Presenting the 2010 Tri Nations awards
Roar Pro By stash, 15 Sep 2010 stash is a Roar Pro
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- All Blacks, Kurtley Beale, MVP awards, robbie deans, Rugby Union, Springboks, Tri Nations, wallabies
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The 2010 Tri Nations is over. The rugby on display was superb and the audience heartily satisfied by the spectacle.
With some exceptional performances and a fair dosage of nail-biting drama that a Hollywood writer would have struggled to script better, we now take a look back, pass judgment and take stock of the heroes and villains of the Tri Nations.
Best Kick – Kurtley Beale. He had no idea he was the kicker – he boosted Wallaby supporter morale and booted himself into the history books.
Best Line Break – Maa Nonu, whose one sock run was not only brilliant but led to a massive victory for the All Blacks.
Most poignant moment – A shattered and crushed John Smit on his knees.
Best blooper – Kurtly Beale’s 20 meter Falcon – pure comedy.
Best hero – Richie McCaw. The most caps in All Black history, tries, tackles and inspiration. Hated by many, cherished by New Zealand, McCaw is one of the finest ambassadors of the game. His paper mache school visit is worth YouTubing.
Best villain – Bakkies almost took this as did Giteau’s boot. And there was a fantastic eye gouge by a Wallaby on a Wallaby last Saturday. But Peter De Villiers wins this one after a long, hard fall from his high horse. You take the blue pill Peter- the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland .
Best actor award – Robbie Deans for his enthusiastic singing of the Australian anthem. That’s traitor talk Robbie. His other teary eyed performances in the after match interview were worth mentioning as well.
Worst missed yellow card – Jimmy Cowan backwards head butt into Bakkies Bothas forehead. Jimmy gets a free beer after the match and Bakkies goes to jail for a very long time.
Most overrated player – Giteau’s loss of form and the nauseous, endless headlines for Quade Cooper were close, as was Genia’s complacent work at halfback. But Cruden gets the cake for his very mediocre run on.
Best coach – 2010 the year that Graham smiled. After a battering by the Boks in 2009, Henry has well and truly lifted the game and his team to a new level.
Worst coach – PDV showcased off his lunacy with reds under the bed, vast conspiracies to take over the world and little black clad men from outer space filtered through his troubled mind and spurted out for all to see.
Whinger of the year – The Bok fans almost took this as a group award, but Rocky Elsom was downright embarrassing in his ill timed and ill conceived harassing of the refs. They are not liking him… and his bad loser after match speeches do the team an injustice.
Best player of the tournament – Richie was close, Pocock was there as was Juan Smith – but Israel Dagg is the dark horse that takes this closely contested battle for his simply breathtaking brilliant runs and tries. Remarkable for a sub.
Try of the tournament – goes to Israel Dagg for his 5 Boks can’t touch me, jaw dropping try that was admired with head shakes of disbelief by the Boks themselves.
Worst player of the tournament – Bryan Habana. From missed tackles, bad kicks, dropped balls, lousy positioning, 2010 was a nightmare for Habana who went from spectacular to being booed by his own crowd.
Team of the tournament – Wallabies grew, South Africa imploded. The All Blacks won every single match they played, racking up the most table points and the most points overall in the history of the Tri Nations. On top of that they have won the last 15 games in a row, scoring 51 tries to 15 with an average scoreline of 32-15.
Love them or despise them, they are the 2010 team of the tournament.
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- All Blacks, Kurtley Beale, MVP awards, robbie deans, Rugby Union, Springboks, Tri Nations, wallabies
September 15th 2010 @ 6:13am
The Grafter said | September 15th 2010 @ 6:13am | Report comment
Well written Stash.
I dont think however McCaw is yet the most capped All Black. That will come later this year when he (and Muliena) pass Sean Fitzpatricks 92 tests.
September 15th 2010 @ 8:11am
stash said | September 15th 2010 @ 8:11am | Report comment
Thanks Grafter – your right, that should be most capped captain…
September 15th 2010 @ 7:42am
Jadeous said | September 15th 2010 @ 7:42am | Report comment
Good article. Although Cruden can’t have picked the award from Giteau who is lucky not to have been dropped.
