A common sight from teams shamed and embarrassed one week is to build their response around defence.
Plans tend to be simplified, individual roles and expectations clarified, and the playing group make heartfelt commitments to each other to put their bodies on the line and execute.
Of course, it is one thing to talk a good game and another thing entirely to deliver on those promises. More on how the Waratahs broke a 13-match losing streak to the Brumbies a bit later.
Many years ago, I happened to play in a match at Pukekohe Stadium. I suspect the year was 1987, if only for the fact that the referee was amiable Welshman Derek Bevan, which suggests he was getting some warm-up matches in before the start of the inaugural World Cup in New Zealand.
Bevan’s pre-match modus operandi was to announce himself to the ‘boyos’ before circling around the dressing room asking players to show their boot studs – or sprigs as they were called in those days.
Having passed the inspection, you received a light tap on the backside, in that endearing, non-sexual way that the Welsh made their own, and you were free to continue with your pre-match routine.
The other memorable thing about that day was the walk from the dressing room to the pitch, down a long, narrow, claustrophobic mineshaft, which Sky commentator Stephen Donald, during Friday night’s coverage of the match between the Chiefs and Moana Pasifika, called ‘the greatest tunnel in rugby’.
It is surely the tunnel with the steepest vertical drop from top to bottom, which must have made for an agonising hike back up for Moana Pasifika at half time, trailing as they were by 43-7.
Or perhaps it was the Chiefs whose legs suffered as a result, conceding four second-half tries as Pasifika tightened up both their defence and attack, pulling the full time score back to a more respectable 50-35.
This was one of those matches that neither coach would have been happy with, albeit the bye probably comes at a good time for the table-topping Chiefs.
Just behind them, in equal second, are the Reds, who, while not at their best in Dunedin, put in a solid second-half shift to overcome the Highlanders 29-23.
The Reds missed the presence of Fraser McReight and Tate McDermott, but as their scrum grew increasingly dominant, it became obvious that they were never going to lose.
The sight of Highlander’ tighthead prop Saula Ma’u in tears on the pitch post-match said it all; out of petrol early but forced to play long minutes due to an injury suffered by his replacement, Ma’u was punished repeatedly and unmercifully by the Reds’ Alex Hodgman, to the point where it became almost too hard to watch.
Not that the loss was down to one person. Considering how the match was played on a dry pitch under a roof, the Highlanders’ handling was atrocious, and the promise of some of their play in the early rounds now feels a long way away.
Atrocious feels like the right word, too, for the contribution of Sky comments man Kane Hames, who was quick to point to a potential opportunity for the Highlanders to turn the exit of reserve prop Sefo Kautai into a ‘sneaky HIA’, so as to buy time for Kautai to recover from a leg injury, and return to the field having ‘passed’ his head injury assessment.
Following on from an incident just two weeks ago, when the Blues were refused an HIA replacement for halfback Sam Nock, it is clear that many people in the game in New Zealand continue to see the HIA process as something to be paid lip service and made fun of.
Paradoxically, many of these people are the same people who played with and against Billy Guyton, who died by suicide in 2023, suffering the debilitating effects of CTE. They would also do well to read a report in Saturday’s The Weekend Australian by Sandra Odorisio, outlining the plight of St George rugby league player Trevor Crow.
The detail contained in the article makes for sickening reading – the burden placed on Crow’s wife, Sandra, to care for a husband stricken with early onset dementia is something that no partner or family member should have to endure.
On Friday, respected New Zealand sports journalist Dylan Cleaver wrote in The Bounce about the release by NZ Rugby of a ‘comprehensive Concussion Risk Management Plan’, which includes a reference to media education, that states: “We’re working to educate key storytellers in the media on the correct use of language and messaging around concussions, to ensure accurate and responsible reporting.”
While the failure of the mainstream rugby media in New Zealand to even query what happened in the recent Blues vs Hurricanes match, and this effort by Hames, speaks to the need for such education, Cleaver makes the not unreasonable point that NZ Rugby are themselves representative of ‘the type of organisations who, throughout history, have done a remarkable job of airbrushing the dangers of repetitive head injury’.
Think being forced to sit through a lecture on how to sing the US national anthem by Fergie and Roseanne Barr.
