Archive for March, 2009
Matt Goddard returns to the Super 14
Posted by: | CommentsMarc Hinton over at Stuff has a yet another piece lambasting Matt Goddard after the refereeing appointments were announced for this week.
He’s back. Card-toting Australian rugby referee Matt Goddard has had his slap on the wrist and has been set loose on the Super 14 again.
I have to wonder, if a player had a shocker and got dropped, would the rugby media be as scathing on their return to the field?
Sanzar’s list of referee appointments for the upcoming round of matches has confirmed the officious Aussie, who was stood down after an over-the-top performance in the round-six Hurricanes-Bulls match in the capital, has been given a chance to show he’s learnt his lesson.
Yikes! Now I defended each of Goddard’s yellow cards and I’ve read what referee boss Lindon Bray had to say about his performance and I think most of the issues boil down to his man management skills, or lack thereof.
Godard dished out five yellow cards and one red one in the Canes-Bulls match as he took a zero-tolerance policy into ruling on the breakdown.
Which the players never adapted to.
He also showed some fairly dubious player management techniques in the match, calling into question his ability to handle this area of the game.
Can’t argue with that, his man management was poor. When did he take the captains aside and ask for their cooperation? Instead of constantly berating the players. Anyhow, it appears Marc and I agree on something.
It was found that at least two of the cards issued were incorrect rulings and officials said he was to be taken through his performance and advised accordingly.
Because the media was demanding a scapegoat here. I believe that based on the context of the game, the so-called ‘incorrect’ cards which were issued to Pedre Wannenburg and Scott Waldrom, were justified. But then what do I know?
Still, New Zealand fans can breathe a little easier as Goddard will only be eased back into action via what is the round’s lowest profile fixture, the clash between wooden-spooners the Cheetahs and the ACT Brumbies in Bloemfontein.
Because somehow Goddard has it in for New Zealand teams? Somehow I think this is continued beating on a dead horse in the hope that the flailing of its limbs give the appearance of life. This story is dead now, leave it be.
NZ Team of the week
Posted by: | CommentsDuncan Johnstone over at Stuff is running a really good feature every Monday that I have completely missed out on. He names a form XV based on their play in the most recent round of Super 14.
Here’s this week’s team:
15 Mils Muliaina (Chiefs), 14 Anthony Tuitavake (Blues), 13 Conrad Smith (Hurricanes), 12 Ma’a Nonu (Hurricanes), 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu (Chiefs), 10 Stephen Donald (Chiefs), 9 Jimmy Cowan (Highlanders), 8 Sione Lauaki (Chiefs), 7 Karl Lowe (Hurricanes), 6 Adam Thomson (Highlanders), 5 Tom Donnelly (Highlanders), 4 Brad Thorn (Crusaders), 3 Clint Newland (Highlanders), 2 Dane Coles (Hurricanes), 1 Jamie Mackintosh (Highlanders).
Hard to argue with most of those picks, and I’m glad to see that there’s an honourable mention for Callum Bruce in there.
Callum Bruce who has been a quiet achiever in the star-studded Chiefs backline.
I liken Callum Bruce to Aaron Mauger a little bit, quiet and underrated because of the quality of guys around him, but is the glue that holds the backline together. I’m not seeing higher honours in his future this year, but he’s a solid performer at Super 14 level.
There’s something of a glut of good halfbacks going around at the moment too.
The All Blacks selectors have got a job on their hands at halfback now that Brendon Leonard is firing up. He’s a ball of energy and his bullet pass has freed the Chiefs backline. But is there a more gritty character than Jimmy Cowan? He sparked the improving Highlanders’ attack with several strong runs and was there at the end to snuff out some dangerous revivals from the Bulls.
Not to mention that Piri Weepu is playing well when he gets a chance at halfback, while Taniela Moa has a huge upside if he can string together some consistent performances. In fact, so good are the halfback stocks right now that incumbant All Black Andy Ellis doesn’t even rate a mention. Still, a good problem to have.
