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It’s rather fitting that Tony Rea and Chris Hickey are rival Super Rugby coaches in Canberra tonight. Rae won the Brumbies job three weeks ago, when player-power dumped incumbent Andy Friend. And the team has been a basket case ever since,
And the Waratahs’ Hickey is under the pump with a player-power situation gathering momentum.
Don’t go there, men-in-blue, you’re playing with fire you won’t be able to handle.
For starters, Hickey’s not to blame for the poor showing against the Crusaders, nor the pathetic and puerile performance against the Cheetahs, in successive games.
The players were totally responsible, especially for the Cheetahs humiliation. Any player with a modicum of self-respect shouldn’t dare be critical of anyone but himself after that dismal display.
But where there’s smoke there’s fire, with the worrying quote coming from veteran skipper, and NSW’s most-capped player, Phil Waugh, who declares that “the team is still pretty solid.”
“Still pretty solid” is hardly a rock-solid recommendation of unity and peace.
The saving grace will be the NSWRU, which will be a lot tougher than the Brumbies management, which has allowed player-power to succeed twice, with David Nucifora the first to be flicked in 2004.
The likes of World Cup winning skipper Nick Farr-Jones, with Willie Jephcott and Peter Medway, are on the NSWRU Board. And so is current prop Al Baxter. It’s a no-nonsense quartet that won’t cop any nonsense from player-power participants.
And it’s handy to have Baxter at the coal-face.
So the message is loud and clear to those who want to make waves – shut up and shape up, or ship out.
All of which makes tonight’s Brumbies-Waratahs clash vital to both camps and coaches, turning their off-field dramas into producing the goods on-field.
There are no such problems for another Super Rugby coach, the best in the business – Rod Macqueen.
The Melbourne Rebels’ mentor looked like a rabbit in the headlights when he was interviewed after the Hurricanes game at AAMI Park last night.
Little wonder. The Rebels had come from 17-nil down, in as many minutes, to thump the Hurricanes 42-25.
“We’re still searching for consistency,” explained Macqueen.
It’s not quite what you meant “Macca”, but that’s exactly what you’ve got. Get flogged one week, and win the next.
* Flogged 43-nil on debut by the Waratahs, letting in seven tries.
* The next week beat the Brumbies 25-24, aided by some very dubious Jonathan Kaplan refereeing decisions, scoring one try to two.
* Flogged 38-10 by the Chiefs, scoring one try to four.
* The next week the Rebels should have beaten the Sharks, letting in two converted tries in the last nine minutes to lose 34-32, with four tries apiece.
* Flogged 53-3 by the Reds last week, giving up seven tries.
* And last night’s superb 42-25 win over the Hurricanes, scoring six tries to four.
Almost perfect consistency, with a flogging due next Saturday night by the Force in Perth.
But Macqueen has other ideas, much preferring a first time two wins on the trot consistency.
And that’s more likely, with so many Rebel standouts last night: pivots Nick Phipps and Danny Cipriani, lock Alister Campbell, prop Rodney Blake, flanker Michael Lipman, and winger Cooper Vuna, the best of them.
Even skipper Stirling Mortlock found extra pace in his near 34-year-old legs to turn in his best game of the season.
The win regained respect for the Rebels.
Now for consistency of the correct kind.