Australian rugby's skills issue

Can you expand on that please it's kinda brief

Webber’s pass is far superior to peranara .

Yes, what the hell are Aussie coaches doing with regard to improving the skillset of our players. Are they doing anything or is it that the players won't buy in and do the extra training? It seems as though our players have to go overseas to improve!!!!

Its because their team may not exist next year that they should be doing as much as they can to improve their skills and improve themselves so that they can find a spot in another team as with reduced opportunities only the best will get a spot. Covid 19 situation is not an excuse. Infact with Covid 19 on, there is less distraction from other activities and more opportunities to practise so I don't buy your argument.

I agree in principle about the importance of skills and the way NZ seems to drill these better. However there is a halfback in Australian rugby that is passing long, straight and off the deck. There is also a kicker that for the past two years has averaged 80-90% . He just happens to be the halfback for Western Force and his name is Prior. Oh, by the way he is also their captain . Maybe you should watch him play when he returns from injury. ????

I believe there's a homily or story or fairytale about the nine-year old Aaron Smith that goes something like this: "Why do take three steps before you pass? You know you don't have to take any." "But Grandad. Everybody else does." "That doesn't mean you. Change your game." As for basic skills in Australia and the comments about the various codes, by far the worst example has to be AFL for knock-ons. It's just dreadful.

I agree Ben. Perenara is almost better at 10 these days.

Quite agree about Finlay Christie Ben, very good half back and very sharp.

Very little has been done to exploit the ridiculous 50-20 law. If I'm not mistaken, Karmichael Hunt executed the 50/20 kick twice in his 20-minute return from injury game.

I forgot to add, I did think Issak Fines played very well for the Brumbies in his 20 min cameo, there was urgency to get to the break down, urgency at the breakdown, flat quick passing straight off the deck, quick darting runs when appropriate, pushing opposition players out of the way. I know it was only 20 mins but the best 20 mins I have seen from an Aussie 9 in a long time. One for the future from that display

I totally agree, the level of skill and ability in professional rugby in regards to passing, catching, kicking and tackling in recent times is way below par for where they should be. This has been a constant in Aussie rugby for years, and I truly believe that Australian rugby at this point in time and for the last decade has been below par across the board. However it is not just the physical skills lacking in Australian rugby, it is also the inability to implement effective strategies and tactics (S & Ts), this I believe is a big downfall with our coaches in recent times, their adaptation and implementation of strategies and tactics and overall game play intelligence, I believe is poor. ‘Strategy’ can be defined as being the pre-game decisions that are based on the known strength of your own team and/or knowledge of the opposition team. ‘Tactics’ can be defined as changes made to the original plans because of occurrence of events during the game. The strategy is the overall game plan, and tactics are how it is executed or implemented. The best implementation of S & Ts in recent times in my view comes from the Japanese, with both Eddie Jones and Jamie Joseph getting more out of their teams by judicious use and adaption of their S & Ts against much more fancied opponents, with the players believing that their use will bring the desired results, who can ever forget Brighton. Good observation and tactical awareness are important while both playing and analyzing play during a game, and Aussie sides seem to be unable or unwilling to adapt on the run. I watch sometimes and feel that they are on auto pilot, how often do we see something work for one of our teams and you do not see that move again the whole game. In a past life and in another code I was the defensive coach for an Australian national team, one philosophy I used, as we all did as a staff was, if something works keep doing it until they stop it, sure give it a different look but take advantage of what is working. Once the opposition figure it out go to something else. I believe the last Aussie side to do this well was the Reds Super Rugby winning side, although the Brumbies do this well with their rolling maul, however the next step is to work off the fact that the opposition expect a rolling maul and to exploit that, especially when there may be a need of scoring a try closer to the posts for an easier kick when required. On the other side of the coin, why do we not see teams on more occasions sack the jumper or not engage the line-out? There are many examples in Aussie professional rugby of poor implementation of S & Ts, and they at times have cost us wins, this can be seen with both the Waratahs and Wallabies in the past, the persistence in having "POPGUN" Foley kicking for touch on free kicks or penalties is a terrible strategy when he generally gains only 10-15m or clearing from their own red zone, when having players with significantly better distance on their kicks is inexcusable, why would you not have Hodge or Haylett-Petty take those when they can. The Brumbies are guilty of this at the moment using Tom Banks, who takes longer to kick to touch than it does to pack and reset 3 scrums, yet rarely gains more than 15m from a penalty or free kick to touch. Another example was the under utilization of the cross field kick to Israel Folau, sure he is no longer there, but surely this tactic could have been used 3-4 times more often, it may not have been a success every time but it would mean wingers on that side would have had to been back and not in the defensive line thus allowing a greater chance of a back-line movement to be successful. Sir Isaac Newton's third law is very relevant in rugby and modern sports S & Ts today For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, the trick is identifying both so you maybe adapt. Good coaching is about is about playing to your strengths and minimizing your weaknesses, no matter how unorthodox they maybe and having your players buy into it and you adapting your game plans to suit your players strengths. . A decade ago I coached the 4th XV team at a school in the Sydney CAS competition, we had a very unusual side, with half not playing rugby before and only playing because it would be the last chance they would have to play with their mates, it included 3 boys from the 1st V basketball side, who were all over 6'5". Come line-out time, there was now way the other boys could lift those guys so we turned it on its head, our flanker threw the ball in, our 5"7" hooker became our jumper at 2, lifted by the 2 tallest boys as he was the best catcher and very flexible in the air, we did not lose a line-out all year and won 35% of the opposition throws as well. As the season went on we adapted our game to suit our needs and improving skills, we lost 2 of our 1st round games with 1 draw out of 5. In the return matches of the home and away round robin we won all 5 games including turning around a 42 -5 loss to Waverly College into 24 -12 win int he last game of the season. Yes it is 4th XV rugby but the philosophy remains play to your strengths and think out of the box if need be (Japan an Eddie Jones) Rugby is a game that allows us to do that more than most games. The 3 best rugby matches I have seen in no particular order are the world cup Japan's defeat of South Africa, The 2000 Sydney All Blacks v Wallabies match at Homebush in front of 109,874 people and a game on SBS in the 1996 Japan 41 V South Korea25 in an Asian cup final, all different games, all different game-plans. That is the beauty of rugby the expansive fast break games of the helter skelter Fijians or disciplined Japanese or the power of a Georgian pack mauling 35m or Italian/Argentine pushover scrums, teams using their strengths, sadly Aussie rugby is not doing this lately.

