Welcome to Friday again. There is no Wallabies match this weekend, so cut yourself a slice of sausage and choo on this little lot. TMA
SQUADS N’ PODS
In yesterday’s news, but dropping a little too late for ParForCourse’s morning bulletin, Eddie Jones named a squad of 33 for the forthcoming Bledisloe Cup campaign:
Forwards: Allan Alaalatoa, Richie Arnold, Angus Bell, Pone Fa’amausili, Matt Faessler*, Nick Frost, Langi Gleeson, Jed Holloway, Tom Hooper, Rob Leota, Fraser McReight, Matt Philip, David Porecki, Will Skelton, Blake Schoupp*, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou, Jordan Uelese, Rob Valetini.
Backs: Quade Cooper, Lalakai Foketi, Carter Gordon, Andrew Kellaway, Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Ryan Lonergan*, Tate McDermott, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Izaia Perese, Jordan Petaia, Suliasi Vunivalu, Nic White.
In the ute: Ben Donaldson, Dylan Pietsch*.
In the esky: Michael Hooper.
(* denotes virginity)
Out of the squad following the Argentina Test are Matt Gibbon, Josh Kemeny and Pete Samu. I’m not surprised to see Samu excluded – in my mind, and as I said last week, he’s one of four players who can be inked in for every important match for the rest of 2023 (the others being Nick Frost, Rob Valetini and Len Ikitau). And if Jones has put Pete aside for now, it’s a sign that the Bledisloe tests are not all that important in his mind. They’re selection trials, and they will allow Tom Hooper, Rob Leota, Langi Gleeson and Jed Holloway to bid for their spots in the back row as we shape up for France.
But yet. Who knows what’s happening inside Eddie Jones’s pointy little head? Maybe he really doesn’t rate Pete Samu all that highly; maybe Pete won’t be going to France. If he’s not in Jones’s final 33 I’m giving up. Call me on the eve of RWC2027, when Phil Waugh sacks Jones and hires, um, Ian Foster.
Also out of the picture is Reece Hodge. Two weeks ago I wrote here that Hodge’s name was “the first I would pencil in for any Wallabies 23”. 48 hours later, after the Pretoria Pantsing, I hoped readers might have forgotten those words. But it took only the sad sight of Len Ikitau with a busted shoulder last Saturday night to underline the value of Hodge, who can fill in as five-eighth, either centre, either wing and fullback, and brings a big boot to boot.
At Parramatta, Jones’s 6:2 bench suddenly looked like a mistake. The Wallabies got on with the game and Carter Gordon had a bloody good crack, but sending your spare five-eighth out, five minutes into a test, to play centre is just sub-optimal.
When I was writing and editing here on the G&GR blog, about a decade ago, I was authorised to set a few style rules and standard formats. There were a dozen different ways to set out a 23 – you know, 15 to 9, then 1 to 8, then 16 to 23; or 15 to 1, then 16 to 23, and so forth. I can’t remember what we settled on but I did insist that we not call 16 to 23 ‘Replacements’, as was becoming standard in most media. It’s just not logical to call a player a replacement until he actually runs on and replaces someone. Until that time, he’s a potential replacement, or simply a reserve.
I bring this issue up now because I think it’s still pertinent to ponder whether 16 to 23 are there primarily as a tactical force, with their deployment planned down to the minute, or primarily as cover for injuries. Maybe it’s primarily tactical for the fowards and primarily contingent for the backs. Anyway, Hodge is out for now, so I wonder whom Jones will pick to cover 11-to-15.
Suliasi Vunivalu is still in. My guess here is that Hamish McLennan and Eddie Jones have hung their manhood out in the media on the subject of recruiting from rugby league, and they’ve agreed that they can’t risk the ridicule the would come their way if they had to acknowledge the Vunivalu experiment has failed. So Suli stays, but he doesn’t play.
