Welcome fellow G&GRs to another Hump Day news. There are midweek games as well as Saturday games during the Lions tour so let’s get a coffee, read the news and start focussing on how this afternoon’s game will go. The Lions look the real deal with 23 internationally classed players in every team they field, which makes for a challenge for their Australian opponents. But we’re Australia, full of misfit immigrants from countries around the world which aren’t as good as us and, as mentioned elsewhere, the Lions wish their ancestors had been sent to such an awesome land rather than their convicts. Upper class decisions at their best. Let’s rock into it.
Referee corner
Not a lot from the Super Rugby final or the first Lions game. Poor old Pollock got binned for not rolling away, but it was a team issue more than anything else and he copped it after the warning. NZ is currently having a few issues with referees at the club level. A couple of weeks ago Horewhenua had to postpone all club rugby due to over the top criticism of referees that included one being threatened with a knife and just recently we saw here on stuff.co.nz where in Taranki a referee got smashed by a player during a game. At first it looked more like a mistake than deliberate but then re-looking at it and especially hearing the crap from the sideline maybe there was a bit of intent by the player. It’s an interesting one because all referees get caught out at times being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As I always say to the players “I have to be somewhere on the field to see what’s going on, let’s just try and avoid each other!”
Pretty crap stuff and certainly nothing I’ve come across in my 13 odd years of refereeing at club level in NZ, Canberra and Sydney. I think that the increase in criticism across social media that seems to be accepted by some has also caused the normal respect and acceptance of decisions at club level fall off a bit. One of the things that helps me is that I’m half deaf from all sorts of loud bangs from my service in the army and I rarely hear anything that is said on the sideline while I’m refereeing a match. While I have had the odd disagreement with coaches and players on some of the decisions I’ve made, I’ve never been threatened or abused and long may this continue.
Rugby is such a dynamic game and at every contest there are probably nine things that could be ruled on. The referee has to choose which one is most important for him at that time and inevitably this will not be the one that all supporters and players will want adjudicated. At a guess over 60% of calls in a game are subjective and unless we go down the American football path the referees are always going to get some wrong. It’s just part of the game and we need to accept it and move on. The TMO and ARs have developed to try and remove some of the subjectiveness, but have been less than successful at times and I think that rather than make an uncertain game certain we just have to accept the odd wrong call and move on.
Horror movie: Why Wallabies are focused on Fiji and not British & Irish Lions
In a bid to kill the nightmares that linger from the when the Wallabies were humbled 22-15 by Fiji – their first loss to the Pacific Islanders in 69 years – at the RWC in France, the Wallabies have tried to focus away from the Lions tour and instead look at what is in front of them this Sunday. As reported here in SMH video footage of a shock loss at the last World Cup has reminded the Wallabies to ignore the hype and excitement surrounding their blockbuster series against the British & Irish Lions and focus on beating Fiji in Newcastle on Sunday.
A review of the game that was the beginning of the end before the last coach – he who must not be named was replaced by Joe Schmidt – was held to refocus the Wallabies and demonstrate the need to treat this game with the respect it deserves. “It’s a tricky one,” McReight said. “We watched some clips, obviously, in the Fiji week being this week, and that game came up, and a lot of the clips were the first time I had rewatched parts of that game.” Australia haven’t played Fiji since their famous World Cup showdown and McReight has no desire to relive that humbling experience. “Yeah, that was a tough game, obviously, and they were up for it, and they played a cracker,” he said noting that it was two years ago and both teams have changed significantly since then.
With Tupou out of the game and playing for the Waratahs, Western Force forward Nick Champion de Crespigny is hoping to make his Test debut after flying in from Perth. “The Wallabies, it’s the pinnacle,” Champion de Crespigny said. “You grow up watching them, so, yeah, it means everything to me.”
While I think the Wallabies will go well this week, despite the normal mistakes for a first up match, they’ll need to be mindful of the Fijians. Fiji is currently 9th in world rankings with the Wallabies at 8th so the game may well come down to small moments and some poor decisions or the wrong bounce of the ball could decide this game.
Wingers released from Wallabies squad, won’t play Fiji
Reported here in RugbyPass Andrew Kellaway will join Tupou at the Waratahs this weekend and Corey Toole has been released to play for the Brumbies against the Lions. With 39 Test caps, Kellaway will add valuable experience to the Waratahs in their clash with the British & Irish Lions in Sydney on Saturday night at Allianz Stadium. Speedster Toole will head home to Canberra with Australia’s top-ranked Super Rugby side hosting the tourists on Wednesday, 9 July.
