The Chewsday Chew

Hello Cobbers. And a happy Chewsday to all my fellow Cobbers, Diggers, Freaks and Mouth Breathers out there today. I hope your coffee is warm, your socks & sandals are cool and you Angel cakes are moist.

Welcome to Episode 7 of the Chewsday Chew. The purpose herein is not to write something overly sagacious, complicated or mesmerising, but rather to pose a simple observation, question or proposition and let the good readers of this esteemed site share their opinions thereafter. Call it the lazy man’s attempt to fill a void by poking our collective bear of rugby knowledge to share their reflections and lift the average beyond the humdrum.

We saw something interesting on the weekend just passed and I feel it must receive a comment.

One may feel that, given the clear and decisive dominance of Australian conference sides over those from the breast of Sauron out of Mordor to our east, there must be very real consideration given to if New Zealand can legitimately field 5x Super level sides from this point on. Now that the Fijians and the Moana have stripped bare their previous happy-hunting grounds, does New Zealand actually have the native talent to warrant a seat at the table with us?

I mean we Aussies, as the good natured cousins and ever-helpful neighbours that we are, are happy to continue to carry New Zealands defense systems, social welfare system, banking system, education system, criminal ex-pat system, Gold Coast bikie-exchange programmes, worker-skills development systems and to basically underpin the New Zealand financial, economic and national security status in the free world. I mean, Hell, we have been doing all that for ages anyway. It’s a case of a few billion NZ$ here and a few billion NZ$ there and one day it may just add up to a bit of AUD money. It’s been no big deal.

But in asking Australian Rugby to now also underpin New Zealands clearly failing rugby standards as well, have they taken the friendship a Speight’s too far?

I mean we Aussies are a generous mob, we really are, but I’m worried we may over-stretch ourselves and not do our trans-Tasman friends justice. We already carry the AFL, the Netball, the Cricket, the Loigees and now we needs carry the Rugby as well? I’m truly concerned about the sustainability of that. Even worse, what about next time we hold the World Cup? Are the Kiwi’s going to show up and carry their weight, or are we brave, selfless, over-achieving Aussies taking that on solo as well AGAIN? My dad always said the poor buggers can’t even hit a cricket ball tossed underarm, and I thought he did jest, but now it appears we must carry them – yet again – in rugby as well? One does ponder…

But that’s not what I allude to here today.

What I allude to here today is the forwards chip & chase try. On the weekend just gone, at approx 32:50min into the Donkey’s dismantling of the Wellington Wind-Breakers, we saw young Rob Valetini put boot to ball on the 50m line (yes really, from halfway, no exaggeration) and take on three of the Hurricanes Hastiest in an outright foot-race. Now one may only dare to imagine the clear distance with which My Favourite Valetini would have won the race without the wind resistance inflicted by the Side-Show Bob Bouffant. But win it he nevertheless did to score a belter of a try…

And it got me to thinking of the great chip and chase tries we have all seen scored particularly by the club-rugby battlers. As-such I present this wee gem from the Midlands Premier competition wherein Shropshires finest Loosehead prop from the Bridgnorth Rugby Club 1st XV unloaded this bit of timeless class. The truth was that the Loosehead was looking for his wide-ranging, rampaging Tighthead partner to score a classic try. But as-ever, some poncy nonce pushed in and took the glory. But nonetheless, it still was a club rugby pearler…

So the challenge this week Dear Friends, should you choose to accept it, is to reach back into the folds of your mind, prod the hippocampus, tickle the frontal lobe and drag forth reminiscence of some of the great chip & chase tries of times gone by. As ever, extra snaps for the more obscure, the smaller the number on the protagonist and/or the more aged the event.