Luke Burgess is not a Test halfback

 
The Crowd Roar Pro

By Milton Cockburn, 20 Jul 2009 The Crowd is a Roar Pro

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Don’t expect this to be written by our rugby commentators but Luke Burgess is not a Test halfback.

Having spent years bemoaning the fact that George Gregan would not retire, Burgess (on the basis of very little evidence) was hailed by the commentators as the ‘next big thing’.

There is now a ‘conspiracy of silence’ from these commentators about Burgess’s rugby abilities. Expect all the post-match commentary, instead, to concentrate on Al Baxter’s scrummaging.

Someone has to bell the cat; the major weakness in the Test team at the moment is not Al Baxter but Luke Burgess.

The normally perceptive Rod Kafer, recently analysing Burgess’s game on television, said, almost as an after thought: “He needs to work on his passing.”

This suggests that Burgess’s passing is the only weakness in his game and, then, only a slight imperfection. In fact, Burgess’s passing, the most critical aspect of a halfback’s game, is not even club standard, let alone Test quality.

Burgess has the world’s second-best 10 outside him yet Giteau (or Barnes, when he occasionally swaps with Giteau) rarely gets good service from his 9.

The critical charge down in the last 10 minutes on Saturday was the result (as usual) of Giteau having to pluck a Burgess pass from the heavens before being able to think about his clearing kick.

Burgess’s performance on Saturday night was one of the worst from an Australian half and not just because his passing is so disastrous. He gets badly flustered when put under pressure at the ruck and inevitably this leads to wrong options. His kicking (particularly with his right foot; and into the box) is poor.

One of the most puzzling aspects of Saturday’s test is why it took Robbie Deans until the 74th minute before he replaced Burgess. Deans must have a very poor opinion of Will Genia!

Everyone has bad games but Burgess has yet to put in a great performance in a Test. His lacklustre Super 14 season this year casts doubts about whether he should even be in the Test squad, let alone ranked as Australia’s No. 1 half.

Sniping, a positive element in Burgess’s game, is never going to be much of an option against a New Zealand (or South African) team.

In the late 1960s, a friend of mine (a fullback) was selected in a Newcastle representative side.

On his first night at rep training, the Newcastle halfback, one John Hipwell, interrogated him at length on where he wanted the ball when passed to him for a clearing kick: what side of his body? what height? how hard? etc. It’s hard to imagine such a conversation taking place between Burgess and Adam Ashley-Cooper at training!

Being dropped from the squad last year did wonders for Nathan Sharpe’s test career when he was eventually restored.

It’s time for Deans to administer the same ‘tough love’ to Luke Burgess.

He could usefully spend some time with a John Hipwell, Ken Catchpole or Chris Whitaker learning how to pass. And, if he hasn’t gone back to Japan, he could do well to ask Nick Farr-Jones or George Gregan for some advice about his kicking game and composure behind the ruck.

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