Hybrid Rugby

I have a confession to make: I like it both ways. Despite preferring the 15-a-side game, I am also a supporter of my local rugby league team: St.George-Illawarra Dragons, the reigning NRL premiers. 

In contrast to the muted ambience at Waratahs games, when you're dressed in red and white in the midst of the Dragon Army the atmosphere is intoxicating, the cameraderie overwhelming. The difference boils down to demographics: Dragons fans are blue collar, while 'Tahs games are attended by the gentry. 

Due to the disappointing standard of local SuperRugby games this week (the Reds had a bye), the entertainment highlight was provided by league's State Of Origin game. It was a typically brutal stoush, complete with post-match pugilism. The QLD combination of Lockyer, Thurston, and Slater showed once again that creatively they have no equal, coming from behind to clinch the game with a classically worked try. 

Aussie rugby union could do with players like that. 


SuperRugby's Australian conference has degenerated into a lop-sided farce because, although the ARU has created five SuperRugby franchises, there aren't enough union players of sufficient quality to ensure that more than one or two teams are competitive. The Reds are superb, the 'Tahs are disappointing, and the rest are rubbish.


The dearth of quality players owes to the fact that the ARU, which represents the elitist upper class of Australian society (private school old boys), has never made any attempt to spread the grass roots of rugby to the masses. This has not happened by chance; throughout the history of the game there has been an unspoken policy that rugby union should remain a game for the privileged.

No wonder concerned individuals are promoting a union-league hybrid game: Read the description of the game here.

With no grass roots of note, the cross-pollination of the code with league players is the only hope Australian rugby has of achieving consistent success at international level.

Unfortunately, league’s popularity in Australia has now marched so far ahead of union that the NRL is in no hurry to co-operate. Still, this blogger lives in hope that one day the schism will finally come to an end. With News Ltd reportedly lending its support to a hybrid game, perhaps it is not as far-fetched as some might think.

Only One Team To Watch In Australian Rugby

By only watching Reds games, Australian fans can save themselves a lot  of wasted time in front of the box each weekend, because the rugby played by the other Australian franchises is woeful.

The Waratahs, contributing a quarter of the weekly rubbish dished up by Australian sides, play like a limbless torso floundering around in the SFS mud, expending much energy for naught. Empty seats are increasing exponentially with every home game, while the bright idea of a forum inviting public criticism only serves to call attention to their clueless administration.

Williams, Kennedy, Dwyer, McKenzie, Hickey……. over the years the coaches have come and gone, but the song remains the same. Unless the franchise is taken away from the incompetent NSWRU and handed to a consortium of private enterprise, the tale of Sydney's boring under-achievers will continue.

Things aren't much better to the south and west, from where the remaining 75% of uninspiring rugby originates. Since being labeled rugby’s Real Madrid, the Brumbies have been a major disappointment, every week sinking deeper into the abyss. They are a team miserably playing out time while awaiting the arrival next year of their anointed saviour,  Jake White.

Further south, Danny Cipriani has driven a stake through the heart of the Rebels, leaving them spiritless, rudderless, and their debut season in tatters.

Across the Nullabor, the Force are a franchise that has been transplanted too far from rugby's roots to ever reach any heights in this competition.

The Reds are the only Australian team worth watching. Genia has claims on the title of world’s best halfback. Cooper, when on song,  has the magician's sleight of hand. Samo, Higginbotham and Ioane are powerful and inspiring players who get the team on the front foot. Queensland have self-belief, there's depth in the squad, and they are astutely coached.

After a bye, the Crusaders will be the Reds next opponent.  Despite the Saders' loss last weekend, the Twickenham game showed that the combination of Dan Carter and Sonny Bill Williams (who could be the player of the tournament in this year's world cup) can be almost unstoppable. 

The Reds, however, will have the home ground advantage, in front of 30,000 roaring fans. It should be a cracker!

Cipriani Derails Rebels’ Season

Team morale is a precious commodity. Once lost, the wheels inevitably fall off.

And so the Rebels’ season has gone. Despite inconsistency, early season performances had marked them as a dangerous proposition at home, disposing of the Hurricanes and Brumbies before narrowly going down to the Sharks. They followed this with a thrilling win over the Force in Perth, proving they could re-produce the same form away from the cauldron known as The Stockade.

As time went on, however,  it became increasingly clear that all was not well in the Rebels camp. The player with the number 10 on his back -- the most important member of the team-- was repeatedly in trouble for late night drinking escapades. Coinciding with this, Cipriani’s defense started to resemble a revolving door. Against the Highlanders, while the rest of the team busted their guts,  his laughable attempts at tackling led to three tries which gifted the North Island team the game.

Clearly Cipriani has an attitude problem. There is the suspicion that he is an outright alcoholic. With the entire Rebels game plan dependent on him, he has not only let himself down, but he has let down his teammates, Rebels fans, and the coach and club who were prepared to give someone of dubious reputation a chance at redemption. 

Blessed with prodigious talent, Cipriani doesn’t have the ticker for rugby. You can bet he won’t be in Melbourne next season, and it’s hard to imagine any other club signing such a liability.

More Than Studs And Leather

Is it sport, or is it a party?  Some go to watch rugby, others go to party, and those like yours truly enjoyed both. 

Yes, we’re talking about the one and only Hong Kong Sevens, the world’s biggest rugby party.

Perhaps the Saturday is more for party-goers, and the Sunday for rugby aficionados, but it all becomes somewhat blurry after a while.

