Bob Dwyer Rugby Workshops

Saturday,21^st November, 2009.

England v New Zealand. Twickenham.

Score. 6-19.

The England team have been copping a fair bit of stick lately. To be fair, they have had more than their fair share of injuries to first, and in some cases to second, choice as players. On the other hand, they do have many more players to choose from than any other national team, so their supporters and media have not handed them any slack. “We expect you to play quality rugby,” has been the common call. “Or else!”, has been the implied threat.

One of the English commentary team even warned, “This is do or die for England, today.” A bit tough, I thought, given the current disparity between the teams’ rankings.

Well, England did apply themselves. They did put pressure on New Zealand. They did force plenty of errors and loose ball from their much vaunted opponents – for about 55 minutes! From then on, the All Blacks eased ahead and finished well on top at 6 points to 19. I had the impression that, had the game gone much longer, New Zealand were well poised to pile on the points.

Simon Shaw added hugely to the England pack, which is amazing given his 36 years.  Whilst he was there, the England lineout held its own and he made good yards and inflicted pain in the tackle contests. It’s marvelous what a difference big, strong, willing locks can make to a team performance – note Brad Thorne, Bakkies Botha, Romain Millo-Chluski, to name a few. When he departed all this dropped a couple of levels.

England never gave up however, and a long break from Tom Croft promised opportunity, but after the tackle from Carter, Bell, not the most dynamic of players, went short side and Carter and Hore laid all over the tackle to close off the play.

In summary, England simply do not have any attack capable of threatening a quality side. Wilkinson, one of their best contributors overall, plays way too deep and leaves his outside men with far too much to do. They made too many fumbles, more than a few unforced, attacking in the New Zealand red zone. Their scrum, as expected, creaked at vital times and denied them opportunities which had been hard won.

The All Black backrow of Thomson, Read and deserved man-of-the-match, Richie McCaw were excellent. Ma’a Nonu continues to show his much improved understanding of midfield play and Mils Muliaina profited from the space that this gave him.

Next week’s match, France v New Zealand promises much.

P.S. I expect that Paddy O’Brien has already been to the All Blacks’ team hotel for a “scheduled meeting”, to apologise for the lack of a yellow card, from referee Kaplan to England prop Tim Paine, for his two clear punches!

Scotland v Australia. Murrayfield.

Score. 9-8.

During the week, when commenting on the Wallabies kicking game against Ireland, I said that I wasn’t sure if we kicked so much because our attack was so woeful, or vice-versa. I now think that it’s the former. Our attack is woeful!

Quality attack requires correct technique in: catch & pass, accuracy of pass, alignment and realignment, line of run, line of support – from inside to out and from outside to in, and communication. We have no quality in any of these.

Poor Will Genia is constantly looking for his first receiver and now has become yet another “stand up to pass” Wallaby scrumhalf and was caught in possession a number of times. It’s not his fault! Nick Farr-Jones never had to look for Michael Lynagh; he could always hear where he was.

Outside support players consistently over-ran the ball carrier and there was virtually no support from inside to out. This simply cannot happen with good support lines. For the first time in memory, Matt Giteau got a second touch looping in support of AAC, and it brought our best attacking opportunity of the first half. Where was the support, however, when Stephen Moore was held up over the line. A ‘hammer’ or two attached would almost certainly have brought the try. No doubt they were all repositioning for the next phase – God give me strength!

A few years back, John Mitchell and I were chatting about the game. “What do you think about the ‘miss pass’”, he asked. “I would definitely ban it”, I replied. “It’s an excuse for lack of catch & pass skills, and it has reached epidemic proportions.”

It’s a pity that Quade Cooper hadn’t been listening. Australia would almost certainly have scored in the second half with a simple through the hands play. His ill-conceived long, cut-out pass to Drew Mitchell was ruled forward, correctly, by the referee.

This wasn’t the only time that the mental laziness of this scourge of attacking play was in evidence. Virtually every time that Ryan Cross received the ball, it was via a miss pass, always delivered by a cross-field runner, and with three defenders accompanying it.

We had enough ball to win two games, but possession is not much good, if you don’t know what to do with it!

Scotland worked hard, made a lot of tackles and kicked their goals.

Australia would have won in extra time if Matt Giteau’s kicking been up to its usual high standard, but this may well have disguised our massive short-comings.

Italy v South Africa.

Score. 10-32.

This tour has obviously been one too many for the Springboks. After a tough Lions series, the Super 14, the Tri-Nations, and the Currie Cup, the players look like full-time next week, after the Ireland match, can’t come soon enough.

This is a great pity. They established themselves during the season as the clear no.1 team in world rankings and now are but a shadow of that side.

Their performance against Italy will not fill Ireland with dread. Their scrum continued to struggle, this time against even the substitute Italian front row. Their kicking had nowhere near the same pinpoint accuracy, with the committed chase that we have come to expect. The pile-driving charges both with the ball and at the clean-out were much milder. The chilling focus directed at achieving submission from even the bravest opponent is not a part of this touring team’s game. I’m disappointed for them. They have achieved much, but they badly need a rest.

On the plus side, they have earned their first win of the tour – one from four now! You could have got decent odds on that just a few weeks back.

Habana still looked good, as did Fourie du Preez and Heinrich Brussow. Kankowski showed the pace with the ball that is expected of him and Jaques Fourie had his moments.

Italy are developing a fine forward pack. They were very good in the scrum, destroying the Springbok scrum on one occassion; the lineout was good on their own ball and challenged well on the opposition throw, at least until Matfield entered the fray. They were unconventional and annoying at the tackle contest and made some holes in the Springbok defensive line. In their captain, No.8 Parisse, they have a genuine world class player.

The backline is not nearly so convincing. Craig Gower is not playing as well as he did on tour earlier this year, and that remains very important to them. Gower did well though to open up a gap for the second switch runner, for Garcia to score under the posts. Despite this they generally lack real pace, a necessary commodity for consistent success.

Let’s hope that the Springboks can rediscover their appetite for the contest before next weekend’s match against Ireland, because, on this form, they will be no match for the Grand Slam champions. That would be a pity. The Six Nations Champions against the Tri Nations Champions should promise much.

France continue their impressive form, on this occasion with many changes from the team which were far too strong for the Springboks last week. Samoa, however, were less than impressive.

Wales got away from Argentina on the back of two soft tries to Shane Williams and got a well deserved win. Argentina looked good in patches, but do not have the depth to cover for the absence of a few real stars. Fernandez Lobbe was again outstanding.

Ireland had much the better of the second half, and continued on where they left off against Australia last weekend. Johnny Sexton seems ultimately destined for a long spell in the Ireland #10 jersey, before he’s too much older. Fiji, on the other hand, don’t seem to know whether they should play like traditional Fiji, or traditional Munster.