Thursday’s Rugby News: JW’s inside knowledge to help against Aussie teams, Differences between Aus and NZ coaching methods, Afternoon Test Match for Sydney in June and NZ journalists worried about the NZ conference.
[one_half last=”no”]
Inside information to aid Sharks
Over the next 2 weeks, the Reds and Waratahs make the trek to the Shark Tank in Durban to take on the Jake White coached Sharks, who are sitting comfortably on top of the SA conference. White stated “The Australian players ask different questions, they play a different kind of rugby”, before going on to compare the Waratahs forward pack to the Bulls.
White feels that after his spell coaching in Canberra, he has the the knowledge to adjust the Sharks game to give them an edge over the two visiting Australian teams. Considering the Reds 3 from 4 record over the Brumbies under White, Richard Graham is probably not too concerned on that front, however the Sharks are something of a bogie team for the Reds.
Les Bleus, Allianz, Afternoon = Win
In news sure to make fans in Sydney happy (and remove any possible excuses for not attending!), the ARU has announced the third test against France will be played at Allianz, with kick-off at 3:05pm on Saturday 21st of June. The preceding games are at Suncorp Stadium on June 7th and Etihad Stadium on June 14th.
The ARU will be hoping for a 40,000+ crowd, similar to the games against Wales in 2012. Over to you NSW fans!
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
They do things differently in NZ
Tamati Ellison has opened up on some of the differences between coaching methods in Australia and New Zealand. Ellison has 77 Super Rugby caps between 3 franchises (Blues, Canes and the Clan) and 4 All Black caps, so has plenty of exposure to compare.
His major impression: Aussie coaches go into a lot more technical detail than our cousins across the ditch, particularly around the breakdown. This probably goes some way to explaining the origin of the “play what’s in front of you” period the Wallabies went through. Even John ‘Knuckles’ Connolly commented recently “When the Wallabies were on top of the world, one of the main reasons was that we were technically correct. And to a degree, the same applies to South Africa.” Ellisons impression of Tony McGahan – “He’s technical as well. He doesn’t just scream and shout.”
NZ Media Gloom on Performance
While we have our concerns about the start to the season and the performance of the Australian teams, it always make you feel better if someone else seems to be in worse shape.
NZ journalists have wasted no time in declaring the performance of the NZ franchises not acceptable. Comments range from Justin Marshall (on the Crusaders) “… not the lack of a suitable game plan, but a rigid adherence to it. There is no spontaneity, the players are not reactive”, to AP’s “..The central feature of the performance of New Zealand teams this season has been the poor quality of coaching and preparation.”
.
[/one_half]
