Weekend Wrap
Should we be surprised, in a surreal season of Super 14 rugby, a team with two one-point losses beats a team with two one-point wins, by one point. And what is it with sideline conversions? Three already this year to win games, in a season where goalkickers are actually down on their success rates from previous years.
I'm guessing not too many saw the final stages of the Force - Hurricanes game, but the jubilation from the players and crowd at finally breaking their home duck was a sight to behold; you'd be excused for thinking they had just won the whole friggin' competition. And no doubt they'll turn up in their droves for more next week when they take on the Reds ...
... which brings me to a point I wish to make about crowd numbers. Remember the kerfuffle last year when it was initially announced that 22 All Blacks would miss the first half of the Super 14 season? News Ltd made threatening see-you-in-court noises to the NZRU about the potential negative economic consequences. Waratahs coach McKenzie was also vocal in the media about the impact on the competition.
Fast forward to today, and this piece from the Sydney Morning Herald. In Tah-Tah land, crowd numbers are dropping, and the reason ain't nothing to do with the standard of opposition, but their own team's woeful performances. Excuse me while I let out a little snigger. Perhaps News Ltd should be looking at suing the Waratahs for masquerading as a Super 14 footy team.
Fact is, the absence of the 22 ABs has meant diddly-squat to the Super 14 economy. Crowds go to see teams winning, no matter who is playing. I'd argue the absence of Messrs McCaw and Co has actually been a positive influence - it has made the season a little more unpredictable and average Joe Public in Durban, Perth and (gosh) Auckland are starting to think their team may have a chance of doing well this year. And I'd bet TV viewing numbers ain't down either. Time for an apology from News Ltd - but I won't be holding my breath.
Next on my list of annoyances is teams refusing a kick at goal to draw a game. A few weeks ago, the Bulls turned down kickable penalties to go for the win against the Force and came up empty-handed. The extra competition point the draw would have given them may turn out to be crucial come play-off time. And in the weekend, Wales couldn't face the ignominy of a draw against Italy so decided to go for the win - trouble is the whistle blew for full-time. While there is no question the ref erred in not allowing the line-out to take place, when you're three points down and get a penalty 22m out in front of the sticks with 10 seconds to go, karma is telling you the game is not yours to win, so settle for the draw instead. One wonders at the scenes had Lote Tuqiri been born Welsh.
On the punting front, a very quiet weekend - I did end up backing both the Bulls and Cheetahs so made some newspaper money (Week 6: +0.37; Season +17.77). That is all about to change - the small matter of a Cricket World Cup is about to start and I'll have a preview up sometime tomorrow.
I'm guessing not too many saw the final stages of the Force - Hurricanes game, but the jubilation from the players and crowd at finally breaking their home duck was a sight to behold; you'd be excused for thinking they had just won the whole friggin' competition. And no doubt they'll turn up in their droves for more next week when they take on the Reds ...
... which brings me to a point I wish to make about crowd numbers. Remember the kerfuffle last year when it was initially announced that 22 All Blacks would miss the first half of the Super 14 season? News Ltd made threatening see-you-in-court noises to the NZRU about the potential negative economic consequences. Waratahs coach McKenzie was also vocal in the media about the impact on the competition.
Fast forward to today, and this piece from the Sydney Morning Herald. In Tah-Tah land, crowd numbers are dropping, and the reason ain't nothing to do with the standard of opposition, but their own team's woeful performances. Excuse me while I let out a little snigger. Perhaps News Ltd should be looking at suing the Waratahs for masquerading as a Super 14 footy team.
Fact is, the absence of the 22 ABs has meant diddly-squat to the Super 14 economy. Crowds go to see teams winning, no matter who is playing. I'd argue the absence of Messrs McCaw and Co has actually been a positive influence - it has made the season a little more unpredictable and average Joe Public in Durban, Perth and (gosh) Auckland are starting to think their team may have a chance of doing well this year. And I'd bet TV viewing numbers ain't down either. Time for an apology from News Ltd - but I won't be holding my breath.
Next on my list of annoyances is teams refusing a kick at goal to draw a game. A few weeks ago, the Bulls turned down kickable penalties to go for the win against the Force and came up empty-handed. The extra competition point the draw would have given them may turn out to be crucial come play-off time. And in the weekend, Wales couldn't face the ignominy of a draw against Italy so decided to go for the win - trouble is the whistle blew for full-time. While there is no question the ref erred in not allowing the line-out to take place, when you're three points down and get a penalty 22m out in front of the sticks with 10 seconds to go, karma is telling you the game is not yours to win, so settle for the draw instead. One wonders at the scenes had Lote Tuqiri been born Welsh.
On the punting front, a very quiet weekend - I did end up backing both the Bulls and Cheetahs so made some newspaper money (Week 6: +0.37; Season +17.77). That is all about to change - the small matter of a Cricket World Cup is about to start and I'll have a preview up sometime tomorrow.
Labels: post mortems
posted by Rob Crawford at 10:13 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home