Written Saturday 07/04/07 and Sunday 08/04/07 and Monday 09/04/07

SUPER 14 WEEK 10  

The Reds Game,  click here:

Crusaders vs Force here:

Brumbies vs NSW here:

The Auckland Blues last night (Friday 06/04/07),  in some of the stuff they did rated between impossible and freakish but their game was punctuated by too much indiscipline and the scrums again for most of the night were a joke.  They are so much worse than last year,  and the illustrious law makers of the game need to have a little look at it.  They continue to demonstrate though that the offload in and just past contact is the part of the game that can rupture organised defences better than any other.

Commentators were raving last night about Isaea Toeava,  and yes he had a fine game,  but the key to alot of Auckland's performance for mine was Daniel Braid at 7,  had a wow of a game,  linked really well in one of the tries,  and played a key role in a number of turnovers.  What Toeava didn't have last night was one of his traditional brain explosions or lazy moments,  he was mentally focussed all game it seemed.  He did threaten us a couple of times with some no look passes that this week went to hand.  Ali Williams too had a cracker,  downed a bottle of angry pills before the match obviously and belted everything he got close to.  Woodcock made a difference to the scrums that actually stayed up,  but they were really unstable,  moving around and going to ground,  terrible.  As is usually the case,  refs know little about scrums and the contest.

Their discipline at this stage is not good enough to win the tournament,  they need to have a strong look at themselves there this week.

Also of interest out of this game is the commentators,  and senior commentators of long standing,   lack of knowledge of what a rolling maul is or was.  We don't see them any more,  we see a version of a driving maul,  and most of the time they are not very good.  I heard one maul last night off a lineout called as a rolling maul,  and just had to shake my head in disbelief.  I haven't seen a rolling maul in 15 years,  as against a driving maul.  We did see the Cheetahs defend the driving maul very well though,  probably the best I have seen it defended for some time,  their pack was well organised on three or more occasions ,  good body height and shape and just got the Blues going sideways and backwards.

The other thing that has been an emerging  tragedy for the game, and has happened over the last five to 10 years I guess,  is the demise of the ruck.  what we see there today is not really a ruck.  a true ruck has the ability to move the ball and a side forwards,  and of course the other backwards.  The Schmucks we see today are static objects,  with no ability to go forward because the combatants all have their shoulders lower than their hips and are not focussed on any forward motion anyway,  and simply allow many numbers to be present in the defensive line,  an organised defensive line.  Rugby was never meant to be about these static contests on the ground,  that make the whole contest static,  and reasonably pedestrian and predictable. 

Ah those Reds,  a tough gig to follow as I have mentioned before,  but do you know what the worst thing about professional rugby is?  It is the nature in which coaches and players attack each other in the media.  The last thing I would want is to see my coach lambasting my team mates and I in the press.  Contract writers could well have a look at provisions in the documents covering sanctions for this type of thing.  Edie is as much a part of the team as the 22 guys on the field and should stand up and take the responsibility too,  probably a greater portion of it than the players.

Personally,  I have read all the rubbish in the media this morning on the Reds,  and even though a scoreline of 59 to 16 prevailed,  still am unable to find the negativity that the rest of the press has.  Three or four moments defined the game,  one just after the kick off,  one just before half time and one just after half time.  Just after kick off we saw Shifcoske carry the ball into the in goal and then look to ground,  realised he couldn't and tried to kick out,  had the kick charged down,  5 metre scrum,  converted try.   7 to nil after very little time.

In reality then I defy the rest of the pundits out there to tell me the reds didn't dominate alot of the rest of the first half,  they are just struggling to finish,  they did some really good things last night.  Just before halftime the Reds were hard on attack,  after some good movements,  only to give away a stupid penalty,  on attack about 10 metres out.    Sensational young fullback Francois Steyne banged the ball all of 75 metres downfield and a try resulted from the lineout.  Still,  17 to 10 down at halftime,  the Reds looked the goods.

