Weekend Wrap
Semi-final rugby is sometimes not a pretty beast. Watching the Bulls and Crusaders trading penalty kicks brought back some of my earliest sport-watching memories – watching NZ and SAF trade penalty kicks in the 1970’s. And just like then, the Saffers seemed to get more shots at goal than we did.
No, I’m not blaming the referees. Mr Dickinson was largely invisible thank God, but if Matt Goddard is the No. 2 ref in Oz then the front row is not the most pressing problem in Australian rugby. Our teams got beaten fair and square by their slightly better ones, which seems to be widely acknowledged. Messrs Flavell and McCaw were very gracious in defeat, Troy even thanking the Durban crowd which was very nice of him, and over at Keo they’re gushing at how well we’ve taken the beatings.
Well I’m not. Before I get accused of talking thru’ my wallet, I needed a Crusaders loss more than a rabbit on Viagara needs sex – so even though it’s roast lamb rather than noodles for dinner for a wee while, I’m not a happy chappy.
Our teams lost. This is our national sport. Our teams aren’t supposed to lose. For only the second time in 12 years, no NZ side in the final. Are you getting angry yet?
What gets up my nose is in our SPARC-led sport and recreation system where winners are grinners and the rest can go and jump, there should be widespread anguish and a public inquiry into these unacceptable losses. If our sports leaders publicly declare failure and question mental toughness when we come 3rd or 4th in tin-pot sports like shooting and lawn bowls, where is that hard-nosed mentality now when we finish 3rd and 4th in the Super 14? Even though it’s essentially a provincial competition, surely the Super 14 is more important to the mood of the nation than shooting flying discs of clay?
Instead, we are getting excuses. Our AB’s aren’t up to scratch yet from their reconditioning programme. Apparently the South Africans will find it very hard to continue such fine form through to the World Cup. What a load of poppycock. Wake up and smell the roses people – the Jaapies have caught up and this cosy “she’ll be right come September” attitude needs to be immediately extinguished.
Compare this to the Australian cricket team – you didn’t hear them complain when they lost the Commonwealth Bank Series that they were in the middle of a large training load. Apparently we want to be more “Australian” in our sporting approach – so can sporting journos lead the charge and stop writing crap such as this:
The defending champion never stopped trying but it was clear key players, including sin-binned skipper Richie McCaw and first five-eighths Dan Carter, were still short of a gallop after sitting out the first half of the campaign during the All Blacks' conditioning period. (ChCh Press)
FFS, how many games do players need??? Earth to Tony Smith - a first-five does not need a truckload of games to get into gallop; go and rewatch Carter's (fine) performace in his first game back against the Stormers. I can see it now, if we lose to SAF at RWC it will be because their players have had 23 games of rugby compared to our players only playing 16.
Despite the respect being shown South African rugby, I fear complacency is alive and well – the excuses and peaking in September bullshit shows that. Instead of saying “We weren’t good enough but it’ll be ok come September”, we should be saying “We weren’t good enough and THAT’s not good enough”.
No, I’m not blaming the referees. Mr Dickinson was largely invisible thank God, but if Matt Goddard is the No. 2 ref in Oz then the front row is not the most pressing problem in Australian rugby. Our teams got beaten fair and square by their slightly better ones, which seems to be widely acknowledged. Messrs Flavell and McCaw were very gracious in defeat, Troy even thanking the Durban crowd which was very nice of him, and over at Keo they’re gushing at how well we’ve taken the beatings.
Well I’m not. Before I get accused of talking thru’ my wallet, I needed a Crusaders loss more than a rabbit on Viagara needs sex – so even though it’s roast lamb rather than noodles for dinner for a wee while, I’m not a happy chappy.
Our teams lost. This is our national sport. Our teams aren’t supposed to lose. For only the second time in 12 years, no NZ side in the final. Are you getting angry yet?
What gets up my nose is in our SPARC-led sport and recreation system where winners are grinners and the rest can go and jump, there should be widespread anguish and a public inquiry into these unacceptable losses. If our sports leaders publicly declare failure and question mental toughness when we come 3rd or 4th in tin-pot sports like shooting and lawn bowls, where is that hard-nosed mentality now when we finish 3rd and 4th in the Super 14? Even though it’s essentially a provincial competition, surely the Super 14 is more important to the mood of the nation than shooting flying discs of clay?
Instead, we are getting excuses. Our AB’s aren’t up to scratch yet from their reconditioning programme. Apparently the South Africans will find it very hard to continue such fine form through to the World Cup. What a load of poppycock. Wake up and smell the roses people – the Jaapies have caught up and this cosy “she’ll be right come September” attitude needs to be immediately extinguished.
Compare this to the Australian cricket team – you didn’t hear them complain when they lost the Commonwealth Bank Series that they were in the middle of a large training load. Apparently we want to be more “Australian” in our sporting approach – so can sporting journos lead the charge and stop writing crap such as this:
The defending champion never stopped trying but it was clear key players, including sin-binned skipper Richie McCaw and first five-eighths Dan Carter, were still short of a gallop after sitting out the first half of the campaign during the All Blacks' conditioning period. (ChCh Press)
FFS, how many games do players need??? Earth to Tony Smith - a first-five does not need a truckload of games to get into gallop; go and rewatch Carter's (fine) performace in his first game back against the Stormers. I can see it now, if we lose to SAF at RWC it will be because their players have had 23 games of rugby compared to our players only playing 16.
Despite the respect being shown South African rugby, I fear complacency is alive and well – the excuses and peaking in September bullshit shows that. Instead of saying “We weren’t good enough but it’ll be ok come September”, we should be saying “We weren’t good enough and THAT’s not good enough”.
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posted by Rob Crawford at 7:21 AM
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