Wednesday 30 September 2015

THE GREAT GAME

On Saturday night we saw a perfect example of rugby at its finest.

I’m going to put my neck on the line and say Wales were terrible. They were toothless in attack, with their main weapon being a sound retreat 10 metres behind the gain line each phase, their kicking game was errant and they were bested up front by the English pack. They had no right whatsoever to win that game, they were second best in pretty much every area.

Yet they did, courtesy of two people.

Dan Biggar should be awarded the freedom of Wales for that flawless kicking display because it was, without a shadow of a doubt, what kept Wales within touching distance of England. If the Ospreys fly-half had had a bad night with the boot then England probably would have been out of sight and won handily. As it was, Biggar kept popping the pill between the posts and always gave Wales a fighting chance of stealing something at the death.

The other is Chris Robshaw.

This will probably be debated until the end of the World Cup (and rightly so), but my opinion, for what it’s worth, is that Robshaw bottled the decision and it cost England very badly. England already had the bonus point secured against Fiji so they were one step ahead of Wales – they did not need to go for the four points. And whenever you consider that Robshaw had the also flawless Owen Farrell to call upon to kick for goal, it makes the decision even more bizarre.

In the big games, you take your points. The sense of bravado that whispers in your ear will only make you foolish and greedy, and with 80,000 England fans roaring him on, Robshaw stupidly gave in. He ignored the pleads of Farrell who was confident he could make the kick and he ignored the fact that if Farrell did score then England had a minute or two to get back up the pitch and manufacture a drop goal or force another penalty.

And most importantly of all, he ignored the fact that a draw would level out the two sides on points, while the loss puts them three behind Wales.

This is the side of the rugby you don’t see. Most times when a team goes to the corner instead of taking a kick at the posts, they will pull it off and rumble a maul over the line. But England’s cataclysmic error will serve as a stark reminder that it is by no means a given. It’s not called a “risk and reward” strategy for nothing.

But let’s be fair, Wales’ defence was exemplary. Every single defender hit the maul as if their lives depended on it and with one collective push they managed to force the English pack sideways and off the field, wrapping up the victory. For a side who were poor for most of the game, that moment alone was worthy of the victory.

I don’t blame Robshaw for trying it. The odds were in his favour – England had dominated the physical exchanges all night and with the crowd swelling behind them even I would have put money on the chariot rolling its way over the line to a raucous cry from the crowd. Had it come off Robshaw would have been hailed a hero and have taken all the plaudits after the game for having the mental strength to kick for the corner.

That, however, does not mean it was the right decision.

Still, it’s a learning curve for Robshaw, right? Wrong.

Anybody remember England’s ill-fated Autumn Series back in 2012? Game one, Twickenham: England, trailing Australia by 6 points, were piling on the pressure as they reached the last ten minutes of the game and drawing repeated penalties from the Wallabies. On that occasion, Robshaw elected every time to go to touch, turning down kickable penalty after kickable penalty in favour of going for the try. Eventually their efforts were fruitless, and they lost 20-14.

Fast forward to a week later – same venue, England vs. South Africa. England were trailing by 4 and had a very kickable penalty with two minutes to go, and it was Mr. Robshaw who was to make the call on what to do. This time he decided to go for goal, much to the dismay of the crowd, England lost the restart, and ultimately the game, 16-15. He was rightly criticised after those matches.

You would imagine those decisions were right at the forefront of Robshaw’s thinking when England were awarded the penalty on Friday night, and that’s probably what ultimately resulted in his downfall. Back in 2012 he was torn apart by the media for making the incorrect calls. This time he’s been torn apart for exactly the same thing.

All three times he’s made the wrong decision.

It does call into question his role as captain. True, the Wallabies and Springbok defeats did not matter in the long run as they were just Autumn Internationals, but this one does and it looks likely that it may result in them becoming the first ever hosts of a Rugby World Cup to go out at the pool stages (provided the excellent Australia do indeed win this weekend). An international captain has to keep a clear head and be able to make the correct decisions under pressure.

He has not.


But chin up Chris. You’re not out yet.

Tuesday 22 September 2015

BRAVE BLOSSOMS


The Rugby World Cup is celebrated under the motto “The World in Union”.

This week, the world is indeed in union. In their celebration of the incredible performance put in by Eddie Jones’ Japan.

Do not try and downplay what the Japanese have achieved for even a moment because it is quite simply one of the biggest shocks there has ever been in the world of sport. Imagine Accrington Stanley defeating Real Madrid. Imagine Zebre beating Toulon. Remember the unknown Ben Curtis winning the Open Championship in 2003. Those are the kind of shocks that this result is on a par with.

