Australia’s 2012 Super Rugby postmortem
Roar Pro By Sluggy, 26 Jul 2012 Sluggy is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- Brumbies, Force, Rebels, Reds, Super Rugby, Super Rugby 2012, Waratahs
Related coverage
Let’s take a short (and subjective) look at how Australia’s Super Rugby teams went in 2012.
Waratahs
As a long-term and long-suffering Waratahs fan, one becomes inured to failure, year after year. I have little remaining hair, my enamel is worn from grinding, my throat hoarse from expletives. It all feels familiar.
The Waratahs started the year by losing Kurtley Beale to the Rebels and swapping Ben Mowen for a seriously injured Rocky Elsom. They continued it by constantly employing the box kick to throw away such hard-won possession as they had. If it didn’t go out on the full, it went straight to a defender.
It became so disheartening that one Saturday evening I sat in the Dolphin watching it on the TV because I couldn’t be bothered walking to the SFS. It wasn’t raining, or particularly cold, but the thought of queueing up endlessly for overpriced flat beer and a cold pie to accompany the dross the Waratahs were serving up was too much to bear.
And don’t get me started on the RSA stuff. How many beers have you had sir? None actually, I’ve been in the queue for 42 minutes. I ended up standing outside the pub with the doorman watching it through the window. Our shared, abject, disbelief was testament to the incompetence the Waratahs displayed that night.
Only a complete clean-out of management and coaching, along with some of the playing group, can fix this mess. For a team boasting so many Wallabies they are making a hash of it. Unfortunately the board has retained the coaching staff – here’s hoping they have learned some hard lessons.
Rebels
The rockstar backline – a Wallaby-capped halfback serving it up to the likes of Cipriani, JOC, Beale, and league recruit Cooper Vuna. A workmanlike pack ably led by Welshman Gareth Delve. The venerable Sir Sterling to lead his young charges forward and make their mark in season two. So what happened?
Well, not a lot, actually. Sir Sterling was mostly crocked. About halfway through the season someone woke up and realised Cips is a worse tackler than Quade Cooper (sad but true) and wasn’t going to do anything other than stand deep in the pocket and boot the leather off it.
His early release was a bit of a turning point, especially because KB had a run in the 10 shirt and demonstrated (as he did in Christchurch playing for the ‘tahs in 2008) that there is at least a faint possibility that he should be the Wallaby 10 as well.
A couple of high-table scalps or near scalps were seized. If only the Rebels management could grab some good Pumas players (read props) to fill a couple of their extended foreign quota, they might start to go well. I think they got the wrong Cooper though – is Cooper Cronk’s NRL contract up yet?
Force
Is it just my impression, or did the Rebels take the Force off everyone’s radar? The only Force players you immediately remember are David Pocock and Nathan Charles, the former for sublime breakdown work, the latter for the triumph of mind over matter. Nathan Sharpe has retired. Do they have any backs?
In fairness, on googling the player bios I recognised a few others – McCalman, Stannard, Holmes, Mafi, Ma’afu, Cowan, Brown. Mostly because they played for the Wallabies, or perhaps Eastwood or Sydney University, at some point. They have not been the same since Firepower, and their high-paid imports followed the money elsewhere.
Yet watching them play wasn’t so bad. They had a crack, even at the finals-bound Crusaders. At least they didn’t box kick all day. They seem to have slipped since that heady evening of their first home win at Subiaco. Another team which the ARU should allow to bring in a couple of Puma players, probably in the backs in this instance.
Brumbies
Goodbye player power, hello the firm guiding hand of Jake White. A bunch of no-names who faltered at the last hurdle and lost their finals spot. A bunch with both of their first-choice five-eighths out with long-term injuries for much of the season. At 13, Andrew Smith: seven ft tall, 130 muscular kilograms, runs the hundred metres in 10.1 seconds in rugby boots (OK, I’m exaggerating).
They gave explicit lessons that the Waratahs should note, about training and about a game plan that does not involve kicking to the other side. And one about swapping an injured veteran for a good young player who may well feature in the Wallaby back row soon.
