Australia World Cup winner looks ahead to Autumn International clash at Aviva
Chris Latham, a former Australian fullback and World Cup champion, was once touted as one of rugby’s most dynamic attackers, but he now feels Ireland has the world’s deadliest attack.
Speaking while rain batters the window on a terrible Irish morning, Latham, enjoying up the sun on the Queensland coast, appears to have the better location.
“Yeah, I’m cooking up a barbeque here in Brisbane in my back garden,” he says with humor, “no top on, no shoes on, the evening sun on my back… yeah I’m doing good.”
Round one for the former Wallaby.
But one who still lives and breathes rugby, and has a new venture of his own on the horizon.
“It was great to be appointed the Chicago Hounds manager a couple of months back,” he says of his new role in America’s Major League Rugby.
“The job attracted me as it involves a buy-in into the entire rugby community in Chicago and the grassroots, not just the first-team squad.
“I feel that I can be a part of growing an entire project.”
By bringing in the likes of ex-Ireland International Dave Kearney to support the youth, Latham feels that lessons can be learned from the Irish provincial system.
“When you look at Munster, Leinster, and even the Crusaders in New Zealand, they have spent heavily in academies, which are supplemented with international players who can establish a standard for the younger players to follow.
“That’s what I want to do in the States, and I think we have a superb product that will hopefully grow from strength to strength over the coming couple of years.”
The Australian national team, on the other hand, has lost some of its grassroots focus over the previous decade; gone are the glorious days when Latham and his teammates feared no one.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Australians had a swagger that was hated in some quarters but well justified on the field.
Now, as they prepare to face Ireland in Saturday’s Autumn International, with former Irish manager Joe Schmidt charged with reviving their fortunes, they are ranked around the bottom of the world’s top ten teams.
This would have been impossible a decade ago.
“It has been a tough time for Australian rugby,” he admits.
“When I was playing, it would have been a complete disaster if we were not one of the world’s top three teams, and now look at us.” We can only enviously glance at Ireland, yet I see some green shoots growing.
“First and foremost, I believe Joe Schmidt is the ideal man for the job. He can ideally transform the team’s thinking in the same way as he did for Ireland.
“The last couple of months haven’t been great but I have seen a few times where that bite is back in defence, and I think to myself ‘there it is’, and that gives me and fans some optimism.”
After talking so much about grassroots development, Latham admits that at the highest level of the game, sometimes it’s just doing what you can to win, and the Australian Union has spent £2.5 million to do just that in another cross-code attempt.
Joseph Suaalii, the guy who has caused nightmares for Rugby League defenders across Australia, is now firmly on the radar of Ireland’s dual-code coach Andy Farrell.
Latham believes the winger has the ability to be a star and is worth the big money if he truly believes in the union concept.
“Time will tell whether he will be successful.
“He is a freak of an athlete, very much in the physical mould of Israel Folau, and if he learns the nuances of the game, he has the potential to be a big success. But if he goes after a year or two, what have we accomplished?
“However, at the pinnacle of professional rugby sometimes you need to take a bit of a gamble and I think if you see little boys and girls wearing his name on their shirts and pretending to be him in their back gardens and at school, that can only be a good sign.”
The former full-back understands that it will take more than one player to bring down this Irish team, and he praises the team’s threats both offensively and defensively, which are masterminded by coach Farrell.
“They are a bloody good team; I believe the rest of the world is watching and wishing they had the same attack as Ireland.
“It is exceedingly clinical, efficient, and successful, with a two-layer attack and deep threats. On the other hand, their defence is highly restricting, and the data show how successful they are at preventing teams from scoring even if they make it into their 22.
“Today, it isn’t even about the person. Back in my day, if Brian [O’Driscoll] or Paul O’Connell were injured before a game, it was a game changer, but Ireland now has a full team of world-class players who can fill in.
“It recalls me of the depth we had back then, or that the All Blacks always appeared to have. I mean this in the kindest possible manner; they exude arrogance and self-confidence that we need to rediscover.
“We will aim to win all the games on tour but this will certainly be our most difficult tie, I think they are two sides in different places but it should be an entertaining tie for sure.”
Latham has frequently spoken out about the impact of cards on games, and he believes that the new 20-minute red card rule is a band-aid for a far bigger problem.
“Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand player safety and advocate that,” according to him.
“However, at the professional level, the contact is what makes this game appealing. I believe that an inadvertent high shot should not result in a red card since it completely depletes the game’s spectacle value, and if we continue to send people out, rugby will be severely limited as a game for everybody.
“If tackles are reduced to such a low impact level, there will be no need for the prop as all the positions will be taken up by backs or back-rowers and I think that’s sad for our sport.”
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