Scotland: Led the way with four tries over the weekend
This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with the Six Nations, turf, Mourad Boudjellal and a little Lions nostalgia...
One week, that's all it took. One week of daring to dream that the northern hemisphere had turned a corner and was going to provide a tournament echoing its southern counterpart. One week it took for the assorted coaches to gather, think a bit, and then spend their interim time on making sure that none of last week's tries were echoed rather than look for ways to keep the momentum going.
As a result, we had six tries altogether in three games, four of them from Scotland. You know it's come to something when you are set to rave about Scotland as an international weekend's star turn. We couldn't remember more than one time when the whitewash at either end was seriously threatened at the Aviva, while there was only one time it was threatened in Paris too. Fortunately for Wales, the threat was realised.
The weather played a part to be sure, but there was clear evidence that the tacticians of the respective teams had shut down any attacking desire. Wales ignored open spaces wide and deep on many occasions, as did England. Ireland were so awful that had they tried to get the ball out they may well have failed to do so, Italy were moving outside at half the speed they were last week. France were moving at the same speed they did last week, which was about half of Italy's. Only Scotland, with Sean Maitland growing into his role and Matt Scott a real prospect, looked like they had spent a week running some actual handling moves.
But it was the sheer amount of kicking which was so disappointing. England and France especially have some of the best steppers and carriers in the game, but just don't seem to be prepared, tactically, to use them.
The quality of the kicking was also dire. Coaches need to set targets for their players at kicking plays, need the team to understand why they are kicking, need to impress upon the players a minimum acceptable standard for a kick to gain. Our guess is that a good 50 per cent of the time this weekend, players kicked because... well, because they were in a certain position on the pitch and that was what they were told to do. Not to do something specific with the kick, just to kick. Get the bloody ball somewhere else.
A shame. Last weekend we saw what Europe is capable of. The next step has to be seeing what it is capable of on a regular basis.
Something else we'd like to see on a regular basis is pitches which don't ruck up like rugs on a stone floor at the mere sight of a scrum. The Millennium Stadium's pitch's woes have been long-documented, the Stade de France now joins the ranks of shame.
It is beyond comprehensible that the finest facilities a country has to offer simply are not able to host what they are set up to host, what millions of Euros are ploughed into making sure they can host. Don't even get us started on the safety issue. Adam Jones was pretty well dismantled at scrum time, but the pitch let him down on many an occasion - and just imagine if someone's Lions dream had disappeared down a Parisian divot.
French rugby has problems on the pitch in every way right now.
Possibly off it too, although we're taking a pinch of salt with Mourad Boudjellal's latest outpouring.
The Top 14's person voted least likely to call a spade an earth-moving implement has, after what has been a welcome silence, once again hopped on his soapbox and had a good rant, this time on the subject of paying wages to internationals who miss a quarter of the season for international duty.
Which is vaguely understandable... except that let's have a look at those internationals Boudjellal's knickers are so twisted about. Gethin Jenkins, Jocelino Suta, Mathieu Bastareaud, Fred Michalak, and Maxime Mermoz, (there were also two Georgians missing from Toulon this weekend) none of whom have exactly been developed by Toulon's academy.
Boudjellal can moan all he wants, but frankly, having chosen to spend a huge stack of cash on signing seasoned internationals, he must have known what he was letting himself in for. No sympathy here - there is less and less for him in any situation the more he rants anyway.
What was really weird was Toulon's capitulation in Bordeaux though. Ok, they are missing seven players and one or two to injury as well. But that was still a team containing Rudi Wulf, Matt Giteau, Jonny Wilkinson, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, Bakkies Botha and Andrew Sheridan. with Joe van Niekerk, Alexis Palisson and Carl Hayman on the bench just in case.
41-0 down at one of the league's bottom teams? Something doesn't add up there.
Finally, it's Lions year, so we're going to take you back a bit.... to 1997. A scene from that epic video 'Living with Lions' is still talked about wistfully in bars today, with forwards of all ages especially remembering the epic speech delivered by Jim Telfer.
No idea what we are on about? Have a look here.
Sixteen years on.... he's still got it. Even if the calibre of the recipients is not what it was...have a look here.
Loose pass compiled by Richard Anderson
Comments
lawynd says...
@new_j4a - I have no doubt that in actuality, the ABs would win...because they're very adept at adjusting to the conditions. ;)
Posted 10:51 14th February 2013
new_j4a says...
@lawynd, you are right about the cold....I wasn't taking that into consideration...about AB v Eng....not so sure. (England is a great team but the ABs just seem out of reach except on those special occasions)
Posted 16:02 13th February 2013
kybone says...
lawynd- Well put.