I had a feeling bringing in a coach about my age (25 years older than the players) was a good idea. People respond to smart leadership, and the man has the runs on the board. The Brumbies played above expectations this season. They have a young squad, they are being well coached and developed, and to the outsider it seems like the player versus coach squabbles of the past (going back to David Nucifora) have departed with the ‘senior player leadership group’.
Sorry, but I’m a fan of what the late Sir Henry Bolte once said – you are put in charge to make decisions and lead people, not to persuade them to agree with you.
Reds
The defending champions’ season was severely disrupted by injury in the early going. At one stage I recall them missing their top three five-eighths. I can’t remember the name of the young chappie they called in mid-season, but have a vague recollection he was injured too.
Yet, despite the horror start, Link got them going when the injured returned to action, they won several on the trot, pinched the conference quarter-final berth… and choked. No whining about referee Kaplan here, I’ll leave that to other contributors. No whining about losing Big Kev to yet another long-term injury at the business end.
Probably the best Australian team this year and deserved to top the conference, and would have finished well ahead of the Ponies if not for the wounded list. Funny thing is they did better against the Sharks in Durban early in the season with several key players crocked than they did at Suncorp with most of their first-pick team.
They certainly as a group had final experience; Genia was immense; Higginbotham played a bit wide for my personal liking, but if that’s the team game plan, so be it. The Sharks looked hungrier, the ball bounced their way (more than once) and that was that.
What I liked was how annoyed Genia, and as I saw it, Digby, were at the end. The Reds are going to shred a few teams next year, and hopefully that will flow through to the Wallabies against the Lions. As for Quade Cooper missing the quarter-final, anyone else find it ironic he was suspended for finally making a tackle?
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- Brumbies, Force, Rebels, Reds, Super Rugby, Super Rugby 2012, Waratahs
July 26th 2012 @ 2:17am
biltongbek said | July 26th 2012 @ 2:17am | Report comment
Sluggy I suppose it is easier to pick the negatives out of a season than the positives.
Last year the Reds won the trophy and perhaps the reason why the Australian conference avoided in depth scrutiny, what also helped was the fact that the Waratahs made it 2 teams each per country into the play offs and hence there seemed no need for further scrutiny.
Some facts of last year’s round robin results:
The Waratahs made the play offs by virtue of winning 7/8 conference matches which porovided them 33 of their 49 log points (ignoring the bye points) they only won 3 of their cross conference wins, their wins coming from the Lions away, Bulls at home and Higlanders away.
But even the Force had three cross conference wins last year.
I think Australian fans are over reacting. It has only been 2 years since Australia have had 5 teams in the Super XV and spreading the star players around from four to five teams was a mistake. What sense did it make to send Beale and O’Connor to the Rebels?
In my view If The ARU concentrated on keeping the stars collected between 4 Franchises and used the Rebels as their development Franchise not only the results but the competitiveness within the conference would have been better.
If the Rebels lose most of their matches then so be it, but it would provide better opportunities to the other four Franchises.
NZ has 4 teams that compete in their Conference, SA has three, in Australia there has been a clear seperation between the top two and the other three.
Will it not be to Australia’s benefit to make three teams as strong as possible, then the overflow goes to the Force and the Rebels are the development Franchise?
July 26th 2012 @ 10:30am
Harry said | July 26th 2012 @ 10:30am | Report comment
A very good suggestion, when allied with the fact that the rugby infrastructure in the Rebs and Force’s home states of WA and Victoria is feeble to non-existent … NOT helped by the scndalous lack of support/investment from the ARU in growing the game, particuarly in WA.
I know this won’t happen, but:
I’d like to see the Force and Rebels amalgamate and split their home games between Melbourne and Perth.
At the same time I’d like to see the Super Rugby competition revert to 14 teams with everyone playing each other once, and the competition concluded by the end of May, or early June.
This would allow SA and NZ to run their strong and tradional domestic competitions in the 2nd half of the season while the Rugby Championship is on. And Australia could reinstitute the outstandingly successful (for player development) Australian rugby championship that ran for one season in 2007.
