Tuesday’s Rugby News has more Kiwis getting in trouble, The Reds up to their old tricks, Wallaby Piggies gearing up for the Irish and South Africa still suffering from racial tensions
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Super (but mostly Kiwi) Ill-discipline
Crusaders and All Blacks prop Owen Franks has joined provincial and national team mate Joe Moody on the sidelines after being suspended for two weeks by the SANZAAR disciplinary board. Franks was cited for a high-shot on the Blues’ James Parsons which resulted in the starting hooker needing to be taken from the field for head injury assessment. Whilst referee Glenn Jackson consulted the TMO at the time no action was taken as a line-out had occurred after the incident but before the referee saw the replays.
The suspension comes as the Crusaders prepare to host the Hurricanes in what would normally be a top-of-the-table clash, but thanks to the idiosyncrasies of the Super Rugby ladder, is only first vs fourth.
All Blacks’ coach Steve Hanson has weighed in saying, “They just need to have a look at themselves and give themselves a wee uppercut and get on with it.”, although he didn’t explicitly state whether he was referring to the actual foul play or the fact they were suspended.
In a bold move to outshine their South Island counterparts, the Highlanders’ Tevita Nabura is also facing a disciplinary hearing this week. In only his third match for the franchise the Fijian-born winger was red-carded during his side’s 41-12 loss to NSW at Allianz stadium.
The hearing has been delayed until today, although exactly why remains a mystery, as one would imagine it will be hard, nay impossible, for the 25-year old to mount much of defence against the charge.
Of course, anything the Kiwis can do in rugby, so can the Aussies. We’ve got an equal number of world cups, the Waratahs win meant that we finished the weekend 1-1 in Oz vs Kiwi matches and Rory Arnold faces three weeks out after a clumsy attempt at decapitating the Lions’ Elton Jantjies.
While the suspensions could have been as long as six weeks, Nigel Hampton QC, SANZAAR’s chair of the foul play committee is quoted as saying “taking into account mitigating factors including the player’s excellent, clear, disciplinary record, his expressed remorse and his guilty plea at the first available opportunity, the foul play review committee reduced the suspension to 3 weeks.”
The suspension rules Arnold out of the Wallabies’ first test against Ireland.
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I see Red, or do I?
If you get the nagging feeling that the Reds are Dr Jekyll one week and Mr (cop a) Hyde(ing) the next, you are not alone.
Unlike 2009 where the Reds suffered from Maxwell Smart syndrome (“missed it, by that much”) scoring 7 bonus points in 10 losses, this season has proven a much more up and down ride for the young side. With wins when no-one gave them a chance, near-misses against quality opposition and complete capitulations against both high-flyers and cellar-dwellers alike it’s been a turbulent time for the Ballymore faithful.
Three of their four wins have come against teams higher than them on the ladder yet they’ve managed to not only lose to the lowly Sunwolves by 35 points but also crumbled in their second outing against the Brumbies, going down by 24 points, despite having beaten them 5 weeks earlier.
Coming off a narrow 38-34 loss to the Hurricanes on the weekend, coach Brad Thorn was quick to heap praise on one of the Reds’ consistent performers this year, former YouTube superstar Taniela Tupou, who lit it up early in the second half, showing his fleet footedness and soft hands to put Jordan Petaia in for a try.
“He’s got that special X factor about him, which is really cool.”, said Thorn of the still only 22-year-old tighthead.
Whether the Reds up and down and season continues, only time will tell, but the first 14 weeks bode well for the Reds as next they take on 5th place Highlanders, then the 3rd place Waratahs, although it could all fall apart after that though, with a match against 3rd last Blues looming at Eden Park.
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Fatties to get Fit
In the world of sub-districts rugby, most forwards can be found lurking around the post-match BBQ seemingly of the belief that “small is bad, big is better, bigger is, er betterer?”.
At test level, fitness and skill come into as much as size and Australia’s new forwards coach, Simon Raiwalui, is expecting a lot from his pack this year. Starting with Ireland next month. The former Fijian test player took control of the forwards after the departure of Mario Ledesma, who left at the end of 2017 to coach the Jaguares.
Belying his Fijian rugby heritage, and their love of loose play, Raiwalui is expecting the Australian pack to take it to the Irish, with a well-drilled and aggressive but well-disciplined forward pack.
“Aggression without discipline is no use to us,” said Raiwalui.
He also wants a more cohesive pack, to work together, rather than one player shouldering all the work, “If you get eight guys doing the same thing collectively you have a chance.”.
A key to Raiwalui’s approach is work ethic, “If you work hard, I’ll never have a problem with you.” He also speaks of wanting to form a unit that’s tough, ruthless and one that ‘wants to work’.
After only meeting last year on the Wallabies’ spring tour Raiwalui impressed Cheika enough to get the job. While it remains to be seen how this new and hopefully improved forward pack goes against the might of the Irish, who not only hail from the home unions, where forward play is revered but are also ranked 2nd in the world, it certainly sounds like the coaching staff have the right attitude for success on-field.
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Tensions boil over in South Africa
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In bizarre and disturbing scenes, former Springbok Ashwin Willemse, appearing on SuperSport after the Lions vs Brumbies match, has walked off the set during a live broadcast causing consternation amongst his fellow presenters and concern from the viewers.
Willemse’s walk out left two former Springbok players, Nick Mallett and Naas Botha, who were also presenting, on set as the cameras continued to roll, broadcasting the whole incident. The pair seemed bewildered at what caused Willemse to leave mid-show.
Willemse is heard saying he “cannot work with people who undermine other people” and “refused to be patronised by two individuals who played in an apartheid/segregated era.”
And also made comment about being called a “quota” player.
While the footage of incident doesn’t seem to include any use of the word quota or any other reference to apartheid-era rugby it’s clear that something is amiss.
The matter is being taken seriously by the broadcaster, a statement released reads, “SuperSport has noted with concern the events that saw presenter Ashwin Willemse walk out of the SuperSport studio on Saturday evening‚”.
The Springboks were, of course, excluded from international rugby until 1992 when the racist policies of the country were dismantled and after missing the first two rugby world cups were victorious as hosts in 1995.
It’s worth noting that both of the hosts the Willemse took exception to played for the Springboks during apartheid.
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