rugby: September 2013

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Not all doom and gloom for the Green and Gold


I dont think it's all doom and gloom for the Wallabies after watching that. 2 dubious yellow cards, the first which should of resulted in a reversed penalty. Obviously the original strategy was to play for position but White's kicks werent up to scratch and for a professional team they shouldnt have needed a coach at halftime to tell them to change. I do tire of watching the Boks off the ball, after the whistle play. It's neanderthalish and doesnt really paint a pretty picture of the man from the republic, rather showing a serious lack of IQ. McCalman was good to watch in the 2nd half, getting some good and much missed go forward for the Aussie pack. I dont think the Boks were all ball in hand in the first half, a great break out try perhaps warping people's impressions. I was getting bored midway through the first 40 because of all the kicking from Steyn and co. Take out that woeful 25 minutes in the first half and the Wallabies were right in the game. I would have liked to see Kuridrani smashing it up in midfield more, De Villiers is a weak front on tackler, and Timani added some much needed muscle to the pack.  The Wallabies just seem to be missing that finishing touch at the moment.  The soft underbelly pack is nothing new,...they're beaten all teams in the past while receiving the same criticism.  I'll tip them to beat the Pumas next weekend, they are a very intelligent team.

Folau is proving to be somewhat lacklustre. He had a few, albeit minor, opportunities on Saturday but with all the hype about his one on one ability I expected more. He got caught out badly too 2nd half when he fielded a kick, had time to clear and just shuffled himself to the sideline when he got bundled by 3 Boks into touch. Must have thought he was playing league for a moment there. 
Seen my green jersey anyone?

How hilarious was the Kobus Wiese halftime stats run down? "We took it to them, ball in hand, we will kill them, ball in hand, Australia dont want to play, I repeat we are taking it to them, ball in hand, they dont want to play, we will kill them, I want to stress we are taking it to them,.... etc etc etc...".....Kanye West anyone? Spose I'm asking too much of a Bok forward.

Tip my hat to Peyper for giving Cruden another kick after the laser incident in South America. Whether he gave it for the early charge or not it resulted in a laserless match from there on in. Though must be some questions asked over the TMO who took a ridiculously long time to award Savea's try and seemed to be looking at some totally irrelevant footage.

The Pumas spolied well and Peyper was slow to pick up on lazy rollers out the back of the rucks and combined with a small field the ABs will be more than relieved to get their bonus point.  All bodes well for the Republic.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

ABs vs the Springboks 14 Sept: Just another idiot with a whistle part II

Roman Poite is a twat. Du Plessis shouldnt have even been penalised, there wasn't even an offside (however look at it as karma because he has gotten away with a lot in his career ).  Poite made error after error the whole game and further embarrasses himself with the live audio feed.  The discussion of whether to award a penalty try against Piutau for tackling Lambie in the air when it was never from a kick makes a mockery of the standard of international referees.



Ruined the game but where was this much vaunted new found Springbok attacking flair?  The red card didn't effectively change anything except taking the gloss of what would have been an AB victory regardless.  I don't think I have ever seen one team kick the ball so much over 80 minutes.  NZ now balance their game much more intelligently and choose wisely when and from where to attack.  This Bok tactic of continuous kicks is not going to win a game versus this AB team.  The All Blacks played at a frenetic pace with width and accuracy and looked dangerous the whole game with the players, from 1 to 15, making short work of getting over the gainline.

Shut the critics up

Take a bow Sam Cane....what a huge, huge game.  The sight of him drenched in blood and coming back again and again for more and more must have won over the harshest of critics.  The defensive work all round from the ABs was impressive, as were the lineouts while the scrum needs some polish.  Barrett came on with no little pressure in the biggest game this year and didn't disappoint.  Dangerous ball in hand, taking it to, and through, the line on a number of occasions and shocking most by his tackle count.  My player of the day is hands down Brodie Retallick.  I said he would have a breakout year and he just keeps getting better and better.  I would say this was his best ever outing in a black jersey.  Fearless in defense, busy and physical in the tight, and a real attacking threat in the open.


Surpassed Whitelock as the world's premier 2nd rower?

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

All Blacks vs Springboks Rugby Championsip 2013

A lot of talk but can't see the Boks taking this one.  They certainly won't be short of confidence.  They seldom are and after 3 wins on the trot, albeit 2 versus some dreadul opposition and a close one up against the Pumas in South America, they will no doubt have their tails up.  Credit to them, they truly put the Wallabies to the sword but they were a shadow of themselves, resemblant of a team that was completely lost.  But take out the middle of that 2nd half when every bounce of the ball seemed to go against them, and some bad finishing that cost them at least a couple of tries and the crazy thing is the score would have been quite close.

