- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
It would be easy after the Waratahs’ defeat this weekend to give up hope of them winning their first Super Rugby title, but nothing I saw on Saturday night has convinced me that they are not the best team in the country – and arguably the competition.
The men in sky blue were always going to lose a couple of games on their way to inevitably topping the Australian conference.
Yes, the Brumbies played better in a large proportion of the first half and that, combined with pushing the letter of the law at the breakdown, secured then a well deserved hard fought win.
But after allowing the Brumbies to get a 16-point lead in the second half, the Waratahs eventually got the better of them. They should be really disappointed that they didn’t actually beat the Brumbies in their backyard.
What the Waratahs confirmed was their depth in their squad. They gained ascendancy as they made replacements, and that could be the best thing to come out of the loss for them.
Not that they should necessarily be making mass changes.
Coach Michael Cheika would do well to continue to select players on what value they add (minus their faults) and then combining all the parameters of combination to come up with what he feels is the best XV and bench to do the job he wants.
We the fans need to trust him, but it might be fun to discuss possible ‘knee-jerk’ calls for changes nonetheless.
It would be easy to look at the performances of Paddy Ryan and Kurtley Beale and write them off for the season. Ryan was humiliated by Scott Sio, while Beale was completely ‘Chuck Norrised’ by Chuck Norris himself, Pat McCabe.
It was Beale’s performance that gave me the most angst and disappointment. Having showed good early promise, his turnstile defence was (and is) somewhat inevitable in hindsight.
Looking from a Wallabies selection perspective, he just isn’t a quality defensive player and in the modern game this seems a pre-requisite at inside centre, at least at Test level.
McCabe probably cemented himself as the best option at 12 for Australia, but that’s another discussion altogether.
Of course, Super Rugby isn’t ‘Test level’, so perhaps an attacking, defensively weaker man can do the job.
Regardless, for Beale, questions must be asked as to where he can best fit in for the Waratahs.
Neither he nor Foley are quality defensive players, so can the Waratahs afford both of these players at 10 and 12? Does their attacking combination make up for their defensive deficiencies?
For Ryan, do we acknowledge that his scrummaging is too weak and will be further shown up on the upcoming tour of South Africa?
It would be easy to now call for Kepu and Horne to come into the side in their respective places, because they both have conflicting strengths, though both of these players bring their own weaknesses into those selection ‘parameters’.
Kepu can carry well and on his day he is a more than competent scrummager, but let’s not forget that Kepu can be as lazy as a bleary-eyed Gen Y office worker after a long-weekend of partying.
Rob Horne has a directness that is perhaps missing from the Waratahs’ play, where he performed admirably last year. But Horne has about as much creativity as an accountant with an igneous rock collection.
We could also argue that the young winger Alofa has kind of been innocuous for the past two games and that perhaps he seems a bit lightweight and not all that quick anyway.
What’s happened to the much bigger try-scoring phenomenon Cam Crawford?
Perhaps Adam Ashley-Cooper needs to go out to the wing, which would allow the crash-tackling, metre-gaining Rob Horne a start at outside centre and a more direct approach in the midfield.
Will Skelton’s performance off the bench also deserves praise. He looks one awesome ball carrier – just ask Stephen Moore, who got bulldozed by the giant a few times on Saturday night.
Does Skelton go back into the starting line-up, forcing Poitgeter out to blindside flanker?
This would mean that the captain and No. 1 lineout option Dave Dennis would need to move out of the staring side. But we all remember how much Dennis was missed at lineout time against the Reds, so it’s hard to know what would be best.
Kane Douglas has been the standout lock in the country, in terms of quality work rate at the breakdown, so surely there will be no calls for his dropping.
But his workman-like play won’t get a lot of accolades from the cerebrally challenged among us. So I’m sure some will be incorrectly calling for him to make way.
Most of these types of selection calls will all have some merit, but each new selection brings a different balance to the side and causes a flow-on effect.
Do many fans take the time to consider this aspect? We can’t, for example, pick a team of ball carriers at the expense of defensive, possession-oriented players. Players like Dennis and Douglas produce the goods in different ways to the likes of Palu and Skelton.
I suggest at this stage we remain patient and confident, because the Waratahs did enough to all but win a game away from home against last year’s runners-up. This was despite playing fairly poorly at times and despite giving them an extremely big start.
One thing is for sure, history shows us you can afford to drop games like this from time to time, so long as it doesn’t become habitual.
I’m still confident this will be the year of the Waratahs and nothing I saw on Saturday night has changed my mind.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.