The Sharks kicked off at halftime and from that kick off,  McMeniman for mine just tried to do too much, conceded possession,  and another try to the Sharks.  Even at 56 minutes down,  down 24 to 16,  the Reds were wilting but in the game.  Then however,  the Sharks smelt blood in the water,  and feasted in a ferocious and withering burst of 24 minutes,  piling on 25 points,  but demonstrating that you have to keep playing with intensity and speed for the 80 minutes.  The Sharks did play with speed and intensity,  and high skill levels all game,  and some freakishness from these guys too in a couple of the tries they scored.  They were also incredibly physical,  with AJ Venter having taken some of the same pills as Ali Williams yesterday,  only two bottles of them.  He was in as an abrasive mood as I have seen him last night,  and may be lucky to escape citing for his no arm hit on Andrew Walker late in the first half.  The Sharks chase game was oppressive,  plenty of numbers suffocating the ball carrier,  and like most Aussie sides,  the Reds showed little if any urgency to get numbers behind the ball receiver after kicks,  allowing the defence to swallow them easily.

For the Reds guys,  you just have to be impressed with John Roe,  and I have to say the side doesn't look composed unless he and Croft are carrying  the footy in midfield.  He never stops and must be gutted with the season and how it has turned out.  The Reds gave up too much turnover ball,  own lineouts,  a tighthead,  and ruck turnover ball.  Against a Sharks outfit that punished mistakes really,  really heavily all night,  the Reds just made too many.  The Reds have to take dumb out of their game,  and add patience and composure.  By dumb,  two incidents come to mind.

The Shifcoske incident over the try line is one,  the other is right on defence,  right on their own tryline,  James Horwill (who will be one of the great locks in world rugby as time goes on) was clearly told by the referee to "get back" which he did for a second,  then drove in from the side,  penalty,  and another try.  Those are the things that must disappear.  I also thought at 12 to 10 down,  not that this is dumb, just a poor decision,  a penalty to Qld  in the Sharks 22 should have been a shot at goal rather than a lineout,  from memory a lost lineout (watching the replay the Reds won the lineout but a knock on amongst it all caused a turnover).  The popular moves are great,  as is running footy,  but winning at this level is far more important.

The Reds proved that in tackle and post tackle  offloads are great, but tried too many and lost too much possession,  that is a composure thing,  and a decision making thing,  not getting caught up in the moment of every movement must never stop.  They can stop,  you can regain composure and go forward,  and strike again.

The young kids,  I'm never too sure whether these young kids like Cooper and Beale shouldn't start at fullback,  where there is a little more time and a little more space.  They are just not quite ready yet to run a Super 14 backline for a full 80 minutes,  the transition from Schoolboy footy to senior footy is enormous, and although these kiddies are dreadfully talented,  they simply need to develop the mental capacity to run these backlines and think through the necessary scenarios at pace,  and in reality the whole ship,  for 80 minutes.  They are not yet ready to do this.  This is possibly a failing of schoolboy footy in that it fails to deliver tactical nous,  and upon leaving school the whole game has to be relearned.  Cooper wasn't as bad as against the Chiefs,  but was hot and cold,  again though showed us why he is so highly rated with one moment of magic,  a step and flick pass coupled with some blistering acceleration.

The Sharks,  well they were big,  fast,  nasty and skilful.  I enjoyed very much the way they played the game,  and once they sniffed blood,  they went at it and never stopped feeding until the trainers put them back in their cages.  I really like that young Fullback Steyne,  his positional sense and game sense are sensational,  he really is hot for a 19 year old.   I also am a fan of Butch James and his ability,  not of his brain explosions.  Just watching him last night though,  he has an uncanny sense of where the space is and which runners to hit that are going to get into that space,  coupled with nice,  tough and aggressive,  he is a quintessential part of the Sharks machine.  AJ Venter doesn't seem to age,  and just keeps on keeping on,  physical and aggressive coupled with abrasive as ever.  JP (every South African side has a JP) Pietersen too is a hot jet shoed winger,  who is also quite big,  that forms a lethal back 3 with Ndungane and Steyne.  I would not like to be facing the Sharks in a final in Africa,  that will be a monumental assignment.

