That Wallabies squad I picked a couple of weeks ago is going to require a bit of cut and paste, but over the last two weekends following it there are a lot of things that have cemented my view in terms of outsiders who have been picked and some first choices omitted.
From the omitted group my view is strengthened on Kepu, Horwill, Alexander, Cooper and Higginbotham. What I’ve seen in the last two weeks definitely assures me that these non-selections are accurate.
On the other hand the selected on Alo-Emile, Jones and Woodward have strengthened. There have also been a few ‘waverers’ – James Slipper, Cam Crawford and Will Genia (his overall performance is good but not his scrum half play, although no one else is convicning me – I thought Burgess’ 9 play was nothing short of awful last weekend).
A couple of people who put their name forward – like Cruze Ah-Nau – are worth looking at further. Bernard Foley is another (although still behind Toomua and Lealiifano). It’s was interesting that he was so much better last weekend – it was SOLELY because he was a lot flatter.
You may remember me talking about how it’s impossible to play an attacking the game too far away from the opposition. The closer you get the better attack will be. What we see far too much of is this second line attack. It does have some merit, but it has to be executed well and as an option, not an obvious choice (of which 90% is). The result of the obvious choice is you get nailed 15 metres behind the advantage line.
I think that Aussie teams have come back to the field a little. The Brumbies got physically outplayed, aided by what was very much a pro New Zealand acceptance of playing outside the laws of the game. I don’t know how many times I saw a player tackled 2m behind his own ruck and driven back and held. Or Crusaders players coming into the ruck in front of the ball. And I don’t know how many times I saw Crusaders players on the ground driving over and covering the ball.
But you have to get in and compete and the Brumbies were outmuscled. Wyatt Crockett has been a serial offender of the scrum laws for years and in the last two weekends he’s dished up the opposite prop (an Aussie), so something has changed in his scrummaging. Woodcock is also scrummaging well. That’s a worry. This requires some careful analysis from our scrum experts.
The first thing I’d look at is if it’s a pincer attack by their loose head and hooker on our tight head. The bloke who makes me think he’s got the strength of back position to combat that is Alo-emile, I’d give him a go.
One of our readers recently said I should have considered Mitch Inman in my squad – and he was right. Getting rid of the ball is not a priority for Mitch but he certainly makes it hard for the defence and makes a lot of breaks. I’d add him to our look-out list. I’d also add Will Skelton, and Cadeyrn Neville as well. Tom English is also worth keeping in mind.
It’s very interesting to me that one of the key features of the Rebels improvement has been improved selection. It was clear last year that Shota Horie was a great player and now he gets the nod. I said to Damien Hill last year that your reserve choice 9 and 10 are your best (Stirzacker and Heggarty). He said they were young and improving and I said no, they’re ready now.
Hugh Pyle now seems to think that he’s a centre (like Higgers) and he’s been knocked back by the new regime. Good choices.
There’s a massive tendency to pick players who are perceived to be the best (Genia, Higginbotham). They are not the best players. They may have the best attributes – like strength, speed, skills – but they are not the best players because they don’t play the game in the way the position demands.
The game is complex in that it requires the increments of play to provide what is required and they are not delivering it. We can’t say Scott Higginbotham is great on the wing as he makes breaks a lot, because the winger can’t play six while he’s out there!
I’m even more certain that Kuridrani and McCabe are right. Two weeks ago we saw two centre performances by Beale (flavour of the month) and Kuridrani. Most of what Beale did damaged what the players outside of him could do, the opposite for Kuridrani.
Someone at the match on Saturday night asked me what is it about Conrad Smith’s game that makes him so good. I said it’s because he does the little unobtrusive things that make the difference. You look how many times he takes the little unders line – not a big unders line, but just a little unders line to the inside shoulder of the defender. Sometimes he’ll do a little stutter or acceleration to the outside and then straighten just onto the inside shoulder of the defender.
The fact that he does that and the defenders know he can do that gives the men outside him so much more room, and if the defenders don’t account for it he capitalizes on it on the inside. The centres I have suggested – Ashley-Cooper, McCabe, Kuridrani – all do it. The other immensely skilled player I’d consider at centre – Jason Woodward – doesn’t do that yet but he can be educated and he’s so good we have to have him in the squad.
They are the little things that go into the game that make the total performance complete.
What makes Michael Hooper such an excellent player? My suggestion is the number of times he’s effective on or around the ball. That’s the basis of his game and he does that with accurate support play.
Clearly what Michael also has is fantastic strength and speed. He can have these qualities, but if he doesn’t present himself in those locations around the ball he can’t realize those god given strengths. We know another backrow player who’s like that with talent – but he never presents himself around the ball!
Our selectors have got a big job in front of them, but if we bite the bullet and even run the risk of suffering on the scoreboard (I don’t think we would) then we can be sure our development will power on, into SANZAR and then Europe, ready to start world cup year 2015 in great shape. We could be able to say – like we could in ’91 and ’99 – “if we play to our best of our ability, we should win this”.
PS – You may have read an unplanned revelation about my involvement in a bid for the Waratahs franchise. My colleagues and I have previously been involved with the Waratahs when they returned significant profits. Narbonne is profitable and so is Randwick – it is very much possible for those who know how to do it in rugby.
They key will be the grass roots.