Sevens rugby is not everyone’s cup of tea. There is something inherently  light-hearted about it, perhaps more akin to a game that you’d expect to see in the backyard after a barbecue, or in the school playground at lunchtime. But it does indeed grow on you, and the fitness and skill levels are unquestionably  high.

It is also the only form of rugby which is truly competitive world-wide, with teams from countries such as Canada, Portugal, Spain, and Russia performing very creditably.

Anyway, here’s a few pictures intended to capture the atmosphere at the Hong Kong 7’s, 2011, courtesy of Steve Lawie.

 The clergy got into the spirit of things.

Mr. T was there.

Team America took time out from saving the world.

 Support for the Kazakhstan team.

He claimed the Welsh are the “Reigning World champions”, but was it a load of bull? 

?

Miss Bubbles

Spongebobs

Fred

Duty, Honour, Country.

The fairest of them all. 

The Dawning Of A New Era

Anyone watching the awesome performance of the Indian cricket team in the World Cup could only have been impressed by the quality of cricket on display. But demographics indicate that we are witnessing something even greater: India will dominate international cricket for decades to come.

With around 160,000 registered adult players,  the cricket participation rate in Australia is less than 2% of the population.

Despite being a sports-mad nation, our enthusiasm is divided amongst many codes.

The population of India is fifty times that of Australia, and the cricket participation rate is conservatively listed at 5% of its population, so the ratio of cricket players in India to Australia is more than 100:1.

Obsessed with only one sport, India has a gargantuan pool of players to draw on.

Formerly, India’s rise to the top of world cricket had been prevented by poverty, but it now has one of the fastest economic growth rates in the world.

While per capita income growth in Australia is around 2%, the per capita income in India is expected to double within the next 9 years.

This will rapidly result in progressively more of its population entering a burgeoning middle class, with the income to indulge in a game which is a national obsession.

The sheer weight of numbers is compelling: it is the dawning of a new era. 

Concussion

The sickening sight of Berrick Barnes totally ga-ga in the dressing room after the Waratahs game on Saturday was disturbing.

Research from America’s NFL has found that players that suffer repeated head knocks have a likelihood of early onset dementia. The NFL is now fielding lawsuits from ex-players suing the NFL for not protecting them against this. The ARU should take note.

In Australian rugby, because there are not enough players, small guys are thrown into positions they don’t have the build for. Berrick has a body frame that would have been better suited to playing half-back (where he played in the NRL).

The inside backs at international level have to face behemoths like Sonny Bill and Nonu running at them like runaway trucks. A little guy like Barnes playing in the centres is at particular risk of head injuries because the only chance he has of bringing those attackers down is to stay low and tackle them front-on around the legs. Sometimes the head gets in the wrong position…..

Another brave little player who would have been safer playing half-back, Matt Giteau,  has also suffered repeated concussions trying to bring big men down.

It is now being suggested that James O’Connor will be moved to inside centre for the Wallabies, at 20 years of age, raising similar concerns for his welfare.

Berrick Barnes has been an incredibly brave defender, but for the sake of his health, he should retire from rugby now.

With his good looks, perhaps a career as a TV commentator awaits him. He has the world at his feet.

Berrick, hang up your boots. 

A Tale Of Two Cities

As new teams in the heart of AFL territory, the Rebels and the Force have much in common. But there is a significant difference in their licensing conditions: the team from Melbourne is allowed to sign ten overseas players while the Perth franchise is only allowed one.

It is unlikely that the Rebels’ first year would have been anything but a disappointment had the ARU not given them special dispensation to sign foreign players, and failure to win the hearts and minds of Melbournians could well have seen the Rebels go the same way as their namesake in the now defunct ARC: confined to the dustbin of Australian rugby history.

The Rebels’ overseas players have been adopted not just by their supporters, but by the Australian rugby public as a whole.

Somerville is a mountain of strength in the engine-room, and with Polota-Nau and Moore injured, Ged Robinson has been the best hooker in Australian rugby.

Delve is always in the thick of things, Lipman has arguably been the stand out number 7 in Australia this year, and Cipriani has given his local counterparts a lesson in tactical kicking.

These charismatic players, together with the wily old warriors Mortlock and Gerrard, added to the coaching genius of Rod Macqueen, have provided the ideal environment to nurture aspiring Australian players such as Phipps, Saffy, Vuna, Kingi, Blake, Rooney and Mitchell.

But awarding the last two SuperRugby franchises to cities with no local player base is like trying to build tables without legs.

The alternative venue of Western Sydney, populated by the sons of rugby-playing islanders and kids who know how to pass a ball without hittting it with a closed fist, offered the potential to build a club that could have produced its own players.

Rugby’s missed opportunity is AFL’s gain.

Perth is further hamstrung by the unwillingness of many players to cross the Nullabor.

The Force consists of a group of hard-working forwards supported by a couple of clever backline generals in O’Connor and Shepherd.

John Mitchell instilled a laudable work ethic, but with few exciting players, they’re a dour team that is not  particularly attractive to watch.  Despite this, they still fill the ground for their home games, confirming that there is a market for a team in Perth. 

But with the club perpetually battling for the wooden spoon, the fate of league’s Western Reds is a reminder that the Force’s long-term viability is not assured.

Allowing them the same dispensation given to the Rebels to sign overseas players could only be good for Perth and their long-suffering rugby supporters, as it has been for Melbourne.