To the Reds,  get out of the media,  get your coach out of the media,  focus on composure and maturity and being really mentally tough.  Get the siege mentality happening out there,  backs to the wall everybody hates us stuff,  speak to no one,  focus on the job at hand.

The Crusaders vs the Force showed many similarities to the Sharks vs the Reds,  in particular the fact that after 60 minutes both sides really put the foot on the accelerator and finished their opposition right off.  It's a good trait.  The Crusaders hand skills in the wet were amazing,  they contest every piece of contestable possession on offer and just proceed to wind up the pressure knowing that at at some stage the opposition will crack and the gates will open.  Two 50 point demolitions of Aussie sides this weekend.

The Sharks vs the Blues will be a cracker this coming week,  very much looking forward to that encounter I can tell you that.

Brumbies,  well weren't they hot last night,  Sunday 08/04/2007.  All the Gregan and Larkham, Huxley and Fairbanks haters got put back in their box last night for at least another week.  It was vintage Gregan and Larkham as they stamped their class on the Aussie 9 and 10 roles.  I have said it many times,  Gregan's short passing game is the best in the business,  he hits runners close and flat with uncanny accuracy.  Bernie,  just does the simple things,  the basics of the game really well,  passes and changes direction at speed,  without changing speed,  and has one of the most accurate passing games around,  short and long.  Has fantastic ability to get the ball to space.  Julian Huxley should be made to submit a please explain to Qld,  please explain why you were so bad up here yet do dam good in Canberra.

All that said,  the victory was crafted at the breakdown.  The Brumbies were brutal at the cleanout,  don't know what Bubba thinks,  but I thought they smashed New South Wales off the ball time and time again.  Granted it wasn't a go forward situation in a true rucking sense,  but in the context of the way the game is today,  they were accurate and precise,  with Chisholm,  Smith,  Hoiles and Jone Tawake leading the way,  belting anything in a Blue jersey.  Big Mark Chisholm would have to be one of Qld's worst losses from a player perspective,  he has developed into one of if not the premier lock in the country.  Jone Tawake has run into some blockbusting form,  the type we have heard he had,  but have never seen,  he was a wrecking ball last night.

The Waratahs are really struggling without Waugh and Vickerman,  just to maintain any possession flows constantly for periods of time.  Lote Tuqiri again failed to impress me in any way,  but to be fair to the guy,  he was dished up some pretty ordinary ball.

If the Wallaby selectors are serious,  and select on form,  Hoiles will make that side,  and so will Huxley.  Huxley,  Giteau and Larkham will cover up the 10 slot,  with Huxley also able to cover several other positions,    and unfortunately for the young folks,  it won't be Kurtley and Quade,  their time will be 2011.  Again if they are serious,  Gerrard and Shepherd will be on the wings and Adam Ashley Cooper and the quietly approaching Ryan Cross will be there somewhere.  The poor old Reds won't see many in the side,  or squad,  with Roe,  Croft and McMeniman coming to mind as Wallaby probablies.

You might never see it again,  Qld and NSW playing off for the Wooden spoon in Sydney next weekend,  Saturday 14/02/2007.  A fixture that usually carries a lot of punch has been reduced to something that very few will care about.  It will be interesting to see how many turn up.  I don't believe the crowd figures from Saturday night in any case,  if that stadium was almost one third full at 14500,  I'll walk to Sydney and back this week.  I reckon there were under 10 000 at Suncorp on Saturday just gone.  I have got a feeling they count the tickets like ours that are owned for the season,  whether they turn up or not,  the place was just empty.

I warrant there will be some changes to the Reds backline next week,  my guess is it will look like this:

9.  Nic Berry.

10. Berrick Barnes

11. Peter Hynes (may play at 12)

12. Andrew Brown

13. Ben Tune

14. Andrew Walker

15. Clinton Shifcoske.

I think Quade will be punished this week for two below par performances,  and it will be a test of his strength of character how he responds to that punishment.  He may not even get a bench slot this week.  I know what I would be doing with him,  and Kurtley,  and I might write about that later today,  depending on how my other work commitments go.

I Missed 100% of the Shots I Didn't Take,  Michael Jordan.