About time someone mentioned Elsoms sore loser speeches after the game. He is a terrible ambassador for the game and an even worse captain.
He is however, a sensational player and easily one of the Wallabies best!
He is a senior player and leads well by example, but he is no thinker or Captain.
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September 15th 2010 @ 8:31am
Darwin Stubby said | September 15th 2010 @ 8:31am | Report comment
Got to agree with this – surely time to get off Cruden’s back – go back and look at the tape of the game … what he did during play wasn’t too bad – sure some bum kick offs – but he cleaned up a fair amount of sh!t service, passed well when the brief opportunities arose and actually created the 2 best opportunites in the 1st half …. he was let down badly by those senior players around him and in particular a very stale AB forwards performance overall … sure a nervous debut in parts – but to lump him down is over-rated is poor analysis
September 15th 2010 @ 11:37am
Justin said | September 15th 2010 @ 11:37am | Report comment
I was staggered people were having a go at Genia. He killed Weepu IMO who was doing his best Gregan impersonation. I havent seen WGs tackle count but it would have been bloody high. Kicked well also and threw the last pass for 2Dads try.
September 15th 2010 @ 12:22pm
ohtani's jacket said | September 15th 2010 @ 12:22pm | Report comment
Weepu was poor up until the point where he usually comes on as a sub. He lifted his game a bit after that. Genia capped off an average Tri-Nations with another forgettable game. He doesn’t run anymore, his clearance is slow and his pass is disintegrating. Deans really ought to have started Burgess in Sydney.
September 15th 2010 @ 9:07pm
Justin said | September 15th 2010 @ 9:07pm | Report comment
OJ – you sound like most of the reactionaries on here!
While he didnt have a blinding series he was not nearly as poor as some are making out. Suddenly people seem to forget that Burgess is bl00dy awful and want him reinstated on the back of a good 15 minute cameo.
Another forgetable game – gee I would watch the tape again if I were you. The lack of pick n go in AUS tactics is a key I believe in both Cooper and Genia having quieter running games for AUS than QLD. The tactic from Deans is side to side without go forward on many occasions.
September 15th 2010 @ 9:21pm
ohtani's jacket said | September 15th 2010 @ 9:21pm | Report comment
Cooper had his best performance this season playing alongside Burgess. You’d think he deserved at least one start in a six-test Tri-Nations.
September 15th 2010 @ 9:39pm
JohnB said | September 15th 2010 @ 9:39pm | Report comment
To be fair to Elsom, his speech as a winner after the 3rd Boks test was appropriately gracious I thought.
September 15th 2010 @ 9:44pm
Seiran said | September 15th 2010 @ 9:44pm | Report comment
I agree with you OJ. I thought Genia should have been replaced with Burgess much sooner in many of the past tests when it was clear Genia wasn’t making an impact.
I think this season Burgess’ passing has improved markedly over last season.
September 16th 2010 @ 11:19am
Fog said | September 16th 2010 @ 11:19am | Report comment
Gee, I think Weepu (and Cowan) made far greater contirbutions to he winning of ket games than Genia did in both losses and wins. Weepu was superb as a runner and distributor in Wellington as well as kicking a great goal, probed and passed with excellence in the last minute win at Soweto and of course kicked the goals and marshalled he troops in the last 20 minutes on Saturday.
September 15th 2010 @ 9:05am
PastHisBest said | September 15th 2010 @ 9:05am | Report comment
“Try of the tournament – goes to Israel Dagg”
As a saffa mate of mine texted at the time – “A biblical try to Israel!”
September 15th 2010 @ 9:21am
Spiro Zavos said | September 15th 2010 @ 9:21am | Report comment
Who was the referee of the tournament? My vote goes to Wayne Barnes or Graig Joubert. Barnes has recovered from his unfortunate efforts in RWC 2007 to become a very good referee. Joubert has a feel for the occasion and clearly enjoys allowing the two teams to get on with playing expansive, skilful rugby.
