Lolesio out more than once over the years.
But is that enough anymore?
Noah Lolesio. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
It wasn’t enough for Munster against the very best in Europe. Sure, they made it out of pools and beat non-contenders regularly. But against the big beasts of European Rugby, they regressed with Larkham’s attack.
We already know that it isn’t enough against the best New Zealand sides. We’ve seen the Brumbies stumble at the second last or last hurdle all too often over the years.
Will it be enough against the Reds next weekend?
To my eye, Les Kiss’ team is much better to watch than Larkham’s Brumbies. They have the runners in motion and licence to play what’s in front of them that Lolesio doesn’t.
The Reds look dangerous and exciting. The Brumbies are a little stuffy and predictable.
Kiss went to Ireland and was widely acclaimed for the work he did at Ulster; he was much loved there – but Larkham wasn’t.
But that won’t count for much if Larkham walks away from Brisbane with a win in eight days.
It will count for less if the Brumbies do better than a very strong Reds squad in Super Rugby this season.
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Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.