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The new Fox Sports program Rugby 360, featuring Greg Martin and Rod Kafer, is a winner. Martin (the Reds) and Kafer (the Brumbies) wear their allegiances on their sleeve. Why not. It is right, even for commentators, to have a passion for certain sides.
But this has to be tempered, as it is with Martin and Kafer (but not by all prominent commentators) with a clear-eyed view on what is good and bad in rugby terms, even with the teams with which they identify.
The discussion about the fine mess Queensland rugby is in with the sacking of coach Richard Graham and the retirement the chief executive Jim Carmichael was robust and detailed.
More:
» Why Super Rugby fans should be worried about the Beale deal
» Egos to the side: Nick Stiles says co-coaches will work
The concession was rightly made that Graham showed great dignity and class when he fronted the media to talk about his sacking. After the media conference, Graham shook hands with the press reptiles and took a graceful exit.
But the essential point was made. Graham over-reached himself in applying for the coaching job at the Reds, not once but twice. His record at the Force was woeful. His record at the Reds was equally woeful.
Kafer made the point that there is a great difference between being an assistant coach and being a head coach. And that there is nothing in Graham’s record that suggests he had any great skills at being a winning head coach.
I remember years ago when Dilip Kumar, then chairman of the NSWRU, asked me about the criterion they should use to select a new coach for the Waratahs.
My answer, with the dreadful coaching regime of Matt Williams in mind, was that successful head coaches come in all shapes and sizes, with all different theories and methods. But they have one thing in common: throughout their career they have been winners.
So in the search for a new coach at the Reds, this should be the main test: is he a winner?
This takes us to the next issue for the Reds, can the system of having two head coaches Nick Stiles (for the forward) and Matt O’Connor (for the backs) work?
Martin and Kafer were sceptical. Their scepticism is well-founded.
To begin with, both these coaches are likely to throw their hats in the ring for the head coaching job. According to Martin, there was a lot of angst and anxiety in the coaching box when Graham was there. It is inevitable, he suggests, that this angst and anxiety is intensified as the two head coaches system lumbers through the season.
I was particularly interested in the announcement of the Reds side to play the Rebels in Melbourne. Five changes were made to the team that went down so tamely to the Force at Suncorp Stadium.
One of these changes is particularly significant. Ayumu Goromaru, Japan’s Rugby World Cup 2015 hero, has been dropped to the reserves bench.
Why has this decision been taken? Take it away O’Connor (in the media release, Stile talked about the forwards and O’Connor talked about the backs): “With Karmichael Hunt, he has demonstrated his best position for the team at the moment is at fullback. Having Ayumu Goromaru in the reserves adds experience to the bench and the ability to call on a world-class goal kicker when required.”
There are a couple of comments to be made about this. First, O’Connor is suggesting that Graham made a mistake in buying Goromaru. Second, that requiring him to be played at fullback, as he was against the Force, Graham was making O’Connor’s job as the attack coach more difficult than it needed to be.
One of the criticisms of O’Connor by the Martin/Kafer combo was that the Reds attack has been woeful all this season.
On the other hand, the Reds have been good in the set pieces and woeful in the rucks, which are the coaching areas controlled by Stiles.
It is interesting, therefore, that Stiles has made two changes to the Reds front row, with Sef Fa’agase replacing Ben Daley (dropped) and Andrew Ready replacing the injured Saia Fainga’a.
In his comments on these changes, Stiles made this interesting point: “Andrew Ready… the added benefit we have with him is he’s quite strong over the ball and we expect the breakdown to be a key element on Saturday.”
We shall see. There is a belief that the Reds players, who have been dreadful this season, will turn on the Rebels at Melbourne and record their first win for the season. Personally, I can’t see this happening. But then predictions are not my long suit.
Quade Cooper was just okay in his first sevens tournament for the Thunderbolts
I know, I know, Quade Cooper coughed the ball up about a metre from Fiji’s try line in the final of the Las Vegas Sevens. A try would have sealed a famous victory for the Thunderbolts.
After Fiji won the ball back from the tackle, the monster Savenaca Rawaca scooted away 110 metres to score the winning try for Fiji.
Cooper had a final chance to redeem himself and the Thunderbolts but his long pass to put a teammate in the clear to score a certain try was pushed well forward by a torrid wind blowing down the ground.
The scoreline in the final when Cooper came on was 15-0 to the Thunderbolts. Fiji scored 21 unanswered points to snatch a great victory.
Cooper was responsible for the runaway try, admittedly, although Ed Jenkins missed a tackle about ten metres out from Fiji’s try line which would have snuffed out the try.
