Thoughts and analysis on this week in the rugby I watched
Had St. Helens bothered to turn up, it would have been a clean sweep for the teams I support and/or follow this weekend. Not bad considering my clubs have been going through miserable runs of form of late. But what else did I witness?
Friday night saw a proper David and Golliath display between Quins and Newcastle. The toffs were thoroughly dominant for the full 80 minutes in terms of possession and territory – Joe Marler in particular looking outstanding despite his increasingly stupid barnet – but their key fault was that final pass which let so many chances go begging. Not wanting to take anything away from Rory Clegg who's stepped up admirably since Evans injury, but without him they are like a big dog without any teeth. On the reverse side of the coin, Newcastle look like middleweights clinging to every chance in the heavyweights. Jimmy Gopperth in particular has been outstanding of late and single handily kept Newcastle alive at the Stoop, most notably being the superb pace he displayed to score his 80m breakaway try, but what will go without saying it the incredible percentages he was making. Time after time the Newcastle pivot would make 50m clearances when Quins failed to capitalise on various overlaps and other chances.
Tribute also should be paid to Newcastles defence, as the only times throughout the entire game when they were breached was within the 1st minute when clearly Newcastle hadn't woken up, and in the 75th minute when it took 25 phases before Mike Brown finally dived into the corner. The never say die attitude of the Geordies rang true with their final-play try clinching the win in the 81st minute. Overall, even though the stats weighed heavily in the favour of the Londoners, they were far too sloppy with their final ball and Newcastle punished that.
I believe it's too early for Newcastle to cheer however as Gloucester are ominous. Charlie Sharples and Nicky Robinson in particular shone as they comprehensively brushed aside Newport in the other LV= semi-final, very much so in a match of men vs boys. Not much more can be said about the match except to pay tribute to the Gloucester pack who were rampant. Should they keep this form up, I see it difficult to think where and who will be capable of scalping Castle Grims finest in the closing stages of the season.
At Franklins Gardens on Sunday, Gloucester should end many years of hurt and pick up their first trophy of the season. With playoff places up for grabs in the Premiership, I predict the Cherry and Whites to also emerge victorious at Vicarage road and move on to Twickenham come then. It would certainly be ironic for Gloucester to end their duck by picking up 2 trophies, especially by winning the ***le from a playoff position when you consider all the years they finished top but had nothing to show for their efforts.
Tom Walkinshaw will be looking down on his boys and smiling.
Speaking of the Premiership, Northampton finally ended their miserable run of league form at, picking up 4 points at Headingley in the re-arranged fixture due to snow in December. Saints were missing 5 players to Twickenham going into the game (4 to England and Ansbro to Scotland), but Courtney Lawes continues rehabilitation and (especially) the return of Lee Dickson guided Saints to a hard fought win over a very determined Leeds who were aiming to build over their surprise victory over London Irish last weekend. While Leeds were missing Steve Thompson to England and their inspirational skipper Marcos Wentzel, Hendrie Fourie put in a sensational performance which even Richie McCaw or Richard Hill would be proud of. Time after time he stole seemingly-secure Saints ball to keep Leeds hopes alive, but the difference made by Dickson bossing his pack and guiding his backs showed what Northampton have been missing since new years day. For the first time in ages, Myler looked assured and confident, the backline – While still nowhere near at their sumptuous best – moved the ball and threatened with every pass and most pleasingly of all, the pack his every ruck with fire in their bellies while contesting every set piece.
With less than a month until the Heineken Cup quarter final, Ulster will have been licking their lips at the prospect of Saints away on recent form, but one performance can sometimes turn a season. For the next fixture against Wasps on March 27th, Saints will be reunited with their International contingent and hopefully it will gel them nicely into the buildup. Will they put in the dominant performances like we saw against Tigers, Bath and London Irish? I doubt it, but then again even 50% of that would be plenty enough.
They've made it hard for themselves in the Premiership now, but they've put themselves into that position and are the mugs who have to dig themselves out. With some luck, Tigers will do Saints a favour and deny Bath anything at the Rec, then the season is most certainly on!
I didn't see anything from Italy v France and little from Wales v Ireland on account of drinking Guinness at Headingley, but what a turnaround from the Italians?! To put in a performance against France like that, regardless of form or other excuses, is absolutely sensational - Especially when you factor the scoreline turnaround they needed. I figured that Italy weren't mugs on their own patch after the opening weekend against Ireland (the jury is still out on Nick Mallett however), so thankfully they've proven me right. France will be smarting, they would have fancied their chances to still pinch the ***le with a win over Wales if Ireland did the job, but yet again it appears to be back to the drawing board for Marc Lièvremont.
Speaking of Wales & Ireland, I think what will over-shaddow the entire game will be the "no try" issue regarding Mike Philips 60th minute score. Was it an illegal lineout? Maybe. Did the officials make a mistake? Apparently. Did Ireland have more than enough time to go and score again? Plenty. BODs opener in the first few seconds set the tone for the affair (or so I thought), but the game seemingly went stale and that's what we're left with – The measure of a game is when a single controversial moment overshadows the entirety. Like when England football fans blame the ref for being thumped 4-1 by Germany…
The weekends other fixture was the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham. Erm, yes. Speaking of overshadowing the game, who saw the fox? Seemingly the most exciting part of the match was disease ridden vermin scuttling around prior to kick off.
Andy Robinson is however doing something very right with the limited resources compared to what he enjoyed as England boss. The tactic of disrupt and dominate contact is his master gameplan, but he's finding some success doing so as Scotland coach. When he did this tactic with England he was doomed to failure under the weight of expectancy they carried because of 2003, but utilising the big Scottish forwards and considering his options with his backs nearly reaped reward on Sunday. Jackson and Ansbro – The Cambridge graduate in particular – have been a breath of fresh air for the Scots while Richie Grays emergence as a force in world rugby will see them continue to run supposedly superior teams close and add to their now impressive collection of scalps.
England meanwhile it seems have been reading the news papers too much. They went into the game looking like they're already celebrating ***les and more, only to be given a rude awakening by the Scottish pack who clearly weren't rolling over for anyone. Hartley looked very average in the loose, Dan Cole couldn't scrum, Deacon wasn't even on the pitch and the entire back-row were missing from just about every breakdown. This was compounded by Ben Youngs who was a rabbit in the headlights and Toby Flood who's head went down because of living from scraps. Once Danny Care came into the game, the general service to the backs was slower but at least it was secure. Youngs simply did not communicate with his forwards, preferring to either go alone or have numerous Harry "what do I do now" Ellis moments.
England are much better then Sunday. We all know that, we've all seen that. However they need to believe it and fight for such instead of just expecting it. Half of what made the 2007 World Cup team do so well was the never say die attitude. This England team can do the same.
Perhaps however they should learn a lesson or 2 from Newcastle.