July 26th 2012 @ 6:04pm
Justin2 said | July 26th 2012 @ 6:04pm | Report comment
Great way to grow the game outisde NSW/QLD – “you guys in Melbourne and Perth are getting the sh#t, good luck”
Brilliant, just brilliant.
July 27th 2012 @ 3:27pm
Sluggy said | July 27th 2012 @ 3:27pm | Report comment
“I suppose it is easier to pick the negatives out of a season than the positives.”
Bear in mind this was a concise and admittedly subjective summary – intended to capture the multi-level disappointment of a suffering Australian rugby fan, and more particularly a Waratahs follower who was hoping for a bit of vicarious joy via the Reds. A bit of a Joycean stream of consciousness. As for how you turn it around next year….
The Reds and Brumbies ought to do better, simply because of the injuries and inexperience this year. The Waratahs could hardly do worse but the clean out hasn’t come, at least not yet (Is Foley going to the Force or not?).
The real problem is improving the competitiveness of the Force and Rebels, Sitting back and hoping for the best, and some young players to come through, won’t do it. Hence my suggestion that some of the import spots should be used to get some Puma players into Superugby – a development which over the short term will help both the ARU & UAR in general terms.
July 26th 2012 @ 2:24am
biltongbek said | July 26th 2012 @ 2:24am | Report comment
I don’t think the blame can solely be aimed at coaches and game plans, if you don’t have the players, execution will most likely fail, recruiment outside of Australia is probably the short term solution, but grass roots development the long term aim.
I know the Rebels could start with a higher number of foreign players, but then it isn’ to the conference’s benefit if they recruit stars from other franchises which inevitably weakens them.
The benefit SA has with the Lions and Cheetahs, is the cheetahs is a goldmine for talent for the other franchises, and well the Lions are just, well poor.
This allows us to have three competitive teams, the Cheetahs who does remarkably well eith their new talent in cross conference matches, and one throw away team.
July 26th 2012 @ 12:29pm
Carnivean said | July 26th 2012 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
It is their poaching of top players (JOC, Beale, Higginbotham) that has lead, as is leading, to the weakening of the other 4 provinces. They should be using their 10 imports until there is more local talent to spread around, or perhaps lending some of those 10 spots to the Force.
I disagree with your point about hoarding our players in 3 teams though. That is happening in SA, and the Lions and Cheetahs are usually in the same places on the ladder as the bottom 2 Aussie teams. The Lions in particular are the weakest team in Super Rugby, and have been for years. They are an almost guaranteed 5 points for most teams.
I would rather a more level playing field in terms of player access, and have coaching and teamwork be the determining factors, than have a few stacked teams (Crusdaers, Bulls, Stormers, Tahs(?)) sit on a bunch of top line players as reserves. The more I hear about the NZRU’s overview of their teams, the more I like it.
July 26th 2012 @ 12:40pm
Jutsie said | July 26th 2012 @ 12:40pm | Report comment
I think poaching 3 big names over 2 seasons is no worse than the tahs poaching guys like mitchell, hooper, barnes etc or the brumbies poaching moore.
Thats part and parcel with professional sports, and well managed teams (like the reds) should be able to cope with the loss of a player or two each year by recruiting and developing young talent.
The 10 import rule was only brought in to stop a repeat of the force debacle where they ripped out core group of reds players in their first season which left the reds in bad shape for a number of years.
However I am glad that the rebels are picking less and less imports as the whole reason of expansion was to build depth in aus rugby.
Agree however that they should forfeit any unused imports to the force who just need to put a competitive team out at this stage.
July 26th 2012 @ 1:47pm
Carnivean said | July 26th 2012 @ 1:47pm | Report comment
I’m not against their having signed those players, when taken out of context.
Put in the context of “here’s 10 imports you can buy, so that you don’t raid the other 4 provinces”, their doing so was wrong. They should be looking outside Australia, or moving the import quota on.
July 26th 2012 @ 6:06pm
Justin2 said | July 26th 2012 @ 6:06pm | Report comment
Problem is many of the imports are second rate and wont come down here for a reduced wage so its a moot point. The others were not sustainable over the long term and the Rebels would have gone to the wall paying guys like Cips there massive salaries…
July 27th 2012 @ 4:04pm
Carnivean said | July 27th 2012 @ 4:04pm | Report comment
That’s sloppy recruiting then, and not a flaw of the import quota.