Their release leaves Western Force flyers Harry Potter and Dylan Pietsch, who starred against the Lions in Perth in their opening tour match, Queensland’s Filipo Daugunu and NSW young gun Max Jorgensen still in the mix of wingers to face Fiji on Sunday. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Tom Wright are the leading fullback options left in the squad following the departure of Kellaway, with the Test side to be named on Friday. Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham will be happy to have Toole back in his attack after he posted 11 tries during a stand-out Super season. The Brumbies became the first state side to ever beat the Lions, claiming a 14-12 victory in 2013 and Larkham expects the Lions to be at full-strength for their GIO Stadium given it’s 10 days out from the first Test in Brisbane on 19 July. “That’s what we’re thinking – 10 days out from the first Test we’re expecting that they’ll put their best team out there, and we’ll look to do the same, obviously,” Larkham said.
Wider Wallabies squad members, Tane Edmed, Darby Lancaster and Matt Philip, have returned to bolster the Waratahs while David Feliuai, Lington Ieli, Ryan Lonergan and Rory Scott will re-join the Brumbies. I think it’s great that the Wallabies are releasing players back to the states and territories for these games. If they aren’t going to be in the 23 for the next game then they’ll get more benefit playing a game than they will holding tackle bags. It’s obviously a risky business and if a player from the 23 gets injured late in the week then some of these players may find their way back in the main mix.
What do we need at #13.
This is a total opinion piece so feel free to disagree and throw rocks at it. It’s based on my experience as a player, coach and referee over the last 60 years. My favourite player of all time is the All Black Bruce Robertson. He was a fantastic #13 who just seemed to glide around the field creating space and shutting down attacks. Stirling Mortlock was my Wallabies favourite and watching him move into #13 and direct the Wallaby attack was poetry in motion. Over the last couple of years #13 has been a position that has been an issue for both the Wallabies and the All Blacks. For the most part Len Ikitau has been the form #13 for the Wallabies and is recognised as one of the best worldwide, but last year was moved to #12 to ensure the golden boy got a game to justify his outlandish salary. In a different way the ABs have persisted with Reiko Ioane despite a lot of calls, from me as well as others, that he hasn’t nailed the position and should be moved back to the wing.
So what do we want from a #13? For me this is the most difficult position in the backline, if not on the field. The centre has to be the guy who organises the backline in attack and defence. He/she needs to see how the game is developing, what the opposition is doing and then react to what is happening to either ensure the defence holds or to create and use the space so the attack works.
Looking at some of the skills they need. Passing. They have to be able to pass the ball both ways well. Their passes need to be delivered in front of the player so that they run onto it and continue the move, they need to be timed to coincide with the play – held too long they provide a hospital pass with no room to move and passed too early they allow the defence to adjust and close the gaps. Kicking. Not a big issue for #13, but they still need to be able to kick well off both feet and most likely it will be an unplanned move rather than a deliberate play. They are less likely to have to kick for possession at lineouts but definitely at times they need to be able to take advantage of a poor defence or relieve their own defence with a good timed kick that’s into space and allows the team to regroup. Tackling. The centre is probably the hardest position to defend at in a game. Usually they are faced with either a massive forward trying to take them down in the tackle, or a fast opposition who is looking at creating space for their team. The tackling has to be on point with commitment and good technique that brings the player down. Nothing worse than seeing a #13 run into contact and miss the tackle leaving the #15 with a 2 or 3 on 1 to defend. Vision. The #13 needs to be able to see how the game is developing. They need to understand what the opposition positioning means and what plays are likely to come from how they are setting up. They can then direct the #12, wings and #15 into position to either defend what is occurring or to be ready to take advantage of what develops. Space. This is one of the #13’s hardest and most important skillsets. They have to organise the attack and create the space for the wings and #15. It’s the main thing I have against Rieko, he sees the space and takes it, but doesn’t seem to know how to create it for others. The #13 is the guy who watches the defence, sees where the holes are developing and times his/her run and pass so that others can take advantage of this space. They aren’t the glory boy try scorers, but the people who ensure the glory boy try scores score.
These skills are something that only comes good after many years of experience developing the timing as you progress from colts to representative to higher honours. While knowing how to pass, tackle and kick is important, far more important is knowing when to do these things. Get the timing wrong and all three of them become terrible, get them correct and the team will flow into the game. The issue I have with Rieko is that he just doesn’t seem to have grasped the magic timing part. He tends to hold on too long and moves into the space himself which means when he does pass the receiver has no option but to take the tackle. While JAS may one day be a good rugby player, that day is a long way away, and for all the effort he puts in at training and elsewhere, his lack of experience hurts the Wallabies in this crucial position.
