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Luke Jacobson hitting all the right notes for All Blacks recall but Chiefs coach still has one frustration
Luke Jacobson must have one hand on an All Blacks jersey after another statement performance for the Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday evening.
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Jacobson was arguably his side’s top performer in their significant 40-19 win over the Brumbies, scoring two tries and almost setting up a third for the Super Rugby Aotearoa finalists.
With the likes of the Hurricanes and Blues scoring bonus point wins in earlier matches, the Chiefs needed a win to ensure they’d stay in the hunt for a spot in the finals and they did it in comprehensive fashion, nabbing a bonus point of their own.
Jacobson finished the match as the Chiefs’ biggest metre-eater in the forwards, accruing 84 metres with ball in hand. That figure was boosted by two line breaks, while he also beat four defenders and made 16 carries – five more than the Chiefs’ next best, the likes of Anton Lienert-Brown, Damian McKenzie and Samisoni Taukei’aho.
Coach Clayton McMillan was complimentary of his number 8’s contribution in the Chiefs’ winning effort following the match.
“I thought he was outstanding,” he said. “He’s been good all year, hasn’t he? Some games when he’s been a little bit quiet, the ball just hasn’t gone his way, but he showed a clean pair of heels at times today.”
McMillan did have one gripe with the two-test All Black, however.
With time almost up on the clock in the first half, Jacobson made an excellent break on attack and a short pass to captain Brad Weber would’ve resulted in a guaranteed try for the Chiefs.
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The pass, however, was not quite on the money and Weber fluffed the catch – handing the ball back to the Brumbies. The Chiefs went into the break up 19-5 – a margin that the Chiefs themselves have overcome this year, but also one they were ahead by against the Highlanders before eventually losing the match.
McMillan, understandably, was not too happy with the botched try.
“I’ll still hit him up about the shitty pass he tried to give to Webby that should have been a try, so getting better but not perfect,” he said. “You don’t get many opportunities at this level and we’ve harped on all year around not cashing in on opportunities like that.
“That’s a frustration because a decent pass and Webby goes in and we’re up by 25 points at halftime. That’s a lot different picture than a 15 or 16-point margin. That’s not a lot in the modern game. We just need to nail those to keep advancing our game and being the real consistent contenders that we aspire to be.”
The Chiefs have kept themselves in the hunt for a place in the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman final by thumping the Brumbies 40-19 in Hamilton. Here's how they rated. #SuperRugbyTT #CHIvBRU https://t.co/licyYgyAIo
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 22, 2021
It wasn’t the only opportunity the Chiefs coughed up – but the Chiefs were still able to hold a comfortable lead throughout most of the game. There’s still room for improvement according to the coach, however – and he won’t rest easy in matches until he’s sure his side have the game in the bag.
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“[A] statement performance would have been [to nail] the two or three opportunities that we didn’t cash in on but still bloody pleasing to knock off a good Brumbies side, which we needed to do,” McMillan said. “I want it to be like 50 points without five minutes to go, then I can sit back and be pretty content.
“We played some good rugby today. I think our decision making around when and when not to offload was pretty good. We respected the ball a lot more, brought a lot more line speed in our D, which we’ve been pressuring guys to do, and put them on the deck early and create really clear pictures for offside lines, opportunities to have a jackle.
“There were things that we worked on in the week that went really well tonight and that’s the pleasing aspect.”
Jacobson was aided well by his fellow loose forwards, with Liam Messam, Lachlan Boshier and Pita Gus Sowakula all have solid games for the home side. Boshier, in particular, was a hound on defence, notching up 26 tackles throughout the match.
It’s Jacobson who’s nearing ‘certain’ status for All Blacks selection later this year, however, after overcoming a slew of injuries throughout the past 18 months to establish himself as one of the most talented and physical loose forwards in New Zealand.
Comments on RugbyPass
Jake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
11 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
3 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
11 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
11 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to comments