Author: Bob Dwyer

In the words of the New Zealand commentator, the Springboks were given ‘a good old-fashioned bath’ by the All Blacks, to the tune of 40 points to 7 in Wellington last night. In their first two Tri Nations matches this under-strength Springbok team have conceded 79 points to 27, including 11 tries to 3. Even allowing for the absence of many first-choice players and conceding that perhaps only five or six of this squad will be in their first-choice 22, this must count as a disastrous start for their defence of the World Cup. By half-time, I was writing ‘lethargic…

In my Coaching Manual I say that ‘Attack is not about scoring tries. Attack is about “asking questions of the defence”.’ Counter-attack is the same, if we can get ‘enough players quickly back behind the ball to present a number of possibilities for our attack.’ [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0ObYodspAE[/youtube] In this excellent team try, finally scored by Ben Alexander, this is exactly what happens. The Wallabies, with urgency, get their ‘attacking alignment into position from what began as a defensive alignment.’ Actually, they do it twice: once from the actual turnover, and immediately from the ruck ball, this time back to the right. Quade…

The Wallabies went into Saturday’s Test against a depleted Springbok lineup with a ‘must win’ imperative, so victory alone was never going to be enough. To convince themselves – and the rest of us – that they are the real deal, they had to be dominant. That they did! To convince the analysts that they could continue to go forward, they needed more again. They needed to show urgency and physicality at the tackle zone and ask serious questions with their attack. They did both of these also! The Boks were well under strength with about eleven first choice players…

Samoa played well against Australia on Sunday. This was not simply a team of wonderfully gifted athletes coming out on top of an underperforming rugby team. This was the performance of a squad who have a clear understanding of the fundamentals of the game and who execute under pressure with quality technique. From now on, each week we will identify a segment of a game — something special — and analyse from video the specific techniques on display, with illustration and reference to my Coaching Manual. Soon after half-time in Sunday’s Test, Samoan lock Kane Thompson scored a wonderful team…

The tiny Pacific Islands nation of Samoa humbled the might of Australian rugby yesterday at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. Yes, humbled! Because the scoreline of 32–23 and four tries to two does not do justice to the superiority of the visitors. Thirteen of Australia’s points came when Samoa were reduced to 14 men, with a belated yellow card issued to Daniel Leo, and our final try came with victory pretty much out of sight. Samoa have indeed climbed another mountain in their gradual ascent up the rugby rankings, and I would suggest that they will climb a few more in…

Last night at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, the Queensland Reds completed one of the great turnarounds in world sport by winning the massively competitive Super Rugby competition for 2011. After finishing near bottom in 2008 and 2009, they completed their rise to the top by defeating hot favourites Canterbury Crusaders by 18 points to 13, in front of a near-delirious sell-out crowd, who chanted ‘We are Red!’ from start to finish. Both teams are packed with world-class players and they didn’t disappoint. They applied intense defensive pressure for the full 80 minutes and it took special skills and vision for…

The Reds were brilliant in their disposal of the Blues at Suncorp Stadium, with Quade Cooper and Rod Davies probably the brightest of the bright. The Crusaders simply shut the Stormers out of the match at Newlands and were dominant in all phases of the game. The fact that both losing teams have been strong all season – the Blues were competition leaders for a significant period – makes these results all the more amazing. There was one significant common factor in the performances of both of the winning teams. Both displayed powerful driving defence, featuring huge impact and numbers…

The Waratahs and Sharks both travelled to New Zealand on the weekend for the first round of the sudden death play-offs for the Super Rugby title. The Waratahs were massively, almost unbelievably, under-strength due to injuries and were over-powered by a resurgent Blues team, while the Sharks were unable to stem the seemingly unending run of Crusaders play-off victories. For both of the visiting teams, these were always going to be difficult matches. Conditions in New Zealand are frequently foreign to both Australian and South African teams and, stupidly, both matches were controlled by New Zealand referees. This is a…

The Waratahs, with the most miserly defence in the Super Rugby competition, added an outstanding attacking display to totally overwhelm the Brumbies by 41 points to 7. They scored five tries to a solitary last-minute consolation try for the Brumbies. Waratahs fans have waited a long time for this sort of attacking commitment from their team. After making numerous opportunities in the first half and completing only one, they shifted another gear after the break to collect four more tries. This lifted them into fifth place on the table and earned a play-off date away against the Auckland Blues next…

At the business end of the SupeRugby season the going certainly gets tough but, rather than the tough getting going, it’s the talented who are coming to the fore. Pretty much across the teams, it’s the world-class players who are lifting and giving their team that winning edge. Some of these players were less than conspicuous in the early season encounters but, when the occasion has demanded it, they have shown their true class. For most of the season to date, and with his team’s performance less than brilliant, Morné Steyn had almost dropped from consideration for the Springbok fly-half…

