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Sports loving Englishman, Melbourne based lover of French Rugby - confused?
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Stirzaker hasn’t panned out the way we hoped because he has been a part of the worst rugby program in pro rugby
Perhaps a better program will enable him to finally reach his potential (which is the only thing a rugby program needs to achieve)
Wallabies lock Adam Coleman finds a new club home
32yo quality take 2 years out from RWC2019 – surely this is just another indication that the people running the game in Australia are clueless?
Sean McMahon keeps 2019 World Cup door open
Clearly states ‘jumping for the ball’
He clearly was!
The French refereeing conundrum destroying the Lions tour
But arent there 5 countries? Or do we discount those that arent ‘tri-nations’ veterans?
When is the deadline, SANZAAR?
@jameswm
Sorry for the delayed reply / have been out in the thriving junior rugby program in Victoria this morning….
A great s&c program is the bedrock of any great rugby program; the job of the rugby program is to get every player to play to their potential as part of a team – it is not just about fitness (though we know how important that can be) but moreso about injury prevention. I have witnessed s&c delivering and 80% reduction in soft tissue injury yoy just from moving from a good s&c program to a great one.
It won’t make a marked difference to structural injury, but they are the much smaller injury occurrence.
What the reduction allows is for players to train for skills far more, and as a team/ squad more which makes them better players.
We have all seen the lamentable injury lists of the Aus franchises…and most of them are soft tissue – if the players aren’t able train then they won’t get better.
What astounds me is that Australia, as with coaching, has a great heritage in this space. It seems to have been lost in Rugby currently. They are still running around in AFL and NRL but the best Aus rugby s&c coaches are now overseas (most notably Dean Benton, who worked with the Wallabies leading into the 2015 RWC – they went way better then didn’t they – who is now working with Eddie Jones and England).
Rugby's a business, right? So don't blame Cox if he takes his elsewhere
It will make no difference to performance to drop a team; the performances are not to do with the cattle, but with the s&c and poor quality coaching.
The only team that looks to be reasonably coached in Aus currently is the Force
Where are the good Australian coaches? I see this as one of the many failures of the ARU….
There is no real benefit to dropping a team, only downside – what is really needed is to spend less money than is made – and I am sure that even an average commercial person could see that a huge amount of the money currently spent is wasted – if spend was focussed on coach development, s&c, player development (bottom to top) rather than on administrator/ commercial salaries then performance could improve across the board, and I think that we’d all be surprised at how quickly this could work.
If Andrew Cox had burnt a lot of money, then it is because he hasn’t got it right. And to bail on his ethical responsibility to Victorian Rugby because he can get a return is both utterly self serving and pathetic.
Rugby's a business, right? So don't blame Cox if he takes his elsewhere
I think picking Phil Kearns from Randwick 2nd xv (Eddie Jones was first xv incumbent) straight into the Wallabies was an example of this…
Is Will Millar the answer for Australian rugby's woes?
Not sure there are many Aus players that will be good enough…look at the U20’s as an example….?
England Rugby defend Solomona selection
Here Here!!!
The pathetic factional crap has to stop! (It is different to the passionate support for your team)…whatever happened to respecting your competitors?
Eeny, meeny, miny, Rebels?
I would contend that the Rebels are doing more work with the Rugby community since entering into private ownership than they ever did in the entire time previously (particularly with Junior Rugby).
Where it falls down is that Melbourne does not deserve a team as next to no-one turns up to games! If Melburnians want an elite team then they need to show up and watch rather than just passively stand by…
A contributing factor is that the Rugby program (particularly the coaching) has been extremely poor since inception, and I would suggest is getting worse, not better.
Apart from some poor recruitment early, the Rebels have had the cattle, but have developed and used them extremely poorly; whilst onfield success is no guarantee of capturing the imagination of Melbourne (eg the Storm), it would surely inspire a few more in the Rugby community to bother to show up.
I still think that s brumbies/Rebels merge (sure to fail) or the brumbies being booted (tragic) are the most likely outcomes.
Eeny, meeny, miny, Rebels?
“The point about all this is that when the ARU, under the leadership of John O’Neill, ran the 2003 RWC in Australia one of the most important considerations was that it was a World Cup tournament, not an Australian tournament.
Every one from outside of Australia, especially the journalists and the competing sides, was given the fairest of treatment. O’Neill was punctilious about this. Every one had a great time as a consequence.”
Spiro, if only someone had told the bloke handing over the Trophy that it was a RWC not an Australian Tournament…….:)
SPIRO's Rolling Maul: Fearless predictions on RWC 2015 from Stephen Jones
Wardad, read my original comment. I did not assume it was Kiwi’s – I asked if it could have been Kiwi’s.
They were playing the English weren’t they?
RFU probes homophobic abuse of Nigel Owens
Oh dear Wardad.
Just a simple question as the article didn’t mention it was English fans. Clearly this has subsequently been clarified.
