Moaman….the sad fact is, that photo is about 5 years old! However you have prodded me and I have uploaded a current version so you can see exactly how haggard I really am. Rugby writing is a tough profession….

nickoldschool I loved the French teams of the 80’s and 90’s….Benazzi, Rodriguez, Condom, Sella, Berbizier, Dubroca….what names, what games.

John Taylor….what a commentator. I love the way he slips into “fan mode” for half a second with the Finegan comment….his love of the game just shines through. Probably the best since McLaren.

Thanks Harry – I’ve been enjoying yours too. #mutualadmirationsociety

Die Hard….after the second State of Origin game I was musing about David Klemmer filling a Brad Thorn role in rugby, after all he is almost the same size, perhaps a touch taller? Unfortunately we then had the third match……

Nobrain….thanks for your commentary, I appreciate it. You are right, the bajada is no longer in place, but the spirit of it remains in the Pumas occasionally destructive scrummaging. I was hoping my final line ” The purest form of bajada might be outlawed these days, but the Argentine pride in creating an 8-man locomotive at scrum time remains.” might have clarified my thinking for readers, but upon reflection I could have been clearer. Regards…

Sam….its an interesting question and everyone has a different view, but my take on it is that it is twice as hard to regain the ascendancy once it is gone. This means that you have to start your best possible front row, and aim to take control of the game from the beginning, and then trust your replacements that they will do the job when they go on.

As a coach, I have always tried to avoid anything which might put my team in the position of chasing a game. Chasing teams are teams under pressure, and the pressure grows as the clock ticks down.

Excellent link Rob – thanks.

Carlos the Argie,

I’m not sure what you mean by “highly suspicious” but it seems to imply “fabricated”.

My information on Cubelli came from a few sources. One is Wallaby Gold, the excellent and highly reputable record of 100 years of Wallaby Test matches, by Peter Jenkins and statistician Matthew Alvarez. This record lists Rodriguez, Cubelli and Morel as the front row for both tests in this series.

I cross checked this with the ESPN Test player archive which lists Cubelli as being an active Test player between 1977 and 1990, for 21 Tests (including 4 matches for South America). You can check this link yourself here (http://en.espn.co.uk/argentina/rugby/player/8777.html)

Finally, there are several other articles available which reference Cubelli, including this one on his son which you can reference here ( http://rugbyworldcup-argentina2023.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/tomas-cubelli-to-get-first-rugby.html ) which says “Cubelli comes from a very sporting background, his brother Francisco Cubelli won 2 caps for the Pumas at scrum half in 2009 against Uruguay and Chile, his sister is a professional tennis player, his mother was a former member of the Argentina national field hockey team, and his father Alejandro Cubelli won 17 caps for the Pumas at hooker between 1977 and 1990.”

There may be writers on The Roar and other blogs who write from memory and don’t bother to fact check. I’m not one of them, and I resent your implication that I am making it up as I go.

If you have proven sources which contradict those that I have noted above, I’d be happy to see them, and would graciously correct anything I have written which is proven to be incorrect.

All good Sheek 😉 PS Keep an eye out down Coogee way in 2016 for a young 10 called Adam Perri. You heard it here first!

I’m not sure anyone is arguing with you Sheek? You’re giving an excellent impression of a man taking a sledgehammer to an open door!

HI Rob….I wasn’t arguing that he was poorly treated by being dropped…more that when it was clear he was not going to be picked again, that he should have been allowed to join his overseas club immediately, rather than being made to hang around.

Thank you all – yes, 16 x 2 = 32!!! What was I thinking?

Taylorman…

1. I’m surprised everyone keeps bringing up money as a trump card. Everyone knows that money is a drawcard, no-one is hiding it. I don’t think I ever argued that the Toulon team was anything other than a result of a big spend. Marco certainly spelled it out….”Big-game players on big money” as the recruitment policy.

2. Not sure I understand? Even if Habana and Williams have played the same Test match, by my count that is still two Tests worth of experience. Again, I am not in any way arguing that they’re a Test side, or that they have an advantage in some way about selections….I’m simply saying it is an amazing club side.

3. Hence my specific comment “Judged purely on an experience criteria…”, not “ability criteria”, “fitness criteria” etc

TWAS….NH competition strength is a recent development. I’m not sure that Marco would have said the same thing even 5-6 years ago….remember Rocky Elsom going to Leinster and being the rock star of Europe? I don’t think the standard even then was as high as it is now. Even in just the last few years, the number of exports (particularly players well off retirement age) has increased enormously. Generally, I think the Top 14, and the Pro 12 have stepped up massively – not just as a result of foreigners, but it hasn’t hurt.

