Another bad week for the North
This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with hemispherical malaises, new calls and fresh European problems...
What do Wales, Ireland, France and England have in common?
Well, aside from not having won a Test down under since the World Cup, they have all blown potential positions to do just that in matches this past weekend.
It's perhaps slightly tenuous to claim England were on top after they burnt themselves out bouncing back from the concession of those early tries, but within a score is within a score and any professional team should be able to conceive producing the goods from there somehow.
Wales blew it good and proper with a silly penalty. Ireland were unfortunate at a couple of key moments but certainly let the All Blacks out of jail, while the pitch in Cordoba was littered with the ghosts of French opportunities that slipped - literally - through the fingers. England clearly had the beating of the Boks, but just left themselves a little too much to do.
It's certainly an improvement on the busts of a week ago, but taking all the games into consideration it's worth asking: are we looking at a general mental block among the northern hemisphere teams?
They've been taking beatings for aeons down under now - with England's class of 2003 a notable exception - but there's little doubt that both the re-structuring of the Super Rugby season which causes a run-in to the June Tests, and the improvement in conditioning and fitness of the northern teams has proved to be game-levelling.
This weekend past saw all four with huge opportunities to exploit this game-levelling factor, yet there seemed to hang over all four an air of their having crumpled in an air of inevitability as the killer blows were struck.
When the dust settles on these June Test defeats, and while we all laud the improvements shown between last week and this, the nagging question might remain: did any of them really believe they were going to win this weekend...? That tiny element of belief makes a massive difference in the closing moments of matches.
The scrum - or rather the officiating of it - is up for minor surgery again. A new call - "crouch, touch, set" - will replace the current format of "crouch, touch, pause, engage" when trialled across the globe next season.
It's certainly an improvement, one that removes the appendix-like 'pause' that currently tempts front-rows to do anything but, and presumably it will shorten the time wasted by the referees who currently tend to order a round of drinks and a massage between the 'crouch, touch, pause' signal.
People complain about time wasted on scrums at the moment: about half the wasted time is spent on the referee calling the engage sequence.
But in among all of the research and trialling is one aspect that you aren't going to get rid of: two 850kg piles of muscle and adrenaline all looking to push the margins as tight as possible in order to win the collision and gain a competitive edge. Be those margins in engage timing, engage angles, whatever. Someone's going to be doing something dodgy somewhere, and in among those sorts of physical forces, something will often give.
Reducing the time spent on the engage call will stop some of the time being wasted, but it won't solve the scrum problems, not by any stretch of the imagination.
Finally, the Heineken Cup is on the brink of anarchy again. The English look set to pull out, the French are following, there is dissatisfaction among the PRO12 benches, all at the Heineken Cup's proposed restructuring from a two-tier competition to a three-tier one, reducing the number of HEC participants from 24 to 20.
If the Daily Telegraph is to be believed, the PRO12 teams stand to lose most. Virtually guaranteed qualification these days, only half of the dozen would qualify under the proposed structure, with the French and English retaining six spots apiece and the remaining two of the 20 going to the Amlin and Heineken champions.
We're not really sure what all the fuss is about from the English? The number of matches would remain the same, the number of Premiership teams would remain the same, so there's no drop in prestige or revenue. It may be a concern that the basement-dwellers of the English top flight end up in the third tier of European competition, but it's not like the pool stages of the Amlin Challenge Cup are ground-fillers anyway. There's not much difference between Bayonne's reserves and Bucuresti's first-choice team.
The countries set to feel the most injustice would be the PRO12 ones, who have seen their chances of qualification drop significantly. But from them there's been little noise - perhaps they are happy to wait it out and kiss the English sides goodbye!
But for now, we reckon this is a storm in a teacup, probably caused by some other sub-section of some new suggested document which recommends that Premier Rugby officials don't get refined sugar in their post-match function coffee as they have before.
We sincerely hope so - but just as we sincerely hope that ERC do at least ensure that one team from each of the Six Nations is represented in Europe's premier pan-European competition.
Loose Pass compiled by Richard Anderson
Comments
StunTheMullet says...
@ Stellenbosched2 - I think the Europeans would be far better placed to provide the alcohol rather than the distilled rats urine that passes for beer in Convictland.
It could be a best of breed allocation with wine to France and beer and spirits to eastern block countries (i.e. Romania, Georgia and Russia).
It needs to be kept simple for the Convicts where they can just provide the BBQ facilities in the car park and hand out the esky's.
Posted 01:19 22nd June 2012
BokkeJ says...
@JayStarr - some excellent comments and I do agree with you ... except for 1 thing. You said the NH dont play the SH enough. Nowadays we usually play 6 games each, per year, cross-hemisphere! 3 in June and 3 in Nov. That's as many games as a TriNations season. I don't think the issue is amount of rugby played, I think this mind set is instilled at an early age in the NH.