Coming back to the Wallabies forwards, I loved this comment from onlinesideline (time to write an article?) on Charlie’s Monday news blog post:
“I have to say I was HUGELY happy to see certain elements of their game that I haven’t seen in years and years and this gives me hope – namely the reset speed, the intensity in contact, pods of 4 and 5 forwards that looked joined at the hip moving into our rucks and their rucks (actually counter rucking), pods of 4 and 5 defending, the whole team getting into position to defend as one really really quickly. I was constantly saying, “YES, YES, that’s it FINALLY”
“To my eye the Argies seem shocked at the defence speed, the pods, the intensity and they looked rattled many times and other times were put on their arses. The discipline and game plan can be fixed. THIS game it was the forwards that shone big time in ways I haven’t seen in 20 years. They were immense and this Argies side is a bloody good side, full of big units and incredible talent out wide. Our backs were the weak link in this game, for years they’ve saved us and smoothed over cracks of Aussie forwards having a tonne of deficiences.
“I walked away with a lot of confidence after this match because the team were hugely aggressive and effective too, body height was MUCH better. We need a Pocock/Smith badly though. I think our forwards looked soooo ON. I may swim against the tide here, but to the people who say the Wallabies were woeful, I think they don’t know what they are talking about. If this intensity is repeated often it’s a good starting point for a decent team. I sense POSSIBILITY ONLY of something big coming — who knows, but they are CAPABLE.”
Last night I watched the Argentina match again closely – and by that I mean I spent nearly five hours with Stan dialled up on the iPad, with Maloney, Harrison et al torturing my ears, watching everything that happened several times over until I was sure I understood the who, the what and the when. And like onlinesideline, I finished up impressed and even a little bit happy after seeing the improvements in power, precision and coordination on the part of our forwards. It’s not all there yet, not by any means, and they’re not about to start dominating either the set piece or the gain line. But they are better, and getting betterer.
As well as Samu, Frost and of course Valetini, I’m ready to move Allan Alaalatoa (who was just ferocious taking it up, tackling and in the scrum, and looks as fit as a tighthead prop can be) into the must-pick column. He didn’t have an entirely happy night, with penalties and a couple of dropped balls causing him visible frustration, but he is focused, proud and committed with every bit of himself.
Also giving everything were Fraser McReight, Will Skelton (a behemoth) and Richie Arnold. It really is worth watching these guys with a tight focus – you see so much more work being done than shows up in the stats and the highlights. James Slipper and David Porecki never stopped trying and broke the Pumas front row on a couple of occasions. Later in the match, Matt Philip, Angus Bell and Rob Leota tore into the tiring Pumas with more focus and commitment than we’ve seen in gold for a long time.
In the backs, Mark Nawaqanitawase achieved must-pick status in a single match. Truth be told, he’d done enough last year to show that he’s gold standard. Marika Koroibete, gee, he wasn’t good on the night. He’s a keeper for sure, but his efforts to be busy against Argentina kept going wrong. As Brumby Runner pointed out in the comments on the Monday news, Marika completed just one tackle in a match where the Wallabies made more than 200. He missed four that I counted, each time because he was rushing back to his wing after straying from his post (possibly as part of a job-swap plan with Samu Kerevi and Tom Wright, I’m not sure about that) and it was easy for the likes of Emiliano Boffelli, Rodrigo Isgro and Lucio Cinti to step inside him, leaving him clutching madly at thin air.
I’ll write a bit more about the Argentina match in a minute. But while we’re looking at squad lists, some pertinent news has washed in from the summery north.
Wales have a training camp in Turkiye coming up and are taking a fat squad of 43:
Forwards: Keiron Assiratti*, Taine Basham, Adam Beard, Ben Carter, Rhys Davies, Elliot Dee, Corey Domachowski*, Ryan Elias, Tomas Francis, Dafydd Jenkins, Dewi Lake, Dillon Lewis, Dan Lydiate, Kemsley Mathias*, Jac Morgan, Sam Parry, Taine Plumree, Tommy Reffell, Will Rowlands, Christ Tshiunza, Nicky Smith, Gareth Thomas, Henry Thomas*, Aaron Wainwright, Teddy Williams.