I'd also like to point out that some of last seasons super rugby produced absolute dogs of games, as reported on this site actually, and one of the finalists was a team that kicked, kicked and then, if the conditions were good, kicked again. So don't anyone come on here and claim that SH rugby is all about running the ball from all over the place, because its not.
Posted 15:45 13th February 2013
lawynd says...
@new_j4a - I'm not sure you're appreciating just how horrible those conditions were; if Dublin was at all similar in weather to East Anglia over the weekend (which it was) we had temperatures just above freezing, wind chill taking that down to a toasty -5C and gusting, driving sleet - rain is bad enough but when mixed with semi-snow it's even worse to just run in, let alone play; it gets in your eyes and soaks you right through. Couple that to an absolute dog of a pitch and it's easy to see why the tactics changed. It's not impossible to play with width and ambition in terrible conditions but, crucially, it isn't winning rugby - see Toulouse's defeat at Leicester in the final round of this season's Heineken Cup for another example.
Entertaining the fans is all well and good but most of us would rather see a tick in the 'win' column, as supporters. I appreciate that's not as important a consideration to the neutrals but it cannot be ignored. As it was, I think it was a pretty absorbing game despite the conditions.
And here's a thought for you - I'd posit that if England had faced the All Blacks instead of Ireland on Saturday and the ABs tried to play an expansive game, they'd have lost to England also.
Posted 10:55 13th February 2013
lacroix says...
the whitewash was threatened in the france wales games two or three times by france in fact...they just blew it.
and it wasnt raining in paris.
Posted 14:56 12th February 2013
new_j4a says...
@kiwishamoo, brilliant post, brilliant rugby!! I wish all NH rugby players would watch this tape daily.....then we'd have a chance of a bit of decent rugby to watch in the SH off season. The problem wasn't the weather this weekend, but it was the NH response to it.
Posted 09:02 12th February 2013
waz4before says...
In both Paris & Dublin the state of the pitch is beyond the control of their respective Unions - its one of the reasons why France must move to their own stadium (and they're putting a roof on) but Ireland are stuck with the Aviva. It will be interesting to see how Sarries artificial pitch holds up and whether (weather?) that would improve the situation. Cardiff wasn't in play this weekend but given the part the weather played this past weekend surely the time has come to allow either side, or the ref, to demand the roof be closed if the forecast is poor - that way we can at least reduce the occurrences of rain-affected games albeit in a single stadium Time the RFU looked at enclosing Twickenham as well -- not sure what the cost would be but it can be done and should be planned for ..
Posted 05:04 12th February 2013
Stellenbosched2 says...
On the kicking point. It seems to me that with our union game having adopted so many of the league defensive systems, the only way to gain territory and move out of your 22 is to just kick and chase. If you look at where play resumes from where the ball was kicked it does make sense. Yes you lose posession but with defences so tight it isn't such a problem. Jake White built a RWC winning team by not bothering to have the ball for about 65% of the game.
Posted 04:29 12th February 2013
Lastman says...
Biarritz hosted two games in the Heineken Cup that looked like water polo games! Still don't understand how they got away with it. I agree with daibok that a called off game would cause the uproar needed to sort out this most basic of problems.
And if Ire v Eng wasn't exciting for you, then you just didn't understand it!!!
Posted 22:54 11th February 2013
kybone says...
kiwishamoo- Yea just watched your link. Pretty damp but not as bad as Dublin yesterday and the pitch looked in very decent shape.
I have to say that the criticism is ridiculous. Obviously England and Ireland weren't gonna play like they did last week in conditions like that and on a pitch which was starting to cut up as the teams were warming up. Just another quick point, the last three world cup finals have only contained 4 tries between them, less than this weekends three 6N games. Point being that big games are often tight regardless of the weather, so throw in crap weather and and crap pitches and what else are you expecting.
Posted 17:46 11th February 2013
TVaddict says...
The quality of pitches were awful and hefty fines need to start to be handed out. It degrades the quality of every aspect of the game and increases the risk of injury. Completely unacceptable in the modern era.
Posted 15:37 11th February 2013
kiwishamoo says...
Weather? ahem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEfiSvXLn1g
Posted 14:03 11th February 2013
capedcrusader says...
Froggy73 - Boudjellal is the reason French rugby is the laughing stock of the game. The point made is what do you expect if you buy up all these internationals when they are likely to picked for their country. how did this guy make any money he's a fool. Keep up ya ridiculous business models tho players do deserve to paid big bucks to play in an average comp & 400 games a season.
Re the pitches that is the exact reason SH rugby has more tries the backs know if they step they won't break their ankles the forwards can put the foot down to get thru the gain line without sinking 3 feet into the turf.
