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The Rugby Championship 2023
[2014 TRC] Australia v South Africa in Perth (06/09/2014)
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<blockquote data-quote="Darwin" data-source="post: 668880" data-attributes="member: 24910"><p>While I can certainly see the logic behind a 6/2 split on the bench I still think it is a massive risk. Australia are left with one player (Beale) covering 6 players. Not only would a couple of injuries in the backline would leave Australia in big trouble, but it also restricts Australia's ability to use Beale as an impact sub. If one of the backs picks up a minor injury or is performing poorly the coaches will be loathe to introduce Beale until late in the match as they would have no more cover should there be any other injury....</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think you are being a bit generous calling him a 'bit of a liability'. For me he is a complete liability! Not only did he lead the whole Super Rugby competition in terms of penalties conceded (with 32, 7 more than next highest player!) and yellow cards (3), he also had a high error rate, an average work-rate, failed to force a single turnover at the breakdown, and spent most of the season lingering out on the wing waiting for the ball. He does have a few good attributes - he is aggressive (though is over aggressive at times), is an excellent lineout option, has good ball skills, and can break tackles running out wide. These positives don't get close to outweighing the negatives in my opinion.</p><p></p><p>He is certainly an abrasive play, but I certainly wouldn't classify him as the 'hard man' that the Wallabies crave. Some players - Brad Thorn for example - are hard men who let their rugby do the talking. Others spend the whole match trying to prove they are the toughest player on the field but often forget to play rugby (Jarrad Hoeata is a good example of this). For me Higginbotham fits firmly in the later category. He is often far more interested in doing ****ly things off the ball than actually playing rugby. There is no doubt he has the skills to be a top class rugby player, but he seems to lack the required temperament. There was actually a period over the later half of the 2013 Super Rugby season when everything started to click for him (he started actually playing rugby...) and I thought he was finally starting to deliver on his potential, but he got injured. Unfortunately this season he seems to have regressed back to his old self....</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Darwin, post: 668880, member: 24910"] While I can certainly see the logic behind a 6/2 split on the bench I still think it is a massive risk. Australia are left with one player (Beale) covering 6 players. Not only would a couple of injuries in the backline would leave Australia in big trouble, but it also restricts Australia's ability to use Beale as an impact sub. If one of the backs picks up a minor injury or is performing poorly the coaches will be loathe to introduce Beale until late in the match as they would have no more cover should there be any other injury.... I think you are being a bit generous calling him a 'bit of a liability'. For me he is a complete liability! Not only did he lead the whole Super Rugby competition in terms of penalties conceded (with 32, 7 more than next highest player!) and yellow cards (3), he also had a high error rate, an average work-rate, failed to force a single turnover at the breakdown, and spent most of the season lingering out on the wing waiting for the ball. He does have a few good attributes - he is aggressive (though is over aggressive at times), is an excellent lineout option, has good ball skills, and can break tackles running out wide. These positives don't get close to outweighing the negatives in my opinion. He is certainly an abrasive play, but I certainly wouldn't classify him as the 'hard man' that the Wallabies crave. Some players - Brad Thorn for example - are hard men who let their rugby do the talking. Others spend the whole match trying to prove they are the toughest player on the field but often forget to play rugby (Jarrad Hoeata is a good example of this). For me Higginbotham fits firmly in the later category. He is often far more interested in doing ****ly things off the ball than actually playing rugby. There is no doubt he has the skills to be a top class rugby player, but he seems to lack the required temperament. There was actually a period over the later half of the 2013 Super Rugby season when everything started to click for him (he started actually playing rugby...) and I thought he was finally starting to deliver on his potential, but he got injured. Unfortunately this season he seems to have regressed back to his old self.... [/QUOTE]
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[2014 TRC] Australia v South Africa in Perth (06/09/2014)
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