Backs: Josh Adams, Gareth Anscombe, Dan Biggar, Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies, Rio Dyer, Cai Evans*, Mason Grady, Leigh Halfpenny, Kieran Hardy, Max Llewellyn*, George North, Louis Rees-Zammit, Tom Rogers, Nick Tompkins, Keiran Williams*, Liam Williams, Tomos Williams.
You’ll have noticed Exeter Chiefs lock Christ Tshiunza in the list. No word on whether he’s been seen on a bike lately. Not in the squad is Taulupe Faletau, who’s nursing a calf. And also has a leg injury.
Run an eye over the list again and see if you can spot the other conspicuous absence. Yep, a Jones. There’s not a single Jones in the Welsh national rugby training squad. Sure, they’ve picked Dafydd Jenkins and Rhys Davies, a Gareth or two and several each of Thomas and Williams, but if they’re going to the Word Cup without a single Jones, well, they’re just not playing to their strengths. Warren Gatland will rue this madness, you mark my words.
Wales play two tests against England and one against South Africa in August, after which Gatland will name his 33 man squad for France.
England, meanwhile, are training with a game-ready squad of 39. Steve Borthwick recently cut flanker Sam Underhill, one of the stars of the Eddie Jones era. Not training due to injury but notionally in the wider squad are two Vunipolas (Billy and Mako), two Ollies (Chessum and Lawrence) and Jack “One Bourbon, One Scotch, No Beer” Walker.
Forwards: Jamie Blamire, Dan Cole, Tom Curry, Theo Dan, Alex Dombrandt, Ben Earl, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Jonny Hill, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam, Joe Marler, George Martin, Tom Pearson, Val Rapava-Ruskin, David Ribbans, Kyle Sinckler, Will Stuart, Jack Willis, Tom Willis.
Backs: Henry Arundell, Danny Care, Joe Cokanasiga, Elliot Daly, Owen Farrell, George Ford, Max Malins, Joe Marchant, Jonny May, Cadan Murley, Guy Porter, Henry Slade, Marcus Smith, Freddie Steward, Manu Tuilagi, Jack van Poortvliet, Anthony Watson, Ben Youngs.
England will play a test every weekend in August: Wales twice, Ireland and Fiji.
THE PLAY’S THE THING
I can’t remember where I first read about this, but I wish I could see it. A play called ‘Bones’, about the mental side of rugby, is running in a theatre in London. The spiel says: “Bones is a dynamic and bold physical theatre production that ignites the collaboration between rugby and theatre to tackle the stigma surrounding mental health. It pairs electric new writing, with high intensity set pieces that immerse you into the spectacular world of rugby.
“Ed is used to getting injured playing rugby, but he’s never faced an injury that he couldn’t see before. When his mental health makes it feel like he’s taking on an entire rugby team by himself, will his team mates stand by his side or remain seated on the sideline? Under pressure to lead his team through to the regional semi-finals, Ed feels the full weight of expectation and hope, and it’s impacted him in ways that he could have never imagined.”
Theatre lighting is where I put my energies as a teenager, after terminal clumsiness and low pain threshold ended my multi-code football career. I’d love to see how they’re presenting the experience of a rugby match with a small cast on a small stage. The video trailer gives an idea of what it’s like.
SCREEN DRAMA (OR, MARIUS JONKER IS A PLONKER)
Charlie’s news report on Monday brought forward a sharp comment about TMO Marius Jonker from veteran G&GR commenter Who?: “One would think that having to give two previous apologies for his performances would have WR decide not to make us suffer his bias anymore…”
On the Wallabies’ northern tour at the end of 2021, a Jonker intervention in the test against Scotland got a Wallabies try disallowed and Allan Alaalatoa yellow carded . The Wallabies lost that one 15–13, but World Rugby later confirmed to Dave Rennie that the decision was incorrect and furnished a rare apology. Later in the tour, Jonker was on duty in the Wallabies’ match against Wales and provided the calls that saw Kurtley Beale yellow-carded for a deliberate knock on and Welsh centre Nick Tompkins excused for doing the same thing, en route to a runaway try that helped keep Wales in the match – which they won 29–28 with a post-siren penalty goal to Rhys Priestland.