You are right in your first comment that “traditionally the Top 3 international teams have been the teams full of players who don’t play there”. That was true 5-10 years ago when the SH teams were often Top 3, but now the only team guaranteed a top 3 spot is the AB’s. Then there is daylight, and then there is SA, Aus, England, Wales, Ireland….any of whom could beat each other on any given day. The margins are much tighter in my opinion than just a half decade ago.

Finally, I think it is fair to say that tight forward play has had a resurgence with the new scrum laws, which has brought the NH teams back into the game, and certainly placed pressure on Australia in that space.

So….summary…..I agree with you on the situation “traditionally”, but I think it has changed very quickly, and very recently.

Thanks NOS…..an educated considered comment.

Jameswm……you beat me to the punch on the teams not being made up of locals. There has probably never been an international team assembled that has the level of experience that Toulon has, with 1200+ Test caps in one squad. Judged purely on an experience criteria, it could be the greatest single rugby team ever assembled.

Re Test rugby being an arm wrestle in the wet….it doesn’t have to be, but on most occasions it is an arm wrestle, regardless of conditions. Most Tests are not high margin affairs, and the bulk of them are decided by less than 10-12 points. This is perhaps why the high scoring Tests like the “greatest test of all time” between Australia and NZ are so prized.

Will….there is a lot of confusion amongst referees on this. I asked a referee last year specifically about this before a club game where I was coaching. His interpretation was that they could form the maul and even take it forward a couple of steps, but he would call “Use it” and they would have to use it if we didn’t engage.

I thought this was wrong for the reasons you mention, but there were a lot of different viewpoints.

Long live the maul indeed! Just make it an even, legal contest.

Spiro….congratulations on chasing this one down. In my view the maul is the single biggest area of illegality in the game.

In addition to policing the law (eg players joining the maul correctly as you have pointed out), the solution is simple:

1. The ball should be allowed to be passed back within the maul, but a player should not be allowed to carry it back within a maul.
2. A player in possession of the ball in a maul should be made to bind with full arm as per a scrum.

This would mean for instance that if a player rips on the jumper, then he is not allowed to slide back within the maul, he must pass the ball back to a player behind him. Also when the ball reaches the back, the player must stay bound with full arm, not make a token attempt to hold on with one hand whilst changing the point of attack.

The maul is essentially an informal scrum with ball in hand, and the same laws should apply. A flanker, for instance, can not slip his bind in a scrum and work his way backwards to end up alongside the number 8. A player cannot “swim” up the side of a maul. So why should this be allowed to happen in a rolling maul? All players in a scrum must bind with a full arm from shoulder to wrist and it is a penalty otherwise, so again why should this be permitted in a maul?

If these two simple items were policed properly, then a disruptive defensive team would have a much better chance at forcing an error, and the attacking team would find it harder to change to point of attack, which would even up the contest.

At the moment the player with the ball can slide back, lift his head, not be bound by full arm, and change the point of attack as he wishes, often by unbinding with his only bound hand (the other is holding the ball), and moving laterally to a new point at the back of the maul. It is ridiculous, because he is technically not bound at all. Pocock in particular does this all the time – he lets go, leans on the maul with his shoulder to create the illusion of being bound, and moves laterally to a new position away from the defensive shove.

A final thought, a defensive team should have the option to not engage with the maul at all, and if this is the case, then the attacking team should be penalised for forming one, because it is essentially a Flying Wedge.

Law 10.4 (p) states “) Flying Wedge and Cavalry Charge. A team must not use the ‘Flying Wedge’ or the ‘Cavalry Charge’.
Sanction: Penalty kick at the place of the original infringement.

As long as we are in a place where a try will probably be scored from a maul, then it is way too heavily weighted in favour of the attacking team.

Cheers…

Now that’s what I call sports writing. Grantland Rice? Norman Mailer? Pffft. Hacks.

PeterK I’ll take your word for it. Does it make it any fairer to the Chiefs if they finish second?

TWOS….thanks for the reality check! However, doesn’t your statement prove my point? I would amend it to say ““A good small scrummager will hold his own with a poor big scrummager” The Wallabies over the years have found out the hard way that this IS the case, constantly being pulverized by much smaller packs…”

re getting fixated on size…..I made the point twice in the piece “Remember, size, technique, desire.”. Size isn’t everything, you’re right, but without it, against a bigger scrum, you fatigue quickly and there is huge pressure on technique. Size is one of the three building blocks….and none of the three will stand on their own.

Cheers…

P-tah…..mate could you tell me how to get to the profile section that you mention above. I clicked on the link obviously, but then I can’t seem to find my way to any other profiles.

Hi Mal,

My dad played at Briars in the early 1960’s after doing his leaving at Homebush Boys High in 1962. He was a good mate of Bill Jr who also played at Briars before joining the Army.