Rugbology August 30 2023.
Quick taps ......... Eddie still winless : England brainless : Bit of noise about the NPC being broken but no one offers where or why: 7 forwards on a bench, is that right?
RWC - warming up ……..
A final weekend of tune up games that produced delight for some and concern for others. On the delight side clearly the Boks and the Frogs who both firmed real title credentials whilst Ireland struggled, NZ had a mare, Fiji surprised and the Poms are a cot case.
I don’t really know how to assess the All Blacks collapse against a fired-up Boks juggernaut other than to say I’m glad it happened prior to the tourney. Sure they had card trouble and defended doggedly in the first half but the tone had already been set and the Boks went on to gorge themselves.
They were under the pump from the get-go, swamped by a green wave and once they lost Scooter to his red and Lomax to a nasty cut (how on earth did that actually happen?) the writing wasn’t just on the wall it was spraypainted on the whole building. There was panic, indecision, wrong options and every error in the book but worryingly, absolutely no signs of any tactical shift or fight even though its hard with 14. And it wasn’t just the Boks forwards that dominated as their backs were sharp on the run, crisp of pass and found plenty of space. All up a real Barry Crocker from the ABs with the one shining light being Roigards brilliant solo effort late in the game.
Foster looked & sounded quite unconcerned post game but I’d rather have heard from Jase the Hobbit as I’m sure his summation would’ve been worth a listen !
Whilst the ABs situation isn’t terminal the Poms are a complete mess. Taking nothing away from Fijis effort and a fully deserved win, Borthwicks boys are on a downward spiral and am not sure they’ve reached the bottom. They have the weakest pool in the RWC which is potentially their saviour but both Japan and Samoa will be licking their lips for sure. And speaking of Samoa, they certainly rattled the Paddys cage with a very strong effort but like the Aussies, they were restricted by their test match inexperience and lack of time together.
The Frogs got by Eddies lads due to their collective cohesion which produced a decent amount of excellent and clever rugby but (and I watched the game live) the Wallys got stuck in, kept at it, scored a couple great tries, missed other opportunities due to inexperience and lacked a goalkicker (Eddie your no10 looks like he’d be more comfortable on a surfboard son!) . The Frogs purred at times like a Rolls Royce with precision, pace and slight of hand, other times they were ordinary and surprisingly, the Wallys smashed the French scrum a number of times in the second spell - Sacre Bleu !!!
So now we roll on to the big dance where for me the French and Boks start favourites with the Irish and ABs one back on the rails. It’s just such a stuff up that they’re all going to meet in the quarters and they will be huge battles as long as the Irish don’t get stage fright and Fuzzy manages to reignite the ABs. Plus a shout out to the poor Scots who currently sit 5th in the world rankings after a strong year so far but are drawn in a pool with South Africa and Ireland and no one would blame them for looking bitterly at pools C & D both of which are all teams ranked below them !!
So, thank you World rugby for failing your own premier tournament - and you were warned but like our current labour govt, expert warnings go unheeded and the predicted consequences result - ego-idiots.
As for the ABs, a week in Germany giving back to Adidas and licking their wounds. My problem still is that we lack power on the loose forwards, still can’t believe the selectors took an extra wing instead of a big loosie but we will now miss Lomax in the opening game as our scrum early on with him was rock solid. But nothing changes campaign wise as the target game is that quarterfinal against Ireland or a Boks rematch. Assuming we get Lomax, Brodie and Frizell back to strengthen the pack, and the backs rediscover their form we’ve got a shot. I’m not saying we can’t win that opening game, but we will be down on firepower and given Fuzzys uncanny ability to coach the ABs to “firsts”, a first pool game loss at a RWC is on the cards to be added to this pile.
NPC
Didn’t watch a lot of it but did enjoy Wellingtons win over Canterbury who remain the only unbeaten side, Manawatu scored a last gasp try to grab their first win in 2 seasons, BOP tipped up the Naki stopping their unbeaten run in its tracks, Tasman did enough in overtime, Auckland turned on their jets, (for once including a great try by Roger TS) against the Magpies and the Penguin-rooters still prop up the table.
That’ll do, remember to pass it on to any potential Rugbologists ….. and get some sleep - only 9 sleeps to go !!