Nathan Sharpe and the Scrum

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Well that just confirms it then. Sharpie is one of our best.

 

[Groucho]

Are you on drugs JJJ? Sharpe has to be one of the most overrated ball carriers around. He is SOFT - plain and simple. Watch him closely in a game and watch how many times he turns the ball over in contact. If he doesn't turn it over he turns good ball into bad by slowing everything down. When he's not getting in the way standing at first receiver he seagulls out on the wing, living off the one try scoring pass he gave to AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) a couple of years ago against the ABs.

I have lost count of how many times i have watched him hit it up (often unnecessarily as he is standing at 1st reciever ffs!) with the Aussies on the attack building pressure in the 22 and good old Sharpie turns it over. His first touch against the Welsh - a penalty for holding on after taking it up. His performance against the English at RWC 07 - he actually looked scared

As an englishman i would love to see him picked at 8 - but it will never happen. He is too soft, too slow, and cant tackle!

What a pile of steaming horseshit.

Can I say that?

 

[RugbyReg]

Fat Cat - noticeably quiet?

 

[Gagger]

And what about Squeaky - off the frikken charts

 

[Groucho]

And what about Squeaky - off the frikken charts

He can see Polota-Nau eyeing him up for the hit.

 

[RugbyReg]

vickerman.

over rated.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I seem to recall Vicks being involved in some of our previous England debacles, so he isn't necessarily the saviour. I like the fact that he's coming back to give the other blokes something to think about though.

 

[DPK]

Great trundler, good lineout man. Ordinary elsewhere.

Good passer!

 

[Hawko]

Workrate in 2010 Tri-Nations, remember - guys off the bench should have higher rate

I must have missed that graph from before unless its just gone up. In commenting on it I think it shows up clearly some of the things we have been talking about on various threads:

1. Moore was significantly better in the 3N than Fainga'a and the gap has widened on tour.
2. McCalman's performance on tour has gone backward from the 3N. Not unexpected for a young debutante on his first major tour. Maintaining intensity week after week is hard for newbies.
3. The props selected for their workrate around the field rather than their scrummaging have not set the world on fire around the field. I venture to suggest, based on this year's S14, that if Baxter had been selected his numbers would have been better, especially close to the ruck.
4. Sharpe has been far and away our best lock.
5. Did I mention how good Moore's stats are?????

 

[TOCC]

Meh, those stats mean little, where's the stats for strong cleanouts, counter rucking, effective mauling, scrum performance and tackle busts?

Thanks for the lesson on TH vs LH, but as the video points out above it hasn't been his side of the scrum going backwards.

Maybe he should have done some of Chis' pushing as well?

The point is gagger, his side of the scrum hasn't been going forward either, by such a weak loose head side of the scrum they are allowing the opposition front row to channel there energy down our hooker and tight head side... our loose head side needs to negate the impact of the tight head prop which just isn't happening at the moment..

 

[Bruce Ross]

Most people would be astounded to learn how few of our experienced professional forwards do serious lower body strength work. A lot of this is the legacy of damaged backs, usually caused by injuries arising from poor squatting technique or having been pressured to do squats when fatigued. Locks with their long spines are particularly prone to this sort of injury. There are ways to avoid this or to rehab it. There are also S & C coaches who are too pig-headed or stupid to make use of them.

The best indicator of the pushing power of a rugby forward is the size of his arse. If he hasn't got well developed glutes he's probably freeloading in the heavy stuff. And if he's part of a team that doesn't regularly do heavy strength training the problem is compounded.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Bruce, when I ran competitively, we used to say more or less the same thing about the top level sprinters: the best ones had big arses because a lot of the power comes from there, especially among the girls (ooo errr). I guess it translates to rugby as well.

 

[Spewn]

bullshit.

Our best lock since Eales retired.

And haven't we done well with him there.

 

[Bruce Ross]

Bruce, when I ran competitively, we used to say more or less the same thing about the top level sprinters: the best ones had big arses because a lot of the power comes from there, especially among the girls (ooo errr). I guess it translates to rugby as well.

I completely agree, BH. The most simple way to identify a very powerful athlete is to look for the combination of low skin folds and big arse.

 

[Scarfman]

Most people would be astounded to learn how few of our experienced professional forwards do serious lower body strength work. A lot of this is the legacy of damaged backs, usually caused by injuries arising from poor squatting technique or having been pressured to do squats when fatigued. Locks with their long spines are particularly prone to this sort of injury. There are ways to avoid this or to rehab it. There are also S & C coaches who are too pig-headed or stupid to make use of them.

Well, I've recently been astounded to hear Genia (was it?) say that it took Mark Ella to tell them to run onto the ball from the halfback rather than receive it static. :tard

 

[Bruce Ross]

Well, I've recently been astounded to hear Genia (was it?) say that it took Mark Ella to tell them to run onto the ball from the halfback rather than receive it static. :tard

Yes, Scarfie, my mouth's still hanging slack from that one. Just shows how the game has developed in the professional era. An absolute army of specialist coaches and not one had thought to pass on this most basic of principles. Or perhaps they didn't know about it.

 

[cyclopath]

Well, I've recently been astounded to hear Genia (was it?) say that it took Mark Ella to tell them to run onto the ball from the halfback rather than receive it static. :tard

You are taking the piss, surely??? That cannot be true.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

It's not a complicated game when you boil it down to those fundamentals. I have a suspicion that modern coaching over complicates things, but that might just be my perception.

Actually many things in life are much simpler than they appear.

 

[Groucho]

Well, I've recently been astounded to hear Genia (was it?) say that it took Mark Ella to tell them to run onto the ball from the halfback rather than receive it static. :tard

Scarfman, that was just an example of Sanchez being a bit awestruck, and consequently murdering the language in an interview, which makes it easy for us to take the piss.

Genia knows all about dynamic halfback play, and putting the ball in front of the man. Possibly even more than we do.

 

[TOCC]

I completely agree, BH. The most simple way to identify a very powerful athlete is to look for the combination of low skin folds and big arse.

Well I tick one of those boxes