Wheelbarrow I think AFL issues has to do with picking Athletes who can run, above those with the basic Skills..Had a chat with a mate who is coaching Rugby here at a high level and he said rugby has gone down a similar path. More interested in Athletes and Gym Stats than Actual Skilled Players

Agree, TJ's slow pass is the reason he never came close to surpassing Aaron Smith as #1. Agree with the general idea of the article though. Being able to throw a bullet off the deck should be the primary requirement for a number 9, and I don't see it happening too often in Oz rugby.

Harrison kicked 17 straight actually

Bill- i note you make a point about singling out Finlay Christie. He didnt get much gametime at the Hurricanes and now the same thing with the Blues. Last week vs the Canes was his first start this season and i thought he had a pretty good game. The NZ rugby review programmes on during the week all agreed he had a good game too. Hard to dismiss him as you have when hes had one start this year, which was unanimously, not a bad one. Hes good enough that Scotland are trying to entice him. Justin Marshall made comment when he was subbed off last week, how well he had played and he thought Christie shouldve remained.

Given our coaches over the last 5 years have not advocated the box kick it’s little surprise that our players aren’t currently consistently proficient at the tactic. The last bloke to be good at it (Nick White) was pilloried on The Roar and other media and spent a few years in exile while our Australian “running rugby” coach had his way. And a successful box kick is only as good as the chasers who contest it. Kicking from hands? A bloke named Quade Cooper was pretty good... again though, our national coach said he hated kicking and didn’t practice it. Passing off the deck? It’s a coaching issue. McDermott certainly can do it. Part of why you don’t see it is a lack of familiarity and trust in players. You get a combination like Genia & Cooper or White and CLL in sides where there was confidence and trust that everyone will be where they should be, then the ball comes off the deck faster. Whilst you’re forming those partnerships or the 10 is being changed constantly, you’ll see the half stand more upright and take a longer look and even a step or 2. Kicking from the tee? What’s a good %? 70% Before the Covid break the Chiefs, Blues and Highlanders converted at under 70%

I think a good example of the nz development of skill sets is if you compare Jordy Barrett and Israel Folau. The basic skill of passing off your weak side, in this case for both players, left to right. 2 years ago i noted Jordy could only throw left to right league shovel style. It was obviously his weak side. Fast forward Canes v Highlanders 2 weeks ago and the beautiful left to right, long cutout pass he threw running at speed, to Kobus Van Wyk for the try. Hes obviously worked at it. Compare to Folau. He could never throw a proper left to right pass, certainly nothing like that ball, for his entire career.

You must be joking about Perenaras pass!! Ive written on here numerous times about that..and im an out n out Hurricanes man. Ive been watching Perenara since sec school when he was up against Bryn Hall for the NZ Sec Schools halfback spot. His passing is slow, laboured and inaccurate. Go back to last weeks game and go thru his passes. Its never improved. He does however, bring a lot of other skills to the team that are second to no other halfback in nz. But passing isnt one of them.

There has been much denigration of our rugby players and coaches on this site, especially from Kiwis, and I understand why there is criticism. But I wonder what good it serves. I believe that these guys are on the whole trying their best and with their pay cuts, social distancing obligations and uncertainty as to their careers (for example, their team may not even exist next year) who are we to judge? Anytime now the whole comp could be cancelled again. South Africa has no rugby. I am really enjoying the Australian SR comp, so can we please accentuate the positive a bit more and be grateful for the entertainment.

I agree that over the last decade and in particular over the last 5 years Oz Rugby skills in all departments have been abysmal. I do believe we have seen a significant improvement, at times, on the skills this year. What's need is consistent, back-to-back improvement. Which I think is coming. But again it comes down to player commitment and buy-in for that to happen. It takes time to undue the bad habits in order to create the good. As for Will Harrison, didn't he kick 15 straight before missing? What about Foley, when Mehrtens was his kicking coach he rarely missed. Maybe RA could hire him to coach all Oz kickers. As for in-game kicking, bring back to the Torp...