James O'Connor shouldn't be the only Reds player Dave Rennie looks at for the Wallabies' backline
After an emphatic 64-5 victory by the Queensland Reds over the Sunwolves at Suncorp on Saturday night, many pundits were singing the praises of James O’Connor and rightfully so.
The 29-year-old exhibited a masterful display of flyhalf rugby maturely mixing his attacking options between the run, pass and kick options available to him, often leaving his opponents flummoxed on how to shut down the Queensland attack.
Whilst I concur with the praise of O’Connor, it would be remiss not to highlight the performance of the man just outside of O’Connor, namely Hamish Stewart.
Arguably the biggest question the Queensland Reds had to answer this season was how would they replace Samu Kerevi in the 12 jersey. Stewart answered that question on Saturday night delivering an unspectacular but nonetheless invaluable performance for his side.
It was a performance Samu Kerevi himself is not capable of, but the performance Queensland required to achieve such a stunning victory.
For James O’Connor to be able to marshal the Queensland Reds around the field he requires a dependable partner on his outside shoulder otherwise the attack becomes predictable as it is too reliant on O’Connor himself. Stewart illustrated what a partner he is for O’Connor in that Queensland midfield as on numerous occasions he would step into the first receiver’s role allowing O’Connor to roam into the wider channel and either link with his outside backs or attack the space himself.
Such a strategy worked to great effect when O’Connor linked with Henry Speight who had all but scored a try but was tackled close to the line yet found O’Connor back on the inside in support who claimed the honours.
Yet Stewart offers so much more than just playing second fiddle to O’Connor in the attacking structure as a distributor. Apart from being able to step into first receiver, Stewart himself proved to be more than competent running as a flat attacking option in the traditional 12 channel.
As a dummy runner, Stewart runs angles that engage the defensive line towards him thus allowing whoever receives the ball greater time and space to work with as defenders have been drawn to Stewart.
The times he actually received the pass, the 90kg Stewart carried numerous defenders with him past the gain line, and on one occasion through sheer will dragged his opposite the 105kg Ben Teo along with him giving his side the all-important front foot ball. Evidently, Stewart can provide his side post-contact meters.
There are ‘good problems’ in rugby from time-to-time and the Queensland Reds are experiencing that when considering to start two openside flankers in Captain Liam Wright, and the exceptionally talented Fraser McReight.
The reason for selecting a dual openside is that a team would be seeking greater presence at the breakdown and in support play. Yet that can often leave the lineout and or scrum exposed due to lack of weight and jumping options.
Whilst it would be tempting to start McReight alongside Wright, Queensland should guard against doing so as their set-piece is performing exceptionally well and there is already a quasi-open side flanker in the backline in Hamish Stewart.
As a former schoolboy flanker, Stewart has a natural attraction to the breakdown and furthermore is more than just a body in that space. Stewart’s body shape and position at the breakdown are as good as any forward at Super Rugby level, as is his leg drive into the cleanout.
Whilst he may not be obtaining turnovers regularly Stewart does secure the ball for his side and furthermore, when tackling he is quick to rollaway, return to his feet and contest the breakdown lawfully. Seldom will Hamish Stewart put pressure onto his own side by lazy play in the recycle.
Whilst some may argue for the dual openside flankers to allow greater support play, there would be few better support players in that Queensland side than Stewart himself. When looking at James O’Connor’s try, it was Stewart just off his shoulder.
When Tate McDermott scored his first try, he had Taniela Tupou on his right and not far off on his left was Hamish Stewart.
Furthermore, in the first half with Queensland on the attack just past the halfway Harry Wilson carried sublimely into the collision zone but fell in a manner he could not see Stewart running an inverted angle back off his open shoulder. If a pass could have been popped, Stewart looked destined for space, if not the try line. He is a very astute support player who works hard off the ball for his team.
In defence, Stewart performed admirably and he largely kept former English international and British & Irish Lion Ben Teo quite in attack. If there were any criticism of Hamish Stewart’s performance it would be that he did have a defensive misread, that oddly enough contributed to his own try.
With the Sunwolves launching an attack just inside their halfway through JJ Englebrecht, Hamish Stewart should have trusted his inside defence in Lukhan Salakia-Loto who appeared to have the former Springbok covered, yet Stewart doubled up, opening up space for Ben Teo.
Stewart, however, was lucky enough to get a finger on the ball which ever so slightly disrupted the pass to Teo who subsequently had over overrun the pass, with the ball popping back into to Stewart’s arms who then showed some acceleration to run away with a try.
In looking towards the Reds’ encounter with the Sharks this weekend, if I were Sharks Coach Sean Everitt and were looking to pressure the Reds defensive system it would be when Stewart is defending in that 13 channel, which only really occurred on quick turnover ball.
Furthermore, to pressure the Reds attacking system, push up on Hamish Stewart’s longer passes when he is passing long to the outside channel as Stewart is prone to holding onto the ball one or two steps too long in possession, stifling his outside runners and opening up possible interception opportunities.
The Sunwolves were too inept in this facet to seize on the opportunity of play but the opportunity was there at least twice on the weekend. However, I have little doubt the masterful Reds’ attack coach Jim Mckay would have already picked up on that aspect of Stewart’s play and it will be corrected by Saturday night.
Stewart appears to have found his rightful position in the Queensland Reds. Whilst starting out as a flyhalf and used at fullback the 21-year-old never really appeared settled in his previous three years in Super Rugby and spent much of 2019 on the bench.
However, at inside centre in 2020 and not carrying the complete burden of organizing an attack and being given the latitude to play in a system that promotes his skill set, he is the quietest of achievers in the Queensland side and has emerged from the wilderness as an exceptionally valuable rugby player to the Queensland Reds in 2020.
If Wallaby coach Dave Rennie is looking for a multi-skilled, the dependable midfielder could well yet find himself in a Wallaby squad in a few months.
Reds flyhalf James O’Connor talks to the media:
Comments on RugbyPass
Christie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
44 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
5 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
44 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
44 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to commentsThis 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”?
35 Go to commentsWow, didn’t realise there was such apathy to URC in SA, or by Champions Cup teams. Just read Nick’s article on Crusaders, are Sharks a similar circumstance? I think SA rugby has been far more balanced than NZs, no?
4 Go to commentsBut 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.
44 Go to commentsIt could be coincidental or prescient that the All Blacks most dominant period under Steve Hansen was when the Crusaders had their least successful period under Todd Blackadder and then the positions reversed when Razor took over the Crusaders.
44 Go to commentsDefinitely sound read everybodyexpects immediate results these days, I don't think any team would travel well at all having lost three of the most important game changers in the game,compiled with the massive injury list they are now carrying, good to see a different more in depth perspective of a coaches history.
3 Go to commentsSinckler is a really big loss for English rugby.
2 Go to comments