Loose Pass

This week we'll be concerning ourselves with the perils of importing, the impetuousness of youth, fading stars and never-changing spots.

This week we will be concerning ourselves with the perils of importing, the impetuousness of youth, the fading of stars and the spots that never change on Leopards' furs…

Another flawed Fijian story came to an end this week, as Clermont finally gave up their attempts to bring back Napolioni Nalaga from his homeland to see out his contract.

This was a less selfish story than similar ones concerning Rupeni Caucaunibuca and others. Nalaga did not simply vanish for a few weeks as Caucau once did. He had headed back to Fiji for his wedding, seen his wife-to-be badly hurt in a car crash, and then tumbled into a deep depression.

All fair enough, yet once again, the manner of the saga's finale has been less than appropriate. It seems that no sooner is the player in Fiji than common etiquette disappears quicker than a shot of kava down a thirsty throat. Once it was established Nalaga was home for a while, there had apparently been no phone calls for weeks, no word on a return, barely a stab at negotiation from Nalaga's side. He was back, he was staying put, and to blazes with the club that worked so hard to offer him as perfect a life as possible in France.

Obviously, there's a more tragic tinge to this story. But it is still yet another example of wayward Pacific Islanders struggling to communicate.
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A lot of things contributed to England's defeat on Saturday, not least the fact that it was England, and Ireland just seemed to raise their game for that reason alone.

But much of the blame can also be laid at the feet of Ben Youngs, who has fallen foul of this column's observations before. What was going through the mind of Youngs when he back-flipped the ball into the crowd we can only have a rough stab at.

But there's two things here. Firstly: Youngs needs to grow up and get over himself quite quickly if he is not to join Danny Care on the list of 'could have been excellent but just couldn't curb himself' English scrum-halves, and secondly: when is anybody going to do anything about this irritating habit of taking/kicking/throwing the ball away when a whistle has been blown?

It happens week in and week out: the whistle is blown and the decision goes one way. The team awarded the possession goes for the ball, the player of the team not awarded the possession holds onto it for as long as possible or tosses it nonchalantly about ten metres down the park in the other direction. Result? Flashpoint. Even if nothing happens then, you can see the negative sentiment simmer. A clampdown on this is long overdue.
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It's officially the end of eras on both sides of the equator. Wales' current generation was once again exposed as being horribly past its peak on Saturday in Paris, while down south, the Bulls' aged warriors are just looking too slow to be effective this season.

But while that happens, others who have long been at the top are continuing to do so. The Crusaders continue to obliterate all-comers, while Leicester are through a brief blip and dominating in England once more.

The answer? Freshness. What you see with the Crusaders especially is that the team is always searching for something new in the mix. A new move here, a new playing structure there. Leicester went through a quick period of bringing in many new faces before settling on the current crop, and are long since removed from their stereotypical 'crash, bash, drive that maul' style that was their hallmark in the late nineties and early noughties.

Neither Warren Gatland nor Frans Ludeke has been able to bring that to their teams, not really in terms of playing staff but particularly not in playing style. Both sides look flat, impotent and completely devoid of anything that looks to offer the touch of the unexpected that will turn those tight games.

Coaches are fired with such knee-jerk speed these days, many prematurely. But given the above, it must be time, in both Cardiff and Pretoria, to wonder whether the cycle of the coaching staff may have come to an end just as much as the players.
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If Ben Youngs ever needed an example of why it would be a good idea now to change his ways, he could look no further than the Bulls' website, which was adorned with the following press release on Sunday:

“The Bulls have been informed that lock Bakkies Botha has been cited for an alleged act of foul play in Saturday's Super Rugby match against the Stormers.

Botha was cited for a tackle on Stormers scrum-half, Dewald Duvenage. He is due to appear in front of a Sanzar judicial committee chaired by advocate Jannie Lubbe.”

There are great players with flawed characters, and there are truly great players. It's Youngs' choice.

Loos Pass compiled by Richard Anderson