Memo to Fiji: God helps fit players
Columnist By Spiro Zavos, 7 Jun 2010 Spiro Zavos is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Canberra, Fiji, Rugby Union, Rupeni Caucaunibuca, wallabies
Before the Australia – Fiji Test at Canberra, won 49 -3 by the Wallabies, the former super star Rupeni Caucaunibuca claimed that his side’s religious beliefs would help to defeat the Wallabies. ‘The thing we believe in is someone will play with us on Saturday night and that is God,’ he told reporters.
There is a coaches’ saying of the fabled Notre Dame gridiron side: ‘Prayers work best when players are big.’
PC readers should shut their eyes now for the next couple of sentences. The evidence from Canberra is that there is a difference between big and fat. Caucaunibuca was billed at 112 kgs but this must have been with one foot on the scales.
He rumbled into tackles using his head as a sort of slow-motion battering ram. When he did get the ball in his hand he preferred to kick it rather than run with it. He was an over-sized shadow of one of rugby’s greatest ball runners.
Caucaunibuca, in fact, was a metaphor for the disappointing Fijian side.
Although they got only a third of the possession of the Wallabies, the Fijians kicked seventeen times in the first half (the Wallabies, thankfully, only six times). There were only glimpses of the wonderful, spirited running that almost got the side in the semi-finals of the 2007 Rugby World Cup tournament.
During the commentary Greg Clarke, a mine of statistics, noted that Fiji had 68 players in France and 48 in the UK. This may explain the dour northern hemisphere style they adopted.
Fiji were very good at the break-down where they exposed the Wallaby forwards who stood off from the ruck. The scrum, ballasted by a monster pack with the props featuring 24-pack stomachs, was steady.
But the Fijian lineout was abysmal. In fact, the major source of ball for the Wallabies in the first half before they got their fluency working in the second half was ball won from Fijian lineout throws.
On a dewy field and a bitterly cold night, the attritional play of the Fijians, especially in the opening 20 minutes when numb hands made the slippery ball almost impossible to hang on to, exposed the Wallabies when kick and rush tactics were adopted.
In the second half there was more coherency between the Wallaby backs and forwards. The ball came out of the rucks and mauls more quickly. And Quade Cooper and Matt Giteau got their ensemble, quick-passing game in sync. In the end, seven tries by the Wallabies all converted (is this a record?) to a single penalty goal was a fair indication of the difference between the two tries.
Here are some other impressions from the Test.
Nathan Sharpe, a player I have criticised in the past, played an extremely strong game. I feel, too, that Dean Mumm seems to play ‘too small’ to be a dominating second-rower, rather than a flanker or number 8, in Test rugby.
The loss of Ben Alexander, along with Benn Robinson, will expose the Wallaby scrum to a stern test against England next weekend. Alexander, like Robinson, is a strong, skillful ball runner and the Wallaby pack without these two bookends lacks a certain muscularity with its driving play.
Luke Burgess? Suffice to say that Robbie Deans apparently spent time with this player before the Test trying to improve his passing …
Quade Cooper looks up to becoming a forceful, game-changing number 10. The Wallaby tactics of passing in-field, against the flow, worked beautifully mainly because Cooper has such quick, soft hands when making these difficult passes.
Rob Horne is a class centre and every bit a Test match player. It’s a pity about his (smallish) size. But he plays big in comparison to some of the Fijian backs who were big (no names, no pack drill) but actually played so small they disappeared from play.
After a shaky (nervy?) start, Kurtley Beale revelled in the chances coming from running off Cooper. This combination, along with Digby Ioane doing the same thing, is going to cause some havoc against even strong defences this season.
It was impossible, and probably undesirable, for the Wallabies to bring their number one game to Canberra in their first outing of the season. The commentators tended to opine that England would not be worrying with what they saw against Fiji.
But this presumes that the Wallabies won’t improve. I believe they will.
Provided the scrum holds up with the starting props both out, I would expect the Wallabies to be too quick, slick and opportunistic for England at Perth on Saturday night.