September 15th 2010 @ 9:41am
Nerk said | September 15th 2010 @ 9:41am | Report comment
“Unfortunate efforts”? why? he did exactly what the Pakistani Bookies Cartel (PBC) told him to.
September 15th 2010 @ 10:38am
sixo_clock said | September 15th 2010 @ 10:38am | Report comment
Good question.
Never reffed a Rugby game but to be good at it has to be one of the most difficult things that we humans can concoct especially at this level.
All refs did a good job, were consistent, talked to the players etc. Well worth their plane tickets, hope they had fun.
September 15th 2010 @ 11:56am
Ai Rui Sheng said | September 15th 2010 @ 11:56am | Report comment
What about the ten minutes of mayhem brought about by WB late in the second half? He who could only see wong from the Wallabies and right from the Bokke. He almost overturned the famous win on the high veldt.
September 15th 2010 @ 11:59am
Ai Rui Sheng said | September 15th 2010 @ 11:59am | Report comment
What about the ten minutes of mayhem brought about by WB late in the second half? He who could only see wong from the Wallabies and right from the Bokke. He almost overturned the famous win on the high veldt.
PS I think that we should have mercy and halt the EOYT’s this year. To see the 3N teams beating the Opium Pushing Slave Traders, on consecutive weekends with ton-up scores, won’t be pretty.
September 16th 2010 @ 7:41am
pothale said | September 16th 2010 @ 7:41am | Report comment
Opium Pushing Slave Traders?? Is this Scotland or Wales – I can’t be sure.
September 15th 2010 @ 12:32pm
Brett McKay said | September 15th 2010 @ 12:32pm | Report comment
Barnes by a good distance, for mine, Spiro. Thought he did a brilliant job of those game sin SA.
Great article Stash – Eds, maybe we need to think about doing this properly next year, maybe based on popular vote from the Roarers??
September 15th 2010 @ 4:03pm
Mick Gold Coast QLD said | September 15th 2010 @ 4:03pm | Report comment
When Wayne Barnes was offered on eBay and had his Wikipedia profile instantly edited by All Black supporters (remember that? I kept a screen shot, it was Rolled Gold) I assumed we’d never hear of him again, locked up in some cold, dark cellar in Invercargill owned by the winning bidder.
He did do well in his recent outings.
September 15th 2010 @ 4:36pm
PastHisBest said | September 15th 2010 @ 4:36pm | Report comment
Oh mate, put it somewhere and send us a link. Missed it, love to see it.
September 15th 2010 @ 9:35am
ohtani's jacket said | September 15th 2010 @ 9:35am | Report comment
Richie McCaw was the best player of the tournament, I thought, with Kurtley Beale being the best new or emerging player. The unsung hero award goes to Kevin Mealamu.
September 15th 2010 @ 11:51am
Nathan said | September 15th 2010 @ 11:51am | Report comment
Agree.
September 15th 2010 @ 10:00am
sid said | September 15th 2010 @ 10:00am | Report comment
There is a joke on the comeback trail – ” If John O’Neil played rugby , he would never be able to score under the posts as his head is too big!!!!! ”
He gets my whinger of the year. Fancy a CEO carrying on like a spoilt brat and whinging about referrees . I pose these questions (and my answers as well)
Did Mark Lawrence show any bias towards the ABs on Sat night? Absolutely NOT
Did some of ML’s decisions favour the ABs? Absolutely (as some favoured the Wallabies)
This was true right throughout the TNs. So can we get off the bandwagon of “the referees cost us the game” and as for the comments re Matt Giteau costing the game – what a load of cow dung!!!! Who is to know that if Matt had converted one of his missed kicks that the response from the ABs would have been diferrent than what it was!! The facts were that the ABs changed their whole approach when Kaino and Slade came on, got their hands on the ball, maintained it and ran down a tiring Wallaby side.And hey the Wallabies still had enough time to come back but they just weren’t good enough on the day.