Crusaders *this close* to becoming title contenders
Posted by: | CommentsUsually being a fan of any team is a rollercoaster ride, filled with dizzying highs and paralysing lows as the fortunes of your chosen team fluctuate. But being a fan of the Crusaders has been virtually all highs for a number of years now. The Crusaders have not finished outside the top four since 2001, have contested eight of the last nine finals.
So to find their team sitting in seventh place at the half way point with three wins from seven outings is a new experience for Crusaders’ fans.
But what makes the Crusaders’ current season even more frustrating for fans is that they are so close to being the team they once were. Coach Todd Blackadder maintains the team needs “a few subtle changes” at training to prepare for the table topping Bulls this weekend, and in that respect his is correct but the Crusaders only needed subtle changes all year and the season is now half over.
On Saturday night the Crusaders again showed glimpses of their form of old, in the final five minutes powering into the breakdowns to force turnovers, tackling with renewed ferocity and topping it off with Brad Thorn’s magnificent lineout steal to snuff out the Stormers’ final attacking chance.
But for the 75 minutes fans were subjected to the “nearly-there” Crusaders again, with just a few poor passes, bad options and numerous turnovers in contact standing between the Crusaders and complete domination.
With the Red and Black machine sputtering along, it is hard for individual parts to stand out. All Black Thorn has fail to regain his form of last season, although that may be due to his ongoing foot injury, Leon MacDonald and Andy Ellis have only shown glimpes of what they are capable of and a potential All Black call up for pivots Stephen Brett and Colin Slade now look a long way off.
The back line struggles largely boil down to inaccurate passing. Too often Brett receives the ball flat footed and leaves the rest of the backline on the back foot, or passes into the midfield go behind the man slowing any attacking impetus.
Up front the Crusaders tight five play a good, but not flashy game, performing well in the set pieces but struggling around the fringes of the ruck as running half backs like Brendon Leonard and Alby Matthewson exposed. In the loose the Crusaders desperately miss Richie McCaw, and as good as his understudy George Whitelock is, he cannot compare to other world class opensiders like Schalk Berger, Phil Waugh or George Smith.
Then again, when the Crusaders do finally get it right, and they are too good a team to keep playing like this, their opponents had better watch out because past history has shown almost nothing can stop a rampant Crusaders team.
Fox attacks referees
Posted by: | CommentsGrant Fox has become the latest in a very long line of rugby pundits to attack the referees in this year’s Super 14. The collective wailing over Matt Goddard’s performance was almost deafening, and the fact that I seemed to be the only one defending him was even worse, but Fox’s attack comes right out of left field.
Watching the Blues and Waratahs on Friday night was an exercise in frustration.
Not because the Blues lost, either.
Yes it was, this whole column reads like a smoke screen designed to distract punters from the fact that the Blues have some serious issues with player attitudes. Remember, Fox is on the board of the Blues.
I am frustrated over some of the refereeing we’re seeing in the Super 14.
The fixation with keeping players on their feet is commendable – but it’s not reality.
No, and referees look for players’ intent at this phase of the game. Try to stay on your feet but go down because there are no opponents there to support you: fine. Flop on top of the ball so that it becomes sealed off: free kick. All about intent.
In my view, there’s an easy way to keep players on their feet – allow rucking. The lawmakers will say you can still ruck. Reality is different. The whistle-blowers simply don’t let it happen.
Agreed.
Twice the Blues were severely punished by the ref in prime attacking positions. In one case, Rene Ranger was penalised for supposedly not staying on his feet.
Because he dove off his feet to seal the ball off, preventing the Waratahs from even contesting the ball. Isn’t that what we want at the breakdown? A contest? Because if the attacking team can do whatever they like to prevent the defending team from getting the ball, then you are playing league, not union.
In a similar situation, the Blues were then penalised for not releasing.
I’m sorry, what? Why shouldn’t they be penalised for not releasing the ball? Because they are the attackers or because they are the Blues? There’s no reason in the laws of the game.
On both occasions, the attacking team didn’t get the benefit of the doubt.
It’s going on far too much.