After the Wales match, Rennie unloaded to the press about Jonker. It wouldn’t help to get another mid-week apology, he said; he wanted the officials to be held accountable for their mistakes. But he was caught up in the Rassie Erasmus controversy, and had to back down.
So Marius Jonker is still getting TMO gigs, and still getting Wallabies matches. Jonker v the Wallabies 2023, Round 1: It’s the first minute of the Sydney test match. Argentina makes a break down the left side after a rare miss in defence by Len Ikitau, and raid inside the Wallabies’ 22. After a couple of phases of forwards collisions, the ball comes left to Julián Montoya, who runs at Nic White. White stops him, though he goes down after the impact, and Len Ikitau finishes the tackle. On the next phase, Santiago Carreras kicks the ball too hard through the Wallabies’ line and it goes dead.
Jaco Peyper calls for a restart from the 22 but as the Wallabies get set for the kick, he says “No arms tackle.” There is no audio from Jonker and no replays on the stadium screen. Peyper addresses James Slipper and points to White, saying “We’re going to play a penalty against him, not clearly getting a wrap in the tackle.”
Rewinding the TV recording shows White getting set and going low to meet Montoya, his arms spread in front. He makes contact with his right shoulder on the hooker’s left hip. Montoya’s right leg is still driving into the contact, out of reach of White’s left arm.What happens next is mostly obscured by the large arse of Matias Alemanno. White’s right arm drops after the impact and his white wrist bandage can be seen on the ground, followed by his shoulder and head, between Alemanno’s feet, under the falling Montoya and Ikitau.
So a halfback tackled a charging hooker front-on, shoulder to hip, and was bounced to the ground before he was able to grasp a leg, or anything else. Jonker must have been ragingly desperate to go hunting for an offence there. But Peyper believed him and gave the penalty to Argentina. At least Boffelli missed the goal attempt.
Jonker v the Wallabies 2023, Round 2: It’s midway through the second half and the Wallabies are on attack when they lose the ball and Peyper blows the whistle for a knock on. Tom Wright, who was tackled earlier in the play, gets shoved while still on the ground by Matias Moroni. Wright gets up as Moroni turns away; he pushes him in the shoulder and the Argentinian goes into the path of Rob Valetini, who’s walking by. Valetini puts two hands on Moroni’s back and pushes him out of the way. Moroni is already off-balance from Wright’s push, so Valetini’s shove blows him right off his feet and he hits the ground. There’s some crowd noise and a couple of Argentinians rush at Valetini.
The radio exchange between the ref and the TMO is comical:
Jonker: It was started by 23 blue and then 15 gold retaliated. So it was started by 23 blue and then number 8 gold joined after that. Started by 23 blue.
Peyper: Say who started it, Marius. Say who started it?
Jonker: It was started by number 23 blue pushing a player on the ground and then number 8 gold joined in.
Peyper: So Marius, just repeat – you’re saying that blue 23 started this?
Jonker: Number 23 blue, correct, started it.
Peyper: And is the reaction, is it disproportionate or is it the same?
Jonker: There was a reaction by number 8, which is worse than the transgression by blue.
Peyper: Okay. So you want me to turn the penalty around, or not?
Jonker: Yeah, you can turn the penalty around. Because number 8 blue [sic] storms in and his actions are worse.
Jonker’s advice was bullshit. Valetini didn’t join in, he didn’t storm in. He was walking by, on his way to the scrum that Peyper had called for, when Moroni lurched into his path, and he pushed him away, like a man avoiding with a staggering drunk outside a pub. On the replay, it sounds like Jonker was making the case for a penalty against Moroni, but when Peyper asked “you want me to turn the penalty around, or not?” he suddenly had a chance to shaft the Wallabies – and he couldn’t help himself. He made up that “storms in and his actions are worse” shit up on the spot, and Peyper bought it.
