Archive for November, 2008
Donald experiment just didn’t work
Posted by: | CommentsI was going to write something about how the experiement of playing Steven Donald and Dan Carter as dual play makers was a failure, but Grant Fox over at Rugby Heaven beat me to it.
Sometimes you have to be brave enough to make big decisions. Graham Henry did that last night in Hong Kong when he hooked Steven Donald from the field in the fourth Bledisloe Cup clash.
It was the right decision. Donald will come again. But last night, the experiment of playing him in the No 10 jersey with Dan Carter in No 12 simply didn’t work.
Quite why you’d play the best first five in world rugby at second five is beyond me, but why not play Donald at second five?
Donald’s kicking game in the first half was not up to international standard. His presence in the No 10 jersey was also tending to keep Carter out of the game.
Nor was his distribution and running. Carter doesn’t run often, but when he does he is able to freeze defensive lines, Donald just didn’t do this.
Combined with the urgency, superior cohesion and physical presence at the breakdown of a well-prepared Wallaby team, the All Blacks were looking vulnerable at the halftime break.
Actually, I think they were wondering just what the hell was going on out there, weren’t the Wallabies meant to be rusty?
With superior possession and territory stats, the All Blacks needed their key playmaker to command the ruck area – and that just wasn’t happening with Donald. So Henry’s hook came out.
Suddenly Carter was in the game more and the end result was a commendable win, giving us a 3-1 record over Australia this year.
Of course it helped that the Australia forwards started to tire and the All Blacks’ loosies got stuck into their work.
But you can’t deny the fact that Donald was found wanting in the pivot role in this game, perhaps a trial of Carter and Donald with their roles switched against Scotland would be in order. Donald is a damn good player and has all the qualities one looks for in an international first five, but he still needs some development to fully make the transition.
All Blacks vs Wallabies LIVE!
Posted by: | CommentsGermany advance with good win over gutsy Ghana
Posted by: | CommentsGermany booked their place in the knockout phase of the Fifa U17 Women’s World Cup with a 3-2 win over Ghana in Christchurch.
The Germans took control of the game right from the outset, threatening the Africans’ goal a number of times before Tabea Kemme was brought down just inside the box after just four minutes. Dzenifer Marozsan stepped up and slotted the ball home from the penalty spot to give Germany the best possible start.
Ghana responded well to the early goal, applying a great deal of pressure to the Germans immediately after conceding, but some poor touches and resolute defending meant they were unable to turn the pressure into any chances.
Both teams had their goalies go down during the game after big collisions with attackers, both were able to continue and Germany’s Anna Sarholz showed little fear after her collision, diving at an attacker’s feet just minutes after receiving treatment.
Ten minutes before half time Germany had their second as Marozsan curled a corner from the left side into the back of the net with pinpoint accuracy, leaving the Ghanan defenders stunned.
Germany came out blazing in the second half, generating a number of chances only to be denied by the woodwork and some outstanding goal keeping from Patricia Mantey.
Ghana finally got themselves into the game when Sarholz spilled an easy ball in and Florence Dadson pounced on the loose ball and put it home.
Unfortunately for the Africans, they proved the old football adage of being most vulnerable after scoring was accurate as just five minutes later Leonie Maier darted past three uninterested looking defenders and came up with a top drawer finish for Germany’s third of the afternoon.
Ghana, perhaps realising that the Germans were tiring, picked up the pace of their attack and sent more players forward in the later stages of the game. This tactic paid off for them as lanky forward Isha Fordjour was able to out jump Sarholz to give Ghana their second of the game to rapturous applause from the neutral crowd.
The final moments of the game were tense as Ghana continued to press forward in hopes of forcing an unlikely draw but were only able to create one more chance which saw Fordjour’s drive blocked by a German defender.
Ghana gave a wonderful account of themselves, playing attractive and positive football, but were unable to match the class and talent of Germany’s stars Marozsan and Isabelle Linden, whose runs down the right side constantly asked questions of the defenders.
Ghana now need a win over Costa Rica to advance to the second stage, while Germany face North Korea in a game which will determine if the Koreans advance.