Prayers might well work well when players are big. They also work well when players are fast, and this is a quick Wallaby side.
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June 7th 2010 @ 10:56am
bennalong said | June 7th 2010 @ 10:56am | Report comment
Spiro
I’m disappointed at this small morsel on Burgess after you provoked another barrow load of bizarre invective against him last edition.
Perhaps you squirmed a little at Greg Martin’s unpalatable bagging of a likable young man who is improving despite the brick bats and gives his all on the field ball-in hand and in defence
I’m pleased that the mean-spirited pars have dropped off in number, whilst many persist with a mumbling sound of a little humble pie reducing the volume of their criticisms
Luke Burgess is a number 2 now and it should have given him relief from hate mail There’s more to 7 than robotic passing and the options he takes in attack keep the opposition guessing and give his 10 time.
I too will be pleased to see Genia back, but in part because I can still read the Roar without the cringe-worthy attacks. If he’s injured in future – and I hope he’s as bullet proof as George – I’m confident Deans will persist with Burgess.
June 7th 2010 @ 12:48pm
Short-Blind. said | June 7th 2010 @ 12:48pm | Report comment
Benny where did you play your rugby at? probably in the front row because if you were ever a 9/10 (or any back) you would know that Burgess, whilst a nice bloke, good team man, solid defender etc just cannot consistently pass and give his side momentum like a top class 9 is supposed to. He manages to do it occasionally in spits and spurts however too frequently on Sat night Cooper’s momentum was stopped by having to decelerate or to reach behind or down at his boot laces to recover a poor Burgess pass…those split seconds are the difference at international level for the 10 to take advantage of the defensive line. Also when you know (by anticipation) that your halfback is going to put it into your breadbasket out front as you sprint forward a whole new confidence and dimension appears in your game. Genia and Cooper showed this for the reds this year. So, whilst Martin’s embarrassing and ill-timed attack on Burgess on Sat showed no class or tact – what he actually was saying was spot on. You would do well to reconcile this blind spot in your rugby brain and hope, pray that Deans brings on one of the young half backs to back up Genia AND sends Burgess back to club land to learn to pass with the promise of another crack when he does. The backline on Sat night will absolutely explode when Genia is directing it and/if the forwards give them decent front foot ball. England watch out!
June 7th 2010 @ 2:01pm
Chuck said | June 7th 2010 @ 2:01pm | Report comment
Just hope if Genia has a shocker like his Hurricanes game this year that he won’t be similarly made the scapegoat of all Roar venom when the Wallabies lose – maybe he can get a copy of giteau’s free pass in the media to prevent such an occurence (like when he missed 4 goals and we lose by 3 but it is Burgess’s fault)
June 7th 2010 @ 4:32pm
Rugbywits said | June 7th 2010 @ 4:32pm | Report comment
There is a halfback playing the under-20s world cup at the moment that has signed with the Melb Rebels I think.
Its possible that he may get to go on the end of season tour with the Wallabies this year i think. And itll be good for him to compete with Cordingley at Melbourne next year and possibly be part of the Tri nations squad then too. Hopefully he copmes on in a similar way to Genia.
June 7th 2010 @ 4:50pm
Spencer said | June 7th 2010 @ 4:50pm | Report comment
You didn’t watch the Hurricanes v Reds match.
June 7th 2010 @ 5:44pm
Short-Blind. said | June 7th 2010 @ 5:44pm | Report comment
Chuck how does this relate to Burgess’s inability to consistently pass well at international standard? Hey Genia had one bad passing game vs the Hurricanes, compare that to the number of poor passing games Burgess has had. Light years gents. I like Burgess and want him to succeed but to keep him in the Wallaby 30 without remedial passing training/development does both him and the Wallabies a disservice. Deans is losing me on this one.
June 7th 2010 @ 11:20am
Go_the_Wannabe's said | June 7th 2010 @ 11:20am | Report comment
Burgess might be a likeable young man but he is so far off his game (that he originally brought to the table) that it’s not funny.
I wonder how he survives? It must be a political thing. The NSW heavy’s have come over the top and maybe said “You won’t pick our light weight captain so Burgo has to be in!” (veiled threat etc).
