G Smith wins RUPA

[Spook]

I wonder if he'd take the captaincy over from Morty for both the Brumbies and Wallabies.

Smith adds another RUPA to collection
BY CHRIS DUTTON RUGBY UNION
13/12/2008 10:45:00 AM
George Smith's impressive awards resume continued its recent growth spurt with the Brumbies and Wallabies flanker winning the Rugby Union Players Association medal for excellence yesterday.
If his award-winning ways continue next season the ACT Brumbies vice-captain will not have any room left in his trophy cabinet.

The 28-year-old is no stranger to an award ceremony with his second consecutive RUPA award making it a Smith clean sweep in four of Australian rugby's top accolades.

He became the first player to win two John Eales medals for Australian rugby's player of the year.

He picked up his third Super 14 player of the year title and continued his dominance with the Brumbies to take out a seventh Brett Robinson Award.

The RUPA medal was voted on by Australia's 132 Super 14 players on 3-2-1 system.

The French rugby union rumour mill continued this week with Smith being linked with Toulon, the same club that lured Sonny Bill Williams away from rugby league.

At least two other French clubs, Brive and Clermont, have expressed an interest in signing Smith.

His current Brumbies contract expires in June next year and a cashed up Toulon is keen to secure his signature.

Brumbies forward coach Owen Finegan wished he had eight Smiths to fill his scrum and said his lofty standards would not drop next season.

Finegan said Smith's on-field work ethic rubbed off on his teammates and he hoped the flanker was eyeing a Super 14 Brumbies title to complete his award collection.

''It's not just this year, it's every year he plays well,'' Finegan said.

''He never plays any different and he's got all the right values in the world. You couldn't ask for a better player, he's won everything in the world.''

Earlier this year Smith passed John Eales as the most Test capped forward in the world and played his 100th Super 14 match.

Smith is currently taking a well-deserved break after the Wallabies' spring tour of Europe.

He is yet to train under new ACT coach Andy Friend, his first session penciled in for January12.

''Its certainly very humbling to have won for the second year in a row, especially given that the award is voted for by my peers,'' Smith said.

 

[Lee Grant]

Smith is an outstanding player and our best in recent times. We are very lucky to have him and should pull out all stops to keep him in the country.

That opinion may not jell with another opinion of mine that if Smith and Waugh are in the same 22 and they are playing a team like the Boks and the England of recent years, such as the one playing against us in the 2007 RWC Q/Fs - then Waugh should start - but that's the way I think about the two.

One thing I will put my hand up about, as being wrong about Smith, was made by yours truly about 3-4 years ago on the other forum. When a discussion of future Wallaby captains cropped up and Smith was mentioned about a possibility, I scoffed that Smith was not a leader; he was inarticulate and almost a recluse.

Oh well, you can't win them all.

 

[Spook]

I'm not sure if he'd want the captaincy but he seems to get the best out of his troops

 

[Scarfman]

I reckon it's a case of him getting used to it / growing into the role.

Thread highjack coming up:

Who are the captaincy options for 2011?

- Mortlock
- Giteau
- Smith
- Horwill

I would like to see Mortlock retire, for his own good as much as for the progression of some younger blokes, esp AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).

Maybe Horwill's time starts from 2012. So Smith is pretty clearly the best choice.

I wonder how much (if any) of Smith and Giteau's talk about playing overseas has to do with securing the captaincy?

 

[RugbyReg]

I'd throw in Moore as a captaincy option, but much depends on what happens at the Brums.

People will skoff at this, but Burgess seems like a skipper to me, perhaps its the NFJ in him. And the tahs will be looking for a new skipper soon I reckon.

Pocock as a roughie with Sharpie getting old and Gits abandoning ship, he'd be next in line out west.

 

[Spook]

I'd throw Pocock in as a long term option. Something about a 7 being captain is good.

 

[Gagger]

For me though, what was so impressive, was the way he still managed to impose himself, despite the completely fucked up refereeing of the breakdown we saw this (northern hemisphere) autumn.

Refs were clearly instructed to be obsessed with all players staying on their feet at the breakdown, to the exclusion of just about anything else going on.

Now I guess I can see where the idea behind this came from; we want a competition at the breakdown, not just sealed off recyclathons. I?d also love to see the end of the AB?s so called ?counter-ruck? which is a very poorly disguised flop over the attacking side?s ball, but I?m not getting my hopes up.

However, what we saw were ref?s needlessly pinging anyone who should dare to leave their feet at a ruck, ripping any momentum out of the game and making even the most seasoned rugby followers say ?what the fuck??. My most treasured item at live games this season was the ref-link radio earpiece, because without it you couldn?t figure out what the hell refs were constantly parping on the whistle for.

What do they expect to happen at a breakdown? Guys form a scrum in an orderly fashion? It?s now legal to pull down a maul - where do those bodies go?

I have a vivid picture in my minds eye of an occasion in the French test when Chisholm got pinged because the french guy he was bound to couldn?t take Chis? weight and went off his feet. Chis, over our own attacking ball, unavoidably went with him and was penalised. Despite the fact that Burgess was in the act of clearing the ball anyway. FUBAR.

