I can’t let the comments of Ardie Savea and Jason Holland go unchallenged
I can’t really let the comments of Ardie Savea and Jason Holland go unchallenged.
For starters, the Hurricanes ought to be good enough to beat the Brumbies every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
It shows how far that franchise has fallen, since they showed coach Chris Boyd the door, appointed John Plumtree and then had to hastily install Holland when Plumtree plumped for the All Blacks.
They were a formidable outfit then. They’re only average now.
Maybe a win over the Brumbies would have flattered them, but they still could have achieved it if Jordie Barrett had opted to pass.
Barrett had an unmarked Bailyn Sullivan outside him – with the line at his mercy – as the clock counted down in Canberra.
Instead of passing to Sullivan, Barrett went himself.
Credit to the Hurricanes for recycling the ball and allowing Savea one last surge at the line, but the game should have been done-and-dusted by then.
A mate of mine – an unabashed Hurricanes fan since their inception – text me immediately afterwards.
He did not mention Savea, nor referee Nic Berry or Television Match Official Brett Cronan.
No, his text was simply about Barrett and the pass that might-have-been. And I agree.
Berry, Cronan and rugby’s laws around TMO-referrals were a convenient distraction for the Hurricanes.
Savea could claim he scored the try and Holland could wax lyrical about the game going to the dogs and how the language used by referees dictates the outcome of referrals, without acknowledging their own fault.
It was almost as if, with Savea soon to be on sabbatical, Holland off to the All Blacks and old stager Dane Coles hanging up his Super Rugby boots, the Hurricanes believed they deserved better.
“Heartbreaking,’’ was a word used afterwards and a narrative formed about a group of plucky little battlers who’d been robbed.
As a mechanism for avoiding responsibility, you’d have to say it worked. At least in the short term.
But it can’t obscure the fact that the Hurricanes aren’t as good as they were six or eight years ago. That the hard cultural work, done by coaches such as Mark Hammett and Boyd, hasn’t resulted in lasting change.
This is a franchise as inconsistent and unreliable as it ever was and that’s the story here. Not whether Nic Berry prematurely ended their season or not.
I wouldn’t have TMOs myself. Having watched rugby for more than 40 years, I’m actually happy to go back to a time when the referee was the sole adjudicator of fact.
It was imperfect, there were errors, occasionally a team was robbed. But, on the whole, I think I liked it better back then.
I’d say the same of all sports where technology has become the arbiter.
Berry couldn’t see that Savea had scored, replays were inconclusive and we ended up with the right decision being made.
If the Hurricanes have a problem with that, then maybe they shouldn’t have let the result come down to a referee’s call.
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Big empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to comments