And to make it even more incredible, the Japanese turned down a shot at goal that would have given them a very honourable draw. It would have gained them respect across the globe, it would have humiliated the Springboks and it most definitely would have been seen as a shock result. The world sat poised on the edge of their seats for the inevitable penalty that would result in honours even.

Instead, Michael Leitch chose history.

Put yourself in the Japanese captain’s place. Would you have chosen to scrum that last penalty instead of kick for goal? I doubt it. But Leitch had the guts to say let’s go for it. We’re a man up, we have the crowd screaming for us and we have the momentum. A draw isn’t enough. We want the win. One move is all that’s needed.

And they got it.

Cue rugby clichés galore from media outlets – giant-killing, David beats Goliath, the minnows triumph. You name it, it was probably published somewhere. That said, the clichés are fully justified – ten places separated the two sides in the World Rankings before the game yet on the day they looked like two sides who were evenly matched.

Put that down to the never say die attitude of the Japanese and the shortcomings of the Springboks. Every time the Springboks took the lead Japan were right back at them hanging onto their coat-tails and bringing themselves back into contention. Not once in the game did it look like the southern hemisphere side were going to get away from their opponents. Many other sides would have given up at several points in the game. But not Japan.

Meanwhile the Springboks were found wanting in several areas, none more so than in their predictable tactics. It is quite telling that, although they scored four tries, not one of them was courtesy of an intelligent break or a clever bit of play, it was simply route one rugby up the middle. Lood de Jager and Adriaan Strauss scored nearly identical tries where they simply flattened all before them – a tactic that will not work in the later stages of the tournament when the Springboks are met with stronger defences.

And it pains me to say this but Jean de Villiers was off colour.

The man has been a remarkable servant for the Springboks over the years, but his inclusion in the team was questioned before the game and is now being questioned even more afterwards. Damian de Allende, who was superb during the Rugby Championship, sat on the bench while de Villiers struggled on the field, further bemusing South Africa fans across the world. Yes, de Villiers brings leadership to that team, but whenever you have your most experienced side ever on the pitch do you really need that leadership over the talent on the sidelines?

Whatever Heyneke Meyer’s logic, he got it wrong and he is paying the price for it. A strong backlash has arrived on the English shores from South Africa (with the harshest criticism coming from their Minister of Sport of all people!) and now they must respond. I feel that the “South Africa are no longer feared” line is a little over the top and I am still convinced they will win their pool, however they will need three big performances to convince the rugby world that they are serious contenders.

As for Japan, I’m inclined to say they’ve spent all of their energy on taking down the heavyweights and probably will struggle for the rest of the competition – I really hope that isn’t the case but it tends to be the case with most of the smaller nations. What we can say with confidence is that their victory on Saturday will go down in rugby history regardless of what they do for the rest of the tournament.

And they have every right to enjoy it.

Wednesday 16 September 2015

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

There is a stark contrast between the mood in Ulster last week and this week.

Last week we were sitting pretty after one round of Pro12 action – five points bagged and second place in the table looked very nice, while the performance against the Ospreys was good enough to take some accolades too. Neil Doak would have undoubtedly been delighted every time he stepped onto the training field this week and you wouldn’t have blamed him if he had a spring in his step and a glint in his eye.

Then we went to Wales.

Let’s not try and kid ourselves – Ulster were poor. The fact that we were unable to defeat a team who were down to 14 men for half an hour of that game is a horrendous one to analyse in the cold light of day and shows how we struggled to really make any sort of an impact on the game. The Scarlets did have a decent game, let’s not deny them that, but at the same time we didn’t exactly make life too difficult for them either.

Now let’s not get ahead of ourselves either. After all we are only two games into the season and given our opening two fixtures I’m sure most fans would happily have taken five points from them before the season began, so it’s not exactly time to panic just yet. Besides, the Parc y Scarlets has become one of the more difficult away venues to win at too – any win would have been an impressive performance.

So how about we just take a step back and remain calm. There are still 20 games left in the season to change things around and a lot of rugby to be played and a lot of players to return to the province before the year is out. Stuart McCloskey is still dominant in the centre, the driving maul looks destructive and we have Treviso up next so not everything is going against us.

Even contrast our start to our likely play-off rivals. Scarlets and Munster lead the way having both taken victories from their opening two games, Leinster and Glasgow sit alongside us on five points from their two games, while the Ospreys have been stunned in two damaging defeats and sit a lowly eleventh with just a solitary point to their name and no tries to speak of. By comparison, we haven’t done too badly.

Instead we can now turn our focus to the long-awaited start to the 2015 Rugby World Cup!

Time seems to have gone in slow motion since the warm-ups started but now we’re finally into the meat of things and Friday night heralds the beginning of rugby union’s showpiece at Twickenham between England and Fiji, and for the next month and a half people who have never even heard of rugby suddenly become the biggest fans in the world.

