Disco, Horne's problem isn't that he is too wiry its that he was hardly given the ball in those matches and when he did get the ball he made a couple of breaks which isn't bad. Players at 13 need time to settle because the defensive channels are difficult to read and when your 12 drifts across the whole time it tends to eat up your space.
Very good, though I'd warrant that Horne read everything like a comic book when there was drift from the 12, though couldn't do much about it.
It may be that Horne won't make his mark in Oz rugby because of his propensity to injury. If so, that would be a shame and not least because he has a highly developed rugby brain, an item that not enough Oz players have.
When I saw him in the U/16 tournament years ago I was gobsmacked at the way one so young could figure things out, a bit like a chess expert playing against hackers. The great Tim Horan had the same attribute on both attack and defence; so I hope that young Robbie can stay healthy for a while - and get some bloody pill.
The problems he had at the Tahs with the drifting of others in the 2010 season were those suffered by most outside centres on attack. It's not always the same reason each time and often it's a combination of deficiencies in one movement.
These include, but are not limited to: the flyhalf not questioning the tackle line enough; not challenging the inside shoulders of defenders; getting herded to touch by drift defenders (often made possible by the first two items mentioned); the 12 over-challenging the line of tackle and the ball coming back too slowly from the ensuing tackle/ruck to the first receiver who drifts under pressure and uses up the width.
Drift is also born out of delay in the despatching of good ball from the tackle/ruck or set piece, caused by things such as meerkating or excess stepping before the pass, thereby putting time pressure on the 10 and 12 which causes them to crab outwards. This also helps defenders against the poor old wide attacker waiting for the ball. Sometimes a fellow has to crab because he doesn't get the ball as he is running at pace, or the pass is at him and not in front of him - or too high or too low – all of which kills speed; so he has to crab around the defender who is in his face.
Yarda, yarda, yarda.
The Tahs made all these errors when they were playing boring ruby for most of the 2010 season and much more often than what the pedigree of the players would suggest. Sometimes they seemed to be in a race to get to the touchline. The backs should have bought the beers after the most games in 2010 as they didn't give the Tahs the return on the investment of the quality ball provided by the forwards more often than not.
By contrast the Reds backs prospered and Reds fans got a healthy dividend - and it wasn't just because of QC (Quade Cooper). Basic good rugby played its part, including a passion for accurately despatching the ball to others.