Posted 13:43 11th February 2013
bad_robot says...
I think many are missing the point regarding the lack 'good' rugby on the weekend. I too think that a close, trench warfare game can be excellent to watch, however the stuff served up on the weekend was nothing like this. Both games (France v Wales and England v Ireland) had some excellent defence and good phases of ball retention, but outside of this, the kicking was truly aimless and ineffective, basically punt down field and hope for a mistake, or keep it tight and hope for a penalty. Furthermore (and I do realise that weather played a part) but neither team was really willing to give the ball any width, for fear of making an error. This was especially the case in the Eng Ire game, where I think it was quite obvious in the back of everyone's mind was that the winner of the game would have a big step up in their chances of winning the 6N trophy (if not a grand slam). As a result I think may of tactics used were overly reserved and negative.
Posted 13:15 11th February 2013
daibok says...
It's time refs abandoned games when the pitch is as bad as Paris (or the Millenium stadium.) Someone is going to get a severe career ending injury. A called off game would create such uproar that something would have to be done.
On Saturday in Paris it looked like the turf had been laid on mud the night before.
Posted 12:45 11th February 2013
APV1 says...
England's "non-steppers" - I disagree. I saw Brown, Goode and 36 all having a go. But with the weather what it was, you want to play the game in the opposition's half. We all love to see running rugby, but any rugby fan should have enjoyed the attritional and defensive battle that was the game at the Aviva.
I do agree, however, with the state of the pitches. They were awful. It's not like the groundsmen don't know what it's going to be used for. They shouldn't just tear up - they should be secure. Rubbish.
I think that Mourad Boudjellal is going for the "any publicity is good publicity" concept.
And Telfer's turning into a bitter old man, weeping into his whiskey. Just because 1997 was the last time he did anything brilliant, doesn't give him the right to critisise the current crop of players and coaches.
Posted 11:46 11th February 2013
melkdave says...
Think RA is being very harsh ,when he says NH rugby didnt delvier this weekend ,Lets remember 2 of those matches where played in COLD torrential rain ,and on pitches cutting up so bad at scrum time ,you did wonder if it was safe for the playersto even engage.The match played in just rain,on a decent pitch then produced 5 tries,so lets get things into perpective please.As for too much kicking ,yes there was,but what else are players to do,when frozen,and all /most of the support is in front of them.,and a solid line of defenders coming up
As to pitches yes it was bad at Stad de France and the Avivia,but again newly laid turf needs fairly good weather for roots to grow andf ix the turf, not fllood conditions.and if RA hasnt noticed thats something we havent had much of so far in europe.good weather that is ,plenty of flooding though.
We now come to the mess which is french rugby,All he power is with the LNR and club owners,the FFR in realality has very little to do with the day to day running of rugby in France.Its primary funtion seems to be ensuring clubs follow IRB rules ,and thats it..The national team and strutures is secondary ,as they have no access to players outside the IRB international window what so ever.Other unions have negoisated ,and pay for access,and for clubs to develop home talant .The FFR doesnt do any of that .So France are starting to se a lack of depth in certain positions now for the national team FH being the most obvisous one .
Posted 11:37 11th February 2013
fozza says...
What a negative post! Instead of celebrating the fact that we can have try fests one week and forward struggles the next we focus on the negativity. I am an English supporter and this may explain why I found the game on Saturday so enthralling but I also appreciated the tension of the Wales - France game. Scrappy, yes, absorbing, absolutely.
Sorry PR, but rugby is just as much about the slogs in the mud by the big guys as it is about the lithe, flaxen-haired backs, flying into the corner. Any true rugby fan can appreciate both, in the same way that football fans can find positives in a 0-0 game (sometimes!).
I have no sympathy for the Toulon owner, I do have sympathy for the French national team who are constantly second fiddle to the Top 14. Surely, they need to sort this out. If the French National team cannot put in performances consistently regardless of their coach, they have to look at what else may be the problem.
Posted 11:35 11th February 2013
MDCU2584 says...
Bit harsh to have a go at Eng/Ire for the amount of kicking yesterday. The conditions were awful so why take the risk of running and knocking it on? The handling errors were numerous enough as it was. Had it been a dry day I'm certain the oferrings of both teams would have been very different.
Posted 11:32 11th February 2013
writtleman says...
The pitch in Dublin was not a lot better. Am I right in thinking the pitch at Twickers is a hybrid with some artificial fibre like some soccer pitches or would it cut up badly as well? The forces are clearly much greater than in soccer but it should surely be possible to keep a pitch in tact for 80 minutes. Wheeling a new pitch as at Millenium is clearly not the answer.
Posted 10:31 11th February 2013