July 27th 2012 @ 4:13pm
Jutsie said | July 27th 2012 @ 4:13pm | Report comment
Actually it is a flaw of the import quota as not many quality NH players are going to take a pay cut to play for the rebels/force if they have a secured a starting position in a T14, pro 12 or aviva league team.
July 27th 2012 @ 4:30pm
Carnivean said | July 27th 2012 @ 4:30pm | Report comment
Gareth Delve, James Haskell, Michael Lipman, Napoleoni Nalaga, Freddie Michalak, Todd Clever. There are others that have been named that I can’t remember, including players playing club rugby in NZ to be selected for the ITM cup.
The Rebels were never going to be Real Madrid, but they should have been able to recruit 10 players of Super 15 standard with proper recruiting. The NH isn’t the only source of players either. Japan, Pacific Islands, Argentina, South Africa, emerging nations (such as the US, Georgia), et al, could (perhaps should) have been looked at.
Also the Rebels are exempt from the salary cap, aren’t they? They’re not funded by the ARU, but rather backed privately.
July 27th 2012 @ 4:51pm
Jutsie said | July 27th 2012 @ 4:51pm | Report comment
Lipman and delve are already at the rebels that leaves 3 other imports currently playing s15 (clever isnt playing this year) how does that equate to ten picks?
Also nalaga has been a failure at the force and is leaving at the YE so im quite happy that the rebs didnt go after him.
The rebels did pick a number of o/seas blokes in their first year (cips, delve, lipman, chamberlain, robinson, somerville of the top of my head) but the entire aim of expanding is to build depth in AUS rugby.
July 27th 2012 @ 5:02pm
Carnivean said | July 27th 2012 @ 5:02pm | Report comment
A failure of the process to achieve results doesn’t make the process worthless. The Rebels went after the wrong people in many of their cases, or otherwise were unable to utilise them properly. There were, no doubt, other options that they could have pursued.
To grow the depth they should have signed players of a certain standard, including 10 from overseas, and then re-signed them or not based on the quality of local player competing in the same role. If the local players aren’t good enough yet, then re-sign the import. Don’t lower the standard just to sign a local. Don’t shortcut the process by taking an existing player. That’s my take. I might be wrong.
Nalaga wasn’t a disappointment for mine, as a player. When he got involved he showed obvious class. He often played outside his role as required. He wasn’t afraid to counter-ruck, pick and drive, etc. The disappointment is that the Force were unable to get him involved. Their backline was unable to provide opportunities for him to score. He would probably have finished even a half opportunity, he just wasn’t given any. I’d suggest, as is the vogue at the moment, to suggest that the centres weren’t good enough, but also that their fly-half wasn’t good enough, and that the coaching was sub-standard.
July 27th 2012 @ 5:05pm
Sluggy said | July 27th 2012 @ 5:05pm | Report comment
“The Rebels were never going to be Real Madrid, but they should have been able to recruit 10 players of Super 15 standard with proper recruiting.”
Yes. In a squad of 30 so the youngsters and fringe players can learn from them and improve as players.
July 27th 2012 @ 5:13pm
Jutsie said | July 27th 2012 @ 5:13pm | Report comment
Well they couldn’t just simply resign the foreign players as the 2 year rule still applies as far as i know.
July 26th 2012 @ 7:56am
Blues Recovery said | July 26th 2012 @ 7:56am | Report comment
What an absolute load of rubbish . Who care if the rebels don’t win any games use them as a development franchise . Well who care are the private investors who have pumped millions into this organisation and the sponsors members and fans who pay their hard earned each week to support the team .
The Rebels will be successful in spite of the ARU and will help lift the professionalism of the most unprofessionally run professional sport in this country .
This organisation is in track to have a team capable of playing finals rugby next year and being financially viable in year three .
I bet gws and the suns would love to be in this position
July 26th 2012 @ 8:15am
kingplaymaker said | July 26th 2012 @ 8:15am | Report comment
Looking at it quite simply: the Rebels, Force and Waratahs are terribly coached and have disastrous governing boards. Is it any wonder they do badly? Is there actually any more to it than that?