So please Wallaby supporters- build a bridge AND GET OVER IT!!!!!!
September 15th 2010 @ 10:53am
EP - Rugbywits said | September 15th 2010 @ 10:53am | Report comment
Agree with you re the refs.
However I only agree with you on half of what you said about Giteau and the kicking.
The point is if you have a chance to get in front in a match you need to take it.
Yes, NZ might have fought back harder but you dont know that. Its just about executing the skill to the level required of international rugby. If you have a kick to get in front you need to nail it. I’d like to submit article 1 – Morne Steyn. Average at best passer. Decent but actually not brilliant midfield kicker. But place kicking alone walks him into nearly every world side let alone the Wallabies. He executes a vital skill under pressure nearly every time.
Having said that I agree that the missed kicks arent the only reasons we didnt win the game. We just couldnt come up with an answer to the All Blacks finishing surge.
The All Blacks have this kick at the end of a gruelling match that is hard to counter. They are like Haile Gebrselassie the long distance track running genuis. He could run fast with the best of them over any distance, but if you were tough enough to be there at the end he would blow you away with a devestating kick at the end of the race. He won the 10,000m 2000 Sydney Olympics gold medal (becoming one of only a few to defend that olympic title) by beating out someone over the last 200m in a sprint that timed 25.4sec! After going almost 10k he hammers that out over the last 200, astonishing.
I think that is a small picture of what it must be like trying to hang in there with the all blacks over the last 10mins of a brutal test match.
September 15th 2010 @ 9:46pm
JohnB said | September 15th 2010 @ 9:46pm | Report comment
The other thing about missed kicks (penalties anyway) is that the game would have been different afterwards if the kick had gone over. Without getting too sliding doors about it, instead of re-starting with a 22, it would restart with a kick-off from the half way. Even discounting the score being different changes the approach and the attitude element, you cannot assume that what in fact happened after the 22 would have happened after the kick-off.
September 15th 2010 @ 10:06am
Gary Russell-Sharam said | September 15th 2010 @ 10:06am | Report comment
Well said O’S Jacket I agree. Kevin Mealamu would have to be on, current form the best hooker running around at the moment. I also agree that Cruden failed to impress He needs to have a season or so at Super Rugby to get some experience. Colin Slade was sooo much better. I would predict that Slade will be the next All Black fly half after Carter departs post world cup. I’ve been saying this for the last two years. Genia at halfback for the Wallabies is looking more like George Gregan every test match he does that little few steps every time he picks up the ball these days. Where is that electric pass from the base of the ruck that he brought to test rugby when he first played??? Elsom needs to be educated to speak, his poor looser style does not impress me or most of the people I talk to. Pocock might be the answer seeing as how Deans prefers forwards to be captain. Giteau should have been benched 4 test matchs ago. Barnes should have been starting with Giteau coming on like Barnes wasn’t (should have been). Richie McCaw was the player of the tournament, although Dagg was impressive if only for the try. The best Falcon of the year or for that matter many years “Beale”.
September 15th 2010 @ 10:13am
Jiggles said | September 15th 2010 @ 10:13am | Report comment
can we merge the NZ back three into 1 for player of the torurnament?
they worked so well as a unit. Read & Kaino had break out seasons
September 15th 2010 @ 10:44am
SamSport said | September 15th 2010 @ 10:44am | Report comment
I have a couple of comments. Think the best kick should be split into place-kick for Beale, and other for either Jane’s awesome kick to set up Muliana’s try in Melbourne, or Matfield’s chip-kick. As for over-rated, you need both hype + under-performance, and as Cooper easily won on hype I’d give it to him – he can thank the contract negotiations and the Aussie media for that one. Player of the tournament has to go to McCaw though – can’t believe some were saying openside flankers would be an endangered species at the beginning of the Super 14!
September 15th 2010 @ 12:14pm
Spectron said | September 15th 2010 @ 12:14pm | Report comment
Mattfield’s kick was spectacular, extra points for being a second rower whos team was under pressure at that point and extra points for regathering his own kick.