Welcome fellow G&GRs. It’s hump day, at midday we can put last week’s games behind us – although Hoss did that on Sunday – and look forward to next week’s. Will our team fare better, can they even improve on last week? Time will tell but for me seeing the Canes win a close one in Dunedin was certainly a relief.
Referee Corner
I must admit I’m finding it pleasing to see the referees continue to allow the game to flow with minimal input from TMOs. When the referees have called the TMOs in, the reports have been succinct and on the money with minimal time wasting to allow the game to keep moving. While I thought the swinging arm from the Drua on Goddard was an immediate red card, the YC and review does make it easier and quicker to deal with on the field so I can sort of see why it was done that way. For me the Drua seem to get the rough end of the stick when it comes to decisions against them, but maybe if they picked up on their overall discipline this would improve. I certainly didn’t agree with the no try decision. While the ball was clearly knocked loose by the Brumbies arm, to me it went backwards not forwards and so wasn’t a knock on. The laws for scoring are quite simple. All they say Law 8.2 is that the ball must be “grounded”. I despair at the ongoing stupidity of the commentators who talk about downward pressure and losing control and other comments that seem to come from the NRL because these comments have no basis in the laws of rugby and are meaningless. In my opinion the ball went from the Fijian players hands back towards his goal line then on the ground and he landed on it. Landing on a ball with your body qualifies as “grounding” the ball. The only thing that counted was if the ball went forward out of his hands, in which case it would have been knocked on. It is easy to see how it was adjudicated in the game, but I thought it was wrong and if it’d been ruled correctly then it would’ve opened up the game.
Other calls such as Kellaway’s YC were 100% correct and while some older players may be bemoaning the lowering of hardness the laws are very clear on this. Law 9.18: A player must not lift an opponent off the ground and drop or drive that player so that their head and/or upper body makes contact with the ground. Kellaway made a great tackle, and if he hadn’t’ve taken it further it would’ve been brilliant. Unfortunately, I think Kellaway is struggling a bit this year. He’s been such a smart rugby player but for some reason this year he seems to be making some wrong decisions. I hope he comes right because I still rate him overall as a better option at 15 than Wright – or at least did when he wasn’t making mistakes.
The Waratahs will be different this week.
The Waratahs are determined to be a different beast this week. Reported in rugby.com.au here and here the team has got the message about last week with assistant coach Dan Palmer saying “You’ve got to transition from your lineout attack into your maul, and you’ve got to be fast at that. You’ve got to know what your role is in that situation, and in that example, on the weekend, we were slow, lazy, and we didn’t get our roles right. Simple as that.” This was after the coach Dan McKellar had described their play as “soft!” Both coaches were happy with the first 20 minutes of the game with Palmer saying “I think that our first 20 minutes was pretty good, and I think that the growth of us as a group is under pressure and fatigue is being able to stick to the plan, our systems and not get so easily dragged out of what we’re trying to do.” adding “We addressed it head-on in training, and I expect a far better response this weekend.” I can imagine that training run wouldn’t’ve been a lot of fun and some players might have had a harsh one on one discussion about their lack of enthusiasm at important times. Looking at you, Tupou.
The Brumbies are also expecting a comeback from the weekend with Ikitau, knowing McKellar like he does after playing under him for three years, expecting the Waratahs to hit back hard. “Any team coached by Dan you know will put in an awesome effort. They were pretty disappointed with the way they played last week, but back at home they’re undefeated, so it’s a massive challenge for us. We need to make sure that we’re on our game and then make sure that we’re physical through the full 80.” This was followed by the usual platitudes of talking up the opposition players.
I think this will be an intriguing game. The Brumbies managed a close win against the Drua, and if a few 50/50 decisions had gone the Drua’s way the game may’ve had a different result. However, I think the Brumbies have some issues that need to be resolved. While Ikitau did well getting three tries last weekend, the ball didn’t seem to travel well through the backline and they were lucky that some of Wright’s rock moments weren’t punished as hard as they could have been. This game could be a lot closer than some are expecting.
Vibrant Six Nations leaves Andy Farrell with tricky decisions on Lions selection.
Posted here in the UK Guardian, the result in the England/Wales game along with a below average performance from Ireland in their last two matches will have been in Andy Farrell’s thoughts as he left Cardiff ground pondering his options for the British & Irish Lions series against the Wallabies this year. As things stand, representatives from Wales will be hard pressed to fill a phone box. Added to that, instead of a positive reaction to their disappointment against France in Dublin there was further evidence to support the theory that the Irish side is no longer the great force it was. Given that Farrell is the man in charge of that longer term rebuild he has plenty to consider. Many of the certainties upon which his Lions plans were supposedly based have disappeared. Is it really still wise to base the tour’s foundations around a fading Irish side increasingly in need of a reboot? Is Caelan Doris still front runner for captain? To what extent should England’s improving end to the Six Nations affect what he does next?
The good news is there’s still some time with which to decide where to go. The Lions team isn’t scheduled to be unveiled until 8 May, which allows for three rounds of Champions Cup games against top French opposition and for players to demonstrate their worth. However, at some stage, there’ll be no ducking the calls that’ll define Farrell’s selection. Finn Russell is theoretically the main man at flyhalf, but is he the head coach’s idea of a perfect 10? On Saturday night Scotland were 16-13 down in the early stages of the second half with the game in the balance when Russell accelerated right and cleverly identified potential space on the inside; he flicked a funky little reverse offload towards the supporting Darcy Graham, but the ball failed to go to hand. Instead, France accepted the gift and, seconds later, Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored at the other end. This hot and cold display isn’t what Farrell seems to like and maybe England’s Fin Smith will be a better option for him.
It could even be that England now provide more 2025 Lions than Ireland, particularly if Ben Curry is selected with his brother Tom at the expense of Josh van der Flier, or Scotland’s Rory Darge. The scales seem to’ve started to tip towards Maro Itoje as captain, particularly as he’s already a distinguished Test Lion. Personally, I’ve enjoyed the 6N rugby this year and while it’s been sad to see the demise of Wales and the Irish results have demonstrated a team failing to develop new players in a timely manner the rugby has been very physical and there’ve been some great moments. Ireland’s demise has underscored the importance of looking forward rather than backwards; this is something both New Zealand and Australia need to take notice of, possibly more so for New Zealand.
The Lions will have a very strong team and some of the comments from ex Wallaby commentators and others who are calling the Wallabies winning the series may have egg on their face at the end of the tour. The trouble is you never really know how a Lions tour is going to go. The individual teams that make up the Lions have such a deep-rooted rivalry against each other that it’s often hard for them to gel on the field. This is where the coach and his selections are so important. Any sense of favouritism, real or not, can create such bad feelings that the entire party can struggle. Andy Farrell is a very experienced coach, and I think he’ll know that sometimes you need to select the second best player to provide the cohesion that’s critical for the team’s success. I’m really looking forward to this tour and I think the selections, game plans and team management will be fascinating to see how they’re played out. The Wallabies will be strong, but the issues at 9, 10 and 12 haven’t been resolved and the selections in those positions may well decide the series as much as Farrell’s selections will.
