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Opinion
There is no substitute for raw power, especially in the most recent iterations of professional rugby. Players are getting bigger and stronger with each passing generation, and the collisions are becoming ever more cataclysmic. You cannot win without power.
The correct application of power is a growing concern, especially when unstoppable force meets immovable object in a tackle.
Four years ago, more than 70 doctors and health professionals in the UK signed an open letter to the government, demanding a ban on the collision elements of the game in schools.
The letter was based on studies which had found that the risk of concussion for a child or teenage rugby player was 11 per cent – the equivalent of at least one player in every 15-player team sustaining a concussion during the season.
Tackles were found to be the principal cause of most injuries (64%) and the vast majority of concussions (87%). Professor Allyson Pollock summarised the concerns behind the letter as follows:
“Children are being left exposed to serious and catastrophic risk of injury. As a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UK and Irish governments should ensure the safety of rugby, by removing the contact from the children’s game in schools.”
That concern has spread upwards into the top echelons of professional rugby, with administrators rightly wary of an NFL-style legal backlash which could come back to sting them well after a player’s career is over. Head injuries are no longer viewed as acceptable hazards of the job among professional players.
In the USA, an Eastern District of Pennsylvania judge ruled that the proposed $765m set aside by the National Football League would not provide sufficient medical cover for all the ramifications of head injury.
When a settlement finally came into effect on January 7, 2017, that figure had risen to an astronomical $US1 billion.
It is from this perspective that the red cards issued to Ofa Tuungafasi and Lachie Swinton have to be seen. There is absolutely no question that referee Nic Berry acted entirely within the guidance of the current protocols in sending both players from the field:
“In the end, we’ve got to deal with the law and the law says contact with the head starts with a red card,” Dave Rennie said after the game.
“So, it’s a safety issue and hard to argue with both the decisions made.”
The conundrum for a modern coach was perfectly encapsulated by the qualification which followed later in the press conference.
“I thought Lachie made a big statement in the 30-odd minutes that he was on the field,” Rennie said.
“Everything that we asked of him bringing a bit of edge; what we know about tackle, around clean, around work-rate, he was massive.
If you live on the edge physically in rugby, you need the emotional maturity to know how to avoid stepping across the line. Swinton has the perfect physical tools for big number six, but it was a little like throwing the keys of dad’s BMW to a teenager for their first drive. There was wheel-spin, there were tyre squeals and, eventually, there was an accident.
Lachie will learn control over time, but that time is not yet.
Lachie Swinton. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
The legal but still damaging application of power was demonstrated by the Wallabies bench forwards in the second half at Brisbane and in particular by Angus Bell, Taniela Tupou and Liam Wright.
Bell and Tupou joined hands with a mighty effort from starting lock Matt Philip, and together they formed a triangle of power the All Blacks simply could not match in the final quarter of the game. It was the first and only time in the series that the Wallaby forwards had their opponents’ measure at scrum, on the carry and at cleanout.
Rennie again:
“We saw plenty of character out there tonight. Both sides had to deal with some curveballs with cards and so on, but I’m rapt with the steel we showed and the impact off the bench to seal the win.”
He later lauded Bell’s impact:
“For Angus to come on – he’s a kid – very early in the game, he did a great job up front. So there’s a lot of competition for places.”
The Wallaby resurgence started at the scrum, with Bell and Tupou at prop. Taniela had already thrown out broad hints that he had Alex Hodgman’s number when firing him into orbit in the second period at Bledisloe 3:
The ball was scraped away by TJ Perenara at the base of that scrum as Hodgman left terra firma, but the advantage was nailed down firmly at Suncorp Stadium:
Bell was scrumming against an opposite number as tall as him in the form of Tyrel Lomax. He didn’t experience any of the Super Rugby problems with opponents who were able to alter the height of the scrum and force him to pack lower than he wanted. With power on power exerted on an even plane, Bell could win his contest with Lomax.
From the second of those two scrums, Reece Hodge kicked an important three-pointer.
The combination of Bell and Tupou gave the Wallabies a ball-carrying presence in the tight five they have not enjoyed for many years:
In the first instance, Bell receives the ball from a standing start after a high pass from Michael Hooper at the base. Nonetheless, he has more than enough power to brush off the tackles of first Beauden Barrett, and then Lomax. In the second, Tupou runs straight over Sam Whitelock’s challenge to set up more front-foot ball for the green and gold.
Liam Wright’s presence at the breakdown at the end of the Tupou run was also representative of his contribution. In only ten minutes on the field, Wright authored no less than 13 cleanouts as the first or second man, and most of those were decisive involvements:
Wright links with Marika Koroibete on the left, and then blasts Damian McKenzie away from the tackle contest:
It may be only a small back, but this is still the kind of cleanout the Wallabies found difficult to achieve earlier in the series.
When Wright joined Hooper in a two-man back-row, something clicked. Whether it was Wright’s piratical black beard contrasting Hooper’s tousled golden locks, or Wright’s cleanout skills balancing Hooper’s ball-carrying ability, there was a definite sense of complementary functions at work. Maybe Hooper’s swashbuckling Errol Flynn has finally found his Basil Rathbone.
Wright’s skills at cleanout were again to the fore in the final game-winning sequence. It all began with another barnstorming run by Tupou:
Wright is only in the supporting cast here, but his involvements became crucial as the phases unwound:
Hooper makes the first contact with New Zealand fullback Jordie Barrett, but cannot fully remove him. Wright arrives as the second man and ploughs him back onto the Kiwi side of the ruck, and this opens up the space on the left side for the following play.
This was a signature feature and the New Zealand goalline loomed:
In the final act, it was a spiteful but entirely legal cleanout by Wright on Ardie Savea which created the room for Tupou to nail down the All Black coffin:
Wright doesn’t just seal Savea off from the ball, he smashes him back, cartwheeling into the All Blacks in-goal area:
The cleanout creates an impossible offside line for New Zealand to defend on the open side at the following play.
Summary
With the rules surrounding concussion and head injury only likely to tighten in the future, the proper application of power has become an important factor in the modern game of rugby.
Players who can apply their power under control are at a premium, and that implies a level of emotional maturity. Although they are still both young players, there are signs that Angus Bell (20) and Taniela Tupou (24) are acquiring that maturity rapidly.
Lachie Swinton comes from the same generation and has power in spades, but right now he lacks the means to apply it legally and consistently in all situations.
Liam Wright does not have Swinton’s power, but he can apply his range of skills more consistently across the board. That is what makes him a true leader at the Queensland Reds.
It also makes him a more likely candidate for the number six jersey, to dovetail with Wallaby captain Michael Hooper. Wright can play high – at the driving maul in defence, and at lineout on both sides of the ball. He can clean out effectively where Hooper can carry. He can increase the Wallaby capacity to turn over ball at the breakdown, which at present is too heavily dependent on their captain.
Above all else, he has the best beard of any Australian forward since Scott Fardy. If for no other reason, that ought to earn him a starting shot against Argentina.