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I am the Captain of my soul.
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“QC plays like an ageing leopard” Possibly the best and most accurate description of a rugby player this century. And without him (and his sidekick Kerevi),the Wallabies play like a ship without a rudder. How the Australian coaching staff let him out of their grasp should be the subject of a commission of inquiry. Remember he was contracted to the Reds, and playing suburban club rugby in Brisbane, because Brad Thorn didn’t want him, before he was contracted to the Kintetsu Liners.
'Brave, happy but plodding': Old guys rule rugby, and the Wallabies need better ones
Thanks, Eddie I appreciate your rigorous insight. I’d rather not watch 5+ mins of cynical infringement as the way to shut down a game, with a narrow lead. That’s not the kind of rugby I want to watch. You have a different view – to which you are welcome. If that separates us into those who grew up on cynical infringement as a path to glory and those who didn’t, well hey maybe we do barrack for different teams. Who knew?
Brumbies fall heartbreakingly short in titanic struggle with Crusaders
The 1st round of SR TT has exposed a problem, let’s call it the “cynical infringing” problem. To solve the problem, a slight tweak of the rules is proposed: for the last 5 minutes of the 2nd half, any team which cynically infringes within its own 22 is automatically awarded a yellow card for each infringement. If it’s difficult to identify the infringing player, then it’s the captain that goes, followed by the vice captain. If you can’t win without cynically infringing, then you lose. Problem solved. I didn’t even have to identify a particular nationality.
Brumbies fall heartbreakingly short in titanic struggle with Crusaders
The game was won by James Doleman, playing linesman for the Crusaders. “player thrown across the line of touch” – which did not happen. Dodgy call at the 62nd minute mark, which led to the winning try. Watch the footage, not even the NZ commentators believed the call.
Brumbies fall heartbreakingly short in titanic struggle with Crusaders
From the 75th minute until the end of the game, the brumbies continually infringed. The referee did not want to make the call that decided the game, so he kept issuing penalties and cards. If the referee was actually biased, why not award a penalty try for the deliberate collapse of the maul following the Reds line out? The brumbies had 2 opportunities to close out the game from the 78th minute onwards, and they stuffed it up. We are left with 13 on 15, the Reds decided to take matters into their own hands, and probably grounded the ball over the try line twice before the try was awarded to JOC. If there was a knock on from TT, it was not seen by any of the officials, and eventually the Reds prevailed. The brumbies talk of being robbed is a fairytale. They have no one to blame but themselves for a 20-8 penalty count and multiple infringements from the 75th minute onwards. And 2 opportunities to close the game out, once when in possession, and the 2nd one when they lost their own line out. The brumbies coach is an embarrassment for suggesting that fault lay anywhere other than within his own team.
The straight story: How scrum trumped lineout in the Super Rugby AU final
The Reds win should remind everyone of that Northern Hemisphere adage, that the most important player in the team is the tighthead prop, and the 2nd most important player is the reserve tighthead prop.
The Wrap: Reds twist the knife for epic win over ailing Brumbies
Speight is rubbish. Occasionally, he finishes well with pace and power. Every other aspect of his game is rubbish. Defence suspect. Ball retention coming into contact poor. Defensive alignment poor. Cannot kick.
The Brumbies and the Reds should provide most of Rennie's Wallabies
This article is 100% correct. The ARU and the QRU are run as old mates club. Great players rarely make great coaches. Larkham will be a dud. Why is it that up and coming Australian coaches are coaching overseas while the Super Rugby teams are coached by foreigners and novices?
By dumping Larkham, the Wallabies have been Cheika-mated
Agree that there is a systematic problem in Aust rugby. The standard of rugby that we must aspire to is that played by the All Blacks. Hooper has just re-signed for an enormous sum, but he does not belong anywhere in a line-up that would challenge the ABs. Pocock, possibly the world’s best 7, is playing at 8, to accomodate Hooper. Hooper is not a fetcher. Hooper is not a damaging ball-runner. He is fast and a good defender, but he’s too small to play at 7 against the ABs. End of story. Unfortunately, Sydney rugby thinking has disappeared up its own ass. And why is Australian Super Rugby saturated with overseas coaches? Sadly, the comments about jobs for the “old mates club” are 100% true.
The Australian rugby system is the problem, not just Michael Cheika
Beale is not a 10 because he can’t kick well enough in general play. I agree with the chemistry argument. Foley’s try was just sublime. yes it was something they must have rehearsed but geez, it was real good. The whole backline was really good. They used kerevi as a winger – which probably confused the shit out of the Irish. The backrow was good. It was all pretty good actually. I’m just struggling with how the Folau try at the 60 minute mark was disallowed
Nine talking points from Wallabies vs Ireland first Test
It was 53 seconds back and it was four phases back. In my opinion, the referees/touch-judges/TMO/rule-makers have completely lost the plot. The player who was tackled without the ball was back on his feet, in the defensive line. 53 seconds had passed and there had been four phases and a change of possession. The tackle had no effect on the subsequent play, and the try should have been allowed. Will the All Blacks be subjected to the same scrutiny? If they are, they will no longer be the world champions.