Why didn’t the Rebels bother to recruit some decent forwards for this season? Why didn’t the Force recruit two or three more high quality backs? Why is the Waratahs coach useless?
Three bad governing boards.
Three bad coaches.
Simple problems.
Easily solved.
July 26th 2012 @ 6:07pm
Justin2 said | July 26th 2012 @ 6:07pm | Report comment
I guess you couldnt name many on the boards KPM so its a pretty foolish comment to make…
July 26th 2012 @ 8:16am
Emric said | July 26th 2012 @ 8:16am | Report comment
I was impressed by James Stannard from what i saw of him before he got injuried. He’s a fly-half with promise
July 26th 2012 @ 10:31am
Harry said | July 26th 2012 @ 10:31am | Report comment
Pretty sure he’s off to Japan.
July 26th 2012 @ 1:26pm
Emric said | July 26th 2012 @ 1:26pm | Report comment
he would be a major loss
July 26th 2012 @ 1:21pm
jeznez said | July 26th 2012 @ 1:21pm | Report comment
pretty good for a halfback playing out of position
July 26th 2012 @ 1:48pm
Carnivean said | July 26th 2012 @ 1:48pm | Report comment
Following the Michalak pathway.
July 26th 2012 @ 10:57am
Harry said | July 26th 2012 @ 10:57am | Report comment
Very good analysis Sluggy of all sides. As a close Tahs observer, they need most of all to get a truly dynamic number 10 that can threaten Oppo’s – Barnes or Hangers or Foley is not that player. Kurtley Beale was (and is). Sam Lane could be. And of course, new coaches and lose the entitlement attitude.
Can only add – If stating that the Red’s really missed their injured skipper Horwill in Saturday’s match (against some world class forwards) is whinging then yes I’m whinging. But as a Reds fan I was pretty pleased with the 2012 season and feel we are pretty well placed, allbeit filthy that the ARU forced one of our best players (Higginbotham) to join the Rebels, despite his clear desire to stay in Brsbane.
Anyway I’m going from memory here and feel free to correct, but these are the results of each Australian teams 8 matches against NZ and SA teams.
Brumbies – Won 4, lost 4
Reds – Won 4, lost 4
Now it gets real ugly …
Tahs Won 1, Lost 7
Rebels Won 2, Lost 6 (beat both NZ teams in Melbourne from memory but can’t recall them beating others)
Force Won 0, Lost 8
So overall … played 40, won 11, lost 29. An appalling result that clearly vindicates the derision and criticism of the Australian conference as the weakest. Addressing that imbalance and clear weakness is critical for Australian rugby.
July 26th 2012 @ 11:46am
Jutsie said | July 26th 2012 @ 11:46am | Report comment
Foley could be the player. He was only given 2 games with a new halfback to stake his claim so was up against it but he has been impressive as a 2nd playmaker coming into the line from full back. Hangers has got to get the chop how long can the tahs keep guys like him and carter on the list?
Also regarding the rebels, considering the constant reshuffling of the backline and backrow due to injuries I think they had a successful 2nd year. They ran all 4 south african teams down to the wire losing to the cheetahs and lions due to last minute tries and being within striking distance of the bulls and stormers, they beat the saders and blues at home but put in their two worst performances of the year in NZ against the highlanders and canes.
They were also part of 3 of the best matches of the year IMO being the cheetahs, bulls and 2nd force games.
July 26th 2012 @ 1:16pm
Sam said | July 26th 2012 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
I agree with you Harry. The Australian conference is the weakest and the stats accurate, at least as far as the Rebels are concerned. They beat the Blues and the Crusaders at home this year, got smashed in NZ. While they lost to all their South African opposition they did really well against both the Bulls AND the Stormers, and really could have beaten the Cheetahs and SHOULD have beaten the Lions.
July 26th 2012 @ 3:05pm
freddie said | July 26th 2012 @ 3:05pm | Report comment
The Force did manage to beat the Lions at home so its Won 1, Lost 7 just for the record.
