Not the champions of the world
Posted by Christopher Sheil on Sunday, May 14, 2006
Reality swept through Australian rugby this weekend. This is the story of the hurricane, or, I should say, Hurricanes, along with marauding Crusaders and deadly Sharks, which has left terrible wreckage, everywhere.
This weekend’s defeat means the mystery that is the Waratahs is now staged for its hackneyed finale, with the Super 14 tournament’s show ponies bowing out next week, a pile of dashed hopes, as usual. I’ve no idea what’s wrong with our province; only a zillion pet theories. This year we played some of our best football in memory; yet every year we play some fine football.
I wonder if we train up too far, and peak too early. Just as the other teams are beginning to dig deep, the Tahs, the perennial world-beaters out of the box, exhaust themselves. There’s much room for reflection and speculation about this loss. Here I’ll be content with some quick observations.
First, the Hurricanes were worthy winners, no question. With the Tah forwards and the referee delivering our side ball to burn, the backline was chaos. The kicking game in the first half was insane; the organisation of the attack in the second half disastrous. The Tah backs were a regurgitating pig’s dinner.
None of this can be put down to Wendell Sailor’s abrupt sacking. On the contrary, it would’ve been worse had ‘dell played, for this would have deprived us of the marvellous Sam Norton-Knight – an island of relative stability and enterprise in a mad sea. I noticed constant chat in the backline, and suspected argument was going down, as positioning was also being shuffled every which way. The fine Hurricane centers had a picnic.
And since when did taking three points on offer near the front of the posts, with plenty of time left on the clock, go out of fashion? Huh? The winning margin was five points; yes: less than just two of the many penalty shots that we turned down in order to play blind man’s bluff in the backline. Safe in knowing that the Tahs had a fixed ‘try-only’ mindset, the ‘canes infringed at will, even sacrificing two players to the bin without defensive loss.
These are coaching matters. Ewen McKenzie is a popular and respected coach, yet he’s still to figure the puzzle that is the Tahs. What say that next year we deliberately throw the first three rounds, just to be different?
One Tah player stood out: Stephen Hoiles. Hoiles was stunning, in a junior George Smith way, and I’d hate to think of what the result would’ve been without him. It’s a fair measure that David Lyons came on from the bench for Rocky Elsom, not Hoiles. I’ll watch next week, even if it’s, sob, just to see if Hoilesy can do it again.
More generally, as the Blacks and the Boks come on strong, and the local provinces sink into the sunset, suddenly Coach Knuckles must face the brutal reality that the sub-national coaches haven’t solved the Wallaby problems from the Jones era for him. I hope he’s being paid well, for he’s going to have to earn every penny. Step up, Coach Knuckles. Your time has come.
This entry was posted on Sunday, May 14th, 2006 at 2:26 AM and filed under Sport - rugby.
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Buck up, this just means the triumphant comeback will be the more sweeter.
Posted on 14-May-06 at 7:52 am | PermalinkAs I said earlier But the ‘tahs had damn better win – can the Brumbies loan them Larkham for the final
Imagine the QLD frontrow, the ta’s pack complemented by Smith and Sharpe, and the Brumbies backline complemented by Latham and Tuquiri.
Imagine even just Larkham playing last night.
I don’t think things look so bad for the tests at all. But I do think it is time to get a new coach at NSW. McKenzie has done a great job, and the pack especially attests to this, but I think you need some fresh air.
Posted on 14-May-06 at 10:06 am | PermalinkDon’t lament too quickly Chris. The Hurricanes have redefined the terms ‘flakey’ and ‘quixotic’. They are no certainties to win at home. I reckon the Waratahs are a pretty good bet to be the team to lose to the Crusaders in the final.
Posted on 15-May-06 at 12:28 pm | Permalink“I wonder if we train up too far, and peak too early”
The problem is they forgot it was the Super 14s this year, with two more matches, and peaked after playing a Super 12 schedule.
What a let down.
And you’re right about the task facing Knuckles. The scrum will be nightmare. Wouldn’t have happened in my day.
Posted on 16-May-06 at 12:25 am | PermalinkActually, I don’t see why it should be so bad. NSW have the best pack, but actually few wallabies. Perhaps only Freir in the front row, and perhaps not even he in the single-digit guernseys, and possibly none in the back row, although I do think Phil Waugh will be there.
We have a number of quality back-rowers, and Qld’s front-row has been as solid as any in South Africa, whilst our second row seems to be solid – Sharpe, Kanaar, Vickerman and Roe have all come in for praise over the year.
Posted on 16-May-06 at 3:16 pm | PermalinkBah! I expect Benn Robinson to get some encouragement, although not in the starting team as yet. I’m not sure that Al Baxter is out of the picture (although I hope Matt Dunning is).
Vickerman of course is a cert, and Kanaar is in the discussions. Along with Phil Waugh, Rocky Elsom is very much in the running, especially if Knuckles goes with his mooted double-up on tall timber on the flanks (with George Smith at no.8 ). And if Stephen Hoiles can put a couple in a row like last week’s effort … stand by for a new sensation. This leaves Lyons, who can’t be written off.
In short, for mine, I reckon all the Tahs starting forwards are in the running, either in the 15, the 22, or at least the extended squad – and I wouldn’t be surprised if Tatafu Polota-Nau’s name also comes up in the wider context, and perhaps even Wycliff Palu, who has his fans.
Posted on 16-May-06 at 7:31 pm | PermalinkYes, I’d forgotten, but Robinson will certainly be in the squad and has a good shot at the run-on team, and Tatafu-Polota will certainly make the extended squad – I would actually pick him in the final squad if he went well enough in their mid-weeks!
Elsom will certainly make the initial squad, and Hoiles as well, but with Smith and Croft also certain for the squad Palu looks like he might lose out to John Roe who has played more football this year and doubles as a second-row. In all this, Lyons looks like he will be written off, mainly thanks to his own team-mate Hoiles! Unless Connolly really wants running power in the pack…
…geez it’s a mugs’ game anticipating someone else’s picks, but that never seems to stop me.
Posted on 17-May-06 at 7:02 am | Permalink