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Barclay: 'You would never have seen giants like Paul O'Connell or Martin Johnson acting like that'

By John Barclay
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I want to use this week’s column as a platform to address some embarrassing behaviour that has grown increasingly common during this Six Nations.

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In the opening three rounds of fixtures, I’ve seen referees being badgered relentlessly by top players; some captains, some very experienced internationals. The names are unimportant to me, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who I mean. At the weekend, there was constant whinging, gesticulating, throwing of arms in the air – a nonsensical carry-on that is not in keeping with how the game should be played.

Nobody asks to be a role model, but for sportspeople, it comes with the territory. Rightly or wrongly, these behaviours will have been imitated up and down the country – of that I am positive. Children copy their heroes; it’s as simple as that.

I have a lot of respect for the guys in question – they are hugely successful players – but the way they interact with referees has disappointed me. Rugby prides itself on its values but at times on the weekend, those values were wafer-thin. It is not a good look for rugby, particularly when the Six Nations is being projected into millions of homes across the world.

You would never have seen giants like Paul O’Connell or Martin Johnson acting like that – complaining and waving their arms about in disbelief – and it should not be tolerated. Here’s my suggestion: penalise the offenders immediately and I’d wager we’d see a swift decline in the heckling. Believe me, few things incur the wrath of coaches and team-mates like leaking such dull infringements.

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WATCH: The guys round up all the Guinness Six Nations and Premiership action. They discuss the shenanigans at the breakdown in England v Ireland among others. We also hear from Brad Shields on his injury and his quest to get back into Eddie’s England squad.

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I do, though, empathise with players frustrated by the inconsistent refereeing of the breakdown. Wavering interpretations can be infuriating. Certain laws appear more in vogue and are refereed more stringently while others are just ignored.

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Against England on Saturday, Irish players were smashing into the breakdown from not even a 45-degree angle but at 25 degrees. For me, the art of jackaling not only involves impeccable technique but perhaps more pertinently, bravery and an element of disregard for your own body. Being cleared out from illegal angles has long been dangerous and a source of frustration for players as your search for a precious turnover disappears before your – and the referee’s ignoring – eyes.

And yet, clearing out at an angle is often how today’s players are coached. We are told not to hit the breakdown straight-on, because people are too strong in that jackal position. We’re taught to approach and ruck from 45 degrees – that way, players are much more unstable and can be wiped out, ideally leaving the ball on the proverbial platter to be stolen.

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I’m not entirely sure how we can make the breakdown safer. As soon as laws are changed, coaches are so cute that they will find ways of exploiting them. Teams are sent weekly emails from the powers that be based on what happened in the weekend’s games and themes that have appeared across the tournament. Coaches and players then prepare accordingly. More often than not, this involves finding ways to circumnavigate the officiating. My point is, coaches are now so innovative that they will find a way around new laws.

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If you refereed every breakdown to the letter of the law, there’d be several penalties per ruck. If you want fast, flowing rugby, you may have to turn a blind eye to some things that are going on, but not at the expense of keeping players safe.

As far as Scotland are concerned, it’s fair to say the much-needed win over Italy will not live long in the memory. The 17-0 triumph in Rome was hugely important, but as a spectacle, perhaps not one for the annals.

Speaking to some of the boys and reading some of the post-match press, they do feel the pressure has eased and a weight lifted after losing to Ireland and England – and in the end, it was a comfortable victory. The pressure on a team can have dire implications to their performance, and both sides looked uncharacteristically nervous.

Despite that, I don’t think the result changes much. We didn’t learn a lot from the game. The pressure is still on Scotland to finish the Six Nations with more than one win from five.

I am not sure where the Italians go from here – nilled twice in three games, and a defence that is porous as the best of times. With the Ireland game now derailed by the outbreak of coronavirus, Italy are left with the less-than-tantalising prospect of a visit to Twickenham hoping to avoid the wooden spoon and a 26th consecutive Six Nations loss. Dare I say, they may not be too disappointed if the quarantine period is extended by another few weeks.

If we’re highlighting Scottish positives, let’s look no further than Stuart Hogg. In a climate where it’s too easy to pick apart mistakes and pay lip service to good play, I find it more important than ever to stress just how good the captain’s try and all-round performance was. Assured with the ball in hand, he offered Scotland scintillating entries through the ragged Italian defence. Hoggy was prickly after the game and rightly so. People are eager to jump on the bandwagon when things are looking rosy, but far quicker to throw someone under the bus when the internet experts decide a performance wasn’t good enough. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.

And save some praise for the back-row. The trio of Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson and Magnus Bradbury has the makings of a unit that could endure for years to come. They have power, pace, skill, a relentless work-rate and are in my opinion the heartbeat of this team.

We also have to credit the Scottish defence under new specialist Steve Tandy. Last year, we shipped 11 tries against Italy, Ireland and England. Against the same opposition this time around, we have only conceded two. While stats can be produced to serve their intended purpose (there were never going to be as many tries in the horrific weather of this year’s Calcutta Cup fixture than there were in the madcap Twickenham draw of 2019) there is no denying the Scotland defence has looked more comfortable. We have lost the fewest points and the fewest tries in the tournament, although we are yet to come up against all-conquering France.

From what I hear, Tandy has simplified the defensive strategy a little.

Beforehand, the players had to stick to certain specifications – for instance, at times everyone had to tackle low, which didn’t suit certain guys and made them uncomfortable. There was a pressure on everyone to make a nuisance of themselves and jackal for the ball. Now, instead of investing in the ruck, they’re investing more in filling the pitch and having more numbers in defence.

The boys enjoyed defending under Matt Taylor, but Tandy has provided a different voice and a new stimulus. The biggest test of the new system will come when France rock up at BT Murrayfield next Sunday. They’ve got bruising power and individual flair; they are fearless and flying under some fantastic new coaches. They will present Scotland with their greatest defensive challenge, one I am sure Hoggy, the back-row, and the rest of the squad are relishing the chance to tackle head-on.

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Jon 1 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 4 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

15 Go to comments
A
Adrian 5 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 8 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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