Welcome to the Tuesday Top 10, your weekly source of erratic ramblings on all things rugby.
10. This week we start in Newcastle, as we so often do. It’s hard to know quite what to make of this test tonight. Hastily cobbled together as a favour to the Scots, it’s forecast to be pissing rain and blowing a gale. We are fielding a bits-and-pieces side with limited training time. We are playing on an unfamiliar ground with a new captain. These aren’t exactly positive signs. That said Scotland are ranked 12th in the world, and we should be able to beat them relatively comfortably. I don’t think the game will be pretty, but in reality it was never going to be. Let’s bag the win first, and then make sure our players as fit and fresh as possible for Wales on Saturday.
9. There were always going to be a few contentious selections for this game. It’s an odd midweek game with three teams playing just days before. I was fairly pleased with the overall balance of the side- props being played in their correct positions, a balanced backrow combination and a fairly good mix of steady hands and speedsters in the backs. It’s not a world-beating XV, but it should perform fairly well under testing circumstances. I am going to largely refrain from criticising selections until the second game against Wales, where we will see Robbie’s true first choice XV.
8. I’m going to stick up for one selection that has copped a lot of flak– Sitaleki Timani. He has shown glimpses in the last three weeks of what he is capable of, and it as warmed my heart. He is big, rangy and runs like a number 8 when he has the pill. He has the potential to be a player who opponents fear, and that is a rare thing in Australian tight forwards. But the key word is potential. He is far from the finished product- his ball handling needs work, as does his game awareness. But keep in mind he is only in his second season of full-time Super Rugby, and he was injured for the first half of the year. Much like Caderyn Neville he is a great prospect and I can see why Robbie has given him a run. I don’t think he is ready for full-time internationals just yet, but hopefully he can get there sometime soon.
7. Now to the Waratahs. Every man and his dog has a theory on why they are travelling so badly, and how to fix it. A lot of these are, to put it bluntly, total horseshit (especially the complaints about the Tahs kicking game, which for some reason is the go-to point for bellyaching idiots, despite being far from the reason for their decline). There are only three points I can make with complete confidence- their fitness isn’t good enough, their attitude isn’t right and their defence is rubbish. These three problems are intertwined and frankly I think it’s the middle one that is the root cause. They are lax on kick chase, they don’t put in the effort in defence, and they have lost multiple games in the last ten.
6. So how do we fix this? This is where the true conundrum lies. Because really no-one knows. Do you sack the coach? Maybe. But he is well-liked amongst the playing group, as well as in the wider rugby community. He is a smart operator and comes across very well in the media. If he is shown the door then it is highly likely a number of senior players will leave as well (and we aren’t talking the burnt-out forward variety). There aren’t too many other coaching options around, and it is doubtful Michael Cheika will ever return to Moore Park after he was dudded by the Tahs a few years ago. So with that in mind I think Foley deserves another year.
So then you turn to the playing group. Does it need a spring clean? I would think the answer is a resounding yes. But we don’t need to be sacking dozens of players. Mumm, Elsom and Vickerman are already out the door. Carter and Halangahu are on thin ice. These spots need to be filled with young, locally grown players who aren’t associated with the failures of past campaigns. I’d be looking firmly at the Under 20s World Cup if I were the Tahs.
Then lastly we need to look at the board. Something needs to change here. Although the finances seem to be OK, crowds are flagging and on-field performance is low. There are a couple of board members who have been there for donkeys years, and much like the playing roster it is time to bring in some new blood and fresh ideas. There also needs to be greater transparency in these appointments.
The Waratahs don’t need to be completely rebuilt. But changes undoubtedly need to be made.
5. There are, surprisingly, a few Waratahs who seem to be hitting some good form amidst this debacle. Firstly Wycliff Palu played the full 80 for the first time in seventeen years on Saturday. He is getting his mojo back- big hits and barging runs are becoming more common. He seems to be finally achieving the consistency we have been craving his whole career. TPN is getting back to his best as well. But the best player in the last three weeks has been Dave Dennis. He has shown himself to be a future leader and potential Wallaby starter. He has a well-rounded game that involves hard work in the tight and good runs in the loose. But enough about the Tahs…
4. The Crusaders continued their scary good form on Friday. I feel for the team that will have to play them in the first week of the finals- it will probably be the Bulls. When they get a head of steam up they are almost impossible to stop.
3. Good to see the Australian Under 20s side start their campaign with a good win last night. This is an important tournament for us for a variety of reasons. With Super Teams on the lookout for young stars a few good performances will go a long way to securing a contract for 2012. Already a few names (largely unknown to me) are standing out- Allan Faalavaau, Curtis Browning and Silatolu Latu to name just a few, as well as the more established names like Gill and F’Sautia. Fox are covering all of the Aussie games (either live or delayed), and they are well worth a watch.
2. My thoughts on the Rebels vs Brumbies game? Meh. A fairly uninspiring affair. The Brumbies have lost their way a bit in the past few weeks, and were less than convincing again on Friday. Their early season stars have just gone off the boil a bit- guys like Nic White, Jesse Mogg and Fotu Auleua. Hopefully the break will be kind to them and they can get back to the form which saw them knocking off teams with reckless abandon. As for the Rebels, they showed how much they desperately miss Kurtley Beale. Their only try came courtesy of a Stephen Moore falcon and yet another piece of genius play from Gareth Delve. I am looking forward to viewing their form in SA, as it will be a true test of how far they have come in two seasons of Super Rugby.
1. I can’t wait for the international season to begin! Carn you Wallabies…
Did I miss anything?
