Tuesday Rugby News is about Rebels, Sevens, line outs and some nasty injuries.
[one_half last=”no”]
More Rebels in Trouble
For a club that this was in the firing line when the Aussie super rugby conference was pared down to four, one might have thought the Rebels would have been on their best behaviour on and off the field this year.
And for the on-field part, that mostly was true. In a dramatic turnaround from last year, the club racked up a franchise-equalling best 7 wins this year and still had a chance of making the finals with half of the final round to be played.
Off-field since that last match has proven quite a different story.
The Mafi-Timani saga goes on and now two other Rebels players, Pone Fa’amausili and Hunter Paisami, have come to the attention police over a separate incident where a man is said to have been assaulted.
Fa’amausili has had his statement taken by police but as yet Paisami has not spoken to the plod.
Details at this point are sketchy and the complaint seems to have arisen from a social media post.
The club isn’t taking any chances though, suspending both players indefinitely while the matter is investigated.
While no charges have been laid against either player one has to wonder just how this will reflect on the club in future.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Kiwis win Again
The Rugby 7’s World Cup is over and the Kiwi men’s team have again taken out the overall honours.
Our frunds from across the dutch outclassed England in the final to defend the title they won in 2013 and is their third 7s world cup overall.
The match was won 33-12 at AT&T park in front a crowd who were pumped by both the play on the ground and the obligatory flyover before it got underway.
Tim Mikkelson summed up the feeling afterwards saying, “It’s massive. We knew coming in it was going to be tough. We nearly got knocked out by France but raised it against Fiji. Credit to coaching staff, the coach brought the boys together”.
(we assume he stumbled in trying to say ‘full credit to the boys’ but we’ll forgive him)
The men’s win added to the victory the New Zealand women took out the day before, something not lost on Mikkelson, “It’s huge, both men and women train in same place and they put pressure on us by winning their final. Credit to England who played amazing this weekend and we’re humbled to get the victory.”
In other results, South Africa took out the bronze ahead of Fiji. Argentina beat the hosts for fifth while Scotland and France ended up in seventh and eighth after a tight tussle. Ireland “won” the Challenge trophy by virtue of finishing ninth and lowly Chile, by finishing 17th, are winners of the Bowl.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”no”]
‘Tahs to Target Lineout
Proficient set pieces are of utmost importance in modern rugby.
Gone are the days of scrums and lineouts being a way to quickly get the ball back into play after a stoppage.
In the modern game there are all sorts of variations and trick plays that revolve around a steady scrum-base or clean line out ball.
First and foremost, though, is winning the ball in the first place and the lineout was a glaring deficiency in the Waratah’s last-start win.
There’s no second chances if they lose this weekend, and it won’t be easy for them. Aside from the rest of their weapons the Lions also have one of the best lineouts in the comp (ok, it’s actually the best, but only by 1%, is that even statistically significant?). They boast the player with the most lineout wins (78) in SR this year, as well as another fella with the seventh most (48). The ‘Tahs make the top ten in the individual standings, in the form of Simmons with 53 takes, but as a unit they fall away slightly winning about 3% less of their lineout throws compared to the ‘Burg based team.
New South Wales forwards coach Simon Cron was forthright in what needed to change before the next game in Johannesburg, “”We’ve got to make sure our hookers get their roles right”.
While not explaining exactly what went wrong for them on Saturday Cron did reveal a little more about one of the mishaps, “The one five minutes before halftime, Fitzy (starting hooker Damien Fitzpatrick) just got the wrong call”, the home crowd getting a little vocal perhaps? (I jest, but it did look empty on the telly)
Here’s hoping the renewed focus on the lineout get the throws and calls get sorted so that the match can live up to a semi-final standard. (which I shall be the judge of)
Quote of the day about this goes to Cron,
“got the wrong call, decided to throw it to somebody that didn’t exist, so we’ll fix that”
– probably for the best.
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]
Students Injured
In a stark reminder of the potential for injury there have been separate, but serious injuries coming out of school level matches over the weekend.
In New Zealand, a student playing for the Feilding High third XV was transported by helicopter to a Christchurch hospital but is reported to be “awake and eating”.
It’s not the first time the school has dealt with ramifications from the occasionally dangerous manner of rugby, in 2008 a student died as a result of complications from a neck injury they suffered during a game.
Closer to home, Conor Tweedy, playing for Brisbane rugby powerhouse school Gregory Terrace, suffered a neck injury from a scrum collapse on the weekend. He was taken to the PA Hospital where he underwent surgery.
By Monday, Tweedy was no longer in an induced coma, was breathing unaided, able to eat and drink and has been visited by classmates.
The family, via the school’s Facebook page have expressed their appreciation of the show of support after the accident.
While rugby can, at times, be dangerous, it’s worth noting NZ Rugby Foundation’s executive Lisa Kingi-Bon points out that of 187 spinal cord injuries recorded in New Zealand last, only two occurred during rugby matches. Figures from Australia are a little higher, but similar, with six of 264 cases of traumatic spinal cord injury being attributed to rugby.
[/one_half]
