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Upon the story breaking late Thursday that staff had been called to an urgent meeting at Buckingham Palace to receive news of an important retirement, I was curious to know why George Smith would pull the pin on his career now, when in such fine form?
I needn’t have worried; it turns out George has his sights set on playing on for as long as it takes the ARU to sort out its Super Rugby mess or until Halley’s comet next appears, whichever comes sooner.
Some professional rugby teams now use drones in their training sessions. For the Stormers, it was low-flying objects of a different sort – Beauden Barrett buzzing them with a number of precision kicks in behind and over their defensive line. A torment that proved almost impossible to defend.
Sides who choose to station a winger or a fullback, or both, to cover only concede space in the midfield, providing Barrett the option to run or lay off to his centres working into those gaps.
There were show-reel highlights aplenty; Jordie Barrett thieving the ball from Nizaam Carr and scoring without him even knowing, and TJ Perenara demonstrating incredible athleticism and desire to contest and win a defensive lineout, which was duly converted into a try at the other end.
There was plenty to like about how the Stormers kept the scoreboard ticking over by kicking their goals and competing like tigers at the breakdown to the point that, with seven minutes to play, they were only five points down and mauling and grinding their way towards an upset win.
But unfortunately for the Stormers the inevitable match-winning try came at the wrong end when the Hurricanes, under extreme pressure, scrambled a turnover and Barrett, only seven metres from his line, nervelessly hit Julian Savea on the chest with yet another cross-kick, which opened up the backfield for Ngani Laumape to support and run it in. There will be no try scored this year more arrogant and audacious than this jaw dropper.
There was good and bad news for other sides in this result. They will all fear the Barretts ripping them to shreds in a heartbeat, but they will also take heart that the Hurricanes’ pack, without Dane Coles, can potentially be bullied around.
(AAP Image/SNPA, Ross Setford)
It was another remarkable game in Bloemfontein, where the Highlanders and the Cheetahs – other than the Hurricanes is there any more consistently entertaining team in this competition than the Cheetahs? – shared 12 tries between them. Tellingly, three came in the final five minutes, all to the Highlanders, who turned a 17-point deficit into a remarkable four-point win, 45-41.
It was a rare Saturday afternoon visit to AAMI Park where the Lions got the win everyone expected, 47-10 against the disappointing Rebels who, for the second week running, lost their captain to injury in the warm-up.
The only real bright note for home fans was another stirring performance from No. 8 Amanaki Mafi. The downside, of course, being that he is a Japanese Test representative and ineligible for the Wallabies.
For the Lions, winger Courtnall Skosan showed electric pace, scoring two tries and denied a third only by a superb flying cover tackle by Marika Koroibete.
The Reds rolled the dice early in New Plymouth, trusting their line-out maul for a try to Stephen Moore, after which things gradually turned to custard. Whatever the differences between Australian and New Zealand sides in running, passing and backing up, there is surely no excuse for the Reds’ scrum being meekly blown off the ball like it was in presenting a gift try to Stephen Donald.
Or what about Quade Cooper weakly slipping off James Lowe, sending him away for a late bonus point try? A player of Cooper’s experience surely knows that the law requiring use of the arms in a tackle does not prevent him from putting a bit of shoulder in too.
In his long-awaited comeback match, Charlie Ngatai looked short of a gallop early – that is until he too ran over the top of Cooper before a few minutes later showing all his smarts by using the slippery surface to slide across for a try.
The only real disappointment for the Chiefs was the sparse crowd, perhaps reflecting Taranaki’s Super Rugby identity crisis; once ‘Canes, now Chiefs, but with local heroes Beaudie and Jordie tearing it up for the ‘Canes, now suffering a bad case of buyers remorse.
(AAP Image/ David Rowland)
The Blues built an early lead over the Waratahs through weight of possession and penalty goals before Rieko Ioane, looking way beyond his 20 years, stepped Israel Folau and palmed off Ned Hannigan before running away for the opening try.
He went one better in the 61st minute, leaving four defenders in his wake with an explosive turn of pace and power, only to be matched five minutes later by a similar effort from his brother Akira.
The lead up to that try featured one of the highlights of the weekend: Augustine Pulu’s exquisite chip of the ball with his foot, from the ground into his hand, on the run. Try that one at home without ripping a hammy or stubbing the ball forward 20 metres. Pulu has plenty of critics, but that little move was borderline genius.
As usual, the Waratahs were better in the second half, Will Skelton adding the effort and physical presence that had been missing in the first. But if 40-33 sounds like it was close, don’t be fooled. It wasn’t.
It was Amm versus Am in Durban, James Verity-Amm kickstarting the Force with an impressive turn of pace for a great try before Lukhanyo Am responded by expertly setting up Jean-Luc du Preez right on half-time, then adding a try of his own in the second half.
It just goes to show that having an extra ‘m’ is no guarantee of success.
The Force battled hard like they always do, but ultimately, just like the Rebels, they play like a side with another whole starting XV on the sideline through injury and lack combination and experience among those who remain. Final score, 37-12.
The Crusaders were on song in Pretoria, running the Bulls ragged by ten tries to three. Not for the first time, young centre Jack Goodhue showed advanced rugby awareness to position and set up supporting runners as well as great hustle and determination to score two tries of his own.
One assumes that those agitating so strongly over the weekend for the expulsion of the Rebels from Super Rugby on the basis of their 37-point loss – as if that is all the criteria needed – will also apply the same logic to demand that the Bulls be culled.
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The Sunwolves shocked the Jaguares after two minutes with a superb backline try, and they led for much of the game. No. 8 Willie Britz was all class out in the wide running channel, but the home side found an avenue to victory via their attacking line-out maul, scoring three tries from it, to seal an unconvincing 46-39 win.
After starting 2017 so promisingly, the Jaguares are going through a flat patch, typified by experienced flyhalf Juan-Martin Hernandez twice failing to re-start the required ten metres.
So the head-to-head New Zealand vs Australia ledger edged out a couple more clicks to 17-0 and shows no sign of stalling anytime soon. But for Australian fans looking to the future for a change of fortune, there was no solace to be found in the result of the Oceania under-20 final from the Gold Coast on Saturday night, where New Zealand comfortably beat Australia 43-6.
Noteworthy were Australian coach Simon Cron’s comments post-match, “In the backs we didn’t complete many launch plays. It’s hard to attack when you drop the ball off the first phase”.
“We have a lot of work to do in that side of it and you can tell that some of the players need our help in that area.”
Those are not the comments of a coach looking to deflect blame for a heavy defeat, but someone prepared to speak to the heart of a key problem in Australian rugby: a lack of investment and intent to provide a suitable coaching structure and the dearth of good people who have the knowledge, time and inclination to invest into developing young players.
It may be clutching at straws but, given Cron’s determination, there is a chance that some of these under-20 players, by having their deficiencies addressed now, may yet come into Super Rugby in a few season’s time as more complete players.
The trouble for Australian rugby right now, however, is that there are too many players at Super Rugby level for whom the bird has already flown.
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