Posted 15:16 21st June 2012
objetive says...
Boks took their foot off the peddle. There was always only one winner.
Posted 14:17 21st June 2012
blametheref says...
@JayStarr
Think you nailed it correctly with your comments about NH v SH
Posted 18:57 20th June 2012
melkdave says...
@BigRugbyBalls
LOL waited till now to congraulate you lol,ill have to be faster next time wont i lol.
Posted 16:42 20th June 2012
BokkeJ says...
Ok ok, so perhaps it was entirely accurate to call 2011 SA's worst and Wales best, I just meant that quarerfinals for SA is our equal worst (along with 2003) and Semis is Wales equal best (along with 1987 which doesnt count - its not a "World Cup" without one of the tops teams). But if Magic_Dragon feels it neccessary to point out his fantastic FACT that Wale made it further than SA, then I can point out a few facts too. My favourites FACTS are:
- Head-to-head: SA vs Wales: 24 Wins, 1 Draw, 1 loss.
- Largest winning margin for SA: 83.
- Largest winning margin for Wales: 10.
- Top World cup results SA: 2 x champs
- Top World cup results for Wales: 3rd place in 1987 (which still doesnt count!)
I do still love Wales though. I might move there one day! :-)
Posted 15:32 20th June 2012
sandal says...
@BokkeJ
Further to what Dr Death said, and in support of magic_dragon (whom I rather admire in taking on the Bok and English nations), 2011 was not the Boks' worst World Cup. That would be 2003, when South Africa lost 25-6 to England in pool play and 29-9 to New Zealand in the quarterfinals. All that after freezing their nuts off in some boot camp. I'm sure you remember that now.
You might also pay Wales greater deference in recognition of the Boks' special relationship with referee Derek Bevan.
And acknowledge that neither the Boks nor anyone else got food poisoning before meeting Wales on their home soil.
Oh dear. Now I'm simply being puerile.
Posted 06:57 20th June 2012
Stellenbosched2 says...
In the spirit of reconciliation I would like to arrange a rugby match involving most of the worlds leading rugby countries. You are welcome to mix and match as you wish, but be careful of the results:
- Boks vs AB's will be the actual match
- played at the Millennium Stadium filled with Welsh spectators singing their anthem
- all officials to be English
- Irish to provide pre and post match music, including all snippets on the PA
- the commentators will be Scottish (love their accent)
- all security and crowd control will be done by the Italians, in nice big black uniforms with lots of medals
- all meat to be cooked will be supplied by the Argentinians
- French chefs will cater
- all alcohol will be supplied by the Aussies
- Biltong and other dried meats and snacks will be allocated to Namibia
- Pacific Nations will provide the medics (with the way they play their doctors must be the best in the world)
- USA and Canada will provide a team of cheerleaders each
- Japan will finance the event plus supply all transport needed
- and lastly, the Zimbabweans will be allowed to invade only one change room during the game, as long as it is not that used by the English officials.
Posted 06:15 20th June 2012
magic_dragon says...
@BokkeJ,try reading back through the comments,all I said was I had an equal dislike of the English and SA rugby teams (no mention of any hate),whats wrong with that? That's hasn't got anything to do with the country or the people,in fact supporters of those teams should take it as a compliment as my dislike stems from being beaten from them so often. It was your compatriot who started with the insults and the cheap shots. And I didn't try claiming any rugby superiority over the Boks,I stated a simple fact,Wales got further than the Bok in the last world cup,FACT. I didn't realise the mighty Bok were so sensitive! Anyway,good luck on Sat.
Posted 16:59 19th June 2012
DrDeath says...
@BokkeJ
RWC 1987, Wales finished third! Which was actually their best result!
Remember it well, even if it was middle of the night and I'm not even Welsh!
Posted 16:36 19th June 2012
JayStarr says...
@ Stellenbosched: I think the biggest difference between SH teams/players and NH teams/players is not their ability (talent, depth, etc.), but their attitude (self-belief, approach to the game, etc.)...
For example, you see the NH teams thinking they can win these games with a penalty kick - because that's what happens in the 6-Nations - so they kick their 3 points... and then NZ takes the ball and goes score a try..! Or when they're 10 points ahead, like Ireland was, they take their foot off the pedal because they're used to that meaning you're halfway to having the game won... while in the SH 10 points is nothing!
