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The Waratahs win over the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday night showed that they have the firepower to test all the competition heavyweights in 2009. That said, it was a funny old night for fans of the NSW side as they tried to work out whether their team are genuine contenders based on the effort.
The ups probably outweighed the downs. The scrum was solid, Rob Horne was on fire and the backline as a whole appeared more balanced than it has in ages.
The defence was firm, and all of the Waratahs backs appeared eager to attack the line, which will delight running rugby fans who were starved for much of the McKenzie era.
The Chris Hickey philosophy of “attack when there are opportunities, regardless of field position” looked especially effective in the first half, as did the Waratah fitness levels.
As I watched the match unfold, I had a pretty good feeling about the whole thing.
There was just one aspect of the performance that was uncomfortable (aside from the general early season hiccups) and that was the Waratah backrow. Fava was scrappy, and Palu was effective but distracted. But my biggest worry was the out-of-sorts Phil Waugh.
Waugh is the Waratah skipper, and an automatic choice for the role. As he said recently himself “When you’re captain, words mean nothing if you can’t back them up with your on-field performance”, and there are few who manage to back up their words with performance like Waugh.
Captaincy wise, he is the courage equivalent of his cricketing namesake Steve.
I’ve always had a soft spot for guys like Phil Waugh, probably because they are exactly the sort of footballer I dreamed of being, if I had a few more litres of guts and about a two tons more talent.
Tough, committed, fearless and uncompromising, and managing to hold it together over several seasons in the face of fierce competition from other supreme talents like George Smith.
On Saturday night though, watching Waugh was a little like listening to Bob Dylan. They are still gods in their universes, but the magic is a little less these days. For the first time ever, I got a nagging feeling that Waugh was, dare I say it, off the pace. That feeling was confirmed when he was zippered by a stray Hurricanes boot. In the old days, Waugh commanded respect, but for the first time ever, the opposition found him annoying rather than threatening.
It appeared to be So’aialo’s slipper that flayed open Waugh’s scalp, and he was riled enough to make reference after the match to the fact that the Waratahs were playing the ball off their feet regularly.
This was hard to argue with, although the method of justice was as Waugh himself said, “a cheap shot”.
Watching the replay, Waugh was good for probably 3 or 4 missed tackles, several breakdown infringements and a bungle or two, notably when he almost wandered into the path of Luke Burgess’ pass in the leadup to the try by Sam Norton-Knight.
“So what?” you say. “Everyone has a bad day from time to time”. And if you said that you’d be right…right about just about anyone, except Phil Waugh playing for the Waratahs. Waugh’s form for the Tahs is like Makybe Diva’s in the Melbourne Cup. You just know the business is going to get done.
But champions can’t go on forever. Even if the heart is still pumping gallons, sooner or later the chassis lets you down. And when that chassis has done as many tough miles as Phil Waugh’s has, it wouldn’t be surprising if it failed a pink slip.
Three things go in older players. One is flexibility. Two is strength. And three is desire. As an open side flanker, even a slight dulling of any of these creates problems. A loss of flexibility in the lower back and hamstrings means you can’t get as low at the breakdown. A higher centre of gravity increases the risk of going off your feet, and it happens more often. Often enough to frustrate an opposition into doing something silly, like kicking you in the head.
A strength drop will most often manifest itself in defence, where a player will start to scrag in tackles rather than dominate, and may be palmed off where they wouldn’t have been before.
Check the lead up to the try by Hosea Gear where lock Jeremy Thrush made the initial break. Of course, Waugh was going high in an effort to stop Thrush getting the pass away, but in the old days, once Waugh set his sights, Thrush would have been a dead-man-running.
As a player gets older, the desire naturally plateaus and drops away. He has other interests which overtake his rugby – family for instance. He has heard all the motivational speeches before and it takes more to rouse him to exceptional effort. And of course, he has little left to prove, especially when he has played hundreds of truly inspirational games for his state and his country.
In September this year, Waugh will be 30. He will have been in the Wallabies for almost 9 years. And he has been the Waratahs go-to man for nearly 10 years. It is also virtually guaranteed that, barring injury, the two first choice opensides for the Wallabies this year will be George Smith and David Pocock, so the noble warrior Waugh may have played his last Test into the bargain.
This is a problem for the Waratahs, because their inexperienced team won’t make the final unless Waugh drags them there. In 2007, when Waugh was injured, the Waratahs collapsed to a second last finish. In 2008, with a fit Waugh leading the charge, they made the final.
Their saving grace is that they have never won a Super title. This should be enough to tick the motivation box for the ultimate NSW competitor. The only uncertainty is whether or not the ageing frame can rev into the red for another 14 games, and on Saturday night, there appeared to be a big question mark over that issue.
There’ll be plenty out there who will say my instincts are wrong.
All I can say is, for the Waratahs sake, I hope you’re right.