Tahs v Canes @ SFS - Round 12

[Quick Hands]

Perhaps it would help if Phipps got to the ruck a little more quickly- about five minutes more quickly! There were times there when you could have got a beer and drunk half of it before he got to the back of a ruck. God knows where he was, smelling the roses maybe.

This is one of six key things a halfback must do to claim he is doing his job. The other five are:

1. Pass accurately in front of the man.
2. Pass hard and directly; no harbour bridges.
3. Feed the scrum intelligently.
4. Catch and pass lineout feeds.
5. Harry his opposition halfback mercilessly.

I reckon he scored one out of six on Saturday. Being generous, you could give him half a mark on two of the others. Most commentators reckon he was better than usual this week. That's not saying much.

Agree with that and I'd add that a top class half MUST have a running game.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Perhaps it would help if Phipps got to the ruck a little more quickly- about five minutes more quickly! There were times there when you could have got a beer and drunk half of it before he got to the back of a ruck. God knows where he was, smelling the roses maybe.

This is one of six key things a halfback must do to claim he is doing his job. The other five are:

1. Pass accurately in front of the man.
2. Pass hard and directly; no harbour bridges.
3. Feed the scrum intelligently.
4. Catch and pass lineout feeds.
5. Harry his opposition halfback mercilessly.

I reckon he scored one out of six on Saturday. Being generous, you could give him half a mark on two of the others. Most commentators reckon he was better than usual this week. That's not saying much.

Certainly he is part of the problem and overall I don't think he's of the required standard in most of the areas you outline (I agree with your criteria too), but I think he could also get some assistance from the pigs too.

 

[Braveheart81]

You are right that Catchpole is the benchmark. I'm a hard marker maybe because I expect Phipps to pass quickly and accurately. Its a measure of how good Foley is that he can cope with Phipps and still look good.

To play the up-tempo game the Tahs want to play, the halfback skills have to be there - its one of the fundamental underpinnings of the "Waratah" way. If you are going to kick the leather off it, then those fundamentals aren't required, the flyhalf can sit deep so he's unreachable and either of the halves can kick. That's Jakeball. Genia/Cooper play that a lot as do White/To'omua. Different gameplans require different skillsets.

I know I am asking a lot as halfbacks these days don't seem to get the basic training in juniors to enable them to play this style of game. But it comes down to a recruitment issue. If we choose to play a "Waratah" style, then halfback skills are one of the required underpinnings. I couldn't even tell you who we could recruit in Australia that would be better. I wish we could recruit Aaron Smith, I think he'd kill it.

Certainly he is part of the problem and overall I don't think he's of the required standard in most of the areas you outline (I agree with your criteria too), but I think he could also get some assistance from the pigs too.

I agree with both of you overall, but realistically, I don't know who aside from Aaron Smith is really playing to that level in Super Rugby currently.

White and Mathewson are the two form halfbacks amongst Aussie teams but it's pretty hard to compare. Neither of them are playing in teams that are trying to recycle posession and move the ball as quickly as the Waratahs. Whether they're passing would look as accurate when sped up a reasonable amount is another question.

 

[It is what it is]

I'm not saying they're poor players, but isn't it interesting that Phipps, Burgess and Stirzaker all rose to prominence by playing behind dominant Syd Uni packs.
It's one thing looking good behind bully boy packs at club level and another thing altogether playing behind packs chasing parity at Super and International level.

 

[Braveheart81]

That is not true regarding Burgess.

He was a Wallaby when he was with Eastern Suburbs.

He's actually played very little club rugby for Sydney Uni.

 

[Lindommer]

Yeah, but Burgess learnt his trade in Uni Colts, they're even bigger bullies against their peers.

 

[I like to watch]

Pretty sure he joined the pro ranks out of Uni,and only moved to the Beasties after he had played Super Rugby.

 

[Quick Hands]

Certainly played all his colts at Uni.

 

[Pfitzy]

I'm not saying they're poor players, but isn't it interesting that Phipps, Burgess and Stirzaker all rose to prominence by playing behind dominant Syd Uni packs.
It's one thing looking good behind bully boy packs at club level and another thing altogether playing behind packs chasing parity at Super and International level.

Fuck yes I agree - there are a LOT of players who got contracts on the basis of playing for the top club sides, while there are a whole cross-section of good players who miss out because they weren't talent spotted or in the right colts program.

I know I bang on about it, but the truth is there to see. I present as evidence: Scott Fardy.

Thankfully Cheika seems to have seen through a lot of it, though the Phipps move still puzzles me.

 

[Hawko]

Thankfully Cheika seems to have seen through a lot of it, though the Phipps move still puzzles me.

But who else could he have picked? Sad to say he was probably the best available.