Kurtley Beale gave an interesting interview a few days ago to Brett Harris. Harris plays good cop at The Australian to the tough cop of Wayne Smith.
The gist of what Beale had to say was this. “It’s a matter of us sticking to what we know best and playing to what we know and that’s to throw the ball around and to score some tries.”
The context was the flak that the Sharks and especially their coach Jake White received, along with the Brumbies, after their kickathon in Canberra last week.
Tough cop Smith wrote a piece for The Australian which said that the ARU was right not to give the Wallabies coaching job to White, a position I endorse. The last thing Australian rugby needs is more teams playing what PlanetRugby calls ‘kick-tennis’.
The Sydney Morning Herald‘s Stephen Samuelson joined the anti-White brigade with an article making this remarkable claim: “If there is any justice by the rugby gods, neither the Brumbies nor the Sharks will win the Super Rugby title.”
Samuelson went to make the excellent point: “These teams’ no-risk style of play is holding the competition to ransom and leaves open the fundamental question: exactly what does professionalism mean?”
Exactly. If rugby players want to be paid handsomely, and they are, they need to realise that their sport is part of the crowded entertainment market. They have to put bums on seats and eyes on television sets. They won’t do that by boring the pants off viewers.
White makes no concessions to the entertainment aspect of rugby. I would argue, too, that the kick-tennis game is ultimately not the easiest or best method to win tournaments.
This brings us back to the Waratahs and Kurtley Beale. He told Harris that he believed the Waratahs can win the Super Rugby title by playing in an attacking style, as they did against the Hurricanes when they were down after conceding two tries, then stormed back to be in control of the match by half time.
The Waratahs may not win the Super Rugby title. Only one team in the tournament does this each year. But the running style that Michael Cheika has ruthlessly imposed on the side gives them their best shot at winning for many years.
Beale made one other important point. “Kicking is not bad. If you kick well and you kick at the right time, it can be a good thing… Watching that [Brumbies-Sharks] game there were a lot of kicks, but dissecting it there were a lot of opportunities to run the ball as well.”
Exactly. Jake White has a rule that when the ball is kicked deep to the Sharks, they must kick it back. It is virtually forbidden to run it back. The Brumbies played with a similar rule in Canberra.
There was Jesse Mogg, with the pace of a whippet, fielding the ball in his own half and booting the ball back to Frans Steyn, to do the same thing ad nauseam.
I call this non-coaching. Of course running teams like the Waratahs, Crusaders, Hurricanes, Highlanders and Chiefs kick the ball. But, and this is the crucial point, they have systems to run the ball back when the chance is on, and sometimes when it isn’t.
It is noticeable to me how hard the New Zealand wingers and fullbacks work to get themselves in a position to run the ball back. Also, it is equally noticeable, aside from the Cheetahs, Waratahs and Force, just how slack Australian and South Africans fullbacks and wingers are to get into position to launch counterattacks.
Up to the last round, the Cheetahs led the tournament in tries scored from inside their own half, with 12. The next best were the Blues (11), Hurricanes (10), Force (9), Waratahs and Chiefs (8) and Crusaders (5). Against the Reds, the Crusaders scored several more from inside their own half to bump this tally up.
And how many tries have the Sharks and Brumbies scored from their own half? They both have three to their name.
Brett McKay, a fellow Roarer whose rugby nous I admire, makes the point that the Brumbies (45) and Sharks (42) kicked between them 87 times.
The Crusaders kicked 34 times to the Reds’ 27, the Chiefs and the Blues 21 times apiece. This partly explains or exonerates, Brett suggests, the Brumbies and the Sharks.
I don’t think so. The Brumbies and Sharks kicked for no other reason than to kick the leather off the ball and hope that a mistake would give them an advantageous field position.
The other teams kicked, the Crusaders more than most, but there was more of a purpose than merely forcing the other side back. The Crusaders and the other teams were looking to establish a chance to run the ball back against a broken line. And on many occasions they did just this.
This running back game does not happen by serendipity or fluke. I once noted to Robbie Deans when he was coaching his all-conquering Crusaders that they had an uncanny knack of converting turnovers and duffed kicks into devastating counterattacks.
My implication was that the Crusaders were playing off-the-cuff rugby.