Ireland and Wales lost on the weekend because of a lack of attitude - they made stupid mistakes during the game that you won't see from top teams in Super Rugby, and they didn't have the self-belief and attitude to finish NZ and AUS off when they had them on the ropes. I think England played with more attitude than the other two - not a lot of teams would've picked themselves up and come back after what the Boks did to them in the first 30 minutes. Even though the Boks were clearly going to win, England actually believed they could come back - and it's that attitude that will make them a really good team once their young players get some more experience, etc. If Wales played with the attitude they had at the WC, they would've won both games against Australia.
But the problem for the NH is that they don't play against SH opposition enough - so they only get a taste of this level and type of rugby every now and again, instead of being measured against it consistently and being forced to raise their standards, skills, intensity, mentality, etc., such as Super Rugby teams and the tri-nations are consistently forced to do.
So if they're smart, they'll let more of their players come play Super Rugby!
Posted 16:01 19th June 2012
BokkeJ says...
@Magic_dragon ... yup, you hold onto that fact. Well done, you got further than the boks in 2011 world cup. Might I remind you that that was your best and our worst ever result, thanks to a massive upset in Ireland beating Aus? Might I remind you that we beat you in the very same comp? Might I remind you that we are 2 times world champions, and Wale have never even played a final? Might I remind you that Wales have only ever beaten the boks ONCE in all history? ... dude I LOVE Wales and Welsh people (what a beautiful country!), but you're living in a fantasy land if you want to try claim any kind of rugby credentials over the boks!
Posted 14:54 19th June 2012
magic_dragon says...
@Celtictenor,who's being prejudiced? My dislike of a sporting team is no reflection on how I feel about it's supporters or anybody associated with it. I dislike the English rugby team,yet I've met hundreds of english people and got on well with most,if not all of them. Sport is all about rivalries and banter etc. Now,Zambokke referring to the welsh as 'whinging hill hobbits',that sounds a bit more like prejudice to me.
Posted 14:52 19th June 2012
magic_dragon says...
@zambokke,the hill hobbits still went further than the bok in the world cup,regardless of how many games we lost,all the best.
Posted 13:07 19th June 2012
magic_dragon says...
Due to some sensitive Bok reaction,can I just clarify that I used the word 'dislike' and not 'hate'. I certainly don't hate the Boks,and in fact when they actually concentrate on playing rugby and are in full flow I even admire them.If it's any consolation I dislike all the Tri Nations rugby teams,and yes,it's because I'm sick of losing to them!
Posted 13:02 19th June 2012
jehosophat says...
I don't know how many level headed England supporters expected much more that we have got from this tour. A chance to try some new combinations in one of the toughest two rugby arenas in the world. no silly off the ball headline grabbing antics, and some solid performances with some rugby played, lessons learned, and most importantly of all no miserable thrashings such as England has endured from SA and NZ many times since 2003 was all I hoped for. It has gone slightly better than I feared, so far.
England's 6N performance boosted expectations unfairly, we have to recall this was a side that had had overly conservative coaching for some years and had really come apart at the WC - in fact since the middle of the previous 6N. The cap count is tiny, a lot of the combinations are not yet there, there is little physical edge - a long way to go.
Ireland supporters can't have expected much either. Only Wales, and (poor 6N aside) France had any sort of platform approaching these tours, and neither of them are on amazing form, so no surprise the NH has won out.
Posted 10:00 19th June 2012
bokbokbok says...
Not a big fan of all the NH fans + journalists complaining about the referees over the weekend. Also, I though England were well outplayed in the 2nd match. Finally, I know it was great that Ireland got within three points of the ABs, but if you have a look at the match stats, NZ dominated almost all facets of play. They had ~60% of possesion and territory! I definately think there is a bit of wishful thinking from NH fans that they are even within spitting distance of NZ + SA. Aussie are maybe another story though(?)
Posted 09:28 19th June 2012
Celtictenor says...
@ JayStarr and Stellenbosched. Please don't take magic dragon's prejudices as typical of us Welsh. And, following several great times I have had in Pretoria, Bloem etc etc I would strongly endorse JayStarr's comment - Saffers in general love the Welsh.
And let's support Stellenbosched's attitude - at the end of the day (and at the beginning for that matter), we all love the game.
Posted 08:45 19th June 2012
Stellenbosched2 says...
Hi JayStarr,
Ja, Anderson was trying to annoy South Africans. It's his claim to fame.
As a rugby fan I think too much time is spent on the NH vs SH topic. We all love the same game at the end of the day. Having said that my 2 cents worth on the differences between the hemispheres is that at their best the NH sides are equal to the SH ones. However at their best the SH sides are better than the NH teams. I hope that makes sense.
Posted 06:31 19th June 2012
kiwilad says...
Pog Mahone, Was Israel Daggs infringement really worthy of a yellow card.? Cuts both ways
Posted 04:34 19th June 2012