Burgo just needs to go back to club land and try to regain that scintillating form he started with. Or was that just an aberration?
Now I’m not being prejudiced, but for one example, watch any of Sheehans games this year. Far ahead of what Burgo brought. on the night
So what has Sheehan done wrong? Again, its probably political.
Oh wouldn’t it be nice to pick an apolitical team! (will never happen of course).
June 7th 2010 @ 10:11pm
Dan said | June 7th 2010 @ 10:11pm | Report comment
Yeah, or it could have something to do with the fact that outside of Genia we actually don’t have any half backs that are even close to world class. All the others have only one or two things they’re good at. In the case of Burgess, he’s a solid defender and a good line running sniping half back. His passes suck, but maybe Robbie likes half backs who threaten the line? Who knows, but claiming its political is rubbish – otherwise how did Genia ever get first choice? He’s better, that’s how, and that’s how it works.
June 8th 2010 @ 9:52am
Go_the_Wannabe's said | June 8th 2010 @ 9:52am | Report comment
You’re trying to tell me there’s no politics in the selections? With all the history between NSW and Qld?
You’re from La La land my son!
June 8th 2010 @ 10:00am
JK said | June 8th 2010 @ 10:00am | Report comment
Yeh and while NSW and Qld are fighting, six Brumbies sneak into the test team, how on earth did that happen?
June 7th 2010 @ 11:36am
bennalong said | June 7th 2010 @ 11:36am | Report comment
Positives from the game.
Cooper is looking calm, cool and confident and the baggers have dropped off to nil.
His work with Beale (another survivor of ‘the Roar’ bitter and twisted) in such a short time gives a taste of exciting possibilities and I expect, with time, he’ll work out ways to use the other fantastic and varied talents in our cracker backline. We have our 10!
A young Horne handled everything in front of him despite the fact that he was playing his first test, and I expect him to grow into the position, literally and figuratively!
I’ve been plumping for Barnes at 12, principally as a steadying factor and tactical kicker, but Gits looked relaxed and relieved to have finally ended the 10 experiment. It remains to be seen how the pair handle a strong attack but their first outing was OK and Barnes might find it difficult to break back in. (Wednesday night is his first chance)
The forewards were good in the set pieces and Mumm partnered Sharpe well in the lineouts. Like Horne he’ll grow and his selection as captain in the mid week game last tour shows he’s chosen for qualities that suggest a future leader and may not be seen by fans for a little while yet.
Ben Alexander’s loss is not really a problem for the scrum in comparison to Ben Robinson, but the scrum remains a question mark against England. His loose work (scoring tries) will be missed and I hope he responds to treatment quickly. I like Edmonds and his throwing was faultless. Polotenau will get the nod when he’s fit for his bulk and athleticism but in the meantime his replacement will do the job
Rocky had a solid game and talked insistently and positively to the ref. Could be a good year as Captain
June 7th 2010 @ 2:20pm
drop kick said | June 7th 2010 @ 2:20pm | Report comment
Not sure that it was much of a test of Cooper and Giteau combo when the opposition was pretty poor. Lets see how they go against some strong opposition. Cooper had a good game but Gits didn’t shine. (BTW why were Fiji targetting him so clearly? Did he say something wrong!)
I think Barnes will be back by tri-nations time.
June 7th 2010 @ 11:48am
Republican said | June 7th 2010 @ 11:48am | Report comment
The Union fraternity have been dwindling for years in Canberra and for good reason too. To put some perspective on this however, it is an observed trend of the code throughout Australia and NZ over recent years I believe.
The Test was hardly an attractive incentive in being a crowd magnet, however I do believe Canberra have done their dash in respect of any future Test Rugby coming to town. I wish to reiterrate that the Swannies V Bulldogs AFL game attracted as many punters as this international fixture and is up there with League and Union home capacities. That this is so from two sides NOT at all affiliated with the Nations Capital, reinforces the notion that there is huge potential for Australian Footy to dominate this region at the elite level, if the AFL were to ever afford Canberra it’s own brand.
