The Waratahs are no longer in charge of their destiny, after beating the Melbourne Rebels on Saturday night, but not by enough to claim the bonus point that would have helped secure a playoff berth.
Instead, they wait for other results, specifically the Rebels-Western Force match in Newcastle on Saturday afternoon. A Rebels win by four or more points, and the Waratahs’ season is over. If the Force can come up with the biggest upset of the AU season – or even just a loss by three points or fewer – the Waratahs will sneak through to face the Reds in the second versus third playoff in Brisbane.
Here’s what got us talking from the weekend of rugby.
Swinton escaping sanction makes no sense at all
You’ve all seen the tackle by now, and if it made no sense at the time Waratahs flanker Lachlan Swinton stayed on the field despite a relatively clear shoulder charge to the head of Rebels no.8 Isi Naisarani late in the second half, the lack of a citing since the incident makes even less sense.
It is now well beyond 48 hours since fulltime in the match, and no citing action has been brought down on Swinton from the SANZAAR Citing Commissioner.
Despite Super Rugby AU being run within Australian borders, refereeing appointments and judicial requirements are still handled by SANZAAR, as was the case during Super Rugby Aotearoa.
The citing process was only required once during the New Zealand competition, when Hurricanes winger Kobus van Wyk was cited and subsequently suspended for three weeks for a dangerous lifting tackle on Chiefs scrumhalf Brad Weber.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Swinton was penalised for the hit, with referee Graham Cooper rightly indicating it was a no-arms tackle. Naisarani stayed down receiving treatment from the Rebels trainers and was taken off for a Head Injury Assessment soon after. Replays were shown, but there was no TMO intervention.
Our live match blog was awash with comments at the time, and Roar Expert columnist Geoff Parkes labelled the lack of action “a regrettable step backwards” in terms of protecting players against dangerous high contact, and “one that needs to be rectified this week”.
It won’t be.
If the Waratahs qualify for the playoff match, Swinton will be free to play. If their Super Rugby season is over, he could be released to club side Sydney University with no sanction preventing him playing.
Swinton has definitely brought a level of physicality that has been missing from Waratahs forwards in recent years, and the fact he was still looking to assert himself on the Rebels physically in the 77th minute of a match that looked won might well have pleased his coach Rob Penney.
However, this was a textbook example of a shoulder-led no-arms tackle to the head that World Rugby remain committed to cracking down on.
As inexcusable as it is that the on-field process saw it as a penalty only and not deserving of another look is, it is much worse that the SANZAAR Judicial process failed to act with the benefit of time and unlimited replays.
Western Force territorial wins provide blueprint for pinning Brumbies in their half
The Force were never really expected to trouble the Brumbies in Canberra on Friday night, but their first-half success at driving the Brumbies further back downfield through some excellent tactical kicking will have the Reds and whoever might face them in the final taking notice.
The Brumbies have always been a team that much prefers to play in the opposition half, but the Force’s response to the Brumbies’ kicking from their own half was clever.
They simply kicked it back. The Brumbies were drawn into kicking duels several times, and the Force were happy to keep them going because they were team making the nett gains.
The Force astutely played Jono Lance and Jack McGregor deep in defence, and had Kyle Godwin on a roving role from the left wing. The three of them, along with Force captain Ian Prior all had turns at putting the ball back in Brumbies territory, happy to claw ground back one kick at a time.
And it took the Brumbies until the second half to heed the lesson that while ever the Force players could kick two or three metres further than they could, they were losing ground with every kick from their half.
Better defensive teams than the Force will have seen this. More disciplined teams can take advantage.
The Force showed us all how the Brumbies can be tamed. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
More South African departure reports equals more SANZAAR denials
With the COVID-19 pandemic still sweeping across the African continent, and South African rugby still looking at domestic competition options, the news only gets louder about their departure from southern hemisphere rugby.
This was a collection of weekend headlines:
“Pro14 coaches support South African expansion”
“Could the Springboks replace Japan at ‘Eight Nations’ tournament?”
“Springboks in ‘advanced discussions’ to play in northern tournament – World Rugby vice-chairman”
“Currie Cup to be used as qualification for expanded PRO16?”
SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos was reported as supposedly denying claims South Africa are about to reject The Rugby Championship this year and play in the north, though no reports carried quotes issuing any such denial.
But it wouldn’t be another round of South African departure rumours without the inevitable SANZAAR statement.
So we wait to be reminded of the binding agreements in place, and of the four member unions’ repeated and reiterated commitment to the partnership.
And then we move onto the next round of rumours and reports.
Rhys
Roar Rookie
Yeah if Argentina could get a real go of it from MLR then that would help them immeasurably. It would also help US rugby by exposing them to tier one footy consistently too.
