Australia

willx says...

A quality player in his day, but always ruined it with over arrogance and simple comments.

Posted 09:29 20th May 2012

moosh says...

He's sort of right, but it has to be qualified. I think the fact that teams today in general - and defenses in particular - are so much better organised that it's hard for a player with exceptional skill to stand out. It's not necessarily that there are fewer of those players around, they just have fewer opportunities to exploit, now that they're up against professionally-drilled defenses.

In one area I would argue he's dead wrong though - passes out of contact. They didn't feature too much in the old days but in the modern game they are a thing of beauty when they're executed well. There was one that led to a try for Leicester last weekend that was near to perfect.

Posted 22:17 15th May 2012

zambokke says...

I miss the side steps, swerves, dummies etc from yesteryear, but there is very little opportunity for the skills seen from Duckham, Sella, Gerber etc in the modern game where the Rugby League defence has nullified this. Shame! Occasionaly though you do see the skills from Campo's era in the modern game: Shane Wiliams, Jason Robinson, Carlos Spencer etc. I think that with Campos size and rugby brain (same with Blanco etc), he would have made it in any era.

Posted 12:55 14th May 2012

Celticspirit says...

Agree with melkdave 100%: Players today have by far less time to make decisions and pass a ball off properly, never mind getting creative like Campese wants. And all of that against WAY more organised defences with special defensive coaches, drills, systems and larger frames altogether.

Plus one more important thing: Campese seems to be forgetting that today pretty much EVERY player has a certain level of (at least handling-)skills while back then there were forwards that pretty much never ever touched the ball. So really what he is doing is comparing the best ball handlers from back then to just everyone today. Maybe one could say that skills have all levelled out a bit: Backs today have to have more forward skills and forwards have to have some backs skills, too, which is why some people say that Rugby Union starts resembling Rugby League more and more (next to body shapes and shirts, I guess...). And he is probably comparing the best of his generation to just everyone today.

And lastly: It just does not make sense to think that players today do not have the skill level: they train more often than back then, they (also, like back then) live, think and breathe the game. They get paid for it and train all the time, even though much of it is physical fitness. How would they not have the skills. Is he saying they don't do their jobs or not take it all seriously? That is not very convincing. It is just that the game has changed and requires different skills - some new ones as well as the old ones for all the players...

Posted 20:26 13th May 2012

timothy says...

Campo is absolutely right. My sentiments exactly. I've been trying to tell my mates here in Fort Wayne that for years. Although my language has never been as eloquent as Campo's. I don't think present era players are any faster or stronger; they just spend more time and effort showboating and blowing their own horn. I believe the term is "self-serving". I call it neanderthal or cave man rugby. Also, if the hooker would come under-bind and support his props at scrum engagement, that would cure an age old problem.

Posted 20:26 12th May 2012

pierredelot1 says...

On basic skills he's probably right, although there are exceptions. todays player has a different physical makeup to those from Campeses day. But lets face it if you played the best 15 from his day against the best 15 nowadays then it would be game over. The new guys would outpower the old guys and just grind them down. Laws were different, referees also, so comparing is never a good thing. Much better to talk about greats relative to their own era. You'd never get Mike Gibson picked in a modern side. Too slight. Barry John also, couldn't tackle. On the other hand I'm yet to see a scrum half excite me as much as Gareth Edwards did. But then Carter has wonderful skills, same with McCaw. Put in a cente like Gerber we can go on and on. Lets just enjoy them for what they are, but sadly some of the great skills will not be seen quite so often. They are coached as a team and rarely encouraged to be individuals. Does get boring at times.

Posted 11:00 12th May 2012

J_Hdk says...

Wow, that is some quality nostalgia from Campese :D

Posted 09:31 12th May 2012