Wally the Fly

Are the Waratahs the most boring, negative team in the Super 14?

It’s not a great sign where the main tactic is to just tackle the opposition into submission.

I can recall the second game of the season when a Waratah back contemplated a quick lineout with the nearest opposition player a good distance away. He had Lote, Turner and Tahu outside him but decided the put the ball down and wait for the forwards to tumble back.

Don’t these guys know that the new laws don’t just allow fast play, they demand them?

As a friend said to me the other day, its one thing for them to play boring and win but to play boring and lose, what’s the point in watching them play?

Mark Ella gave the Tahs both barrels, saying they lacked ‘adventure.’ A team full of stars that ‘play the worst football.’ 

The Tahs have the fourth-best defensive record in the Super 14 and the second-worst scoring record. They currently sit at 7^th on the ladder with the Auckland, Force and the South African tour to come.

This morning I woke up to read that even the NSW Rugby board are talking about the less than entertaining style of play.

The Tahs should have a solid win against the Cheetahs on Friday, lets just hope the fans at the ground get what they paid for.

Openers: Hayden, Sangakarra

First drop: Ponting

4: Tandulka

5: Hussey

6: Kallis

7: Symonds

8: Lee

9: Stuart Clark

10: Dale Steyn

11: The Chucker

Hayden and Sangakarra would make a dominant opening partnership. Both have 50 plus averages and are capable of massive scores. I say this flying in the face of the fact that Sangakarra doesn’t open for his country (he bats first drop). Sangakarra will smash world records in the years to come and is easily the best keeper-batsman in the game. 

Ponting, Tandulka and Hussey would be a great, solid middle order while the faster scoring Kallis (he is now anyway) and Symonds would take up 6 and 7 spots. I originally had Laxman in at second drop but big hitting Symonds coming in at 7 would be quite something in this team. The fact he is such a brilliant fielder and can take wickets mean he had to be in the team.

Having Kallis and Symonds means that the bowling attack is that much stronger.

Clark is an insanely good bowler who was unlucky this series not to take more wickets but performed when he got given the ball. Lee post-Ashes in England is twice the bowler he was, line and length without dropping too much of that fierce pace.

I originally had Ryan Sidebottom in as he is a seriously good left arm bowler that would combine well with Lee and Clark. But Steyn’s recent form is just too red hot not to have him in the World XI. This is one hell of a bowling attack.

Kumble was hard to leave out but Murali’s stats speak for themselves: 700 odd wickets, average of just over 21 and 20 ten wicket hauls. I think that you need you pick bowlers for their bowling not just because they can bat a bit (like Kumble showed he can this summer).

What a disappointment Friday night was after the week of build up and talk.

Sure we lost Wing (notice how Goose Gould didn’t mention Brown’s tackle in his column[1]) but a more experienced outfit wouldn’t have lost the plot the way the Bunnies did.

(Although having said that it wasn’t like they were playing that well in the first eight minutes).

It took till the last 20 minutes before the Bunnies managed to get some composure, go forward and sure enough scored three late tries.

How they went from being the best defensive side in the league to what happened at Homebush on Friday night is beyond me.

Hopefully this is the kick in the arse they need and will spur them on to put the Bulldogs away next Friday.

The other positive to come from the game was the performance of Issac Luke. Sure his late pass early in the game ended up with a try at the other end but apart from that he showed why he is now the key to the Bunnies attack sans Wing.

Talanoa was great taking up the ball like a forward but his positional play in defence on the 5^th tackle had a lot to be desired.

Greenfield was also a standout, managing to get crucial offloads when the ball looked dead.

The press talked about Roy not standing up but I think Kidwell is the one that needs to go to the room full of mirrors.

It’s back to the beginning for Souths this week, if they want a win over the Dogs they’re going to need to look back to last year and try and resurrect the defensive game that got them in the semis.

[1] http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/phil-gould/2008/03/15/1205472158954.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2

So the Messiah O’Neill reckons the Super 14 should expand into Japan[1] and become a six and a half month tournament?

Kudos to him on coming out with the grand plans but would this actually work?

The Messiah wants a two round competition, the first like the current format and the second round consisting of local derbies as the Aussie, Kiwi and Saffa teams play against themselves.

While a Tokyo based outfit would offer a lucrative market and may be very smart business where is the mention of Argentina and the Pacific Islands?

Surely any expansion would be an opportunity to get these guys (the best of which play in Europe) to bolster even further the standard of the tournament and get them closer to forming part of a new Tri-Nations.

The Messiah plan would mean the Tri-Nations would begin in August and games against the northern hemisphere teams played in the middle of the week.

I hope we’re not stepping closer to playing ‘friendlies’ rather than Test matches.

Competitive Tests is the biggest advantage rugby has over league and the AFL and getting into meaningless Wednesday night games against Italy isn’t what is best for the game.

The idea has merit but convincing the Kiwis[2] and the Saffas to give up their provincial tournaments (that we so desperately need) may just be the biggest hurdle.

[1] http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news/plan-to-expand-super-season/2008/03/12/1205126011528.html

[2] http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/australia/view-from-new-zealand/2008/03/13/1205126054459.html