Losing to the Brumbies annoyed Waratah coach Michael Cheika, but losing to the Sharks was worse.
Cheika wears his heart on his sleeve and, like most dyed-in-the-wool Randiwck men, doesn’t take losing at all well.
The coaches’ box door was worse for wear after the Brumbies, and a cameraman copped a gobful on the sideline during the Sharks’ domination. I haven’t got a problem with either of Cheika’s outbursts, although the purists would be tut-tutting.
“Never happened in my day,” would be the general comment. The hell it didn’t, it just wasn’t reported.
Come Sunday morning, Cheika has a game his troops must win. A loss will see some well-chosen words said.
The basics were awful against the Sharks, it was like watching the Australian cricketers play against Pakistan, the Windies, and India.
There’s absolutely no excuse for a talented side to look like Z-graders in chalking up 34 turnovers. I reckon the statistician was kind to the men in blue, the turnovers were more like 40-plus, or one every two minutes.
Further proof of how many times they bombed possession, the Waratahs ran the ball for 415 metres compared to the Sharks’ 297, yet the Waratahs could only score score one Brendan Foley try, while bombing eight others.
Adding to their misery, and Cheika having a large dose of the dirts, the Waratahs gave away 18 penalties to 8, with Sharks skipper Bismarck du Plessis constantly in referee Mike Fraser’s ear,
Now Cheika has a variety of worries even before the kickoff. Will kingpin Israel Folau be fit enough to play? He isn’t the be-all and end-all of the side, but he’s a vital cog in the operating machinery.
Rob Horne has a week’s holiday thanks to his swinging arm tackle against the Sharks, which was dumb rugby. Another kingpin in Kurtley Beale suffered whiplash from an equally stupid tackle, and winger Alofa Alofa is under an injury cloud.
Wycliff Palu is injured again, which is hardly news. This forces Cheika to look at captain Dave Dennis as No. 8, moving Jacques Potgieter to the side of the scrum, and bringing back Will Skelton as Kane Douglas’ lock partner. That’s a far better pack. At least there’s a chance they will remain on the paddock until Cheika rings in the changes when he’s good and ready, and not forced to.
The Stomers’ game has taken on a note of urgency, and not before time.
Roy
Guest
Agree...that is a Jake White type comment....the super 15 season is only a warm up for the finals for the top teams...a way of getting their game plan up and running.... Injuries aside the Tahs are perfecting their style, which in principle looks good
InTight
Guest
As a Brumbies die-hard - my biggest concern is the Tahs at the business end of the season. Slowly but surely there's momentum building there!
formeropenside
Guest
you said Qld has 9 imports (without looking too hard) in the last line of your post. Yeah, I dont count Harris as an import - he has family in Qld, and turned down the Force first. He did not just want to become Australian, he wanted to be a Queenslander.
Tah-Man
Roar Pro
I'm not so sure. Michael Cheika just replied to my email to NSW Rugby directly and said he thought it was a good idea and that he'd see if it could be applied to their training ;-) . Pretty good of him to respond to me directly.
bennalong
Guest
Couldn't agree more Jeznez The team has shown passion and flair. Great to turn up to the SFS and feel the energy Have you seen the match yet? I'd like your assessment of the scrums
Sportymarty
Guest
I guess we will never know....
colvin
Guest
Johnno I think your comment "he had some success...but also failure" would apply to every coach. I'm afraid it goes with the territory
Mapu
Guest
Jiggles?And the reds about to field another kiwi in their back line.glass houses?egg!
DMac
Guest
Stupid sensationalist article. I enjoyed the roar cause you could get better analysis than the msm, but there seems to be a steadily increasing stream of this kind of tripe coming out each week.
WEST
Roar Guru
hang on, HANG ON Lord. Wait a cotton picking moment here. Wasn't it Cheika + Folau = Super Rugby Title or something along those lines. hard to keep up with.
Zero Gain
Guest
I agree and I want them to be good as they contain a lot of Wallabies. Their support play and passing has been excellent, playing an up tempo game. I don't subscribe to the theory that their strength has been the breakdown, in out muscling the opposition. Their strength has been their bending and breaking the line in multiple phases, often finished off by an Izzy try. A lot of time there is simply no contest at the breakdown, but that is due in part to having a good set up at the tackle, not really by bashing the opposition off the ball, but by having players there early in support. Hooper has gone OK, I guess...
Zero Gain
Guest
Name one Robby.
Adsa
Guest
Fox is reporting that Izzie is out of the Stormers game, given he is the Tahs plan A,B,c, expect a right royal dummy spit by Cheika this week.
jameswm
Guest
You don't count Harris? He came from NZ provincial rugby to Qld super rugby? I never said Qld - Hooper, AAC and Phipps are NSWelshmen born and bred.
jameswm
Guest
"they dropped and fumbled a lot of ball" - and still belted them by 30. What happens if they hold onto it?
jameswm
Guest
If Hooper is not effective, what does that make Gill? Hooper's stats are twice as good as Gill's at the breakdown.
jameswm
Guest
Ha - great comeback! Too true!
ozinsa
Guest
Cliff has been the best 8 in the tournament this year let alone Australia (Higginbotham getting a worthy mention). He played the Lions series last year with a knee that would have kept a lot of lesser performers out because Deanes begged him to do so. Apparently if you play tough rugby, frequently play injured and don't complain you're a target for journalists who view you as somehow soft because you might suffer an injury.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
agree james, too many 'do gooders' trying to portray Cheika as a thug. I understand that the IRB, sanzar or any other organization do not like ppl like Cheika or Laporte having a go at a cameraman or a ref but seriously do we need journos and ppl putting the boot in afterwards? They make a mistake, get sanctioned (or not), lets move on. Boks are very smart btw to keep Meyer upstairs during a game cause he looks like the kind of bloke who could easily lose it if he were on the pitch! Love those guys, we need them in rugby.
Martin
Guest
Ill drop you in real life mate