Jonker v the Wallabies 2023, Round 3: It’s the 77th minute and from the kick-off (after Quade Cooper converted Mark Nawaqanitawase’s intercept try), Carter Gordon jumps for the ball but knocks it on. The ball goes into Argentinian hands and Peyper calls a play-on advantage. Pablo Matera immediately knocks it on. Cooper, who was moving to tackle Matera, puts an arm across his chest; the arm bounces up and contacts Matera’s chin. Matera reacts like he’s been karate-chopped in the throat. Mateo Carreras kicks the loose ball forward and runs after it. Samu Kerevi puts an arm out to stop him and Carreras hits the turf, writhing and grimacing like he’s been liver-punched. Peyper calls for a scrum for Gordon’s original knock-on, but he has to blow time-off because the trainers are gathered over Carreras.
Jonker appears to be running replays to look at Gordon’s jump for the kick-off. Gordon went up with one knee raised and his thigh contacted Boffelli’s side, but Boffelli didn’t dive. Eventually Jonker says “yeah that’s all clear”. Then this happens:
Jonker: Jaco?
Peyper: Yes?
Jonker: Erm, so the blue players kicks the ball and then is tackled late by a gold player – 12 gold. [pause] Jaco can you hear me? [pause] Jaco can you hear me?
[Obviously not. Peyper marches over to AR James Doleman, who apparently has a signal from Jonker.]
Jonker: Jaco we’re gonna put this on the screen for you. We’re gonna put it on a screen. I want you to have a look at the actions of 12 gold after the kick.
There is chatter – probably Doleman talking to Peyper, but Peyper can’t be heard – while the screen shows arm-on-hip contact between Kerevi and Carreras. Then it seems they’re looking at the contact between Cooper and Matera. Doleman (I think) says “It is high, it’s on the chin but it’s nothing more than a penalty”. Someone else says “It’s nothing” and a third voice says “Yeah I agree”.
Peyper comes back on the air: So you agree – Marius, you agree, we’re gonna start with a penalty, just for the hit on the chin, nothing more than a penalty.
It may be come consolation for the Wallabies that while Peyper and Doleman did find an offence and award a penalty that helped Argentina win the match, it wasn’t for the offence that Jonker was trying to prosecute.
SAY NO TO VIOLENCE AGAINST REFS
Abuse of referees remains a hot topic. Charlie mentioned it in the rugby context in Monday’s news and on Wednesday, my comely colleague GoldyLocks asked why it seems to be so ingrained in soccer culture.
That reminded me of the kerfuffle a couple of months back when the hot story in the media was the alleged assault of a soccer ref in the alleged Sydney suburb of Greenacre. The alleged assailant, allegedly a kickboxer, was condemned everywhere, including here on G&GR, when mobile phone video of his face-breaking blows blew up on TV and YouTube. He was arrested and charged, and bail was allegedly refused. The alleged victim was showered in sympathy and donated funds, and became a poster child for the cause of innocent volunteer officials.
I always like to close the loop on alleged controversies like this, so I thought I’d place some alleged further developments on the G&GR record. The matter was back in court in May and the magistrate was shown a slightly longer video. It shows the alleged referee arguing with non-players when the alleged assailant comes running up from the side. The ref sees or hears him coming, turns and steps out to meet the charge, already winding up for an overhand punch. He throws the haymaker, which takes a metric week to reach its target, and cops a short one on the chin in the interim. Then he goes down and gets allegedly pummelled.
When the video was shown in court in May, the magistrate released the accused on bail with no objection from the prosecutor. Time will tell if the charges are dropped. In June, the alleged referee was in court on a different matter: he was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and reckless grievous bodily harm over an alleged incident at the Railway Hotel in Hornsby in March. He was allegedly working there as a bouncer and the alleged victim is allegedly a woman.
But seriously, folks, hands off the officials. Yes, even Marius Jonker.
