This week in the Top 5 we delve into some stats, hand out our grades, recap the Good, Bad and Ugly from round 5 and look at some real clangers plus the lighter side of the game.
Let compare the apples
So with the dust settling over round 5 and only one Australian team flying the flag it’s hard not to wonder what’s going on with our teams. Last week I posed the question if it was a player issue or a coaching issue and looking at the stats its painting an interesting picture.
Based on what I am reading in the forums the key measure that people are most interested in beyond the obvious wins is that teams are playing attacking rugby and are having a crack so its entertaining to watch. They really are the key elements to making sure the ratings are up and people want to watch the games.
Now for comparisons sake let us set the bar low and compare the attacking prowess of the Aussie teams against the new kids on the block, the Jaguares and Sunwolves.
That is a tough read. So, what does it say? Well simply put we have become forwards obsessed. Our once fabled creativity and innovation has gone and we hardly have any attack anymore.
The oddity here is in relation to the Sunwolves and their lack of results which is easily explained in that they don’t have a good forward pack so it’s all about attack from the backs. Can you imagine what will happen if they ever have a strong forward pack?
It also really adds more shame to our stats when you think of the forward packs we have to operate behind.
This may also explain not only why we are not getting the results but why the viewer numbers are down. Simply put, it’s boring rugby and it’s why we end up watching the Kiwis play.
So in the coach or player argument for me this falls on the coaches. We simply no longer use our backs and it’s the key difference between the teams that are winning and the Aussie teams. Aussie rugby looks like its coached itself into a conservative, risk adverse forwards obsessed hole. The game plans also support this theory.
One thing that I would be remiss in not mentioning is the Brumbies stats. Noting that their coach is the newly appointed backs / attacking coach for the Wallabies the stats are horrendous and really beg some serious questions.
At the top of most of the stats are the unsurprisingly the Hurricanes and the Lions. Speaks for itself really. The recipe for results is pretty clear.
Report Card
Rebels Talk about a game of two halves. So I’m marking as such.
First half: B+ Hot on attack while not allowing the Waratahs to gain any momentum. Getting 25 points on the Tahs in the first half is a fantastic effort and we all thought we were in for something pretty special from the rebels.
Second half: D Turns out we were in for something special, but not in the way we thought. Their defence fell apart and there seemed to be no attacking structure.
Waratahs Same deal as the Rebels.
First half: D Just didn’t seem able to get into the game. They were being dominated at the breakdown with the rebels turning the ball over with ease.
Second half: B Wow did they turn it around. They made the most of their opportunities and really pressed the Rebels defence into making errors.
Force: C The Force are fairly young a team that is still growing in confidence. In a messy match they never really showed enough to match it with the Crusaders.
Brumbies: C+ They looked the goods for a lot of the match, but again were let down by their relentless kicking. They showed some positive signs on attack when they did keep the ball in hand and their defence held out well for 70 minutes. Their “go to” plays such as the maul have let them down a few times now, maybe it’s time to try something else?
Reds: C- The Reds had the large majority of possession, 67%, in the match but managed to do little to nothing with it. They seemed to can the “give it to Kerevi” plan, but forgot to replace it with something else. Some dodgy reffing aside, you shouldn’t have that much possession and only put 8 points on the board.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Good The Waratahs comeback in the second half showed that not all is lost for Australian Rugby. They were well and truly up against it, trailing 25 – 6 at half time. Perhaps it was some well-timed substitutions, or perhaps Gibson went all Cheika on their asses at half time. Maybe the Rebels had a little something to do with it. But whatever it was, it worked.
The Bad The Rebels second half capitulation was fairly epic. Going into the break with a 25 – 6 lead, which they well and truly blew. They didn’t really look like scoring in the second half and their defence took a serious nose dive. Perhaps they were tired, or perhaps they took it too easy? Maybe the Waratahs had something to do with it? But whatever it was, it didn’t work.
The Ugly The refereeing. This round there seemed to be poor reffing across the board. Strange decisions, WAY too much time spent with the TMO that ended up with no call being made and decisions that were either made by guessing or just going with whichever team was dominant at the time. I don’t think I could say with any certainty that refereeing cost any particular team a game (Reds fans may disagree, but the Reds played poorly despite the refereeing), but it was definitely a pretty low standard.
Clangers
This weekend delivered some moments that the players involved would probably rather forget.
Friday night served up quite a few.
In the Rebels v Waratahs match poor Jake Gordon had a rough time of his first start. Not only did he ignore Captain Hooper’s signal to go for goal after a penalty, taking a quick tap which led to the ball getting turned over, he also produced one of the oddest things I have seen in a match.
In the 53rd minute the Waratahs were awarded a penalty and were going to kick for touch. While the players were milling around, Gordon kicked what he believed to be the spare ball off the field. But it was not the spare, it was the ball that was in play, and his little kick off to the sideline was called by the ref as the penalty kick for touch, gaining approximately 2 metres.
Also from that match we saw a conversion attempt from Reece Hodge get charged down and Dean Mumm throw the ball directly into Hoopers face from the top of a lineout.
Over to South Africa and the Lions v Kings match gave a couple of early What The … ? moments.
How’s this for the opening 2 or so minutes of play? A charge down try followed almost immediately by an intercept try.
Putting the Entertainment back in Rugby
On Friday night I found myself glued to my screen watching the Crusaders v Force match. Granted, the game itself wasn’t actually that interesting … no, rather it was those whacky commentators who had me riveted, hanging on every word to hear what gems of wisdom they would pop out next.
Here’s just a sampling of their finer efforts.
“It’s got very Olivia Newton John out there, it’s physical”
“Probably be able to sorta say it’s technically as dodgy as the one Luke Romano scored”
“Was that half a dummy, half a goose step in the same play?”
“Play on is the call”
“How?”
“I have no idea”
“They fumbled it off the back of the lineout, it went to ground, Taufua scooped it up, he looked for a miracle pass, it ricocheted somewhere, went back into the middle of a maul that had semi started at the lineout and they continued their attack somehow.”
“I’ve seen enough to know I’ve seen too much”
“What was Tatafu Polota-Nau trying to do? Was he entering a wheelbarrow race with Luke Romano?”
“That’s a strong fro that Sumo. That’s not been effected by the rain at all.”
“Nah, that’s back-up singer for the Commodores style”
“If I had a DeLorean that penalty try would have been given 16 scrums ago”
“If these players have any sympathy for the fans they won’t drop another ball for the rest of the game”
“And to much delight they’ve decided to have a scrum”
And just because we thought that Australian Rugby could use a bit of extra appeal …