July 26th 2012 @ 11:20am
Irene Watt said | July 26th 2012 @ 11:20am | Report comment
I’ve been impressed with Nick Cummins this year at the Force. Not much has been said about him but he has been rewarded with a call up to the initial Wallabies camp.
I’m actually really concerned with what’s going on at the Force and unless the ARU step in, we could very well see the club stumble and collapse. If they fail to keep Pocock from leaving to the Brumbies (which is looking more likely every day), then their membership numbers will dramatically reduce and the crowd will disappear.
Oh and it was Sam Lane who was called into the Reds only to suffer a devastating knee injury against the Stormers in week 9.
July 26th 2012 @ 1:37pm
Harry said | July 26th 2012 @ 1:37pm | Report comment
As a Reds fan I hope Sam Lane plays for Queensland next year, he’s got real talent and hope he come back from his injury. But we have good backup to Quade in Ben Lucas, Mike Harris and a young flyhalf called Seuteni who has great potential.
So for the good of Australian rugby I hope Lane gets a chance in one of the 5 teams anyway, and the Tahs need a quality 10.
July 26th 2012 @ 4:07pm
Red Kev said | July 26th 2012 @ 4:07pm | Report comment
My understanding is that both Sam Lane and UJ Seuteni are members of the 5-man “extended” or “development” squad (beyond the 30 they initially nominate) for the Reds in 2013.
July 26th 2012 @ 4:48pm
formeropenside said | July 26th 2012 @ 4:48pm | Report comment
I hope so – Lane is a left footer who can kick goals, and thats a handy skill to have in a team.
July 27th 2012 @ 3:40pm
Sluggy said | July 27th 2012 @ 3:40pm | Report comment
“Oh and it was Sam Lane who was called into the Reds only to suffer a devastating knee injury against the Stormers in week 9″
Thanks Irene. Hopefully he’ll recover from that and we’ll see him next year. Perhaps he is the type of young player the Force or Rebels should be looking to pick up, seeing as there are 3 (4?) players ahead of him at the Reds.
July 26th 2012 @ 1:08pm
Sam said | July 26th 2012 @ 1:08pm | Report comment
The Rebels by their own admission didn’t have the season they were looking for. They were looking for 6 wins this season, according those players who I managed to speak to this year, so they missed the mark. I say they’ll rise out of the bottom third of the competition next year. They’ve got room in their squad for a couple wingers now. Will be an interesting off season
July 26th 2012 @ 1:29pm
jeznez said | July 26th 2012 @ 1:29pm | Report comment
Sluggy, I have to call you out on one point:
Brumbies – “a game plan that does not involve kicking to the other side”.
The Brumbies were everyone’s darling surprise packet team but they also had some shocking matches both in terms of general performance and style of play. They had patches where they played well but there were plenty of games they kicked the leather off the ball (maybe some of them were trying to get noticed by the Tahs coaches!)
July 26th 2012 @ 6:10pm
Justin2 said | July 26th 2012 @ 6:10pm | Report comment
Sure did Jez, in fact they played a very conservative style of game. Particularly early in the year and from their own half they rarely played any rugby.
They were darling as much for the results as the process though CL orchestrated some beautiful backline plays, plays that our current Test 10 could only dream of…
July 26th 2012 @ 6:32pm
Jutsie said | July 26th 2012 @ 6:32pm | Report comment
They were playing some excellent running rugby midway through the season, the bulls, lions, sharks, highlanders and first rebels games were all entertaining. I think CL went down just as the backline started to click, a real shame.
July 27th 2012 @ 3:57pm
Sluggy said | July 27th 2012 @ 3:57pm | Report comment
Jez, I was referring more to the frequent box kicking by the ‘tah’s 9 that seemed to always go straight to a defender. My impressionistic observation of the Brumbies was they kicked it to get field position, had a chase on, and were then willing to use the ball in hand through CL.
There was a video review (by Rod Kafer?) a few weeks ago where it was pointed out that the ‘tahs 9 seemed to be kicking because the players lacked urgency & weren’t in position to give him any other viable option. Which in turn raises questions about fitness. Perhaps the ‘tahs players are performing better in gold jerseys because their fitness improves once they go into Wallaby training camp?