Missing McCaw and Romano will the selectors bring back Messam to muscle up the pack for this clash?  Hope not...this kid is pretty tough


We will miss McCaw of course. He isnt the ball pilferer he used to be but his physicality would have been more than useful. He has become one of the best ball carriers in the game and he won't shirk any work defensively. If it's a dry track I cant see the Boks being able to stay with them. Their gameplan now is so quick and very low risk and the South African loosies are going to run out of puff. I cant see them being up to bullying this AB pack (though Romano would have been handy) and the much hyped new found ability (dont we hear this every year?) to attack will be sorely tested in a tighter game against the world #1 ranked team. The Boks in the past have talked themselves up but every time it came to the crunch the supposed new ball skills were nowhere to be found.

ABs by ten.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Nonu or not?

Thought maybe it'd be nice to shed some light on this saga.  There's probably no bigger story in NZ rugby currently, including Sonny Bill and Benji.  What you read here it seems most the press don't know in New Zealand.

I imagine most of you by now have been persuaded that the blockbusting 2nd5 does create a problem with "team dynamics".  Reading between the lines you can see that Nonu more than likely belittles younger players or those he feels beneath him.  There are surely dry, sarcastic comments, often muttered half under the breath, aimed at the coach and unquestionably followed up with a little sniggering.  Hammett comes from the best provincial rugby set up in the world and it seems the main thing he wants to instil at the Hurricanes is a team ethic, camaraderie and culture.  Nothing wrong there.  After all, this is what rugby is.
Homeless


Personally I haven't been a fan of him of late.  The show he puts on at Super level seems to say this is all beneath him.  A demonstrated lack of interest injected with moments of petulance that cost 3 points and his team minus one player for 10 minutes.  Add to that the huge wage bill and you have to ask is he worth the hassle?  He's not my cup of tea.
Not my cup of tea


But I will say he was one of my players of the match last week.  A Wallabies side obviously intent on pressuring Aaron Smith's service (which didn't falter) to a young 1st5 coupled with a rushing defence on the #10.  All Taylor had to do was shovel the ball onto Nonu.  With 3 players rushing down on him Nonu makes it look like child's play to take the ball up and I argue there isn't one other inside centre in world rugby that can do that.  All the heat removed off Taylor...and simply.  In the All Black set up he tows the line and definitely performs.

So what is going on with the Super franchises?  Surely someone thinks they can make it work?

Well...here's the inside info.

When Nonu left for the Blues he apparently stipulated to Kirwan that he wouldnt play outside Ainscombe who was subsequently jettisoned to the Chiefs. Then after one season Nonu packed up and left (despite a "gentlemen's agreement" to stay for 2) running afoul of JK. Down at the Highlanders our prize 2nd5 had Jamie Joseph bending over backwards to accommodate him and despite something similar to the Kirwan agreement told Joseph he wouldnt be back (couldnt see why Joseph would want him....he was abysmal this Super season). So now all the talk about how he wants to move back home to the 'Canes. Now a little while ago didnt it seem very much like Hammett was ready to forgive and forget? Then next thing we hear is no chance? Then Barrett taking a long time to make his decision? Word is Barrett told Hammett if Nonu comes back he's off to the Blues and Hammett immediately abandoned the idea of welcoming him back. So....3 seemingly burnt bridges. And 2 other franchises that dont want him (dont forget that Ainscombe was a pivotal part of the Chiefs' winning campaign). The NZRU will have to let him go offshore to get game time. Most seem to think he will rake in some big bucks in Japan or France for a season but I dont know why they dont push for him to join an Australian outfit.  But the $$$ will do the talking and it maybe that the NZRU don't want him playing against NZ teams....though it may be a good way to undermine an Australian squad ;)

With his troublesome ankle may be given a rest this following weekend hopefully Saili can produce something spectacular.  Much of a Crotty fan as I am (he was the form 2nd5 in all Super rugby this season) Hansen doesn't want to break the mould of a blockbusting number 12 and distributor at outside centre.  Of course....Sonny will be back soon, but Benji won't get a look in with Smith at centre.  His only chance is if Sonny Bill has 13 on his back.