Author: Cameron Rivett

Seven weeks ago, I wrote an article describing the upcoming changes to the Australian rugby calendar and the broadcasters’ wish list for further changes. I grappled with what these changes and potential changes would mean for the National Rugby Championship. Most relevantly, I put forward that the shortening of the Super Rugby season and the suggestion that Super Rugby teams play during the Rugby Championship could spell the end of the NRC in 2021. Nick Wasilev also penned an article on this topic a couple of weeks ago which was as eloquent as it was insightful. In general terms, he…

The current frontrunners for the Wallaby flyhalf jersey will be 29 (Matt Toomua), 30 (Bernard Foley and Kurtley Beale), 31 (Quade Cooper), or 32 (Christian Lealiifano) years old by the time the Rugby World Cup rolls around in September. It’s very unlikely that any of these players will still be around in 2023 for the next World Cup, and it would be a damning sign if they were –most of these players were already becoming professional during the 3 World Cups ago! These aren’t the only options, however. Clearly, the selectors prefer them (and the cover potentially provided by versatile…

In an earlier article, I talked about how Australian rugby traditionalism had kept the Wallabies running a playmaker in the 12 jersey while the other dominant rugby nations have all switched to crash ball runners. Even the Australian Super Rugby franchises have made the switch, preferring to select players like Samu Kerevi, Karmichael Hunt, Irae Simone, and Lalakai Foketi. With Kerevi’s form this year as well as Beale’s form at fullback it will be hard for Michael Cheika to justify the continuation of this policy during the World Cup. Another area in which Australian rugby is still playing last year’s…

Christian Lealiifano attended the most recent Wallabies training camp, making him the third specialist flyhalf there after Bernard Foley and Quade Cooper, and the sixth who can play at 10 after Reece Hodge, Matt Toomua, and Kurtley Beale. One factor that makes it difficult to choose between these options for the Wallabies’ flyhalf position is the fact that the Super Rugby franchises are not playing a uniform style of rugby. Trying to get players from 2-4 different states and territories to come together and play the same game has long been an issue in Australian rugby, but the flyhalf’s role…

Two months ago, I wrote an article called The Beale at Fullback Experiment. This article analysed Beale’s performance in the 15 jersey against his team’s traditional opponents from Queensland, and Saturday’s Waratahs v Reds game provides an opportunity to repeat the analysis. The most obvious change is that Beale has started to hit his form now that we are further into the season. Like the other Wallabies, Beale missed the warm-up games with an aim to peak at the Rugby World Cup, so it is perhaps unsurprising that his results at fullback earlier in the year were lukewarm – that…

Refereeing is in the spotlight in the wake of South African referee Egon Seconds being stood down after a combined 31-3 penalty count in favour of the Lions against both the Rebels and the Waratahs. In other major sports such as soccer and cricket, referees and umpires aren’t really necessary for casual games, but what makes rugby unique is the sheer number of grey areas that are open to interpretation. The headline of this article might indicate that I am going to tear some of these refereeing decisions apart. However, the adage goes that it’s a lot easier to make…

In my pre-season article, I broke down the status of each squad based on contextual information such as their performances in 2018, player transfers between seasons, and the need to rest high-profile players. We are now two-thirds of the way through the 2019 season and the Australian franchises are within 3 competition points of each other, with a maximum points for and against difference of only 42 (Brumbies -28, Rebels +14). With this information in hand, as well as the knowledge that the conference leader will get a place in the finals with any other contenders needing to secure a…

There has been a lot of discussion about the future of international and Australian rugby this year. The proposal of a World League linking the Six Nations and Rugby Championship (TRC) tournaments as well as the decision to scrap the Sunwolves have filled the headlines, and it doesn’t stop there. There are strong rumours that the National Rugby Championship (NRC) is going to be scrapped, and a broadcasters’ wish list published by the Sydney Morning Herald indicates that we should expect significant changes to Super Rugby and TRC in the next few years. 2020 is already essentially set in stone.…

No, I’m not talking about the Sydney Swans with this title. I’m talking about the Waratahs home game against the Rebels on Saturday which has been described by many as a “kickfest”, particularly in the first half. When the ball is slippery (as it apparently was on Saturday despite being a rainless day), a minigame of “aerial ping pong” often results. This involves both teams trading kicks out of a preference to play for territory rather than possession as handling is difficult. The Waratahs are probably the Australian team with the greatest historical preference for making this trade-off even on…

