Roar Guru
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"Never confuse motion with action."
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“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth,” famously pronounced Iron Mike Tyson in his heyday.
Edinburgh is a fine town to visit for rugby. Arriving at Waverley by train from London, one walks up a gentle stone ramp, directly into the middle of fun, new and old.
The Ancient Greek poet Archilochus once wrote this cryptic line: ‘A fox knows many things, but a hedgehog one important thing.’ Writers ever since have latched on to this organising idea, to categorise thinkers (and doers) as hedgehogs, who see the world through the lens of one clear concept or belief, or foxes, who have […]
Rassie Erasmus told us to judge him on three criteria: improved performance on the field, depth built for the Rugby World Cup, and ‘transformation.’ So far, he gets a B minus, and was quite close to an A minus.
The All Blacks have only lost consecutively to an opponent ten times in history.
Bald fans and balding coaches can be grumpy, but bountifully blonde ball-players like Ned Hanigan and Faf de Klerk seem always in good cheer.
‘How do you know Australia exists? I mean, how do you really know it is real? On what basis do you believe in Australia?’
Tenth-ranked Argentina and the sixth-ranked Springboks take their rivalry across the Atlantic, and all the way to the foothills of the Andes, to play a settling test under the reliably clear blue skies of Mendoza, heaven for foodies. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog from 5:10am AEST.
Google ‘Cheika fired’ and the first result will be a Reuters article from early June of 2018, which discusses how ‘fired up’ Michael Cheika was to tangle with Joe Schmidt’s Irish squad.
Will Rassie Erasmus’ “Pooper” gamble of playing two opensiders with a link man and a classic fetcher on the bench pay off? Will Argentina return to form with the World Cup looming ever closer?
Super Rugby has the best names. Listening to Super Rugby commentators every weekend is a splendid cacophony of Spanish, Japanese, Xhosa, Sotho, Afrikaans, Tongan, Maori, or Fijian names stewed into an expressive anthem of speed and power.
Another June is gone, and hopes of beating the All Blacks lie in ruins again.
Despite beginning with two of the worst opening quarters in South African rugby history (and allowing a disgracefully soft try at the end of the first Test at Ellis Park), the Springboks rebounded.
Eddie Jones had Rassie Erasmus floored, gasping for breath, punch drunk, after twenty minutes of rugby at Ellis Park.
Conor Murray does not look like a scrumhalf. He’s too tall. He doesn’t wriggle. He’s not a gymnast. He does not have breakaway speed. His snipes are deceptively slow – he runs upright and fends. A halfback does not usually fend.
Since the Boer War, savagery has permeated the rugby rivalry between England and South Africa.
Lappies Labuschagne, Dillon Hunt, Pablo Matera and Michael Hooper looked good in my last piece, ‘Super Rugby stat deep dive: Who is tackling the most and the best?‘, regarding tacklers who want to tackle more and get up quickly to do so, dominating a lot of ball carriers, and seldom missing.
My psychological guess is you have passed through yet another life cycle, in the long list:
– rebel
– horticulturalist
– power forward
– musician
– promoter
– insurgent
– bad man
– lock
– chef
– almost good man
– firefighter
– lover
– Yorkshire enthusiast
– top man
– cricket enthusiast
In the end, it’s the hope that kills you…
Great fun, man! Funny, but actually really believable…
The Wrap: Is this D-day for Michael Cheika or same old, same old?
It’s not working. The 2018 failed to:
– dent the defensive lines
– create sufficient breaks
– offload consistently
– design effective close support lines
– create ball security
All of that is easier with a Read or Thor or Stander or Faletau or Vunipola carting it up a lot …
All is not lost: Four quick fixes for the Wallabies forwards
I’m pretending to work (schmooze) at Africa Oil Week, which means plenty of cocktails, jokes, introductions, twerking, and sitting in speeches whilst reading rugby
All is not lost: Four quick fixes for the Wallabies forwards
NB! Greetings from steamy Gabon.
I enjoyed that quiet Redford film. It was good physical acting, too. Kind of like Tom Hanks in that deserted island flick. More with less. Which brings us to your essay …
The Wallaby pack:
I see your points. Well-elucidated.
But, for me, the biggest problem for Australia is a paucity of durable, strong, big, sure-handed ball-carriers. In the RC, the ABs’ loosies carried the ball on 10.7% of the team carries, whilst the WB loosies only carted it up on 7.1% of Australian carries. That’s significant. Altogether, the WB pack was used on 51.7% of all carries; contrast that with the Boks’ forwards’ 57.3%! On the EOYT, the Wallabies upped the forward share of carries, but they were smashed back a lot, except versus Italy.
I think that’s a key issue that does implicate Pooper’s weaknesses.
All is not lost: Four quick fixes for the Wallabies forwards
Yes, I think that’s a fair inference to draw, even if it is tremendously complex and multifaceted. Schmidt’s coaching team and Hansen’s coaching team do not seem to ‘pendulum’ from one style to another, very much. Yes, there are a few positions where they can ‘get bigger’ or ‘faster’ from time to time (blindside, 13, fullback), but it is not lurching wildly from A to Z and B to Y. It’s little “spectral” shifts.
The Wrap: What can Australian rugby learn from Grant Fox?
Once again, I come away impressed with the understated intelligence of the All Black setup. Fox surely understands a clear vision by Hansen et al, and this guides his selection acumen. I get the impression the whole team of coaches and selectors are crystal clear about what they are recruiting, training to, and cherishing.
The Wrap: What can Australian rugby learn from Grant Fox?
Very good! Caused me to go back and look at a few Bok-AB moments in Wellington and Pretoria.
Targeting the All Blacks, Part 2: The shoot-drift gap
Thanks for your great post, Dani! It’s hard not to get all wound up already! That’s gonna be a cracker of a match. And the humility and faithfulness of the Fijians makes them impossible not to love.
Sapporo awaits
Yes. I’m not holding my breath. Look at how long Coetzee dodged a ‘certain’ ax.
Sapporo awaits
RWC is only 5 tests away, and Cheika has to beat a very good coach (McKee) with a battering ram of a team. My opinion is RA should make the change NOW.
Jake White is going well at Verblitz in Japan, as he always does, and this time, he’s not relying on a big beefy pack. He was successful at Montpellier. He went more than OK at Canberra. And of course, he had an 80%+ last season with the Boks in 07, and it was his team who basically did the 09 miracle. So, my question on Jake would be: for how long, on what terms, and with what exit?
Our man Nick Bishop is not blown away by the other guy that Georgina R is reporting RA is looking at…
Sapporo awaits
Good point. Substantial number of Fiji’s players have been heavily involved in the big European cup games, which are real pressure cookers. I also think their tight five is clearly better than before, which could create serious problems in a first game scenario.
Sapporo awaits
Thanks, Brian. When the pools were announced, it seemed like Australia were fortunate. But now, it seems Wales is clearly favoured, and there’s absolutely nothing between the number 7 and number 8 teams in a neutral field. The Wallabies superior depth won’t be a huge issue, because it’s Week 1!
Sapporo awaits
Top class article. A lot better than most sport articles in the “papers.” Not much time left for SS Wallaby to set a clear and proper course to beat Fiji, then Wales, back to back.
The power of '1' - an ontology of numbers
Bosun.
In the end, it’s the hope that kills you…