June 7th 2010 @ 2:52pm
Chris said | June 7th 2010 @ 2:52pm | Report comment
I live in Canberra and I am yet too meet anyone outside of Victorian Public servants who only live in Canberra temporarily who actually give a toss about AFL. All the Victorians who come here leave in a matter of years anyway and as they already have their own teams – so they would be pretty useless in terms of building an AFL team around.
Every long term Canberran I have ever meet cares only for Rugby or NRL.
June 7th 2010 @ 3:14pm
Brett McKay said | June 7th 2010 @ 3:14pm | Report comment
there’s some nice generalisations Chris…
June 7th 2010 @ 4:55pm
Spencer said | June 7th 2010 @ 4:55pm | Report comment
Only one generalization actually Brett. …”All the Victorians who come here leave in a matter of years anyway and as they already have their own teams”.
The others are statements based on the authors experiences.
June 7th 2010 @ 4:50pm
Dan said | June 7th 2010 @ 4:50pm | Report comment
I think you’re having trouble understanding the nature of the events… A Swans V Bulldogs match is not a foregone conclusion. Put it this way, if they had Geelong playing a reserve grade Melbourne Demons side as a warm up match, how many people do you think would tern up. Canberrans turn up in pretty solid numbers very consistently for the Brumbies and the fact that a glorified training run didn’t sell out on the weekend is no indication of Rugby weakening in Canberra. You could try to start an AFL team down here, but the lack of a solid organic AFL community makes such a decision questionable. You have to remember that Canberra only has about 300,000 people and half of them come from out of town. I’m one such person and most of my friends down here are also from other parts of the country and the thing that characterises our sporting tastes is that we’ve taken our home allegiances with us. I like the Brumbies, but I’m a waratahs supporter and wouldn’t go out of my way to watch too many brumbies games unless they were blockbusters. The same thing would happen with an AFL side if one were established here. Most people would like AFL would be from Victoria and already have their colours sown deep, and any attendance to the local side’s matches would depend on their teams participation or it being a high billing match.
June 7th 2010 @ 11:49am
Who Needs Melon said | June 7th 2010 @ 11:49am | Report comment
Key words: “Provided the scrum holds up”.
And bennelong get with the program. We all love Beale again this week. Never said a bad word about him, did we?!?
June 7th 2010 @ 5:17pm
bennalong said | June 7th 2010 @ 5:17pm | Report comment
That yellow smile gives me goose bumps Melon.
Is there a Simpsons reference I’m missing?
June 7th 2010 @ 12:21pm
Penfold said | June 7th 2010 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
Rumor has it this morning that Brumbies were interested in Caucau.. Did anybody else hear this and just for my curiosity is this interest to cover for Ben Alexander in case the injury is worst than first expected… What amazed me even more was that one of the commentators said that he’d lost 7 kgs in the last two weeks.
He’s a far cry from the 2003 world cup. I remember him absolutely smoking the entire Scottish backline. He was unbelievable no just unbelievably rotund.
June 7th 2010 @ 1:35pm
adam said | June 7th 2010 @ 1:35pm | Report comment
dont know if its a kicking record i know percy and morne steyn r great with the boot
June 7th 2010 @ 3:47pm
Republican said | June 7th 2010 @ 3:47pm | Report comment
Chris
You clearly live in a time warp or ground hog day from the 50′s mate.
I am a product of that wave of Vic families who came to the nations capital and who without exception, stayed and made this town what it is today, while Sydney people stayed away, deriding it as they continue to do today.
This laid a foundation for the Indig code to flourish and this has never really waned, except to say that the AFL have outgrown this small demographic which has been to the respective rugby codes advantage.
I think you will find Canberra is full of blow ins from all over the nation. You shouild also know that Aust Footy existed along time before these sorts of migratory influnces shaped it and it was played as far north as the Qld border in the early 1900′s.
Australian Footy has a very sound grassroots here, played in every govy school in the Territory and was always of equal status with the rugby codes and certainly stronger than League and on a par with Union in the years I grew up here.
