Stuart Barnes is trolling once again...

[Slim 293]

My God Stuart Barnes is a petulant twat...

I don't think Grumbles Growden can strive to be this idiotic:

Lack of sustained magic may leave Irish eyes smiling

Stuart Barnes
July 11, 2011

This final had moments but, disappointingly, not a great deal more. A touch of the slide-rule sublime from the boot of Dan Carter, a devastating Digby Ioane dash and, most memorably, Will Genia forsaking his persistent chip kick to carve a hole through the Crusaders defence to break the 13-13 stalemate and deliver the winning points the Reds' second-half momentum promised.

These three tries will live a while in the memory, standing out all the more brightly against the backdrop of fierce competition and puzzling inadequacy. The endeavour was earnest, but any quality was swamped by the quantity of errors. It is the first time I have thought it this century, but the Heineken Cup champions would have thumped the best of the southern hemisphere.

Leinster's one area of weakness against a powerful pack is the scrum. But, against the Reds, they would have been markedly stronger even in their weakest facet. Indeed, had Super Rugby not made a howler and appointed Bryce Lawrence, a Kiwi referee with a weak concept of the set piece and a powerful determination not to favour his own countrymen, the Crusaders scrum would probably have shoved its way to victory.

Still, the Wallabies pack will not have Ben Daly turning in, showing his rump to the stands every scrum (and getting away with it until a belated 48th minute) and provincial rugby is not the same as the international equivalent. But, even so, Saturday saw the Southern Hemisphere's metaphorical superiority slip a few inches as the World Cup looms.

Graham Henry might just have been speaking the truth and not flattering the old world in that sly old way of his when he suggested a stronger World Cup showing from Ireland, France and England than most Tri Nations supporters expect.

Undoubtedly, international rugby is another level up, but if Ireland can stay in touch with Australia during their pool game, the Wallabies could be heading for an unexpected and unwanted quarter-final collision with the Springboks. The glaring flaw in the Reds' big-match effort is Australia's shining jewel.

Quade Cooper has garnered negative headlines for his fluid tackling technique, but it is his goal-kicking under pressure that should cause the most concern for Robbie Deans.

The rest of his game can be a carnival of marvels, but in front of goal he has the wrong sort of aura. The failed, hooked conversion of Will Genia's try and then the fading miss the other side of the posts to push his team clear of the Crusaders in the last 10 minutes had CHOKE written all over them. These errors lose tight games.

And it is not as if Deans has any other guaranteed options. Kurtley Beale is too much a genius to master the tedium of goal-kicking routines.

James O'Connor could be another of the World Cup hits, but is as prone to miss a crucial kick as to succeed, while Matt Giteau - the only Wallaby with a history of high percentage Test match success - is past his prime and thinking of France.

The flair of the Reds backs, combined with the Waratahs and Brumbies tight forward power, is a striking reminder of the French team who played some flowing rugby in the early stages here in the 2003 World Cup, but come the semi-final, the prose of Jonny Wilkinson erased the poetry of Frederic Michalak. The same fate may await Australia. They are leading contenders for the most fabulous flatterers in New Zealand.

Australia would be more likely to win the World Cup had they Ireland's Jonny Sexton at five-eighth.

Quade Cooper is the more kaleidoscopic talent, but the Irishman has a solidity beyond the Reds playmaker. Perhaps the Wallabies will run away from Ireland in the first hour, but the way Ireland destroyed England and the excellence of Leinster indicates this is unlikely. If it is 13-13 with 20 minutes left when these teams meet at pool stage, I would back Ireland on the evidence of the key indicators from Brisbane.

The news for New Zealand could also be better. They will need France's Romain Poite to officiate in order to maximise their world-dominant scrum. But will the Rugby World Cup encourage the same set-piece domination as we witnessed in 2007 when South Africa's soaring lineout maestro and master prompter, Fourie du Preez, impressed the old-school element but had the rest of the sporting world yawning?

The Reds stifled Richie McCaw, Kieran Read was anonymous, Dan Carter overdid the lazy lateral passing away from deep, which left Sonny Bill Williams threatening too far from the gain line; all this before even considering the claustrophobic pressures of home expectation.

Graham Henry knows his stuff.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/u...yes-smiling-20110710-1h8t9.html#ixzz1RiVedok6

 

[drewprint]

Christ I hope we tear England a new arsehole come World Cup time.