Deans gave me a hard look, as if mystified. He said, “Those try-scoring plays off kicks and turnovers are the result of hours and hours of training and coaching.”
And he was right. You just had to look at the way the Crusaders automatically spread their line or kept their width, depending on where they were, to see that there was a rehearsed method to what they were doing.
This is my argument against Jake White. He does some parts of coaching very well, especially set pieces and defensive skills. But he virtually ignores attacking play, by far the hardest part of rugby and the most rewarding for players and spectators.
The Brumbies and the Sharks have a chance to redeem themselves this weekend. The Sharks know that at Christchurch, the Crusaders are virtually unbeatable. So why not take the game to them?
They have a terrific back three that can splinter teams if taken off the leash. They have running forwards, too, who can steamroll their opponents.
The Brumbies play the Cheetahs, a team with a poor defensive record. They need to be told to put away the kicking boots and run.
This is advice that won’t have to be given to the Waratahs. They will find the Lions a resilient side, with a rare ability and willingness to be expansive and successful with their ball-in-hand game.
The game should be a treat for a hopefully large crowd. Whoever attends will be able to watch two real rugby teams trying to defeat each other by scoring tries.
Bopchop
Guest
100% Jiggles. This entertainment argument runs thin. High scoring games, like anything in life, have low marginal utility because the entertainment value of a try (in the case of union) drops. After SA won the RWC in 1995 and jannie de beers exploits in 1999 the were some (except Stephen larkham) who called for drop goals to be worth 2 or even 1 point, so games couldn't be decided on them and because they diminish entertainment value. Well, not if you were a bok supporter or an Aussie supporter in 1999. Ask any Aussie and I'm sure they'll recall that kick by SL very fondly, and might even describe that as "entertainment". Yet drop goals are the polar opposite of running rugby. What constitutes entertainment is absolutely subjective. I love nothing more than a great scrum like the one in 2009 when John smit silenced critics of his move back to tight head by munching the kiwi pack to win the 3N. And guess what? The poms, French, Irish, argies, you name it, ALL love watching great scrummaging. And the kiwis actually have great scrummaging ability and can maul (and do) and kick loads these days. They are a balanced side second to none. So that leaves the Aussies who for some reason just cannot scrum or at least not legally. Hence the entertainment value of running rugby vibe. Does spiro seriously believe that cheetahs fans are feeling entertained, just because their side plays the most expansive game in SA? I can tell you for free they'd take the wins. Because winning is entertaining. And guys, seriously, forget about jake. It's pretty pathetic. Brumbies win - all hail the new coaches. Brumbies lose or win ugly - boo to white. Come on. Find some other "foreigner" (since almost all of today's Aussies were foreigners not too long ago) to obsess about.
Hertryk
Guest
dmac it's hard enough to get any coverage re the Force in Perth...the weekend West Australian about 7 pages in there may be an article.. Channel 7 and Radio 6IX nothing..nada.. not sure what goes on there.. lucky even to get a mention from the ABC On saying all that we have a very good fan base.."Sea of Blue" and have been known to travel to the far corners of NZ and South Africa in support of our team.. even during the "lean" years..We battle on..
ozinsa
Guest
The lack of intent frustrated the bejesus out of me but I loved the intensity. It was ugly but it had a big match feel and I forgive a lot for that. Conversely, some of the other games felt like warm ups by comparison but provided some real rugby highlights. Which is better? I don't know the answer - my personal mood will often dictate my own view so I definitely can't declare a winner. If the Tahs had brought the sort of focused intensity to a match and got a win against the Sharks I'd probably have enjoyed it. Likewise the Rats. It seems unfair for me to let my ambivalence to the Brumbies influence my view of the game completely.
bennalong
Guest
You didn't address the pointy about Steyne's off night with the boot ! He lost the game and the Brums hung in there to win. Wasn't convincing at all with the Sharks having the best of the first half. I do believe the Brums are a good team, but that was not a win to be proud of. They escaped !
Dally M
Guest
Sounds like someone who has only watched the highlights. There was some bloke called Cam Crawford last year who scored as many tries as Folau. And Betham & Alofa Alofa were scoring them too before they were injured.
