Burgess isn’t the answer to Tahs top 4 plans
Roar Pro
By Chris McKay, 22 Mar 2010 The Crowd is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- Luke Burgess, Rugby Union, Super Rugby, Waratahs
Plenty has already been written about the Tahs and how lucky they where to get over the Force. The Tahs are definitely a team with some issues.
I watched the games the other night over a few bottles of Red and was far from impressed but happy with the Tahs’ defensive effort in the dying stages to hang on. I watched the replay this morning and have found the core problem: Burgess.
Burgess needs to be moved to the bench. How often does he crab across field before he passes? Gregan did this a lot in the final stages of his career and it cause massive issues and he was heavily criticised for it.
Crabbing across field denies your inside backs a lot of space and the short passes/offloads to the forwards moving through channels 1 and 2 are easily picked off in defence. Hodgson had an absolute field day last night because of this and was easily the best player on the field and will really push for the back-up 7 spot this year and may well start.
Take a look at Genia when he is at the base of the ruck, he moves in, grabs the ball and fires it to keep the momentum up. The Tahs loose a lot of momentum with Burgess at 9.
The dynamics of the game have changed a lot under the new interpretations and most teams will only commit 1-2 players in defence to the breakdown. This places a greater emphasis on the attacking team to move the ball quickly when they need to. The Crusaders are the absolute masters at this and move the ball side to side much like a 7s team does.
Burgess needs to be benched. Holmes deserves his chance to start as he has added a lot every time he has come on.
Horne also needs to be moved into the 13 jersey. Carter has acquited himself well but is not a genuine 13. He lacks that break out pace to crack the defensive line and struggles to keep the pace of the wingers and provide inside support.
Hickey needs to have a really good look at his team and start making the necessary changes because if he doesn’t, it will be he who finds himself dropped altogether at the season end.
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Benny said | March 22nd 2010 @ 6:39am | Report comment
Can’t believe you don’t realise this is 100% a coached behaviour/tactic – we have waugh as captain and hit up ball merchant Carter at #13 – their preferred tactics are as clear as the team sheet they name
Aaron said | March 22nd 2010 @ 7:32am | Report comment
Agree with Benny. I’ve been scratching my head at why Horne (our future Wallaby 13) can’t dislodge a plodder like Carter. It has to be Waugh molding the tactics to suit his own game.
Chris McKay said | March 22nd 2010 @ 7:57am | Report comment
Benny,
Well aware it is in part a coaching issue and I have noted that. The simple fact is you are not going to change a coach or a captain mid way through the season.
I don’t have a problem with the Tahs tight tactics here and there. Quality teams are able to adapt their style and I don’t think anyone has a problem with the tahs playing conservative when they need to. the issue is it appears to be almost every game.
I do not believe the conservative tactic was what the Tahs where aiming for Sat night. The Tahs in the last two games have tried to play expansive rugby – easy to do against the Lions but they could not make inroads against a much improved Force defensive line. The Tahs moved the ball a lot on Sat night but need speed of ball to play expansive, attacking rugby.
Blinky Bill of Bellingen said | March 22nd 2010 @ 9:59am | Report comment
Apart from slow service and across the field running from 9, there’s also this penchant for passing to someone that is standing still making it too easy to defend against. However, when we do see the occassional pass to a player hitting the line at speed inroads are made. Wouldn’t you think this most basic of Rugby principles would be dawning on the coach by now?
I think the Fox Sport Boys made a good point when they commented that the Tah players seemed to be waiting for someone else to do something special instead of doing it themselves.
Rugby1 said | March 22nd 2010 @ 7:25am | Report comment
Couldn’t agree more with Burgess, Valintine does the same annoying thing!
Chris McKay said | March 22nd 2010 @ 12:17pm | Report comment
Valentine is suffering the same issues. Genia is the only 9 who is getting the job done. He has a long term mortgage on the 9 for Aust.
Blinky Bill of Bellingen said | March 22nd 2010 @ 12:49pm | Report comment
I suppose the question is why? From where I sit (as a closet Red’s supporter), Genia is finding plenty of willing runners who run straight & hit the line at pace.They also have more urgency about how they go about things than the Tahs do (youthful exhuberance maybe?). They like to play an uptempo style of game that’s exciting, great to watch and is getting the job done. They can drop a few games and people will still love them.
By comparison the Tahs are laboured to the point they almost look like they’re in slow motion. 9 runs sideways or does predictable inside flicks, 12 runs sideways or kicks (usually poorly) and the ball is so slow it seldom makes it to 13, so you can forget about the wingers.
Hangers maybe average for S14 level but compared to Barnes he looks like a superstar. So who is to blame?
I blame the coach. Let’s have the old idea of the ball being the fastest thing on the paddock. Pick up the pace and really have a crack. Mistakes and all it’s got to beat the current game plan which if it is maintained will see us floundering against the top guys. Remembering that we only just got home against the bottom team.
For me it’s hello Holmes, hello Horne, hello Beale, bye bye Barnes & bye bye Burgess. At this level if you fail to perform the coach must bench you. End of story.
el gamba said | March 22nd 2010 @ 3:24pm | Report comment
If only they could all learn to pass like Genia. His bullet pass is faster and goes further than any of the other number nines putting Quade out of reach of the opposition flankers. Number nines love to run and be the hero but their number one stock in trade must be ball delivery.
Even looser said | March 22nd 2010 @ 4:52pm | Report comment
Sounds simple enough to me.
I’ve seen enough of 9 standing over the ball until the opposition defence is all set before he passes it. WTF bugger this for an idea. Besides has this ever worked?
Rugby1 said | March 22nd 2010 @ 12:35pm | Report comment
I agree Chris when I played rugby it was a pain in the buttwhen a number 9 crabs, by the time I recieved the ball I was hit hard and driven back. Fly half and 12 need time to read their options.
Benny said | March 22nd 2010 @ 12:58pm | Report comment
Can we wait until the reds have played in SA before we annoint them as the saviors of AUS rugby? waratahs have played 4 away games including playing the stand out best team away from home and sit 4th
Jameswm said | March 22nd 2010 @ 1:15pm | Report comment
The Tahs have played the 1st, 2nd and 5th (before the bye) ranked teams, all away from home. They’ve won one of those three and sit 4th. They’ve only had 2 of 6 games at home. How many of the Reds’ 5 games have been at home? 4?
And the Reds average 32 points a game, the Tahs 31.
Adam said | March 22nd 2010 @ 3:16pm | Report comment
Look at the game vs Lions…Burgess went off 2 times for blood bin. Tahs scored a couple of tries when Holmes was on the field. Then in the last 15 mins of the game when Burgess was benched Tahs scored 3 or 4 more, 2 of which belonged to Holmes himself. The one time this year that we have stuck it to the opposition and created some good gaps outside no. 10 was that game and majority came when Burgess was not on the field. If the Tahs want more performance similar to that one they need to start Holmes.
Oh and Horne can start at 13 and Anessi can bugger off back to NZ. Can he actually pass the ball, cause i don’t think i’ve seen it yet.