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New England defence coach has singled out the Wallabies dangerman
New England defence coach Anthony Seibold has singled out Nic White – a familiar face from the Gallagher Premiership – as the dangerman when the Wallabies visit Twickenham next Saturday in the latest round of Autumn Nations Series. The 31-year-old scrum-half was with the Exeter Chiefs from 2017 through to 2020 and he has since gone on to become Dave Rennie’s preference as Australia’s regular No9.
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The Wallabies had arrived in the UK on the back of a winning five straight matches in the same season (outside of a World Cup year) for the first time since 2008 when Robbie Deans was in charge, but they were upset by Scotland last Sunday and will now look to bounce back against England in what will be Seibold’s first major Test as Eddie Jones’ defence coach.
It was early September when the ex-South Sydney Rabbitohs coach, whose most recent full-time employment ended disastrously as the Brisbane Broncos boss in August 2020, was confirmed as a new England assistant following the sudden defection of John Mitchell to Wasps.
England came through their first match with Seibold in charge of their defence without conceding a try, a Courtney Lawes-led side defeating Tonga 69-3 last weekend, but the arrival of the Wallabies at English rugby HQ will present a very different challenge – especially with half-back White knowing so much about the calibre of player he is facing due to his time at Exeter.
“Nic White has been at the forefront of a lot of what they have done well over the Rugby Championship this year,” reckoned Seibold when asked to assess the threat posed by the Wallabies. “They didn’t get the result on the weekend but their previous performances I thought they built, even in a couple of games against New Zealand. I see Nic White as a key figure for them.
Eddie Jones is holding discussions with his England assistants after the loss of Marler…#England #ENGvAUS #AutumnNationsSeries #Wallabies
https://t.co/1Ld0kpjxzX— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 9, 2021
“He has got a lot of experience now for the Wallabies. I know that Tate McDermott comes off the bench and replaces him but he is at the forefront of what they do well. Michael Hooper is obviously a world-class player. One of the areas we have seen significant improvement from the Wallabies is their ruck attack and it is off their ball-carrying ability. I expect those two and (Rob) Valetini, their No8, to be at the forefront of that.”
Seibold is following a well-trodden pattern of coaches who have honed their reputation in rugby league making the crossover to work in rugby union. They may be different codes but one aspect definitely features dominantly in both sports when it comes to defence. “One of the good things of all union and league defences is it is all built around attitude, it’s built around working hard for your mate and you build that trust over a period of time,” he said.
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“What I would like you to see is that we are a team that works really hard for each other and they turn up for each other. It is not always going to be perfect but the attitude to get the job done is a starting point. I am a very defensively biased coach. I have been a professional coach for 15 or 16 years. Making sure the players understand their roles initially and then have the attitude and make the right choices to perform is at the forefront of what I do.
“In any sport where you are trying to get from one end of the field to the other, speed of ball is key. What it does is it puts you under pressure. If it is fast ruck speed it is going to create some instability on defence at different times. It is about winning the first contact and making sure that the initial contact is solid.
“If you do that you are a chance of slowing down the ruck speed but if you don’t get that initial contact, teams create instability by getting one-on-one tackles. You see that in world rugby at the moment.
“Any time there is a one-on-one tackle there is quicker speed of ball so for us, it is about making sure we have two in the tackle. We believe that if we can do that and work hard for each other then you are a chance, but teams create instability when there is quick ruck speed.”
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'It was the hardest decision I had to make in my professional career so far.' @brad_shields talks to @heagneyl ??? about @WaspsRugby , buses, New Zealand and why he hasn't given up on returning to the England fold #Wasps #EnglandRugby https://t.co/47sEZfI0Ho
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 7, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
28 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 commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
28 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
28 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
28 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
28 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments