The Growden Report
Steve Larkham will be key for Wallabies
Greg Growden
March 2, 2015
Tevita Kuridrani is performing strongly under Steve Larkham's coaching © Getty Images
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The build-up to Waratahs-Brumbies matches over the years has produced some of the most hilarious of attempted pre-match psyche-outs. Personal sledges, mind-games and diversionary tactics have been the norm - usually emanating from the Waratahs organisation.

Fake letters have been used to stir up the teams. Coaches have described opposing players as arrogant. The Waratahs have even tried to bait the Brumbies by driving their team bus around and around Canberra, blaring its horn and parking in the ACT headquarters car-park. Some campaigns have been outright failures; others successful.

Last year, the edge was there again as several Waratahs believed a few Brumbies players had unfairly maligned them over the infamous Dublin drinking affair during the 2013 Wallabies end-of-season tour.

So the big question this year ahead of the Waratahs-Brumbies fixture at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on March 22 is: will there at last be an 'off-field taunt' ceasefire now the opposing coaches Michael Cheika and Stephen Larkham are comrades in the Wallabies managerial set-up?

And how 'pally, pally' will the Wallabies head coach and his assistant actually be over the next few weeks with their franchises expected to fight out top spot in the Australian Super Rugby conference? The Brumbies again showed they have depth to their play when their defence proved solid to hold out the Rebels in Melbourne on Saturday night, and everyone loves being top-dog.

No matter what, Cheika's successful pursuit of Larkham to oversee the Wallabies' attack is a masterstroke. Larkham has matured as a coach in the past two years, succeeding in unshackling the Brumbies' backline after it had been so restricted during the Jake White era - when kicking and territorial gain was paramount.

The Brumbies are again a joy to watch, with their No.10, Matt Toomua, allowed great freedom under Larkham, ensuring that all of his outer backs get an opportunity to play with space and at speed. Not surprisingly, Tevita Kuridrani and Henry Speight have flourished.

The Wallabies' backline at the Rugby World Cup is bound to have a strong Brumbies tinge, and so Larkham's involvement will be critical. He knows through constant contact how to lift those players, and how to motivate them.

At a time when the Wallabies have so much going against them, including a tough World Cup pool draw and concerns whether they have the forward depth to be anything more than an irritant in September and October, they also need in the inner sanctum as many experienced winners around them as possible. And few know better than Larkham how delicate, how unpredictable, World Cup tournaments can be. After all, he was at the centre of one of Australia's most crucial World Cup match victories, producing something so unexpected that it transformed the tournament.

Australia fly-half Stephen Larkham slots the winning drop goal, Australia v South Africa, World Cup, Twickenham, October 30 1999
The irony of a drop goal from Stephen Larkham being on of Australia's most iconic rugby images is lost on no one © Getty Images
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The 1999 World Cup semi-final triumph over the Springboks at Twickenham will always be rated among Australian rugby's best moments due to the escapades of Tim Horan and Larkham.

Horan should not have played, after suffering a severe gastric attack in the days leading up to the semi-final, but he refused to withdraw from the game. Four hours before kick-off, the Australian team management thought he was no chance of appearing. Horan convinced himself to ride out the pain, played, and out-performed all in the 80 minutes of play, which finished with the scores tied 18-all.

Then Larkham decided to match the Horan heroics when the semi-final went into extra-time. Larkham knew little about kicking field goals and couldn't recall if he'd ever kicked one before at senior level. Yet there he was, about 45 metres out, 93 minutes of the game gone, the scores level at 21-21, his right leg throbbing because of a cork injury, about to do something extraordinary. In front of him was a sea of South African defenders. He was going to be swamped. But the words of Wallabies assistant coach Tim Lane as Larkham ran out of the dressing room for extra-time came back to him: "Mate, if you get in the opposition half, don't wait for [Jannie] de Beer to take a field goal; take one yourself."

Larkham had only a second. He took quick aim, the ball wobbled off his boot and floated over the crossbar, helped along by a powerful if fickle wind. A week later, the Wallabies won the World Cup for the second time.

Forget Churchillian speeches, taunts, sledges or mind games. The best way to inspire the Wallabies during their World Cup campaign is to get them to watch a replay of the 1999 semi-final… then get the Wallabies attack coach to stand up and explain how it all came about.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

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