Right, let me break out my soapbox here. What has been going on too long in rugby is that referees focus on the defending team, or more accurately the team not in possession. For years now they have allowed attackers to clean out from the side, dive off their feet at the breakdown and position “pillars”, players in an offside position at the ruck designed to block defender.
The ELVs haven’t actually changed anything in this regard but it’s pretty clear to anyone with a knowledge of refereeing that there’s been something of a change of focus for the whistlemen this year as they look to watch both teams at the breakdown.
And ultimately it’s this change which is at the crux of Fox’s arguments: that the attacking teams are no longer able to do pretty much whatever they like at the breakdown.
Loe: Blues problem is their attitude
Posted by: | CommentsRichard Loe’s column in the Herald on Sunday is extremely incisive this week, pointing out that the Blues’ inconsistency this year boils down to their attitude.
I should make it clear at the outset that I am not questioning the Blues’ ability – anyone can see they have tons – but the attitude with which they carry out their task. That’s very PC for old R. Loe but there you are …
Fair point, they are a team stacked with All Blacks and potential All Blacks but have only won three out of seven games so far.
I’m also not going to sound off at coaches Pat Lam and Shane Howarth because I don’t believe that’s where the problem lies, rookie coaches or not.
Good, because player attitudes are one of the toughest things for a coach to change.
No, I am reminded of one of the games Waikato had against Auckland back in the days when I was playing.
We decided to do unto others what they’d do unto us if we didn’t do it first. In the All Blacks, Michael Jones always liked to correct me on that one, with his Christian beliefs.
So we hurt them. We had a crack at Auckland at the collisions, in the rucks, in the tackles, everywhere. If we went in with that attitude, they had to feel it and we figured the hurter wouldn’t be as badly hurt as the hurtee.
And so it proved. Auckland did what the Blues did on Friday night – they ended up coming second at the key collision areas and lost the game.
That’s it for me. For two weeks in a row, against the Chiefs and now the Waratahs, they have been given a lesson at the contact areas. That’s puzzling. You can’t tell me the coaches didn’t point it out and work on it after the Chiefs game.
But as we’re already established, it can be difficult to adjust players’ attitudes.
So it’s the players. Up front, I thought only Keven Mealamu, John Afoa and maybe Chris Lowrey really did the business in the collision phases. That’s not enough people. You can’t win at this level with only three forwards doing the job there.
The new props struggled – and the Blues miss Tony Woodcock – and locks Kurtis Haiu and Ali Williams were busy but, man, were they loose. Jerome Kaino went missing and there were big noises about Onosai Tololima-Auva’a, the No 7, but he hasn’t really come on, in my opinion.
And there lies the crux of the issue, five forwards go MIA in a game that was decided at the breakdown. Hard to win games when your locks are trying to play like extra centre.
While we’re talking about attitude, let’s go behind the scrum – Joe Rokocoko would be no 2 in the Auckland team right now and his competition is a guy who normally plays centre – Anthony Tuitavake. Rokocoko is kind of typical of the Blues right now – not quite there, not reaching potential, strangely disconnected, almost.
Right now I think Rokocoko would be hard pressed to even make an All Black team picked on form, behind Sivivatu, Masaga and Tuitavake.
Halfback Taniela Moa is another. He has unquestioned ability but blows hot and cold and I think maybe the coaches leave him on in the hope that he’ll suddenly spark something and have a blinder.
Agreed.
But, if we’re talking about the Blues’ chances of the play-offs, I’d be worried now. They don’t look to have the attitude nor the confidence nor the combinations.
Look at Richie McCaw and Reuben Thorne when they played so well for the Crusaders. They complemented each other’s style of play so well – and I’m not even trying to suggest that Thorne was the greatest No 6 that God ever breathed life into.
The best loose forward trios are combination that add up to something greater than the sum of their parts, a gestalt. I think Kaino is better at No. 8, but with Chris Lowrey playing so well on the blindside he can’t get game time there. And basically, this Blues’ trio just doesn’t add up to a match.
The Blues don’t seem to have that kind of combination and confidence. Such things can be mended fast and can be turned around. But they need to hurry.
The Blues need to win at least four of their last six games, and that requires a big turnaround, fast.
