Dave Rennie wants the nation to fall back in love with the Wallabies and one of the major planks of that pitch for the hearts and minds revolves around one thing - defence.
I spoke to Rennie in the middle of one of the huge days that the 38-man squad was putting in at Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast as they prepared for this eToro Test series against France and the message was simple.
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Take care of your defence and with sufficient care and skill the attack that Wallabies fans cherish so much should happen.
The derring do and romance of past sides can still be there but a hard edge or the “dark side” that Rennie spoke of needs to be a major part of the mix.
Defence though, is something that just doesn’t happen. It’s one of those team things that comes from time together and sharing the ups and downs of a footy side.
“When you reflect on the recent results against the New Zealand sides the average amount of points conceded per game was just under 40,” Rennie said.
“And the facts are you can’t win Test matches conceding 40 points. We’ve got a definite mindset around attack but we need to get excited about defending as well.
“Quality defence creates opportunities to attack off. From turnovers it creates chances to counter attack. It’s a massive part of the game and we’re really got to change the mindset around that.
“We’ve put in a lot of physical work into the boys and we’ve certainly done a lot work on our defence but at the same time we want to attack.
“There’s been a lot of work around the detail of the quality of our carries and cleans out to enable us to generate lighting quick ball.”
France are a side that in the past have considered defence to be sometimes optional, and only if you felt like it.
That’s a long way from the case under the guidance of Fabian Galthie and their defence boss Shaun Edwards, the rugby league great and recently of Wales and the British and Irish Lions.
Their performances in the Six Nations just past showed the sort of mindset that Rennie wants his team to take on board.
Good technique and the desire to get back off the ground and get back into the game as quickly as you can.
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And who better to lead this fresh group into battle than Michael Hooper.
“He gets a bit of a hard time in this country which surprises me,” Rennie observed.
“Michael’s a phenomenal trainer and a fantastic role model and he leads that way on the field. He’s also very inspirational within this group and speaks really well.
“At the same time he wants to learn more and to get better and be as good a leader as he can be.
“No doubt I think Japan was good for him.
“He’s only really known Super Rugby and the Wallabies and getting over there out of the limelight a bit was good.”
Fresh and ready to go. Vive la Renaissance!
