1. The Waratahs would win the 2014 Super Rugby competition
There was no indication that 2014 would be different from other years. though the acquisition of Kurtley Beale, Nick Phipps and Jacques Potgieter gave a glimmer of hope.
And maybe the attacking style introduced by coach Michael Cheika would bear more fruit second year in.
But Waratahs’ fans were not getting their hopes up too high because they had been burnt too often. The record of their team since the professional era started was poor.
A couple of years ago Rod Kafer commented about the Waratahs:
They originally had a three-year plan that hasn’t worked for 17 years
It was no secret that he and other NSW rugby critics despised the Sydney-centric bias of Australian rugby, and they had a point.
Amongst other things, the Sydney press had been talking up the Waratahs since the pro era started, no doubt writing what their readers wanted to see. But if they fooled the general reader who didn’t know much about the sport, they didn’t fool the local rugbyheads.
They agreed with Kafer.
The Waratahs were at the sharp end of the competition a few times. They lost the final to the Crusaders in 2005 and 2008 under Ewen McKenzie, made the semis on three other occasions and contested a qualifying match when the expanded Super Rugby competition started in 2011.
But as Ross Reynolds said on ABC radio before the 2014 final:
Since 1996 they haven’t won a chook raffle
It wasn’t a good record and things didn’t look so rosy early in 2014 either. On Anzac Day they played poorly against the Blues in NZ, losing their fourth game out of nine to just hang onto sixth place.
There was no expectation after that match that 2014 was going to be any different from other years of disappointing results.
Then came the miracle comeback against the Hurricanes at Allianz Stadium, the dream run of victories and a penalty goal for the ages.
If rugby is indeed a game they play in heaven, the angels must have been cheering from the cloudy stands, with Dave Brockhoff encouraging from the sideline.
Footnotes
The rise of the Western Force and the Highlanders was not expected either but those unexpected improvements were already covered this week in the article: The three best coaches of Super Rugby 2014 The Lions also did better than expected.
There were also some unexpected happenings including:
The incident of not going for poles. Round 5 – Chiefs v. Stormers. The Tribe get a penalty kick in a handy position. Worthy first-five Aaron Cruden indicates that he wants to take a shot at goal and tees the ball up. He looks to his winger and deliberately kicks the ball to him.
Referee Joubert would have have none of it:
“When you’ve given an indication you’re going for poles, you have to make a genuine attempt to kick at poles.”
Then he added while laughing:
“I’ve never seen him shank one that badly and I don’t think I ever will. “
The Stormers had the last laugh: they got the put-in to the scrum.
The non-knock-on. Round 7 – Reds v Stormers. The Reds got a penalty advantage; so Will Genia threw the ball down to get the penalty kick. Referee Chris Pollock did nothing then said:
“You haven’t knocked it on yet”.
Genia had thrown the ball down backwards.
And by the bye: Is there not a law that sanctions deliberate knock-ons, (or throws forward, if you will)?
The curious matter of the honest scrumhalf. Round 15 – Highlanders v. Crusaders. Scrummie Aaron Smith of The Clan dives over the Crusaders’ goal line to score – or maybe not. Referee Glen Jackson, who had no great probity as a player himself, asked Smith if he had scored.
Smith said he hadn’t. He probably thought the TMO would find him out and The Clan had penalty advantage anyway; but it was an oddity all the same.
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