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The Usual Suspect just can’t stop himself trashing Super 14, the best and most attractive provincial rugby competition in world rugby. There was Stephen Jones using his bully pulpit of the prestigious UK Sunday Times last week trashing, for umpteenth time, Super 14 rugby.
He used the bewildering Lions (RSA) – Chiefs (NZ) match two weekends ago at Johannesburg, where 137 points were scored with each side scoring 9 tries, to launch an equally bewildering attack on Super 14 rugby: ‘I’ve often written of the dangers of chasing the concept of entertainment in rugby. It made a complete joke of Super Rugby and it is in grave danger of doing so all over again.’
He called Super Rugby ‘tripe’ ‘sickly’ ‘a shambles’ and ‘pap rugby’.
The culprits are the dreaded SANZAR administrators (code for John O’Neill, the ARU CEO that Jones frequently rants about). The Super Rugby referees, Jones pontificates, fear ‘their paymasters would be on their backs if the game did not yield around 15 tries minimum.’
The problem with all this ill-informed ranting is that encourages die-hard British officials to resist any reforms to make rugby a fast, skillful, hard-tackling spectacle.
Moreover, it does not stack up with the reality of the hard facts about Super Rugby. In the first round of the 2010 Super 14 tournament there were 15 tries fewer than the first round of the 2009 tournament.
In their first two matches, also, the NSW Waratahs scored exactly two tries.
And when the Chiefs played a side that tackled in the third round, the Western Force, even though that side was without a number of its best players, the Chiefs were able to score a grand total of four tries.
The Lions were only able to score two tries against the Hurricanes (NZ).
Where were the 15 tries a match in all of this Jones is claiming is mandated for Super 14 matches by the SANZAR officials?
Jones is so determined to trash Super 14 rugby that he is prepared to make an elementary mistake of logic. It was obvious to everyone that the Lions-Chiefs result was an exception to the usual Super Rugby matches where strong defence plays a major part in deciding the out-come of matches.
Exceptions do not create their own rule, as Jones seems to believe. They prove the rule, as the old and true adage maintains.
The Lions – Chiefs match was a one-off match played at altitude with a South African referee, Marius Jonker who was not on his game (his poor form afflicted the NSW Waratahs this weekend, as well, with different results), and by two sides who decided that tackling was not part of their rugby requirement for this particular match.
The fact is that you can have a high-scoring match and still have much more ferocious defence than any Six Nations side is able to replicate (with the possible exception of France).
There were 86 points scored in the terrifically exciting, fast-paced match between the Bulls (48) and the Waratahs (38). But each side had to earn their tries.
The Waratahs played a wonderful first half but were unable to clear out on the Bulls, mainly because they lost the penalty count 5 – 3.
In the second half the Bulls smashed their way into the lead. They were extremely lucky to get some fortunate decisions from the referee. Joel Stransky noted twice in his commentary that kickable penalties that should have gone to the Waratahs and would have given them the lead towards the end of the game were not given to them.
The Waratahs showed enough, though, against the Bulls to suggest that they should be a force in this year’s tournament, provided they continue to play the running game they attempted against the Bulls.
Luke Burgess was designated Man of the Match, a strange decision in my opinion. He ran strongly occasionally. But he almost always takes the wrong option. His passing remains poor. It would be interesting to see how Josh Holmes would go as a starter for the Waratahs when they are in their running mode.
Rob Horne came on towards the end of the match and made a tremendous break. It’s time for Tom Carter to give way to Horne to give the backline some pace and penetration in the centres.
The ACT Brumbies, too, were impressive with their 19 – 17 (points not tries, Mr Jones) against the Stormers (in RSA). The two tries in this enthralling, fast-paced and hard-tackling match came in the last 3 minutes.
The week before the Brumbies had been leading the Bulls before they conceded 7 straight penalties from the local referee, Mark Lawrence. For long periods of play against the Stormers, with the South African referee Craig Joubert officiating, the Brumbies did not bother to contest the rucks and mauls.
A problem for the Brumbies is that they although they are well-coached and have some star players, they lack a mongrel, dominating pack and great speed out wide.
As for the Reds and the Western Force: the Reds have improved this season so they should be off the bottom and somewhere near the middle of the competition. Former players like Brendan Cannon claim that the last placed Western Force are well-coached. But …
With Scott Staniforth back, why didn’t Mitchell play him at inside centre with James O’Connor at first-five? The Highlanders moved Jason Shoemark, a similar player to Staniforth, into inside center with great effect.
Any coach who buys Sam Harris for his squad and then plays him twice at first five-eighths is in pixie land, in my view.
You can’t help feeling, as well, with the Western Force that there are still major issues between the coach and his players. The squad is playing like a team that is not prepared to do and die for the cause.
So far, after three rounds the Bulls are leading the tournament and look like far and away the best balanced, best-coached side in the tournament.
But they are yet to play out of Africa and we will see then if they are the force they are at altitude.