The All Blacks are, of course, the favourites for the Webb Ellis Trophy as per usual, however their usual ability to mess it up on the biggest stage will always factor in and could allow either the Springboks or the Wallabies in behind them. Still, they do have the ability to win the World Cup (as displayed in 1987 and last time out in 2011) and it will take a monumental display from another side to take them down.

Of the Northern Hemisphere sides Ireland look best placed to mount a challenge to the All Blacks, however on home soil you’d back England to have a strong run at the trophy too. Wales’ hopes probably died with the losses of Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb, and France, although strong when it counts, are still far too inconsistent to be any sort of a threat to the sides from Down Under.

Ireland need a big start against Canada to get the momentum back in their favour. Back-to-back defeats to Wales and England, while not overly detrimental, were not ideal and Joe Schmidt will be eager to get his side back in a winning mindset ahead of the big games against Italy and France. If they can get on a roll by the time they take on Phillippe Saint-Andre’s men in the final pool match then it will take an impressive performance to stop them.

So prepare yourselves to watch the best in rugby battle it out to be the top dogs in the world! Will the All Blacks batter their opponents black and blue? Will the Springboks sprint past their rivals? Will the Wallabies find a scrum good enough to overcome the odds? Or can a northern hemisphere side shock the rugby community and keep the Webb Ellis this side of the equator?

Get ready to find out!

Elsewhere
- I feel so sorry for poor Connacht – it’s not often you score four tries in a match and still end up on the wrong side of the scoreline. Still, it’s their own fault for giving Glasgow a 24-point head start because whenever you do that you are asking for trouble. Glasgow, meanwhile, are looking rather frail.

- The juggernauts at Toulouse have finally been taken down by lowly Pau. Despite not being overly impressive in their performances, Toulouse were unbeaten in three Top14 games before ex-Munsterman James Coughlan led Pau to a gritty 9-6 win, a result that many in France were predicting was only a matter of time. Toulouse are in Ulster’s Champions’ Cup pool.

- With the announcement that Richie McCaw will be delaying his decision on retirement until after the World Cup, there’s no doubt Mourad Boudjellal will be getting his chequebook out and licking his lips. There’s every chance McCaw would be lured to a short stint in Europe to finish his career, and a big money move to Toulon would be ideal. He’d have to be a dope to go anywhere else…

Tuesday 8 September 2015

MAJESTIC McCLOSKEY


Neil Doak probably woke up on Saturday morning and pinched himself.

We all knew that this Ulster team had the potential to turn on a great performance, but to put four tries past a fellow play-off hopeful is an incredibly impressive way to kick off the new season. Ulster showed a fantastic resilience in defence that ensured they won most of the first up collisions and then had the ability in their star studded back line to reward that defence with a scintillating attacking display.

And it was that kind of play that lifted the crowd as well. As Ulster gained the upper hand in the game the crowd also lifted with them – the Kingspan faithful roared with every big hit from an Ulster defender, every big carry from the excellent Nick Williams and, with the backing of said crowd, the bonus point came with just a couple of minutes left on the clock.

While Ulster’s performance was one of an exemplary team kind, it is impossible to overlook the impact of Stuart McCloskey.

Ulster are blessed with an embarrassment of riches in the centre of the park. Darren Cave and Jared Payne are currently preparing for the World Cup with Ireland. Stuart Olding is still in rehab and won’t return from his unfortunate ankle injury until January. And back at home McCloskey and Luke Marshall formed the centre partnership that sunk the Ospreys, while young Sam Arnold came on from the bench.

Any other team would be delighted to have that kind of talent at their disposal. Ulster don’t quite know where to fit everybody in – there is still no centre partnership that Ulster fans agree upon as the “best” partnership. For some centres this would be enough to send them elsewhere looking for game time (as Chris Farrell and Michael Allen have done), but McCloskey has stuck it out and on Friday night put in possibly his best performance in a white shirt.

Forget about that try for a moment because, as good as it was, it was simply the cherry on top of his man of the match cake.

Known for his physical presence on a rugby pitch, it’s not just that which McCloskey showcased on Friday night. His subtle running lines led him through gaps in the Ospreys defence, his own defence is bone-shatteringly solid and, on top of all of that, he can goal kick too (well, to a certain extent)! We have seen the Bangor man dominate teams with his ball carrying in the past, but against the Ospreys we saw him dominate in all facets of the game.

And the try was quite simply beautiful. It looked like nothing was on down the right hand side, but a hand off on Jonathan Spratt created the space, the centre’s pace took him away from Kristian Phillips and then his sheer brute force was enough to allow him to power his way through two Ospreys men on the line. It was all at once one of the most bizarre and yet one of the most fantastic tries ever scored at the Kingspan Stadium.