A set piece occurs when a ball is returned to open play following a stoppage. In rugby, this traditionally only includes scrums and lineouts, however a case could be made that the restart from halfway is its own form of set piece as it also returns to ball to play from a stoppage. Certainly, restarts in competitive rugby involve a similar amount of specialised training as scrums and lineouts, and there is a large amount of strategy involved. The team kicking off has options regarding where they want to aim their kick. Their goal is either to regain possession directly…

Australia has had an enviable legacy at halfback. I won’t go into detail regarding the long list of world-class players who have worn the 9 jersey, but simply the fact that we have been able to have arguably the best scrumhalf in the world playing for the Wallabies since at least 1984 (Nick Farr-Jones followed by George Gregan followed by Will Genia) says something. This could go back even further if one includes the likes of John Hipwell, Ken Catchpole, and Cyril Burke. Even the Reds in the 2018 and 2019 seasons have been presented with a selection dilemma with…

Everyone knows that the flyhalf is the most important – nay, the only important position on a rugby pitch. When they manage to pack a scrum without collapsing we sometimes tell the forwards that they can also be important, but mostly it’s just the flyhalves. By far the most common sequence of play on a rugby field involves the ball emerging from the base of a ruck/maul/scrum/lineout, the scrumhalf tossing it to the flyhalf, and then the flyhalf working his magic. It’s no coincidence that the best plays tend to be those where the flyhalf makes his pass and then…

In a previous article I described how in the professional era, Australian rugby let short-term success blind it to the long-term structural changes that needed to be made. This issue extends beyond playstyle and skillset, and also includes the identification and selection of talent. Super Rugby is a fully professional competition where there are 4 Australian teams (5 previously) competing for players from only 2 quality domestic competitions in the country, these being Queensland Premier Rugby and the Shute Shield in New South Wales. Super Rugby teams are also limited by a $5.5 million salary cap which incentivises the identification…

The ability of a forward pack to get over the advantage line is possibly the single most important determinant of a team’s success. Obviously, the forward pack also has to secure and retain possession, but if you’re going backwards every phase then that doesn’t count for much. Front-foot ball has become a very difficult thing to achieve in the modern game due to the almost universal employment of rush defences. These have an innate advantage over the attacking team because the attacking team must start by going backwards (with a pass). When the advantage line is not met the backline…

In their game against the Reds on Saturday, the Waratahs played Kurtley Beale at fullback for the first time since 2014. The only time Beale has played at fullback since then was during 4 tests in the Wallabies’ 2017 spring tour when Israel Folau took a break from rugby. Beale has mostly been played at inside centre by both Daryl Gibson and Michael Cheika, who have tried to maintain a consistent 10-12 playmaking combination with Bernard Foley. The issue is that running a playmaker in the 12 jersey is old-fashioned. It reeks of Australian rugby traditionalism. No other tier 1…

The Rebels have only played two games this year but ex-Force centre Bill Meakes is already making his case for selection in the Wallabies’ backline. He was a product of the noted St Joseph’s College in Sydney’s North Shore which has produced 45 Wallabies including Matt Burke and Kurtley Beale. I have been reliably informed by another Old Boy that Meakes made the switch to centre in his final year having played flyhalf in year 11. Born and raised in Manly, his lifelong goal has been to play for the Wallabies. Meakes played representative rugby for New South Wales in…

In my first article I said that provincial Kiwi forwards look like veritable gods compared to their Wallabies counterparts, simply because they have mastered the draw and pass. Hyperbole aside, Saturday’s game between the NSW Waratahs and the Sunwolves provides a great example of how even the highest-paid player in Australia is inferior to amateur rugby players on the other side of the ditch in this regard. Israel Folau scored two tries in the surprisingly tight match which came down to a missed drop goal, but this glosses over his attacking positional failures. His strengths in making solo linebreaks aside,…

2018 in Super Rugby was in many ways a transitional year for Australian teams. Due to international player contracts often being timed to expire at the end of World Cups, it has become the case that Super Rugby also follows the four-year World Cup cycle to some extent. Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson said as much on Tuesday, “we’re going to go through a period where we’ve got to rebuild that [playing depth] after the World Cup, if we sustain the losses we believe we will.” Many long-serving Australian players have already confirmed their intentions to depart at the end of…

In the early 1990s, there was a brief period between the amateur and professional eras called the “shamateur” era. Players still couldn’t be paid above board, but the standard of play was increasing and players were becoming fitter and more skilled. To keep players putting in the hard work necessary to remain competitive in the shamateur era, often players at big clubs would find wads of cash in their boots after the game (“boot money”). These days, though Rugby Australia might find it difficult to cram thousands of bills into Israel Folau’s boots every game, many legacies of the shamateur…