But some of his play was excellent. I noted his interventions in the final: misses a tackle, makes a tackles, kicks through to the Fiji 22, misses a tackle, kicks through for an almost-try, chases and misses a tackle during a Fiji runaway try, nice off-load, turnover on Fiji’s try line and a runway try eventuates, forward pass to thwart a try-scoring Thunderbolts movement.
This resume sounds worse than it was. The point to make is that Cooper had plenty of involvement. Not much came off. But in other games he showed he can break the line with his jinky steps and his passing game opened up a lot of chances for the Thunderbolts.
My guess is that Cooper will make the squad going to Rio, and he will make a good contribution to any success the Thunderbolts will have.
Kurtley Beale’s offer shows the need for the ARU to protect Super Rugby
There are some problems for Kurtley Beale if he wants to sign with the Wasps for a record two-year deal of about $1.5 million a season.
Beale is contracted to the ARU until the end of 2017. There is an opt-out clause but the clause has to be actioned by both parties. This means that the ARU has to agree to break the contract agreement, if Beale wants to play his rugby in England.
It has been suggested that Bill Pulver wanted to get rid of Beale during the Di Patston-Beale mess and that if Beale puts pressure on the ARU to go, he will be released.
Things have changed though since then. Beale has been rehabilitated into the rugby family at the Waratahs and the Wallabies. He is not a Wallabies starter but is a crucial part of any match-day squad with his ability to be a starter or a reserve able to cover three positions, a probably four if wing is included.
There is a more important reason, aside from Beale’s usefulness for the Wallabies, why the ARU should insist on its contract being honoured.
The reason why the Wasps is putting in this stupendous offer to Beale is because the English Premiership is trying to create a competition that rivals Super Rugby for worldwide television popularity.
English Premiership has signed a three-year agreement (starting in 2016-17) with NBC Sports for coverage of its matches in the United States. This partnership is being “kicked-off” with the first Premiership match on US soil, featuring the Saracens and London Irish.
The RFU is encouraging this drive into the US with its rule that a player must play in the English Premiership to be eligible to play for England.
The English clubs know though that there are few genuine home-grown stars in the English Premiership so they are embarking on a buying spree from the SANZAAR countries, targeting Australia, for instant stars.
Apparently, an approach to David Pocock by the London Wasps did not come off. So Beale is the next star off the rank.
One other point needs to be made. Beale fulfils the 60/7 Rule, 60 Tests for the Wallabies over a seven year period. He is, therefore, available for Wallabies selection if Michael Cheika wants him, even though he is playing out of Australia.
Now what should be the attitude of the ARU to all of this?
I say they should keep Beale to his contract. The player signed it and he should be required to fulfil it.
The ARU should also modify the 60/7 Rule to allow it to apply only in a World Cup year and only in extreme circumstances. In other words, the rule should be there but essentially never used.
The reasons for this position are obvious. Offers to plays from European and Japanese competitions are going to be made. Many of these offers will be so excessive that the ARU can never match them.
If the players want to exercise their rights to leave, good for them. They can go but, in the case of those still eligible to play for the Wallabies, they should not be in a position to play for the Wallabies again, except in extreme circumstances.
And by extreme circumstances, I would argue that the selection of Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell in the Rugby World Cup 2015 squad did not fit the extreme circumstances situation.
England and New Zealand place a requirement on their players that if they want to represent their countries in Test rugby, they have to play in the English and New Zealand competitions.
I think this is good for New Zealand, particularly, in terms of allowing for the generation of new blood into the All Blacks and also ensuring that great players, certainties for the All Blacks, will generally stick with their national side for the psychic pleasure of wearing the famous jersey.
It also means that the Super Rugby tournament, which is a great generator for the SANZAAR countries, retains the best players from New Zealand and, by definition, some of the best players in world rugby.
The SARU is thinking about adopting the New Zealand Rugby Union policy, and it should. Rugby in South Africa and by the Springboks has not been helped at all by the fact that the national team can be selected from players playing out of South Africa.
The strong form shown by any number of local, youngish players in the South African Group, especially those in the Lions, suggests to me that if SARU adopted the NZRU policy the Springboks would be a much stronger team than it has been in recent years.
The point here is that players going from Super Rugby to European rugby seldom improve the way they do playing in the Super Rugby tournament.
Getting back to the ARU in all of this. First, they need to place a virtual moratorium on the 60/7, especially as there is a large cohort of players like Beale who are becoming eligible under it.
Second, they need to keep Beale to his contract.
Third, in special cases, players like Beale should be given the Japanese exemption, like Bernard Foley and Israel Folau were.