Loose Pass: ‘Pressure’ on the Bledisloe coaches, Steve Borthwick’s new ‘power’ and European rugby returns
Split with Scott Robertson, Joe Schmidt and Steve Borthwick.
This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with Australia’s horror half-hour and the restarts in France and England…
A most interesting coaches’ corner
It could simply be a reflection of the relative passion of the fan bases, but it seems remarkable that the majority of the memes doing the rounds through Loose Pass’ WhatsApp channels this week were of Scott Robertson rather than Joe Schmidt.
64-7 was the final score to Argentina in the final 50 minutes of rugby in Santa Fe on Saturday and while New Zealand fans will not need reminding what sort of blitzes Felipe Contepomi’s team is occasionally capable of, there were times when Australia looked as though they had not progressed from the low points at the World Cup. Bizarre kicking decisions, basic skill errors, soft penalties, slipped tackles, the whole gamut of coach killers was on show.
Timeline: How the wheels disastrously came off for Wallabies in their record defeat to Argentina
New Zealand were not a lot better in Cape Town, but at least they also disrupted the opposition enough to turn it into a dog of a game in which ultimately they came up short. Again. Cue a lot of memes of a grinning Ian Foster waving to Scott Robertson wearing some form of grimace. The one of Foster breakdancing in his retirement home was probably the best.
But these are trying times for both teams. Both coaches are now under more pressure than usual ahead of a brace of head to heads from which the winner can hope for little more than a runners-up spot in the Rugby Championship. Both teams are also playing for unsettled unions finding resources harder to come by than ever, while it’s hard to escape the notion that both countries are suffering from the lack of South African opposition in Super Rugby.
New Zealand will probably win. But it’ll need to be convincing to calm the murmurs of disquiet down. Meanwhile, a Bledisloe blank will pile further pressure onto rugby in Australia in general. While Argentina and South Africa scrap it out for the title (Los Pumas can still win the whole thing) it’ll be an unfamiliar situation down under. The two coaches will have a lot to talk about.
South Africa v New Zealand: Five takeaways as ‘thundering’ Springboks lift Freedom Cup
England’s man in the middle
Considering how much power has been placed in his hands by the new agreement between Premiership Rugby and the RFU, it was a surprise not to have had Steve Borthwick present at the announcement of the new Professional Game Partnership last Wednesday.
But among all the back-slaps, shaken hands and hearty guffaws of stuffy men thinking they’ve done a good job, several questions went unanswered.
Most pertinently, if there are 25 enhanced player contracts to be handed out, how come more of them have not yet been so? Performance Manager Conor O’Shea has been vehement that they will be awarded slowly and to the right people only after careful consideration, but the rumours that the RFU cannot afford them all will not go away.
Then there is the question of player management. According to the wording of the partnership, Borthwick has “the final say on all sports science and medical matters” pertaining to the chosen 25. A loose interpretation of that is that Borthwick can say when those players can play and when they can not, something that may have been swallowed by Premiership coaches now but is unlikely to end up being harmonious as a principle forever, not least when, in theory, England players are set to miss only two weekends of the Premiership season to international preparation.
The RFU is paying the Premiership clubs GBP 33m a year in the deal and will want to get their money’s worth. The clubs will, with a new season structure better suited to their schedules, also want their money’s worth. New agreement, same old likely argument – and Steve Borthwick has ended up right in the middle of it all. No wonder he was in hiding.
What does the new MPGP deal mean for Steve Borthwick’s control over England squad?
Plus ca change
But rugby is back in Europe, finally, belatedly. France’s Top 14 kicked off where it left off at the weekend, full of noise, colour and superb rugby.
Toulouse showed Vannes the difference between ProD2 and the elite. Clermont ran riot at home after a lean couple of years. Racing 92 still looked like a collection of well-heeled and aged individuals and were beaten by a proper team. Bordeaux are unstoppable when they get going. Home teams won, except for the team that played Toulouse and of course, Montpellier, who simply can’t buy a break at the moment (but wow have they tried).
New Season, same old order. But the same old fun too.