A couple of weeks back, Jamie Joseph, ex-All Black and the Highlanders’ first-year coach, was quoted as belittling the Australian Super Rugby teams: ‘they’re like schoolboy games’ compared to those featuring South African and, of course, New Zealand teams. He is a new boy at this level of coaching, but he will do well to remember the lesson. His team also suffered from a lack of respect for their lower-placed opponents and the Force punished them with a dominant last quarter performance. With the intensity of the Highlanders defence falling well below that required at this level, the visitors scored…

The Queensland Reds held onto top spot on the Super Rugby table with a thrilling last-minute win over the Canterbury Crusaders in front of an ecstatic full house at Suncorp Stadium this afternoon. Following their earlier home victories against competition big guns Blues and Bulls, and a stunning away win over the Stormers, this means that the Reds now have victories against all of the other top six teams (save the Sharks, whom they are not scheduled to meet in the regular season matches). This was an intense match, where the Reds matched the Crusaders at the tackle contest from…

There’s a whole lot of rugby being played at the moment. In the south, the Super Rugby tournament is entering the final lap leading in to the play-off series. In the north, the Aviva and Magners premierships have played their semi-finals and the European finals – both the Amlin Challenge and the Heineken Cup – were both played on this weekend. Some weeks ago, I decided to focus on the Heineken final – this is the world’s premier club competition, in my view – and boy, am I glad that I did. The Heineken Cup is a great championship. I…

Pretty much the happiest teams in the Super Rugby competition, this weekend, were those with the bye. The Sharks, Waratahs and Western Force each picked up four points – same as for a win – while on the pitch, favourites were going down like nine pins. It’s hard to choose the biggest upset. The Lions won for the first time in 16 years in Canberra; the previously disappointing Chiefs convincingly defeated SA conference leader, the Stormers; and the Cheetahs achieved a first-ever third win in a row, at the expense of the Crusaders – many people’s choice for the title.…

Away from home, against the best that the South African conference can offer, and you’re without your two very best players – arguably the world’s two best players – and your starting scrum-half and both your starting locks and your regular bench prop – all of them All Blacks. This was the situation that confronted the Crusaders on Saturday at Newlands, Cape Town, as they prepared to take on the Stormers. “What more could go wrong?”, they must have been thinking. Well, quite a lot more actually! As if the absence of Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Andy Ellis, Brad Thorn,…

All five Aussie franchises played in the Super Rugby tournament on the weekend and just one of the five had a win – and that against another Aussie team! Not a very reassuring thought, perhaps, but there were still plenty of positives to be taken. For a start, Berrick Barnes, Stephen Moore, David Pocock and Matt Hodgson were all back on the pitch and looking secure. Over the next few weeks their form will continue to improve, but their performances were all OK for early days. Cameron Shepherd has played a few games now and adds another player of genuine international…

There were a few Super Rugby matches played this weekend that carried more significance than just the table points normally available. The competition had reached the halfway point and already some fancied teams were in danger of slipping off the list of likely finalists. Others needed to prove to themselves and their supporters that they possess the required talents to challenge any opponent, come the finals. The results of those matches were actually a mixed bag. The Blues had to prove that they can contain a decent opposition attack, to support their own undoubted attacking ability. This question remains unanswered.…

Rugby appears, on the surface, to be a complex game. The ball remains in play through the tackle phase – unlike in rugby league – demanding a lot of on-the-fly adjustment to both attacking and defensive lines. Herein lies both opportunity and threat for the respective teams. In fact, the game is actually a collection of very simple tasks and, if the simple tasks are performed accurately, they fit together like clockwork. After the Reds’ impressive win on Saturday night I sent a text message to Jim Mackay. I have been a sort of mentor to Jim, since he began…

The current IRB rankings show the SANZAR nations in the top three spots: New Zealand on top, then Australia and then South Africa in third – indeed this order has been consistent for some time now. The Super Rugby provincial competition between these nations is therefore hugely significant in assessing the potential of their three national teams for the internationals in a few months and, of course, in the Rugby World Cup in September and October. This week, of the five teams in each national pool, New Zealand had only three in action, Australia four and South Africa all five.…

Of all of the questions that I get over the season from fellow coaches, the most common by far is “How do I get my team to stop making mistakes?” Of all of the after-match comments from losing captains and coaches, easily the most common that I hear is “We made too many mistakes!” Elimination of mistakes is clearly the focus of most team talks — at practice, pre-game and at half-time. Not for me, though. My focus is clearly and definitely on the positive side: what we must do, in order to execute accurately. Dare I say it yet…