Rugbology - April 18
Read it, comment but most of all ....... pass it on !
Apologies for the gap in transmission - had annual boys April tour of the lower South Island. Arrowtown base, sunny days, wineries - best toasted sammies: Lumsden, best blue cod n chips: Bluff - Blackcaps dropped in for a game in Qtown, and a few days in Wanaka, which would have to be the safest town in NZ!
Quick taps ...... Chiefs still undefeated | Razors team needs to be announced | Anyone seen Will Jordan? | AB loose forward trio still up for grabs | Eddie Jones still fishing for talent in the NRL | Afternoon footie always a winner | RWC U20, time for 16 or even 20 teams.
The French ….. sneaky or smart ?
I reckon that sometime after the Frogs lost yet another RWC final in 2011, the top dogs at the French Rugby Union got together and set out a long term plan to finally win a Bill. They put together a 3 pronged strategy:
Build a world class senior team by focusing on and winning a number of under 20 World Cups. This they did in 2018 and again in 2019 (no comps held since): unearthing and bringing through a squad of world class players to international level.
Reducing the reliance on overseas international players in their club competition and increasing the cohesion of the clubs towards success of the national side.
Winning the hosting rights to the RWC.
The first 2 prongs were smart and the Frogs have become a dominant side at international level, full of world class players who generally came through the U20 system and have played a lot together. The clubs have played their part and French rugby has never looked so settled, singular of purpose and disciplined (especially on the paddock which historically for the garlic munchers ain’t easy).
The sneaky bit was winning the hosting rights to the 2023 RWC. World Rugby’s own stated rule was that any nation with a qualifying bid who hadn’t hosted an RWC previously would win the hosting rights. So once the bid process had been completed, Ireland was assumed to be in pole position, since France had hosted in 2007.
Irish excitement and expectation was snuffed out with World Rugby soon announcing that the 2023 RWC would be hosted by… France! Clearly a decent amount of FIFA-like horse trading and champagne throat tipping must’ve transpired, and there were plenty of raised eyebrows around the rugby world. I was certainly pissed off as the Irish deserved a go and a 6 week tour around the Emerald Isles pubs and grounds would’ve been outstanding. Bugger!
So the Frogs with a long term combo of smarts and sneak have their wish - mine is that somebody beats them in the final in front of their own fans…maybe the Irish!
Super Rugby
The Chiefs with a strong 2nd half effort dumped the Canes back in their box in front of a good crowd and sunny day at the cake tin. The Canes had the better of the first 40 with their key players (Roigard & Aumua especially) stepping up whilst the Chiefs, apart from one superb try, were a bit tentative and coughed up too many penalties.
2nd 40 was a different story as the Chiefs upped their physicality, increased their accuracy and cranked up the pressure. The Canes cracked and the Chiefs ran away with the second half 25-0 and therefore the game comfortably.
The Chiefs played more as a team than the Canes with Taukei’aho, Brodie, TV, Pita-Gus, DMac and Stevenson all dominating. DMac’s 50 metre penalty was very timely esp for a wee fella ! Young 9 Cortez Ratima looks very sharp too. For the Canes, very disappointing result at home as they are a dangerous side but as they dissect the 2nd half, they may find that too many of their rockstars played like it.
No other NZ sides in action last weekend and as much as I tried to watch the Aussie sides I failed to fire although nice to see the Pasifika side get their first home game in Apia.
NZRU
Still nothing concrete on Razors helpers, but looking very much like MacDonald, Holland and Ryan. If true, the Super Rugby backfilling will be fascinating as to who comes out of the woodwork. Also, I’d hope the NZRU has a robust chat with Razor about his picks seeing as they had to get Fuzzy to sack 2 of his handpicked elves after 5 minutes!
Finally, good to see the NZRU winning the signatures of a number of key All Blacks and even though they can’t afford to hang onto everyone, they’ve done pretty well thus far. One worry is Will Jordan: no sign of him or signature so far……. ? Another is at lock - after Brodie & Sam wander off after the RWC, apart from Scooter Barrett, does the cupboard have a big rookie lock?
I think the Irish will break their RWC hoodoo and go all the way to taking The Old Bill. Their series win in NZ shows this is an Irish team we've not seen before. But beware, the All Blacks who will be flying under the radar and not fancied as contenders (for the 1st time at a RWC?). What do you think Rod?