Loose Pass: Two incidents that ‘defied belief’, ‘tantrum-prone’ Argentines while Steve Borthwick is fooling nobody
Argentina's Tomas Albornoz and an inset of England boss Steve Borthwick
This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with Argentina’s rough week, Steve Borthwick’s deflection, an outbreak of disciplinary misses and a literature discovery…
Argentinean boilovers are becoming a little tiresome
Passion, very occasional eruptions and heart-on-sleeve expressionism was rarely far away from Felipe Contepomi as a player, so perhaps it is fitting that his Argentina team is, by and large, playing in the same manner. Certainly never a dull moment. Yet the weekend past did leave you wondering if perhaps the Pumas had not drunk a little of their soccer team’s Kool-Aid.
The tight-lipped exit by Contepomi was not his first from a post-match, not even in the past twelve months, nor was the ‘lack of respect’ accusation which is another that has been trotted out a little too regularly for it to remain credible for long. England are often the target of the ire, but it has been by no means restricted to them.
If we’re going to look at lack of respect, we also need to look at the abuse and beer cups being directed at Angus Gardner as he exited the field on Saturday, never mind the players giving him a shove that was more than insignificant as he gave his verdict on that final play.
The fact is, Argentina don’t currently look like a team on a good trajectory ahead of this year’s truncated July-August schedule, which consists of the two home Tests against Australia rather than the usual Rugby Championship duties. They can bemoan the last-gasp non-try decision all they want, but sinking to a 19-3 deficit – deficits in games have become just as much of a trait as the stirring comebacks – was far more to blame for the defeat. The passion the Pumas bring is always welcome, but it is currently channelled far too externally, rather than some proper introspection.
It’s a little difficult to preach respect, too, when the chosen kit reflects one of sport’s most controversial victories over the opposition – a different sport – from some 40 years ago, not to mention the unseemly pot-stirring about past military conflicts between the two countries from small sections of fans. Put together many of those aspects and the picture is of a team and management that has become a little too tantrum-prone when things do not go their way.
Nobody fooled by Borthwick’s deflections
“I don’t think now is the time to be digging into that,” replied Steve Borthwick rather testily when asked about his team’s four yellow cards in Saturday’s Tests. He also labelled the travelling press crew the ‘negativity committee’ for not focusing enough on the tries scored and the positives.
And well, you know, it’s not easy to travel as much as the English team has, especially at the back end of a torturously long season and go and pull out a win in that atmosphere. Hats off, for sure.
But nor is it beyond the realms of expectation to consider that observers of England rugby, who have been harbouring understandable concerns about the team’s trajectory for some time, might have some awkward questions for the coaches of a team which was cruising at 19-3 ahead and then saw four players yellow-carded as well as almost seeing the game snatched from them by a distinctly average Pumas team.
England did score some good tries but the game was just as low on quality as it was high on tension. Borthwick’s desire for nothing but starry-eyed positivity was far at odds with what unfolded on the pitch and it should fool nobody: England still have numerous questions to answer, the only one well-answered on Saturday was the one about being able to hang on under pressure.
When is an assault high-end then?
Two incidents from the weekend’s action defied belief for the way they were handled, during, but particularly after the game.
How Luke Jacobsen has not been cited even is a mystery, never mind the red card his human missile act warranted. The ruling that James Ryan ‘jammed his arm’ as mitigation just makes no sense at all: Jacobsen’s arm was never in a position, nor showing the movement that suggested he was going to wrap his target.
And then the head-butt by England U20’s Seb Kelly was, at the disciplinary hearing, deemed to be mid-range, which invites some justifiable questions about what top-range would need to be, not least because Kelly staggeringly tried to argue he was in a clearing-out motion.
Mitigation usually is allowed for moments of contrition by an offender; Kelly’s pleas were anything but contrite for an action hitherto only performed once that Loose Pass can remember: Bakkies Botha’s nut of Jimmy Cowan more than a decade ago. One can only assume that for a head-butt to actually be top end, you need to have some sort of Begbie-style crunch.
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
Plenty of offences that are accidents receive yellow cards these days, and we wish it would stop. But when we get such clear-cut red card incidents such as Jacobsen’s, we really wish those would be called right as well.
A must-read for coaches
Loose Pass spent a week in South Africa this week, and had eyes turned by a new book in local bookshops called ‘Attack, Attack, Attack’ by the father and son duo of Alan Zondagh and AB Zondagh.
A virtual library of attacking moves and philosophy, well-illustrated and with illuminating depth of explanation for all the concepts, it ought to be a must-have for all aspiring coaches around the world who are seeking a little pep in the attacking play of their teams.