Bluey
Guest
Foley, Beale, AAC, Hooper and Skelton are entertaining to watch in my opinion. Beats watching Toomua, Mogg and Lealiifano play AFL.
PiratesRugby
Guest
The Tahs have one exciting back - Folau. The rest are the same plodders who kept the crowds away from the ground for years. Lazy forwards who flop onto rucks (Potgeiter excluded) and unimaginative and unsophisticated attacking play that gets found out by decent defences - none of this makes the Tahs contenders.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Keep the ball in hand style Tahs, they played some scintalating Rugby last year and so far in stages this year. Keep it going.
Who Needs Melon
Roar Guru
I'm a Brumbies tragic from way back and endorse the need to adopt a game plan like they did against the Sharks but I have to say I don't think they will go all the way without an ingedient they seem to be missing at the moment. Maybe Speight can add that bit of spice or Kuridranis form improve a bit more. Or Toomua discover some more attacking flair. I hope all of those. I just remember Genia's Run to the line in the Reds final a few years back and some of the other magic the Reds pulled off and wonder. I think those special something extras are needed to win the whole thing and wonder if the Brumbies are capable of it. I hope they are.
Chivas
Guest
Actually I'm with you in that comment too Jiggles. I don't think the Tahs have the finesse yet that they need to topple the top sides who can adjust their game on field. The Tahs are still a bit one dimensional on the park. I think Chieka is coaching well as they do adjust their game plan some from week to week. But once they turn up on the day that is it. That is not to say that they are not effective in what they do. They are, but they are still a season off taking it out for mine. To me the Brumbies are the more complete team without the same punch on the gain line, but more cohesive. Tahs to Brumbies is like the excited kid to the old head. The Brumbies have a pretty sound attack with players like Tomane, Mogg, Kuridrani, Lilo. So I wouldn't be too quick to pour derision on the Brumbies and pump up the tires of the Tahs.
Bakkies
Guest
Brumbies will still use the boot particularly in the first 50. Get better distance on your kicks in Bloemfontein so tire out the Cheetahs pack and make them run out of their own end. They will get tired and cough the ball up. The chances will come later on.
Bakkies
Guest
''but they won’t beat the best without having a bit of magic that they seem to be missing at the moment. '' Really? I would have thought that the Brumbies have beaten one and two already, also shown that the team is able to get results in SA too. The team got those results playing both structured and unstructured.
XL from Htown
Guest
Tahs , Chiefs an Canes Best teams to watch in super rugby . Support your team nsw there on the rise
dmac
Guest
I'd venture to say that maybe a handful less people watched that classic...
dmac
Guest
There's nothing stopping some Perth journos from writing articles for the Roar.
dmac
Guest
True, and I do tend to blame the Sharks more than the Brumbies for last week's kickfest.
jutsie
Guest
combsey you need to differentiate between rusted on fans and casual fans. rusted on fans in all states will rock up rain, hail or shine, regardless of what team they are playing and regardless of how the team is performing. The driver for what attracts casual fans in different states however, differs. Casual fans in queensland appear to back winners. Thats why the lions, roar and reds fan base have sky rocketed in periods of success. However in syd and Melb there alot more teams and other activities available so it takes more than just winning to attract the casual fan. It needs to be an event, it needs to be entertaining, the weather needs to be good etc. Those arent excuses thats just how it is. its not a competition about which fans are more loyal. if fans are loyal they go watch their team regardless of if they are winning or losing.
Who Needs Melon
Guest
No. The Warambies. :)
Magic Sponge
Guest
Jiggles and Combesy will be supporting the tahs next year, or do we really need more articles on the reds.
Dally M
Roar Rookie
Not saying it's an excuse, but if you are a casual fan, there are not a lot of exciting games that would entice you to turn up. Not to mention the games at Allianz that clashed with the baseball and a Swans game. I guess it's enough for some to decide to watch it on TV instead. Mind you crowds are down on avergae for most sports across Sydney as well. The Hurricanes was the biggest for them. Hopefully there is a good turn out this Sunday arvo & again for the game against the Brumbies. I personally thought about giving up my membership at the end of 2012, but the changes for 2013 gave me renewed hope i'd say they have repaid that by the way they have played last year and this year.