 

[Lee Grant]

I think that Leinster would have beaten the Reds too on the performance on Saturday - at a neutral venue - and hammered them on a wet day, but we are never going to know. They would have beaten the Saders too on the night, they made too many errors.

He's right about the Aussie goal kicking - it scares the crap out of me. Sure KB (Kurtley Beale)'s kick won a test in the RSA and JOC (James O'Connor)'s kick won a Bledisloe match but KB (Kurtley Beale), QC (Quade Cooper) and JOC (James O'Connor) are all streaky.

I still think we should beat Ireland, though they are on the rise. We'll run the legs off them - but if we can't stop them slowing our ball down to their more deliberate pace - different story - Sexton is a maturing player and could kick us around the park and between the posts.

 

[Langthorne]

Trolling - I don't think so. There is much unpalatable truth to what he wrote. I think he is wrong to assume the Reds will be over represented in a Wallaby RWC starting XV though - there will be a few for sure, but there are a few other decent players from other Aussie teams too.

One thing the Super rugby final did show is that any team, be it Ireland, Fiji, Georgia (remember them Ireland?) can be better than the sum of their parts if they play as a team. Could Ireland beat Australia? Yes. Is it likely? No - which is not to say they aren't a very good side. As for England, we know what they will bring to any match with the Wallabies...it has been pretty successful of late but I'd still back the Wallabies most of the time.

 

[vidiot]

I look forward to judging the southern hemispheres rugby deficiencies with reality in September rather than Stuart Barnes' crapulent fantasy sides in July.

 

[Joe Mac]

While I almost always agree with you LG, I very much doubt that Leinster would have held a candle to either side on Saturday night.

Yes there were quite a few errors, especcially from the usually cool Genia, but that was the Crusaders game plan; to disrupt his service to QC (Quade Cooper) and they had some of the greatest forwards to ever play the game doing it.

On dry pitch like last night, Leinster would have been run off their feet by the 60th minute which would have resulted in a try fest from either backline

 

[cyclopath]

Year in, year out someone from the NH press squadron trots out the old truism that Super Rugby = Test Rugby in terms of how the SH teams will play. They draw conclusions from watching one, or at best a few games and extrapolate from there. There is some truth in what he writes, amongst the filler to keep his readers slavering in anticipation that Ireland / England will be our undoing. Maybe they will, but the fact they are putting this stuff out there tells me they are a little bit worried about what might be to come.
When we've seen a few Tests, we might have some idea if theis is close to the mark.

 

[Cutter]

If Leinster had had the season the Crusaders have had, they'd have been lucky to make it out of the tunnel. And I mean no disrespect to Leinster.

 

[Tordah]

He will have his mouth shut by October, latest.

 

[cowboymike]

Meh

If Barnes is foolish enough to think the form of the whole southern hemisphere can be based upon one game, then he is only kidding himself. Even more, he seems to be basing it off close to the worst game either of the two teams played all year.

So if he wants to try and convince the home unions that there's nothing to worry about and that they can waltz down here, play their 10 man rugby and take Bill home, well they're going to be embarrassed.

If Australia's goal-kicking and scrum woes continue, and (aaargh!) Genia continues to just kick possession away 80% of the time he touches the ball, then yes Australia may well fall to the Saffas at QF time.

But somehow I think these problems will be somehow patched over, and the pace, power and skill that is oozing out of at least 20 different Wallabies who play number 4 and up, should mean that poor goal-kicking won't make a difference.

Aus v NZ grand final.

 

[Lee Grant]

If Leinster had had the season the Crusaders have had, they'd have been lucky to make it out of the tunnel. And I mean no disrespect to Leinster.

Correct - lucky all I said was that they would have beaten the Crusaders on Saturday night the way the Kiwis played. The Leinster scrum is not that great but neither was the Reds scrum and they won.


Leinster was the best team in Europe by a country mile this year and I don't mean "Europe" in the soccer sense: the Champions League - or in rugby parlance, the Heineken Cup. Obviously they won that. Week in, week out they were the best team north of the equator though they had a slow start to their season.

Their win against Toulouse in the HC semi final was like a test match. They got a slow start in the final but their comeback after oranges and 27 unanswered points against Northampton, the best English team, was as good as anything the Reds would have done. They are very good on a dry track as happens at the end of the European season.

