Rugby Union

What a performance by Leinster in the Rugby Champions Cup this weekend sweeping aside London Wasps 32-17 in the Quarter-finals. Always sweet knocking off the top English team even more so in such a big game. Will be tough though in the semi-finals as we have to go to France to play Clermont Auvergne.

 

Don't fancy your chances in France!

 

Great player but still needs to improve his defence big time.

 

Your right it is going to be tough going in Lyon for sure and we certainly will be the underdogs against Clermont. But we are playing well and Clermont do have a long history of losing big games at the business end of things in European games so we have a shot but yes I agree no doubt Clermont are the favourites.

 

Only Hogg and Seymour called up to the Lions. Expected more but happy for Seymour.

 

Hogg is one of the best players in the world at the moment. Love watching him play.

 

Thought would have been a couple more too. Ah well.

 

11 Welshmen & only 2 Scotsmen. I wonder if Gatland noticed that Wales were horrendous in the recent 6 nations only winning twice and coming second bottom (only above Italy).

You'd think his main job was manager of Wales or something.

Roberts & Biggar - gie's a break. I even think George North has not been very good for over a year now. Feel very sorry for both Gray brothers & would have though Finn Russell would be worth a punt at least for the midweek team. Sean Maitland as well - had a great game against Ireland and was then injured but back to great form for Saracens.

Edit: Continue my rant...

12 Welshmen - several of whom underperformed during the 6N and they missed big Hamish. Gatland - what a *

 

Beauden Barrett is in scintillating form this year, Lions should be very afraid.

 

Best player in the world.

 

Aye but Dan Biggar is coming as well - back at ya!

Spoken to loads of rugby people over the last few days and they all expressed surprise at the lack of Scots (and abundance of Welsh).

 

Oh yes, that team selection is a disgrace. But I knew that Gatland would do this - man is a fool. Expect the Lions to lose 3-0 and maybe even lose a couple of club matches.

 

To be honest, I don't really have an awful lot of interest in watching the English, Welsh & Irish Lions - in the same way that I wouldn't go out of my way to watch those countries tour individually. Maybe I should switch to my second favourite international team...

Mon the ABs

 

Kieran Read out for six weeks after surgery on a fractured thumb. Could be a big blow to NZ...

 

A big match in the general context of Scottish rugby on today. Warriors vs Edinburgh at Scotstoun in the last match of the PRO12 for both teams & it doubles up as the second leg of the 1872 Cup (Glasgow lead 25-12 from the first leg).

KO @ 17.15 & it looks like it's on BBC2 Scotland - probably online as well.

 

29-18 to Edinburgh, Glasgow win on aggregate!

Very sad news about Tom Youngs' wife re her terminal illness.

 

Was a bit of a damp squib of a match - played in glorious sunshine in Glasgow, although with a bit of a wind that made for tricky conditions. They won on aggregate and by the skin of their teeth but they were the better team, just couldn't put their chances away. Ex player Duncan Weir kicked 19 points for Embra.

Tragic news about Toms wife & brother Ben has withdrawn from the Lions, Greg Laidlaw has replaced him.

 

Australian rugby currently languishing about 10 years behind New Zealand
Bret Harris
Under the likes of Rod Macqueen, Australian rugby was always one step ahead. Now, after another weekend of disappointment, it finds itself desperately adrift

Monday 8 May 2017 21.00 BST

It is unprecedented, unimaginable and unacceptable. New Zealand teams have won all 17 games against Australian opposition in Super Rugby so far this season, including the lowest-ranked Kiwi side, the Blues, beating the top-ranked Australian outfit, the Brumbies, on their home ground in Canberra.

With only eight trans-Tasman contests remaining it is conceivable that the Australian teams will go the entire regular season without winning a single game against a New Zealand side.

How on earth did Australian rugby sink to such depths? It certainly did not happen overnight, but has been coming for more than a decade.

Ironically, the decline of Australian rugby has its origins in the golden era between 1998 and 2004 when the Wallabies and the Brumbies were the dominant teams at Test and Super Rugby levels respectively.

Under innovative coaches Rod Macqueen and Eddie Jones both the national side and the best club team in the land perfected a patterned style of multi-phase rugby in which the field was divided into imaginary grids and players were programmed to perform tasks according to where they were positioned on the pitch.

This gave the Australian teams a tremendous tactical advantage because players knew exactly what to do wherever they were on the field. Eventually though, the opposition was able to work out what they were doing and it became predictable.

While Australian rugby largely remained lost in the fog of the late 1990s and early 2000s, New Zealanders took their game in a completely different direction. The Kiwis realised the most important moment in the game was when the ball changed hands. Their five Super Rugby teams all have their own distinct styles and dominate certain aspects of play, but there is a common denominator, which is their focus on attacking from turnover ball and counter-attack.

This key tactical shift by the New Zealanders was a response to Australia’s dominance in the Macqueen era. Macqueen recruited former rugby league international John Muggleton to coach the Wallabies’ defence and they were virtually impregnable, conceding only one try on the way to winning the 1999 World Cup.

The Wallabies’ rugby league-style defence worked wonderfully well in set-piece and structured play, but was not as effective in broken play. Unlike league, union is a contest for possession at every phase of the game, which means the ball changes hands regularly. New Zealanders began to attack more and more from turnover ball, while Australians struggled to transition from attack to defence.

Many Australians regarded this tactical approach as parasitic as the Kiwis did not create play, they just fed off mistakes. Funnily enough, those same parasites keep scoring tries and they keep winning games.

There is a view that lack of depth is Australia’s major problem, particularly after the expansion to five Super Rugby teams, but it is not. A lot of good players are overseas, but there is still sufficient talent. It is the way they are coached that is the main issue.

I once asked a Super Rugby coach why he did not coach his players to do some of the things that New Zealanders do so well, like counter-attack. “You try telling them!” was the frustrated answer.

Maybe Australia needs to review the pathway for coaches. Potential Super Rugby coaches should have experience as head coaches at club level; that is how to learn man management, which is 50% of coaching.

The associated field of high performance management also needs to be boosted. In New Zealand high performance is centralised and the upskilling and conditioning of players is given top priority. Sadly, in Australia high performance has too often been a political football and an area of neglect.

Under Macqueen Australian rugby was always one step ahead, but now it is two steps behind.

Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham, a key Wallabies playmaker in the Macqueen era, recently acknowledged they had to start attacking more from turnover ball, but that insight may have come 10 years too late.

Rugby is constantly evolving. Instead of playing catch-up, Australia needs to figure out where the game is heading next and try to steam the march once again.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...languishing-about-10-years-behind-new-zealand

 

Australian rugby is a mess, mate.

 

Yep, the format of the tournament is basically the only thing responsible for them having a team go through to the playoffs at all. Brumbies are technically fourth on the overall ladder with 18 points, ahead of the Chiefs on 42, Hurricanes on 38, Highlanders on 32, Sharks on 32, Blues on 26, Jaguares on 24, etc. Bit of a joke really.

Reaching the WC final papered over some seriously crumbling foundations.