While this rule was being followed to the exclusion of all else, it seemed that all of a sudden it was fine for the tackled player to hang on to the ball for as long as they liked. Through any of the Wallabies games there was a sound track of Smith or team-mate standing over the ball with their hands on it shouting ?Release! Release!? for an embarrassing amount of time, before the ref would eventually say ?Let go gold?, or maybe even penalise them. Nuts.

What this meant was classic fetchers like Smith were all but nullified at the breakdown, compared to the interpretation that we had earlier in the same season. International coaches and players must be as confused as us as to what interpretation of the breakdown we?ll be playing next year, but well done to Smith for showing his class regardless.

Acknowledgement: Yes, this was a thinly veiled whinge at refereeing standards, but at least I didn?t mention that cnut Alan Lewis.

 

[Cutter]

We will look back on Smith as one of the great modern Wallabies. Impact on a game, durability, leadership, workrate, consistency. He is incredible. Had the Boks or ABs had Smith playing for them in the first two 3N tests against us this year the results would have been reversed.

 

[RugbyReg]

QR Reds scrumhalf Ben Lucas has won the Rugby Union Players Association's Newcomer of the Year award for 2008.

Lucas made his debut for the Reds thus year from the QAS Reds Academy and performed strongly through the season, featuring in 10 Investec Super 14 matches and being rewarded with selection for Australia A in the 2008 iRB Pacific Nations Cup.

Off the field Lucas is an ambassador for the 'True Sport lives here' program run through the Queensland Governments Department of Sport and Recreation, where his role is to promote the values of integrity, respect, fun, responsibility and excellence in the junior sporting environment. He is also currently studying a Bachelor of Commerce at Griffith University.

Fellow Reds Berrick Barnes and Peter Hynes were contenders for RUPA's player of the year award but lost out to Wallaby and Brumbies flanker George Smith, who won the Medal of Excellence for the second year running.

 

[Lee Grant]

Refs were clearly instructed to be obsessed with all players staying on their feet at the breakdown, to the exclusion of just about anything else going on.

However, what we saw were ref?s needlessly pinging anyone who should dare to leave their feet at a ruck, ripping any momentum out of the game and making even the most seasoned rugby followers say ?what the fuck??.

International coaches and players must be as confused as us as to what interpretation of the breakdown we?ll be playing next year, but well done to Smith for showing his class regardless.

Acknowledgement: Yes, this was a thinly veiled whinge at refereeing standards, but at least I didn?t mention that cnut Alan Lewis.

That was noble of you not to mention Alan Lewis gagger. But I thought that Alan Lewis was top notch in Cardiff compared to Hong Kong. At least in Cardiff (in the match refereed by Alan Lewis) we can say we were beaten by a better team on the night - not something I would agree to about Hong Kong when the referee, Alan Lewis, gave the Blacks every rub of the green, just as cricket umpires used to give the Oz cricket team when they were in their pomp.

You are right about the IRB protocol requiring referees to officiate on the letter of some laws, including staying on feet. This has had a greater effect on the game in the NH in their season than the ELVs. They are shit scared of losing ball because the attacking team is getting pinged for not staying on feet also; so they don't pick and drive so much and hoist it instead.

This added to the 22 metre ELV is causing more ping pong than we had in the S14 this year.


But I digress - this is the RUPA thread.

Well done to young Lucas. My prediction of him at school when he was superseded by Beale and Cooper was that he had a more all round game than the others and would be a better senior player than a school player. I never thought about his being a scrum half; so it explains how much I know.

All we Aussies from parts south and west will be watching him with scarcely less interest than Queenslanders will be. I hope that some sage scrummie of past years will be available to give him guidance about how to deal with bad ball. I'm not saying that the Reds' forwards will be crap in that department, but it has been my experience that it is the biggest hurdle that young scrummies have to overcome - bar none.

 

[naza]

I reckon it's a case of him getting used to it / growing into the role.

Thread highjack coming up:

Who are the captaincy options for 2011?

- Mortlock
- Giteau
- Smith
- Horwill

I would like to see Mortlock retire, for his own good as much as for the progression of some younger blokes, esp AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper).

Between Horwill and Moore I'd say.

Time for me to hijack the thread. I would like to see Mortlock play forever. Your idea of "progression" sucks. Survival of the fittest is where its at. Mortlock served his apprenticeship behind the great Dan Herbert, who had to outplay world class centre Jason Little to earn his jersey. That's a recipe for success, not cheapening the jersey with a youth obsession.

 

[TOCC]

Horwill or Moore in the near/mid future

If Mortlock steps down from captain before next season, then i would prefer Smith for the 2009 season at least, but i think after that i would want someone else to step up who will be here for the long run.

 

[Scotty]

Ditto. A tight forward is a better option.

I don't think a 7 makes a great captain, they have to play too close to the law, and have their heads stuck in too many rucks to see what is going on. Of course McCaw is an exception, and he may even get away with more because he is captain.