The ACT represenative honour list to elite AFL clubs over the years is as significant if not more so than either rugby code which is a testament to the pedigree and status of the game here.
As I already said, that the Swans v WB can attract 14.5k, turning punters away from Manuka Oval due to capacity resrictions while the so called local teams of the Raiders and Brumbies struggle to get that week in week out and the Walllabies derive very little interest here it would seem, the indig game is a real threat to dominate given half a cahnce.
June 7th 2010 @ 5:13pm
Dan said | June 7th 2010 @ 5:13pm | Report comment
“The ACT represenative honour list to elite AFL clubs over the years is as significant if not more so than either rugby code which is a testament to the pedigree and status of the game here.”
Not sure about that… the brumbies players more or less formed the core of Australia’s “golden era” in which the wallabies won every international trophy on offer – including the World Cup and our first ever series defeat of the British and Irish Lions after failures that stretch back a century.. THAT’S an honour list that the AFL players this city has produced has no hope of matching.
June 7th 2010 @ 9:02pm
Republican said | June 7th 2010 @ 9:02pm | Report comment
Dan
I am fully aware of the ACT cred as far as Union goes. I attended SEC and that Union Nurseries honour board in respect of Aust Schools alone, is second only to St Joeys in this country. Interestingly enough, about five of the first XV in the era when I attended SEC were Australian footy players who went onto represent ACT Schools in Union. They had to play Union as it was compulsory at our College if you showed any sort of promise in that respect. SEC were also ironically the first school in Canberra to sport an AFL club which took some players away from the entrenched club system.
Those ‘golden days’ as you like to put it are gone and the two College nurseries that have traditionally kept the ACT punching above it’s Union weight, are no longer producing stock of that calibre, i.e SEC and Marist College Pearce. Certainly Darra and Grammar also produced some fine players in the early years, Phiilip College doing their bit for a time as well, late 70′s early eighties I believe.
The main point I am trying to make in countering Chris’s rather ignorant sweeping statement re Australian Footy in the Territory is that it has always been of equal or higher status than either rugby code in this city, Jezza attending SEC as well by the way.
An honour list does exist of ACT bred players somewhere, who have gone onto play for AFL clubs which may surprise some. This has been presented on ROAR in the past but all I wish to presently state is that the support for the Indig code here is way more influential than those of Chris’s persuasion would like to admit and has naught to do with it not being represented at the elite level. It is also a myth that the Indig code is merely a Victorian supported code however the ACT is closer to Victoria than most parts of NSW and more influenced culturally as it happens.
I would also hasten to say that just because the Rugby codes DO have an elite branding in Canberra does not necessarily mean that this is representative of the state of play at respective grassroots, which should never be underestimated. Elite Australian Football would be better patronized than either rugby code in the ACT and surrounding district given the opportunity in my opinion but alas, the AFL has simply outgrown this commercially insignificant demographic.
June 7th 2010 @ 10:16pm
Dan said | June 7th 2010 @ 10:16pm | Report comment
The AFL are great at getting involved with the community and have really been building on their grass roots growth – something they should be commended for. But it still doesn’t change the fact that Canberra is still culturally more NSW than it is Victorian and that because of this Rugby codes will likely have a strong following for some time. I’ve only been down here for a year, but I’ve already noticed that my place of work has a Super 14 tipping comp and an NRL tipping comp, but no AFL one. I’m sure that’s not universally true, but it does indicate that their is a cultural preference for rugby codes here. It’s a little like how soccer has great grass roots presence everywhere, but that fact alone doesn’t translate into much support for the A-League in a lot of places.
June 7th 2010 @ 10:01pm
Beaver Fever said | June 7th 2010 @ 10:01pm | Report comment
http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/australian_capital_territory.htm
AFL ACT team of the century.
Pleae note , Jezza is not in there as he was born in the Ukraine, these players are oonly Canberra/Quenbeyan BORN.
IMO Jezza is from Canberra though.
Guess you could throw in Craig Bolton from the Swans as well, St Eddies or Marist boy .. can’t remember which.