SPIRO: A standing ovation for the NSW Waratahs

Who would have thought this a year ago? At the Allianz Stadium on a rainy Friday night, with about 11,000 of the truest of true believers present, the NSW Waratahs were given a series of standing ovations from their enthusiastic supporters.

The Waratahs, as they did against the Reds in their first round match, started slowly against a niggly Melbourne Rebels side. After 28 minutes the Rebels were leading by 13 – 3, and enjoying 67 per cent possession.

At half-time, the scoreline after an exchange of penalties was 16 – 6. This was not as bad as the 17 – 3 against the Reds at Suncorp Stadium but bad enough, given that the Waratahs were making plenty of mistakes.

As the team trudged off the field, I had the thought that in some ways the Waratahs’ season was really on the line.

The team had shown good form in the friendlies. But against the Reds, especially in the first half and in the last 20 minutes, the Waratahs seemed to be a side still traumatised by the disasters and shellackings, on and off the field, they endured in 2012.

Had the trauma got such a hold on the players that even some tough-love and inspired coaching might not make much of difference at least early on in the 2013 season?

As these thoughts came to mind, the big screen at the ground showed coach Michael Cheika giving his players an almighty rev-up. The coach was spitting out the words and clearly laying down the Cheika law on what he insisted had to happen in the second half.

So much for words, though, or so it seemed. The Waratahs contrived to get Laurie Weeks sent to the sin-bin.

But this set-back seemed to – finally – inspire the Waratahs. That the fightback coincided with the injection of Ben Volavola and Paddy Ryan was certainly not an accident. But these players injected some tough running and scrumming (Ryan) and some brilliant running and passing (Volavola) that, as the cliche runs, put the Waratahs on the front foot.

Even with 14 men on the field, the Waratahs, after a long period of sustained pressure, with clever interchange passing and smart stepping, found Israel Folau who off-loaded to Bernard Foley to score a try.

It was while all this attacking play was happening that the spectators began to stand up and applaud and shout for the the Waratahs.

Like men inspired, the Waratahs stormed back. Thrust after thrust was made. Again the spectators were on their feet as Michael Hooper scored a try. The off-load came from Folau who was playing much more confidently on the wing (his league position), with Volavola replacing him at fullback.

This is the first Waratahs Super Rugby win since April 2012. But it is the team’s fifth straight victory over the Rebels.

Winning, they say, is a habit. And so it losing. Habits aren’t broken by one intervention or event. As Mark Twain joked: ‘I can give up smoking any time I want. I’ve already given it up 100 times.’

To break the losing pattern of 2012, the Waratahs have to win and win and then win again. They play the Brumbies at Canberra on Saturday night. The Brumbies, at the beginning of 2012, were in in a similar position to where the Waratahs are at in 2013.

The Brumbies had had a terrible season in 2011. They’d lost their coach and their way. A new coach, Jake White, a reputed task-master, was installed.

And White was able to turn the season around for the Brumbies, almost getting the side into the finals.

The Brumbies in 2012 and again in 2013 are a tenacious, smart and aggressive side. They’ve won both their matches and although it is early days, and they have the advantage of a 4-point bye, they lead the Australian Conference.

So the Waratahs will get a good indication of just how effective their new attacking game is going to be against a side that has conceded just 19 point, the least number of points of any side to have played two matches in 2013.

The Reds also had a good win against the Hurricanes at their fortress Suncorp Stadium. Their tactics were correct. They didn’t give the Hurricanes much ball to feed off from turnovers or misdirected kicks. They played tight, drove from ruck to ruck, and ran directly when they had the chance.

It was a game-plan built on defence. They did score two tries but more importantly they kept the Hurricanes tryless. The Reds, too, are particularly difficult to defeat at home. They are around 21 wins out of 26 matches at home. Their smallish pack and attacking backs are just right for the fast conditions of Suncorp Stadium. And the crowd support is fantastic, too.

As the Waratahs discovered on Friday night, when the crowd becomes the 16th player, as it is at Suncorp, it sends surges of energy and passion to the players on the field.

There were some narrow escapes towards the end of the match but Hurricanes mistakes with dropped balls told against them, as did the occasional error of judgment. Right at the end, for instance, Julian Savea got the ball from a passing movement about a couple of metres from the sideline. The defence was streaming across. Savea grubber-kicked and chased but was beaten to the touchdown.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why he didn’t back his speed and size and just break slightly to the inside. If he’d down this he’d have certainly scored.

There was one other, or two other, points about the refereeing of Steve Walsh that need to be cleared up, as well. Lyndon Bray, SANZAR’s referees coordinator, are you switched in?

Walsh gave a master-class in modern refereeing in the Highlanders – Chiefs match which he helped to make into a classic rugby match.

But he was not impressive, alas, in the Reds – Hurricanes match. He seemed to forget the ‘use-it’ five seconds call while the Reds were eating up the clock, especially in the first half, with their pick and drives.

He seemed to let the Reds stand over the ball for ages without making the ‘use-it’ call. My understanding is that as soon as the ball is playable by the halfback at the back of the ruck, it has to be used. If this is not done, then the ‘use-it’ five seconds rule comes into play. Under this interpretation, Walsh’s calling left a lot to be desired.

He wasn’t the only referee to be guilty of this failing, either. Jonathan Kaplan allowed both the Stormers and the Sharks to let the ball lie dormant at the back of the ruck time after time.

The thing about the ‘use-it’ rule is that it forces teams that do pick and drive (and this is a perfectly good tactic from time to time) to do so quickly. This in turn exposes them to turnovers if they don’t have numbers at the breakdown and the opposition does.

I wasn’t impressed either with the shove Walsh gave to Conrad Smith after he’d awarded a penalty against the Hurricanes, on attack and within metres of the Reds tryline.

Walsh was in the motion of taking another 10m from the Hurricanes for back-chat. He did apologise to Smith immediately. But it is a no-no for a referee to bang into a player, just as it is a no-no for a player to bang into a referee.

On a more positive note – air-kicks aside – Liam Gill is the outstanding loose forward right now in Australian rugby.

And as another aside, I’d like to see the Waratahs develop Michael Hooper, who also is playing splendidly, into an openside flanker/inside centre where he could be a tremendous asset for the Wallabies off the bench.

And the Auckland Blues are looking like the awesome team that won the first two Super Rugby tournaments in 1996 and 1997. Their clash with the Bulls on Sunday afternoon at Eden Park will be a fascinating contest between two teams with decidedly different styles.

The Bulls play an attritional driving, mauling and kicking game that is more effective at Pretoria generally than it is for away matches.They are 31 wins out of 36 matches at home.

And the Blues are playing a ball-in-hand game with big forwards smashing into the line in the middle of the field and super-fast backs threatening out wide.

I said it last season, and this season especially if the referees are vigilant about the -use-it’ 5 seconds rule, is shaping up into a thriller. It would be a brave man at this stage of the tournament who could predict a likely winner. Right now, it’s game on for 2013!

[roar_cat_gal]