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Some might argue Israel Folau is the most important player in Australian rugby, and from some points of view at least they’d be right. Folau is indeed the ‘star’ player, and he is a marketing executive’s dream.
In terms of just the rugby though, even when he apparently isn’t playing well, he still tops as many stats as most players would hope to do on their best day.
Take the Highlanders match over a week ago, Folau carried for over 200 metres (according to my weekly Waratah member email). But the Waratahs lost and so all week I was reading about how over-rated he was.
People were clearly ignoring the fact that Folau was a constant threat and he set up two Waratah tries.
Although Folau’s performance on Sunday against the Brumbies was a good one, it was probably only slightly better than the week before, if at all. But of course because the Waratahs won on Sunday, Folau is now the messiah once more.
The thing is, individual player performances should also be attributed to the players around them. If Dan Carter, at the peak of his powers, played for the Reds this season, I doubt they’d be winning too many more matches. Does that make Dan Carter a no-show for higher honours? Of course not.
It is OK to think players from under-performing teams are great players.
Folau is the best I’ve ever seen play for the Waratahs, win or lose, and just about the best ever for the Wallabies, win or lose. He is the best no. 15 in world rugby and has been almost since he started playing in 2013.
Israel Dagg, Willie le Roux and Leigh Halfpenny are all good to great players, however none of them make the metres, the tackle busts, take the high ball as well, score the amount of tries, get the off loads away, or lay on the tries like Israel Folau (although Ben Smith comes close).
But Folau made a half-break against the Highlanders and while attempting an off-load Malakai Fekitoa ripped the ball from him and the Highlanders scored. Apparently that means Folau is rubbish, rather than merely human.
As for the Waratahs’ 15-point victory over the Brumbies, it was as I expected. Maybe this result means that the Waratahs will go on to win the 2015 championship. Maybe it doesn’t. All I know is that the Waratahs are collectively about a 20-point better side than the Brumbies, and they are about a 10-point better side than the likes of the Hurricanes, Crusaders, Sharks and Stormers.
Whether they can produce the goods week-in week-out, we are about to find out. I for one am looking forward to it.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.