In short, the blind continue to lead the blind, and an opportunity for rugby to do more than periodically highlight selected initiatives, and instead take a genuine leadership and comprehensive action position on head injury, continues to go begging.
If rugby watchers had thought the Blues had turned a corner last week in their narrow loss to the Chiefs – and I was certainly in that camp – they were in for a rude shock; the 2024 champions capitulated 42-19 to the Crusaders at home.
The Crusaders were superior in every aspect, starting with an intelligent kicking game which provided them with dominant field position, and then later, the cherry on top of the cake came when James O’Connor’s delightful pop-kick kept Macca Springer atop the try-scoring charts.
The Blues’ 2024 title was built upon the set piece and attacking breakdown. But without Ricky Riccitelli and Kurt Eklund they are clearly struggling at hooker, emphasised even further by Crusaders rake Ioane Moananu’s star continuing to rise – and the platform they need just isn’t there.
Throw in an act of unfathomably poor discipline by Laghlan McWhannell in tackling Sevu Reece as he took a quick tap, and coach Vern Cotter being live-to-air as the Crusaders opened the second half with a try (check-out the Aaron Smith-like pass off his left hand by Kyle Preston), and the indignities keep piling up.
Has there been a more important bye week as this coming one is for the Blues?
Sunday afternoon saw the Force easily overcome a very disappointing Fijian Drua 52-15. Highlights were many; the return of Carlo Tizzano, hooker Nic Dolly nabbing three tries and impressive winger Harry Potter scoring two excellent individual ones.
Everyone knows the Drua are a markedly inferior side away from home, but that’s no explanation for their dreadful first half; attack, defence, set piece and kick chase were all well shy of the required level.
To the ‘big’ result of the weekend, which saw the Waratahs climb up off the Suncorp canvas to shock the Brumbies 26-23.
The visitors opened with two early penalties and looked to be in control; albeit a retrospective, less conservative assessment might conclude that, in a tight match, had one of those chances had been converted into a try, the result might well have been different.
In that respect, the Waratahs’ first-half tries seemed to have come against the run of play. But that’s the thing about a strong, defensive mindset; because the Tahs’ umbrella pattern pushed the Brumbies’ attack too far to the edges, and because their close-in tacklers absorbed and rejected what their runners threw at them, those few attacking opportunities, when they came, were well earned.
Yes, they required a friendly bounce here and there, and clinical execution as well, but isn’t that what the game is about? Converting opportunities into points?
Probably for the first time this season, fans also began to get a handle on the collective contribution of the ex-Rebels players – the lead-up to Teddy Wilson’s try featuring consecutive, silky-sweet involvements from Isaac Kailea, Andrew Kellaway, Taniela Tupou and Rob Leota.
The beginnings of that try also featured Waratahs winger Max Jorgensen chasing back a kick and placing a foot on the touch line as he attempted to keep the ball in play.
To everyone watching, except the assistant referee and TMO, it looked like a clear-cut reason to deny the try.
But rugby’s laws have an uncanny way of confounding. In this case Jorgensen was ruled to have been in the act of knocking a ball back into play that itself hadn’t crossed the plane of touch, despite him being in touch himself. All of which is allowed.
Two obvious points arise. Firstly, the ambiguous wording of the law, and the interpretation of ‘knocking’ are fertile grounds for dispute.
Another view, supported by camera evidence, might be that Jorgensen momentarily took possession of the ball before fumbling it back infield.
Secondly, this all feels way too over-engineered and needlessly complex. Why force the match officials into a subjective judgment about what constitutes a ‘knock’ versus taking possession? Surely it would make far more sense to let the assistant referee maintain focus on the touchline, and rule in or out based solely on a player’s contact with the ball, not the type of contact?
None of this is to suggest that the Brumbies were hard done by; Tom Hooper’s yellow card for an idiotic wrestling throw made off the ball was the height of stupidity, moreso because it came at a crucial time when the Brumbies had begun to work themselves back into the match.
As a consequence, the Waratahs find themselves above the Brumbies on the ladder, with a game in hand.
Tougher days lie ahead, but for now, that’s a win that will surely rank as one of the most satisfying of Dan McKellar’s career – the defensive strategy cleverly conceived, the commitment of the players everything a coach could ask for.
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