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Honey badgers “are notorious for their strength, ferocity and toughness.” Welcome to the world of rugby’s Honey Badger, Nick Cummins.
Says Wikipedia of the honey badger, “They are known to savagely and fearlessly attack any type of animal when escape is impossible, reportedly even repelling much larger predators such as lions.
“Because of their strength and persistence, they are difficult to deter. […] They retaliate fiercely when attacked, […] are virtually tireless in combat and can wear out much larger animals in confrontations.”
The Western Force’s Nick Cummins, with his trio of tries, won the crucial match against the Waratahs for his embattled side. When he got his hands on the ball, the Honey Badger went in for the kill.
His first, from an intercept metres from the Force’s posts was an incredible ’14-point’ try. If Cummins had missed the ball or if the Waratahs had delayed the pass a fraction of a second, they were in. Given their dominance to that stage in the match, it might have spelt the end for the gallant Force defenders.
Defence stops you from losing matches but tries give you victory. This is the crucial point about the way Cummins terrorised the Tahs. His first two tries came from mistakes by the Waratahs’ attack when they looked like scoring. The third came when Alby Matheson made a great break and Cummins – mouth open in exertion and passion, eyes blazing, muscles straining, knees pumping like the pistons of a steam train – raced away and through a last desperate tackle to score.
Cummins played one of the greatest individual games in Super Rugby history. What we saw was the power of one, trebled into a superb, match-winning performance.
A couple of years ago I suggested on The Roar that Cummins should be picked for the Wallabies. A great deal of unwarranted flak descended on my venerable head. I was written off as a fool who did not recognise real rugby quality. Well, this performance by Cummins indicates that the call was correct. He should be the first-choice Wallaby winger.
Every great team (and teams that aspire to greatness, like the Wallabies) need that honey-badger type of player, one whose all-round game is much better in total because of the passion and belief he invests in his play rather than his game’s individual attributes.
Go back to the greatest Wallaby side ever, the 1991 Rugby World Cup winners. This was a team of champions right across, but an indispensable member was Rob Egerton, a player who in terms of talent was a journeyman next to masters of the game such as John Eales, David Campese, Nick Farr-Jones, Simon Poidevin, Michael Lynagh and Tim Horan.
It was Egerton who did a lot of the necessary hack work – the spot tackle, the endless chasing, the hard, all-elbows-and-knees running into a solid defence. Cummins plays this role for the Force and he should be given the chance to do so for the Wallabies as a regular, first-choice player.
I like to keep a running scoreline to give a sort of graph of how a match evolves. In this match it went: W3-F0, W6-F0, W6-F3, F10-W6 (after the intercept try by Cummins), F10-W9, F13-W9. Second half: F18-W9, F25-W9, F25-W16, F28-16.
Once the Force got in front they consolidated their lead. What is not indicated is just how dominant the Waratahs were until the Cummins intercept. Even the commentators remarked that it looked like men against boys. The Waratahs pack, anchored by the massive Will Skelton, came in at 927ks; the Force pack, at 867, looked like midgets.
As the Waratahs smashed through the game it seemed a matter of time before the floodgates were going to open for the visitors. And here they were, metres out from the Force posts with the defence scattered and numbers out wide to score the decisive try.
Stop the tape here. Cummins is poised beside the posts, one other player on the line with him. If they come out and try to cover all the attackers, the Waratahs will score. If he comes out and misses the interception, the Waratahs will score. If he jumps the gun and rushes out before the halfback has his hands on the ball from the ruck to nail the first runner, he will be penalised, yellow carded and probably concede a penalty try.
Cummins now does a terrific thing. He holds himself intelligently on the line until it is legal to make his move. When he does strike, it is lethal for the Waratahs and for the Force, a match-winning effort worthy of the great Honey Badger at his best.
I will make two points about the Waratahs. First, they are a very good side with Israel Folau who, remember, scored three tries in Sydney when the Waratahs Folaued the Force. Second, without Folau the Waratahs’ ball-in-hand game has to be a lot smarter and more sophisticated.
The essential aspect to the first point is that Folau is a terrific link and finishing player. He rarely makes the break himself, but is devastating running off players who have broken the line. Without Folau, the Waratahs struggle to convert breaks into tries. If the ARU had not stepped in and over-ruled the Waratahs doctors, the Waratahs would have won at Perth as they did in Sydney, with Folau crossing for early tries.
At this stage we don’t know how long Folau’s “bruised throat” (an injury I’ve never heard of before) will keep him out. The man himself said, facetiously perhaps, that it might be six months if the ARU maintains its hard line.
The Waratahs need to understand that the ball-in-hand game requires a sophisticated set of skills and plays. Without Folau they don’t have this, and when Peter Betham and Alofa Alofa aren’t on the field, there is a lack of sharp pace in the backline.
There is a general lack, too, of understanding how to exploit what is front of them. The Crusaders showed the importance of strong match vision against the Cheetahs. They scored a vital try when Cheetahs fullback Willie le Roux raced out of the line and missed a tackle. Matt Todd, a forward, immediately poked through a kick to the vacant field area where le Roux should have been. Try to the Crusaders!
The Crusaders have completed their South African tour with two wins. Are they set to move up the table? Next up they play the Chiefs at Hamilton, who struggled to knock off the Rebels. Like the Waratahs, the Chiefs had just returned from South Africa and, again like the Tahs, they made so many mistakes, especially in their handling. The trip back from South Africa must have taken a toll.
People who travel a lot tell me that the journey back from South Africa is much harder than the journey to. Perhaps we should ask Bob Carr for his thoughts on this?
Anyway, the Crusaders need to beat the Chiefs to have a chance of winning the New Zealand conference.
The boys from Western Australia are now a real force in the Australian conference, only two points behind the Brumbies, who have played one more match and have a no-points bye this weekend.
The Waratahs, who are four points behind the Brumbies, play the Bulls at Allianz Stadium. The Bulls are massive and for about an hour looked like knocking off the Highlanders. With Folau back, you’d think the Waratahs would do a Highlanders on the Bulls. Any sort of win, though, is needed by the Waratahs to keep in touch with the Brumbies and the Force.
The Brumbies’ victory at Suncorp Stadium virtually ends the Reds’ tournament hopes for 2014. It is reasonably early days, but when the Reds lose at home, they are in big trouble. Admittedly, the Brumbies have been a team they struggle against, but the back-to-back losses the Reds have now recorded at Suncorp are their first since 2008.
Both the Reds (880kg) and the Brumbies (886kg) have smallish packs. But the Brumbies have a terrific lineout and a solid scrum, especially when the impressive Scott Sio is anchoring it. In Nic White and Matt Toomua they have the smartest half combination in the Australian conference.
In fact, the Brumbies are a very smart team in general. They took the Reds apart with surgical precision in the first half. When the Reds came back at them in the second half, they were smart enough to resist the pressure and keep the Reds moving backwards with their solid kicking game.
Each match in each round is a moveable feast, but even when Cummins’ heroics are taken into account for the Force, a betting man (and remember, I’m one of few non-gambling Greeks in Bondi Junction) would have to put his money on the Brumbies to win the Australian conference in the 2014 Super Rugby tournament.
But the Super Rugby title? Too early for this sort of prediction. We have to see how the Sharks play out of Africa.