The Italian test saw yet more key personnel changes and more problems. It's now hard to deny that some of the problems, especially backline cohesion, are partly due to the coaching or preparation. So what can the Cartel can do to give us the best chance of good results in the tri nations?  Australia and South Africa are looking pretty sharp at the moment.

I'd like to see the coaches work on (in no particular order):

•  turn maul into an attacking weapon and use it to draw in defenders (Bok maul looks strong, we need to be up for it)
•  give Donald more room (stand deeper), get McAlister closer to the action
•  curb the "throw and hope" offloads (these didn't work last year against Oz either)
•  fix the backline spacing so players don't get isolated so often on attack (much easier said than done!)
•  organise the backline alignment so that our wingers aren't ahead of the centres and so players can join the attack from deep at pace (this is unacceptably poor at the moment and not just due to inexperience)
•  back our lineout and play in the opposition's territory
•  if Smith remains injured and McCaw is not available, put Mils at centre, bringing the captain and playmaker closer to the action
•  work on ensuring players keep their feet at rucks where possible so they are mobile ASAP for the next phase and less liable to be penalised (I think our players dive in too much... going low is good, but drive UP not down)
•  do a lot of work on our backline kicking options (this aspect of our game is far too limited and makes us predictable)

First of all, Donald seems to me to have been standing too close to the advantage line and having very little space to operate. This may be just because he's one of those players that takes too long to act, but I think it's as much a positioning thing, and the coaches can get him to work on this. Conversely I felt that Luke McAlister was standing slightly too deep, making it difficult for the All Blacks to make the gain line against the steadfast Italian defence. It's fine tuning really, but I think the coaches need to focus on this.

I think they should definitely work on mauling, I'd like to see us use it as a weapon and to draw in defenders to create space. It was evident against the French and Italians that our lateral play was not creating space. Similarly, we seem to have an aversion to creating rucks when on attack, largely because our support play is inadequate, but unlike offloads, rucks and mauls create offside lines which give you more space to work in, as long as you can secure possession at the breakdown. Too often we see a loopy pass across the face of the opposition that gets intercepted because our player can't or won't take the ball into a ruck (usually because they will be isolated and turned over at the breakdown because the support is too far away). I don't like either, but I'd much rather see us concede a turnover at a breakdown than an intercept (which is much harder to defend against). The essence of all of this is that our support play is really lacking.

Too often we're seeing no look and high risk offloads to nobody. Offloads can be effective when you've sucked in defenders, especially in midfield, but they're not the option when you don't know if there is support. Of course the days of quick ball from the back of the ruck disappeared when rucking was outlawed and players started putting their grubby mitts all over the ball (not helped by the new ruck law either), so this probably contributes to our aversion to form rucks, but our helter skelter attack too often results in turnover ball with our team in disarray. This is not an easy equation to balance, but our avoidance of rucks makes us more predictable and thus easier to defend against and intercept against.

I appreciate the Cartel's desire to play a flat backline - it gives kick chasers better opportunities against rushing defence, it also puts more pressure on the opposition, and makes it harder for defenders to cover all the gaps. BUT a flat backline with no momentum is worse than a deep one running angles at pace. I'd like to see us adopt an approach using a flattish backline, but with scope for runners from deep to run onto the ball. These guys would be hitting the ball at speed, changing the angle of attack, while the other players are in the face of the defence, keeping them guessing. Of course, this approach means you have 1 fewer player laterally (he has to be running onto the ball), and you have to be very organised, but the Wallabies are doing this well right now, and too often I think we're seeing 3 or 4 ABs close together at the end of the backline standing flat in the face of the defence.

Unfortunately the 9 and 10 combo has been poor, and we haven't had a settled centre pairing either. This is a stern challenge, and these players will need to rise above mediocrity. At halfback, Leonard and Cowan need to find form fast... The Cartel can help this by adjusting the backline alignment a bit. Maybe the Cartel should start Weepu? The coaches are going to have to make tough decisions about who to play at halfback and whether players like McCaw and So'oialo etc are going to be able to play at the level required - ie. with so little game time of late.

Personally, I am not a fan of having a fullback for a captain, but I don't think the Cartel should change now unless McCaw is available, as it would appear as a vote of no confidence in Mils (he is playing superb rugby at the moment). However, if Smith remains injured for the tri nations then I think they should seriously consider putting Muliaina at centre and using Toeava or Jane at fullback.

Finally, our tactical kicking and option taking has been poor. Smith, Masaga, Nonu, Rokocoko, Leonard are simply not great kicking options. It means that other teams are able to predict when we will run it (usually for the first few phases every time) and that predictability makes organising defence against us too easy. All these players need to work on their kicking game (not just the skill of kicking but using their brains about when to use which kick and when to run). We need to back our lineout and play down the right end of the field. If we work on our maul we could potentially turn even defensive lineouts into opportunities to attack. Short stab kicks have their place, and are useful against rush defences or when the opposition fullback is out of position, but players need excellent vision to know when this is on...in short, it shouldn't be our default option!