Greetings sports fans
The year end tours are almost over and my life is about to head into a lull but fortunately for people like me the S14 starts early next year so maybe a 2 month break maximum which is perfect cos it will give me some time to go and work on my tan!
before I go on for any comments please please please do go to http://sumrugga.blogspot.com
So what a dismal performance thus far by the Southern Hemisphere teams no?
Let start with Oz, by far the best scrummagers of the tri nations teams at the moment. Who would have thought ey given where they have been in the last few years regarding that department. They started off with much aplomb against England. They looked dangerous and even though it wasnt a routing, they made England look rather ordinary, oh wait they do a good job of that all by themselves. Anyway, Oz looks like they are starting to get there, they really are. They have a very competitive tight 5. The loosies are all more than capable. I think they need to settle on their first choice no 7 and then they will be a very formidable pack of forwards. In the backs in Genia i think they have found a very complete replacement for Gregan. His service is generally accurate, he is strong through the tackle, he can box kick with effortless efficiency and best of all he is decisive, a huge and critical difference between him and Burgess. Quade Cooper and Gits at 10 and 12 is about as good as Gits and Barnes. Typical Robbie Deans, playing a 10/12 combo that can be interchanged at any time. Both are ball players and can create time and space for the players around them. Their biggest worry at the moment is no 13, finding a deputy to the stalwart Mortlock. Adam Ashley Cooper can definately do it, hell if you put him at no 3 he might do as good a job as John Smit :) but i think he should go to 15 and stay at 15. That bra to Australia is like what Gerrard is to Liverpool, he is a match winner, well i think he is. I like Ioane at 13 or even o'connor or cross. The wings are both very competent too.
When you go through that team like that and see how they are progressing and the coach that they have, I think its only a matter of time before the results start to show. It is a very young side and they have to learn to win or grind out a win. A lesson that would have been invaluable 2 weekends ago where they managed to steal a draw from the jaws of victory against Ireland, but then again it was BOD so what could you do, i remember telling the people i was watching with that Brian will score...Lucky guess i guess ;)
Last weekend against Scotland was also another example. So many scoring opportunities squandered. Good Scottish defence yes, but they shot themselves in the foot. Thats why if I was Robbie Deans i wouldnt be too concerned, because its not like they are not creating the opportunities, they are, they are just not capitalising and finishing them off. BUT when they do??? Woe betide...
Some of you people might think i am on Tik but they are one of my picks for the 2011 RWC
SA, so the midweek team lost 2 games. the first game they were ill prepared and come guys you guys know all too well that its a tough task to put together a mixed masala of people in a week or less and expect them to get a result. The guys really gave a good account of themselves i think and some players in the midweek team have really put up their hands. In the second game for instance, if Heinie Adams had stayed on the field the guys would have won. Its funny, I was on Rugby365 and reading some comments left by those damn supporters that make it difficult for me to support the Boks and they were on about how the midweek team was a political selection. 9 players Adams, De Jongh, Maku, Chiliboy, Rose, Raubenheimer, Nokwe, Ndungane, Johnson. Out of those other than Chilliboy (based on Currie Cup form) all deserved their spots on the tour. I was dissapointed with Johnson though because in my mind he was in the top 2 no 8's in the competition. The rest of them handled themselves admirably, none more so than the player everyone loves to hate, Earl Rose, he shut up his critics too nicely, well i think, because he was hot i thought. I was pretty dissapointed with Ruan so far he just isnt living up to his billing in my mind.
I do believe there is plenty depth in this country and ability. This years currie cup semi finals and finals were by far the best quality i have witnessed in a long time if not ever. I was fixed, and even the finals...wow, well impressed i was. Loved the Cheetahs pipping the Sharks, hope Province have learnt to leave the Fijian Sireli off the field!! I was soo looking for a Cheetahs v Province final and Luke leaving SA with the Currie Cup but alas that wasnt the script.
Anyway back to the senior team. Selections is a problem boss. Front row, i said it before i'll say it again John Smit is no prop. Beast isnt as good a scrumager as everyone thinks. BJ and CJ definately, Wiam and Heinke, if they play in their correct positions. The test against France, I had a feeling that France were going to show up big time. After what they did to the All Blacks in NZ i knew that this isnt a French side to be taken lightly. They came out posessed. They bullied the Boks from the get go and they made Morne Steyn look like the average flhyhalf i think he really is. The French were excited about the kick and chase and they neutralised that Bok game too easily, it made the Golden Retriever Habana look like a crazy man just running up and down the field to no effect. The sad thing for me is a team which throughout the year seemed so well drilled just looked so unprepared. They didnt have a plan b when plan a was found wanting. Credit to the french though they read the Boks too well. they kept their pases short mostly which once again neutralised the intercept abilities of Bryan. They also always seemed to get go forward ball both in the backs and the forwards. Every one wants to blame Adi Jacobs for some defensive lapses, i clearly recall Fourie and Schalk being swatted onto their bottoms like annoying flies on a peaceful summers afternoon. That being said, I think the game against the Irish this weekend will be tough but I think the Boks will come through it ok.
If i had to be honest about the Bok team, I am not too sure. I think the front line players do need some rest. I for some reason just cant see Victor and John Smit making it to the 2011 world cup. John has released a book recently which is quite odd to me, cos players normally do this when they retire or are about to, but be that as it may. he is also not the best no 3 in SA nor the best no 2, but by head and shoulders the best leader of men SA has available so a place has to be found for him or an able replacement. The obvious choice was Jean de Villiers who has since left for the UK, but then again 2 foreign based props were used during this year end campaign so a precedent has been set.
Sort out the front row, get some good back up locks, get Ruan back at 10 and Morne at 15 if you need a kicker, and then SA is as fit as a fiddle.
NZ, cant really say much here my boys are looking pretty average, scoring 1 try a game i mean really. I have no problem with the pack at all but after that ish starts going wrong. we dont have a 9 who is decisive enough, I like Leonard, but he hasnt shown the form of a year or so ago. Ellis is random at best and Cowan is semi-Marshall-Like but about 2 notches lower. then the next problem is no 12. Ma'a to me is like De Wet Barry, ok maybe not that horrible, but the bra isnt walter little or aaron mauger or pita alatini. he is a great player but i dont know about at 12. i really wish he would be at 13 and conrad at 12 or better still get Kahui fit again and play him with Conrad in the centres. those 2 positions are so vital man 9 and 12. I like Delaney at 10 he just seems more composed than Donald does.
you know what i am liking about this build up as opposed to everyone since 95 is that the blacks have been kaaaak for the last 2 years. but what has changed is that they are learning to grind out a win. the game against england being case in point. As i keep on saying, for me the world cup isnt the be all and end all of my rugby viewing, but i cant lie to you i really do want them to do well in 2011 so i dont have to hear people asking me how many world cups have the All Blacks won for at least another 24 years...
on a general note though, as a spectator I am really concerned about the state of rugby as a spectacle. The last 10 min of the AB - Italy match...just scrums and resets i mean what the fork?? really!! Now everyone is kicking the ball and running after it, there is a game called soccer already isnt it?
Anway this mail is getting too long so let me sign off here
comments very welcome on the blog site
Adios and happy viewing, looking forward to the French - AB game
Y