It’s that kind of form that saw him listed as one of the potential outsiders for Joe Schmidt’s World Cup squad. For a player who has been on the scene now for just under two years, the fact that defenders haven’t found a way to quell his ball carrying ability proves he is quite simply one of the Pro12’s most destructive ball carriers. He should be delighted with how he played on Friday night, and he will undoubtedly be desperate to continue that form – Schmidt will still be watching.

As for Ulster, they head to Llanelli this Saturday to take on the Scarlets who saw off Glasgow last weekend. Expect a relatively unchanged team from Neil Doak because, as the saying goes, “why fix what ain’t broke?” His coaching was spot on against the Ospreys and, with a whole lot of momentum behind them, and the power of McCloskey and Williams, there’s no reason why you won’t be reading the blog next week and we’ll be two-from-two.

So take a bow Stuart McCloskey. And shake in fear centres everywhere.

Tuesday 1 September 2015

SCHMIDT'S SELECT VS. THE WORLD


At the World Cup this month, Ireland are going to be represented by 31 men looking to finally end Ireland’s Webb Ellis drought.

And yet, as is no surprise on the island of Ireland, there has been no shortage of controversy caused by Joe Schmidt’s squad announcement. With provincial bias reigning supreme above all else, you have Munstermen bemoaning the exclusion of Felix Jones, Ulstermen wailing at the absence of Andrew Trimble, and Leinstermen – well, they’re probably crying out for a few of their players back to help their own cause.

So where to start?

The backs seem like a reasonable place to start where Andrew Trimble – a well-known favourite of Joe Schmidt – has been omitted, presumably for injury reasons. It’s a big blow for the Ballymena man, his return from injury was perfectly timed to get back for the warm-up match against Wales and from there you would have expected him to push on and make that final 31. However, injury in that match at the Millennium Stadium is more than likely what put an end to his chances. It’s a harsh call on the winger.

The decision to have Ian Madigan as a back-up scrum-half is a little questionable too. Of course, the belief is that Madigan won’t actually have to play there and that Conor Murray and Eoin Reddan will stay fit for the duration of the tournament, however if the need arises for Madigan to step in at the base of the scrum, then we’ll really see how this decision will play out. At least he has very limited experience at scrum-half, so it isn’t as risky a decision as the Welsh taking just two hookers.

Up front Tadhg Furlong has emerged from injury limbo to take a place in the squad, which is a little bit surprising. It also means Ireland have three tightheads in the squad but just two looseheads (which we’ll get to in a minute), while the fully fit Michael Bent, who can play both sides of the scrum, returns to Leinster. For someone who has played just a handful of rugby in the last few months, his inclusion is odd but Joe Schmidt obviously feels that he has proved his fitness enough to be involved.

The same somehow goes for Cian Healy, only in slightly different circumstances. While Furlong isn’t exactly Ireland’s first choice (or even second choice) tighthead prop, Healy would walk onto any side at loosehead, and was always going to travel if fit enough. Whether he is fit enough remains to be seen, but the fact that Ireland have just two looseheads on the plane would suggest he is fit enough and that he will play every game to get his fitness up a bit more. That, or Schmidt has decided an unfit Healy is better than a fully fit Jack McGrath.

Beyond that, however, there are no big surprises.

Healy and Mike Ross will be the props, with Rory Best hooking between them as has been the case for many years now. The second row is slightly more of a questionable area after last Saturday (again, something I’ll get to in a minute), but the back row, like the front, picks itself – Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip will once again form their now familiar partnership.

Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton are nailed on half-backs, as are Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne at centre. The wingers will probably be Tommy Bowe and Keith Earls, the latter of whom has had a superb summer, however Simon Zebo will have something to say in that back three too, while Rob Kearney is the final definite at full-back.

Indeed, the second row is actually the only area that Joe Schmidt will seriously have to think about. Paul O’Connell will start, again that is a definite starter, but it’s who partners him that will give the New Zealander a few sleepless nights. The two prime contenders? Young versatile Iain Henderson and incumbent number four lock Devin Toner.

Toner hasn’t done anything wrong to lose the shirt, let’s get that straight from the offset. He is a wholly reliable lock who will take countless line-outs and will provide some solid ball carrying as well as being a very competent defender. Put simply, he rarely puts a foot wrong and will put in consistently good performances in the second row.

But after Henderson’s performance against Wales it would be criminal not to start him.

His ball carrying is destructive, as seen in his ability to hold off three Welsh defenders to score his first try in the green of Ireland, his work at the breakdown is ferocious and, while not as tall as Toner, Henderson is also a good line-out option. He may be more effective from blindside flanker, but on Saturday Henderson proved that he is just as good in the second row as he is in the back and that any Ireland team without him would be weaker than it would were he in it.

Schmidt has a big call to make. It won’t decide the World Cup, but it’ll go a long way to helping Ireland to where they want to be.