In Michael Cheika’s final year as Wallabies coach his side had a policy of living and dying by the sword.
They foolishly thought they could rewrite the rugby playbook by neglecting kicking and using it as a last resort.
They attempted to play the “Australian way” – whatever that is – by playing running rugby.
In the end, Kurtley Beale’s attempted chip kick deep inside his own 22 when the chips were down in the first half against England in the World Cup quarter-final loss summed up the clouded minds of those wearing the Wallabies jersey.
Wallabies veteran Matt To’omua admitted as much earlier in the week.
“Last year, when we tried to run it a lot more, it was probably in the context of years before, we had a certain game that hadn’t worked, so we thought we’d roll the dice in a sense,” the newly-named inside centre said on Tuesday.
On Friday, just moments after announcing his first Wallabies side, Dave Rennie emphatically said that those days were over.
The days of manipulation were starting, where brutality and physicality are matched by subtlety and pace.
“I think the mindset of never kicking makes it easy to defend,” Rennie said. “You put 14 in the front line and you squeeze teams defensively.
“We have to be able to shape their defence through smart kicking options, being prepared to play but if the picture changes being prepared to kick from the wide channels or put up contestables.
"That’s the game awareness side of the game that we have put a lot of time into and the challenge is to do that under the blowtorch on Sunday but we certainly need to mix up our game.”
The Wallabies’ team is a juxtaposition; the experience and composure of the playmaking channels contrasting the hot-headedness of the outside backs and up front.
Rennie stunned many by looking past Queensland Reds livewire Tate McDermott.
Many thought that McDermott should be the Wallabies No.9, but Rennie, for the first Test of the year at least, hasn’t even found room for the 22-year-old on the bench.
Instead, the two-time Super Rugby-winner with the Chiefs has opted for Nic White and Jake Gordon as his deputy.
He’s done that for two reasons: kicking and experience.
As much as the Australian public has a distain for wasteful kicking, losing hurts even more.
Rennie has decided that McDermott, as gifted as he is with ball-in-hand, has yet to nail the fundamentals required to be a Test halfback against the All Blacks in New Zealand, which are passing and kicking.
“Like a number of spots, it’s tight. I thought Tate was excellent for the Reds, he’s a real impact player and his ability to attack,” Rennie said.
“In the end we looked at Jake who has a better kicking game. We figured that would be really important in pressure situations. There’s not a lot between those guys.”
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By season’s end, when the Wallabies aren’t in enemy territory in New Zealand playing the most lethal side in the world, that could well change.
But, for now, Rennie has opted for a halfback that can execute a game-plan flawlessly and will play field position.
For the past three seasons White has played an influential role with Exeter in the English Premiership where he built a reputation for being a master tactician, who can splendidly execute a gam-plan.
He also showed during last year’s Bledisloe Cup opener – like he did off the bench four years earlier at the Olympic Stadium too - that when he has a forward pack moving forward, he can probe and exploit opposition defensives.
Outside him, he has kickers, too, at fly-half in James O’Connor, To’omua and Tom Banks at fullback and it’s likely that the Wallabies will integrate a much more balanced kicking game to their strategy, particularly in windy Wellington.
As To’omua said on Tuesday, “If you look at our attack coach, our backs coach, Scott Wisemantel, he’s spent a lot of time up in England and he’s aware of what an effective kicking game looks like.”
Elsewhere, Rennie has opted for explosiveness and finishing ability out wide.
While he’s been conservative in the playmaking channels, he’s taken risks up front and out wide.
The decision to select tight-head prop Taniela Tupou, winger Filipo Daugunu and outside centre Hunter Paisami highlight that.
Even though he’s only ever an inch away from being penalised, Tupou’s power and dynamism is second to none and he has the ability to blow open oppositions.
A trump to bring off the bench, Rennie has decided that cameos aren’t enough; Tupou has proven for years now that he’s an 80 minute player, and his linebreaks for the Reds at the death in Super Rugby AU showed he’s as threatening at the death as he is at the start.
“Taniela is a bit of a freak from an athletic perspective, very powerful, his scrummaging has come a long way, he is devastating around the park and the Reds were playing his 79-80 minutes every week, so he has made really good shifts around his conditioning. He is ready to go.,” Rennie said.
Similarly, the hot-headed nature is within Daugunu too, who was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle in the Super Rugby AU final.
At the start of the year, he was rubbed out of the game for five weeks after yet another dangerous tackle in a trial game.
But for all of Daugunu’s nerves under the high ball and his suspect defensive technique, he’s a tryscorer who makes things happen.
“Filipo, I thought he was just outstanding for the Reds,” Rennie added.
“A real handful. He can beat people in a phone box and really aggressive defensively, great post-tackle so really good skillset.”
Paisami, too, has a kamikaze-like approach to his defence.
But it’s his awesome hole-running that has caught the Wallabies’ eyes.
The risk is the Wallabies’ discipline and their ability to handle Aaron Smith’s box-kicks.
Smith meticulously exposed the Wallabies at Eden Park last year, where he played with Cheika’s men like a cat playing with a mouse, varying his kicks perfectly as they dropped from the black sky in Auckland.
Daugunu, Banks and likely O’Connor will be peppered with up-and-unders from Smith and Mo’unga, while Ian Foster will undoubtedly look to exploit Paisami’s rawness at outside centre too.
But Rennie’s Wallabies will have an edge about them in everything they do, particularly defensively.
While Rennie admitted that attack was their “mindset”, he reiterated the importance of defence.
“We’re all well aware of the power in the game the All Blacks will play,” he said.
“We’re trying to grow this side, not just for this weekend but for the future.
“We’ve put a lot of emphasis around defence though and we know that’s going to be really important. The teams that have beaten the All Blacks in the past have limited [teams] to less than 15 or 16 points. That’s our challenge.”
The Wallabies will fight fire with fire with the All Blacks, but unlike previous years, they realise that there’s more ways to skin a cat than all out attack.