Luke Ringland
Guest
My understanding of the issue has me thinking League has the biggest issue. Union and AFL get big hit concussions, and as we've seen they can do a lot to stop that. League has a lot more high impact front on collisions than the other two, which is when you get the 100s and 1000s (over a career) uncountable micro-concussions that will never be eliminated without drastically changing the game. From what I understand about CTE, it is those micro-concussions that do the most damage over time, rather than the big ones that have a more dramatic short-term impact, but not so much for CTE.
MitchO
Guest
Yeah we probably are at that point. Especially at the top levels of the game. The culture needs to change. (Unfortunately).
tsuru
Roar Rookie
Absolutely jez. And I reckon there’s going to be a lot more discussion around this topic in the next couple of weeks due to this news coming out of the AFL. Let’s hope we get more action as well as discussion.
tsuru
Roar Rookie
Mzilikazi, the 2 things are not mutually exclusive. I’m sure that Penney would be pleased that Swinton “was still looking to assert himself on the Rebels physically in the 77th minute of a match that looked won” but would be very unhappy about the way he did it and would speak to Swinton the way you have suggested.
Ulster Dave
Roar Rookie
Yes, Jeansyjive. Sounded like he was bored doing it - and so were we. It would be good if he really got into analysing scrums, teaching understanding of this part of the game for younger players and helping to interpret referee decisions. Hope he gets stuck into the real job of bringing the World Cup here. That'll test him. But I am really fed up with Clarkie who just calls out the names of whoever touches the ball - he's more like radio commentating than tv commentating.
Jeansyjive
Roar Rookie
Is long long overdue to move Kearns out of the commentators box. He was terrible commentating the Waratahs vs Rebels game. Sounded like he had been forced to commentate and begrudgingly said a few words, usually criticising the referee. He offers no analytical words ever.
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Yes Brett, maybe it's me but I seem to be seeing more of them.
Ozinsa thats where a lot of confusion is over the domestic comps in Aus and NZ....Are they planning for 2021 only...2022 if absolutely needed, or are they planning for beyond that. I was under the impression that SAANZAR had contracts between the Unions involved but unsure how enforcible they are
Yeah no arguement from me. I just wish we knew what was true and what wasnt and also whether Aus and NZ are going for a 1 year comp or wanting a longer term thing without SA. I want SA and NZ to play each other in domestic and test level and as I said elsewhere I would be happy to see a 10-11 team comp with 5 NZ 4 or 5 SA and 1 Arg team. It would mean only 3 games a season overseas for all but Arg so not a major travel issue compared to the old SR comp. I strongly believe NZ and Aus need a rest from each other and regard SA as a traditionally greater foe than I do Aus. It bugs me that no one from SAANZAR is yelling "hey were back next year and we have contracts"
lilzot
Roar Rookie
Apart from the illegal hit, Swinton was the worst NSW forward on the paddock against the rebels. He drifts in and out of games and does not consistently play his role. Commentators get excited about his "abrasive edge" but do not watch the laziness of his play. The receiving kickoff where he is pushed on top of the catcher and is penalised showed a complete lack of commitment to the moment.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Oh please. This is soooo old
Double Agent
Guest
Riiiiiiiiiiiight. :laughing:
ScottD
Roar Guru
It may well be that they go to pulling players from the USA competition. In the short term this will be a step backwards but over the longer term it may well be a step forward for both them and the rest of the Americas teams.
JD Kiwi
Roar Rookie
They can do the same as us - domestic first, then crossover against us. Which I suspect the fans and many of the players still in South Africa would much prefer.
Olly
Roar Rookie
yep sounds like a major issue but to be honest I don't think any of our domestic comps could keep top players for long. Oz is a crowded sporting nation and NZ is to small a country. SA has the population, economy size and rugby being a big sport to get a true domestic comp off the ground. Oz and NZ must work together to be successful.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Fil, apologies for replying like this to your first ever comment but I have to say that is rubbish. For the simple reason that we all know the Tahs have Buckley's of playing finals. This is clearly the machinations of FOSUFC - the Friends of Syndey University Football Club. No one else in Aussie rugby has the power to influence the referees and SANZAAR citing officials and no one but SUFC is going to benefit from the lack of suspension.
Olly
Roar Rookie
It would be a good result. US market will be massive, RA should have been trying to jump on this market years ago.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Mitcho, I'm a Tahs man and I like Swinton a lot. This one was a straight red, no questions asked. Poor that it was missed on the night but the failure to act from citing commissioners as everyone is pointing out is much worse. I think Penney and the NSWRU should put their hand up and suspend Swinton from either finals or club rugby as appropriate. Don't hide behind protocol or lack of action from SANZAAR referees. Be pro-active and live up to the standards of the game and the duty of care that we owe to the players.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Can't stand these toffs, out on the yacht with Clarke and Delany were they?