July 27th 2012 @ 4:06pm
Carnivean said | July 27th 2012 @ 4:06pm | Report comment
The period before the Wales test series was noted as possibly the shortest preparation period ever. The Wallabies that came from the Waratahs had potentially 3 games in 8 days. I think it impossible that their fitness could have improved in that timeframe. At least their physical fitness…
July 27th 2012 @ 4:33pm
Sluggy said | July 27th 2012 @ 4:33pm | Report comment
A few players did look severely fatigued at the end of the first Wales test, perhaps because they played twice in 5 days. But you are correct, it probably requires a couple of weeks at least. Which fortunately they now have, with a week or so up their sleeve to taper the training.
July 27th 2012 @ 12:23pm
Rolling Maul said | July 27th 2012 @ 12:23pm | Report comment
Funnily enough, I put together my annual Australian Team of the Year made up of those who contributed least to their team’s performance and was surprised to find that it wasn’t just the Waratahs, although a number of them do make the cut. Feel free to check it out…
http://www.therollingmaul.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/2012-australian-super-rugby-team-of-year.html
July 27th 2012 @ 5:08pm
Sluggy said | July 27th 2012 @ 5:08pm | Report comment
Incidentally, who else (if anyone) thinks Beale should be picked at 5/8 for the Wallabies?
Genia
Digby
Beale
Barnes
AAC
Mitchell
JOC if fit
Cooper comes back via the bench.
July 27th 2012 @ 5:11pm
biltongbek said | July 27th 2012 @ 5:11pm | Report comment
I do.
July 27th 2012 @ 5:18pm
Sluggy said | July 27th 2012 @ 5:18pm | Report comment
If McCabe is at 12 he could throw cut outs to AAC all day. Or JOC hitting the line between the centres.
Off to the Rugby Club to watch the NZ game – any Roarers there please say hello.
July 27th 2012 @ 5:15pm
Jutsie said | July 27th 2012 @ 5:15pm | Report comment
JOC will miss the first 2 tests, also mitchell still looks a bit rusty.
Beale at 10 is a good option but i’d much prefer him at 15 than JOC or anyother 15 option we have. Moving him to 10 is “robbing peter to pay paul” IMO.
July 28th 2012 @ 11:56am
Sluggy said | July 28th 2012 @ 11:56am | Report comment
KB always was a 5/8 until recently (the last 2-3 seasons). He was moved to the back to get him into the side with Giteau/QC at 10. I think he is simply such a good player that he is one of the best in the world in that position, and better than anyone else in the Oz squad. But I also think he could perhaps be one of the best 5/8 in the world and better than anyone else in the Oz squad if given a few games there.
What might have happened over the last few years if KB had taken over from Giteau at flyhalf in November 2010, instead of Cooper, will remain an interesting ‘what-if’. What he could do there over the next 3.5 years doesn’t have to be a mystery.
July 28th 2012 @ 1:45pm
Jutsie said | July 28th 2012 @ 1:45pm | Report comment
Yeah its great to see him realise his full potential, he is an example to QC of the rewards you get when you work on your weaknesses (KB was as poor a defender as QC when he first came onto the scene, he may not be the greatest defender now but rarely misses a tackle).
But I still believe that if QC fixes his defensive weaknesses and minimises the panicky meltdowns he’d be my pick for 10 simply because of his vision and the accuracy/speed of his long pass, its second to none in this country.
If you re-watch the force v rebels game u can see KB still needs some work on his accuracy with the long pass.
July 28th 2012 @ 3:27pm
Sluggy said | July 28th 2012 @ 3:27pm | Report comment
“I still believe that if QC fixes his defensive weaknesses and minimises the panicky meltdowns he’d be my pick for 10 simply because of his vision and the accuracy/speed of his long pass, its second to none in this country.”
Fair comment. He hasn’t played much this season, and the Reds seemed to miss him. If Deans brings him back in from the bench as the RC progresses it will be interesting to see what sort of impact he has. The queries about what type of player wears 12 might have sorted themselves out by then.