Put them in Super rugby and they probably wouldn't make the playoffs for a year or two until the players got used to how we play down here. (Toulouse and Northampton would be better in the first year). But put the Reds into the Heineken Cup and it would take them longer. The Reds don't have the squad depth for the massive amount of rugby that Leinster have to play in every year; they would need to build their squad up. Nor would they have the nous of how to play wet weather rugby for 3 months in Europe. It's not in their DNA.

Remember how the Oz A side were like babes in the woods against Munster that, but for a few players, was a team of 2nd and 3rd stringers?

Possibly I have digressed but it's all good fun.

 

[redsfanatic]

to me the whole article is bs
his name should be richard head (shorten richard to dick)

 

[redsfanatic]

The Reds don't have the squad depth for the massive amount of rugby that Leinster have to play in every year; they would need to build their squad up.

bs
one thing Ewen McKenzie has done is make sure the Reds have great depth in their squad
I'm not saying they would do well in Heineken Cup - I don't watch much European rugby - but I know the Reds have great depth.

 

[Slim 293]

bs
one thing Ewen McKenzie has done is make sure the Reds have great depth in their squad
I'm not saying they would do well in Heineken Cup - I don't watch much European rugby - but I know the Reds have great depth.

eh...

The point Lee is trying to make is that they don't have the depth for European rugby, where they're playing long seasons with multiple competitions...

 

[Scotty]

I think that Leinster would have beaten the Reds too on the performance on Saturday - at a neutral venue - and hammered them on a wet day, but we are never going to know. They would have beaten the Saders too on the night, they made too many errors.

He's right about the Aussie goal kicking - it scares the crap out of me. Sure KB (Kurtley Beale)'s kick won a test in the RSA and JOC (James O'Connor)'s kick won a Bledisloe match but KB (Kurtley Beale), QC (Quade Cooper) and JOC (James O'Connor) are all streaky.

I still think we should beat Ireland, though they are on the rise. We'll run the legs off them - but if we can't stop them slowing our ball down to their more deliberate pace - different story - Sexton is a maturing player and could kick us around the park and between the posts.

Saders and Reds both had games that weren't up to their usual standards, particularly in attack, but in defense both were very good. Leinster would have beaten the Reds, but only assuming that Leinster didn't have the same amount of mistakes as the Crusaders had. If the made the same amount of mistakes, partly due to the pressure of the Reds defense, then Leinster would also have lost.

It is hard to compare apples with apples.

 

[daz]

SH (specifically Oz) rugby probably doesn't need much in the way of external motivation come RWC time, Stuart, but thanks for putting some in the bank for us.

I look forward to your post-final article.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Barnes does this periodically, but ironically he is probably the most pro-SH scribe in the UK. He makes some interesting points and some not altogether untrue. QC (Quade Cooper)'s defence and goal kicking are not fantastic, he is right about that. He was also right about the fact that the Reds scrum got mullered again. The point he misses is that the Wallabies will almost certainly not play the Reds front row. The significantly stronger Tahs props will be most likely to start and that shores up the scrum big time. The other thing missing in his analysis is how good the Reds defence has been all season. The Wallabies will also be good there also.

With all that said, if we were to get it together and play to our potential in the RWC, I will remember what Mr Barnes said and smile.

 

[ChargerWA]

He is missing the point, Australia haven't based a game on scrum dominance for ages.

As long as the scrum can hold up long enough to get decent ball on our feed, our back line will do the rest. Like it or not, that's pretty much our game plan.

 

[Lee Grant]

Agree with Hornet - Barnes is usually a good old dog and the way he used to play flyhalf was Aussie like.

With our hard pitches we get more of a premium from running with the ball in hand and less from scrummaging; so we are better at running with the ball and not so good in the scrums. When our blokes have to scrummage on wet soil they can get a bit lost as studs swim around, whereas Pom scrums are trained to get everything steady as if a bomb would go off after their ball has been fed. On your ball they will try a bit of havoc but they know how to do it in the environment - like a good clay court tennis player hitting a winner with his feet still sliding.

Barnes is also very complimentary on SH rugby though more so of the Kiwis. He is a lot better than the prat Brian Moore who hates the Aussies and says so on air.

Barnes would have been writing for his audience - nothing wrong with that.

 

[RugbyInterest]

Games of footy are won on the field not in the newspapers - the NSW SOO side would be champions if they were based on the league writers! As others have said, dangerous to base judgement on one game and the pattern of play. Different team, different players, different coach, different tactics and different opposition. We will see a different result from what Barnes predicts - agree with Lee that target audience is UK papers - they sell a lot more over there than here!