No anti kiwi here.
RFU probes homophobic abuse of Nigel Owens
ABOOS: Not sure that I saw mention that they were English. Is that an assumption that you have made? Could they have been Kiwi?
RFU probes homophobic abuse of Nigel Owens
Fair enough.
Someone of Rocky’s focus, intellect and drive would do a great job at the ARU other than the patience or willingness to deal with the politics.
Surely there is now ample opportunity to review the structure of the game and do the two most important things: make the wallabies successful and drive grass roots participation. Everything else is a waste of money.
THE OUTSIDER: The French connection
Just a couple of points:
1. The reason that Foreign Clubs pay so much for Wallabies is because they are NOT available for selection. As soon as they become so, their value to the Clubs drops as they will be less available, and less rested.
2. The Clubs ‘own’ the players, and play them as they want; if a limit of playing minutes were attempted to be put into.contracts of O/S players, the value would drop further. Who would compensate the players?
3. The Wallabies make the money for the ARU; one would think that everything should be focused on making them the most successful that they can be (including better investment in S&C for injury prevention).
4. The only other thing that should matter is grass roots participation, and the Pathway. I for one think that the NRC should become far more important for Australian Rugby than Super Rugby is (which clearly is not the common wisdom).
On another note, I would add Rocky Elsom into the team. He has recently started playing again (Narbonne) and at 31 still has a lot to offer. In addition, there are a number of other players of quality that have been missed: Tyrone Smith, Daniel Halengahu, ted Postal, Lei Tomiki, Saia Fekitoa, Shaun Foley, Tom Boidin, Clint Eadie (all Narbonne) and Josh Valentine (Beziers) to name a few.
THE OUTSIDER: The French connection
Scott,
I am always an advocate of your analysis, and I do not have any reason to change my view here.
However, there is one proviso; for the first time in years, I detected that the players were actually playing to a plan (good or bad) and demonstrating that they had been coached. For example, Genia was passing the ball off the ground (!?!!) most of the time, the defensive pattern was different and the attack different.
I think that this constitutes a step forward. Cheika is a canny Coach and in a couple of weeks there is evidence that the players want to be Coached by him. Yes, they may well take some losses on the journey but realistically if they continue to listen to the Coach and execute then there is a slight chance that they may progress enough to challenge at RWC….
The Wallabies take three steps backwards
Proudly Happy to acknowledge that everyone hates losing to us English.
As one who lives in Oz, i do have to say that we cannot be worse winners than the Australians. They are a foe.
Kiwis are both poor winners and poor losers (though we don’t get to see the latter that often). Love watching the ABs play and preferably against someone else.
SA fans can be a little bombastic quite frankly, however I have a quiet respect for SA Rugby…….they are always quite good and when the potential is unlocked they can be great (I fear that they are moving into that territory now).
But for England, France, Wales and Ireland take the focus – it is rare (RWC time) that we have a level playing field against the SH teams in terms of our seasons so most Tests played are hard to value.
Very happy with England’s development under Lancaster. The volume of injuries this November will allow depth to be built and we will be strong (and a contender) for next year. We will however be far stronger for 2019.
In the meantime. Please hate us, pontificate about why SH Rugby is better all you like. It makes the World seem right.
Pick your poison: The teams you simply hate to lose to
Sandbox.
As a non NSW (English) I believe that you are grossly under estimating Michael Cheika, his focus and will to succeed will show that he is a far bigger person than those that denigrate him based on facile, parochial views.
I am not happy that he is wallaby Coach because I know that he will sort out the culture and help each player realise his potential.
EOYT will be a start point but I am now significantly less confident that the Twickenham date next year is a foregone conclusion – he has always achieved his success (business or Rugby) by focussing on the goal and ensuring that everybody contributes towards it.
Will Genia may join Sam Burgess at Bath
Burgess playing 2nd fiddle to Stirzaker…….now there is a player who could have benefited from touring.
Wallabies team for Bledisloe: Quade Cooper and Lealiifano return
For me, the case for Super Rugby of any sort is tenuous.
I know that Southern Hemisphere supporters will hate to look north for a different path, but how about allowing the domestic competitions to grow (NPC and Currie Cup are already strong from a playing perspective, if not financial) and have the top teams each season qualify for a “Heineken. Cup” style competition with a group stage and then knock
Enabling teams from any country to participate (Arg, Japan, USA, Canada etc) who perform admirably in their own competitions (critical that they have them) will grow both the game and the revenue footprint through media.
The case for Super 20, 22 and 24 rugby
Concussion is the one injury that you cannot avoid through training, and arguably is the biggest threat to long term welfare.
Mind game: Elsom fears knockout legal action http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/mind-game-elsom-fears-knockout-legal-action-20130903-2t3f7.html via @smh
Concussion: The silent issue that needs stronger support
Great perspective
Reds fans see red over Higginbotham's red, but the rules must be read