Nine talking points from Wallabies vs Ireland first Test
The reversal of the 60th minute try by Folau for a tackle without the ball, multiple phases before the Folau try must surely be a watershed moment in world rugby. I’ve been watching rugby since the 70s and I’ve never seen anything quite like that call. Yes you could have called a penalty at that moment, but the tackle without the ball had no effect on the lead-up to the try. So if you were to go back over the last 40 years of rugby internationals, and look up every try, and reverse every one that was tainted by foul play multiple phases earlier, you’d find that many great rugby internationals would have been ruined by such calls. The All Blacks wouldn’t be world champions. The referees and the touchies and the TMO would be the world champions. And there would be no crowds.
Wallabies vs Ireland highlights: International rugby union live scores, blog
What is clear is that the Jono Lance apologists and the Quade Cooper critics aren’t using the same slide rule. If Cooper was playing, you might not need turnstiles Daugunu on the wing (admittedly he is worth points in attack)? IMO, the issue between Thorn and Cooper is a man-management issue, and Thorn, by his conduct, has admitted he is not up to the job. Ask Alan Jones and his Barbarian coaching support staff what they thought of Cooper when he played Wallabies v Barbarians last year. Quade Cooper’s club form for the mighty Magpies, would see him playing in a Reds jersey in any era, except this one. The Reds results do not justify keeping Cooper out of the team.
A Reds flyhalf theory
I am an unabashed Quade Cooper fan. The fact that he is not playing Super Rugby or equivalent level anywhere grinds my gears. In terms of who is responsible for the QC farce, it’s hard to go past the QRU Board. Remember their form when it comes to appointing coaches is not good. Apart from MacKenzie, who must be regarded as a fluke outcome for the QRU, every single coaching appointment they have made since Mark McBain was coaching has been an outright disaster. It’s the board who is responsible for QC playing the house down in Brisbane club rugby this year. Did they not think about their star recruit when they chased Thorn’s signature? Tell me there are no other quality Australian coaches with senior coaching experience out there? Thorn is another big-name feel-good coaching appointment, a QRU special. And if Quade’s tackling is the big concern, why does Thorn persist with Daugunu while there are better tacklers on the bench?
A Reds flyhalf theory
I take it back. I don’t think Hooper asked? Well not on the footage that I have.
A Reds flyhalf theory
So if Perenara’s behaviour is ok, and O’Keefe changes his mind (since he already has his hand in his pocket to pull out a card) and goes upstairs to the TMO, why, last week, doesn’t O’Keefe also change his mind and go to the TMO when Hooper asked him to review the incident that led to the Crusaders’ “try” after Beale was flattened without the ball? And the rational answer to the neutral observer has to be “unconscious bias”. O’Keefe is more easily influenced by Perenara than by Hooper.
A Reds flyhalf theory
I won’t ask you if you like milk in your morning coffee, perhaps you need to review the tape? 😉
A Reds flyhalf theory
yeah sorry. Pat Lam was another generation. My excuse is that I’m learning another language.
A Reds flyhalf theory
To Paulo and Ralph, I have always thought there was nothing easier than having an opinion. You guys have taught me something. It’s even easier to disagree with someone else’s opinion when you won’t express one yourself. Was TJ Perenara’s behaviour last night ok with you? It’s a very simple question. If you can’t answer it, then perhaps return to your philosophical pages.
A Reds flyhalf theory
Ralph let me put the question to you more clearly. Are you ok with the way TJ Perenara spoke to the referee last night? Yes or No. How does my question hit you, in terms of your “false dichotomy” analysis?
A Reds flyhalf theory
In life, as in the judiciary, as in rugby, perceptions matter. SR games between NZ and Australia involving O’Keefe, two very close games in a row now, are marred by allegations of unconscious bias against O”Keefe. When you examine the tapes, there is plenty of evidence that can be used to support the allegation. Perhaps it’s the nature of rugby that there are always 50/50 calls and that referees wield an extraordinary influence over the game. It will ever be so, until neutral referees are appointed. On the game itself, I would say that the Reds lost it on the play of Lance (his kicking) and Daugunu (defence). But the Kiwi team’s mastery of managing the NZ referee was on display for two weeks in a row.
A Reds flyhalf theory
One either has to accept that TJ Perenara’s behaviour towards the referee and the referee’s tolerance of it is acceptable in the game of rugby or not. If it is acceptable, then the problem for Australian teams is that we don’t do enough of it. But if it is acceptable, then be ready to watch 80 minutes of 30 people arguing with the officials. I prefer the European model. Players need to get out of the referee’s face PERIOD.
A Reds flyhalf theory
Except that Chris Feauai-Sautia is the best tackler in the back-line and should be at 13. FS has a touch of the Frank Bunce about him. Plays best when slightly angered. He covers for Daugunu’s weaknesses at 11. If FS had defended against Pat Lam (who is an absolute weapon!) the result may have been very different.
A Reds flyhalf theory
Name the influential Australian Super Rugby coach of the last 20 years who played in the backline. And there you have the reason there are no 10s for a generation.
ANALYSIS: The Wallabies have backed the wrong horse as their No.10 project