The unanswered questions that will cost the Waratahs dearly in 2020
There are several questions to be answered by the New South Wales Waratahs of 2020.
What change will new head coach Rob Penney effect upon the squad? Who will play fly half? And where will the points come from? Make no doubt about it 2020 will be an exceptionally challenging, transitional year for the New South Welshman and their supporters.
Taking over from his fellow Cantabrian Daryl Gibson, Penney has accepted arguably the toughest coaching role in Australian provincial rugby.
He has the unenviable task of implementing his playing style and regime in a decidedly politicised organisation, operating in an exceedingly competitive professional sports market that subsequently demands success yesterday.
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Penney, and his fellow coaches in former Wallabies Matt Cockbain, Mark Bell and Chris Whittaker, find themselves is in a transitional period for Waratahs rugby, and the transition is not a word immediately synonymous with instant success.
Penney must learn to play the politics while also balancing the head coaching role if he is to see out his three-year contract as he has no history or power base to draw support from if the Waratahs falter early in his tenure.
The pressure is on from day one.
That being said, Penney is a well-credentialled coach, achieving stunning success with Canterbury in the ITM Cup, winning the title four times in a row between 2008 and 2011.
Although not as successful during his two-year stint at Irish province Munster, he received the PRO12 coach of the season award in 2014 for his efforts. Evidently, Penney knows his way around professional rugby, but what will we see from him in 2020?
He will, at the very least in year one, have the Waratahs fit and have a forward pack that can secure set piece as that is where the strength in his squad is found.
The @sunwolves have once again dipped into the offshore player market for their final season in @SuperRugby, but their newest recruit comes from esteemed rugby heritage.https://t.co/Sp2OWzBChu
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 7, 2020
Despite the loss of experienced Wallabies such as Sekope Kepu and Tolu Latu, Penney can build a platform off the likes of Wallabies Harry Johnson-Homes, Tom Robertson, Tetera Faulkner, Rob Simmons, Jack Dempsey and Michael Hooper.
Coupled with emerging names like Carlo Tizzano, who is an exciting openside talent out of Western Australia, and powerhouse blindside flanker Lachlan Swinton, who could tour the northern hemisphere with the Wallabies this year, the Waratahs look to have the makings of a very decent forward pack in 2020.
That being said, what about the backs who should enjoy the benefit of the possession provided by these forwards?
That is where Penney has his work cut out.
While Jake Gordon should be the pick of the halfbacks, the key issue for the Waratahs is who will fill the vacancy in the fly-half role left by veteran Bernard Foley?
The two main contenders appear to be Mack Mason and Will Harrison. The youthful Harrison has promise but is suspect on defence and is simply too young to be thrown into the rigours of starting fly-half for the Waratahs at this time.
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Although Mason has been the longer-serving Waratah and already has some Super Rugby experience, he is yet to establish himself as a player who can perform consistently at this level, let alone steer around a team to win the Australian conference.
The lack of a proficient fly-half will cause New South Wales issues in 2020.
Some may consider veteran Kurtley Beale an option to fulfil the role, but that would be a selection void of vision and potentially fatal to Penney’s tenure as he must develop talent.
It is currently being reported that the Waratahs and Melbourne Rebels are considering a player swap to allow Wallaby Jack Maddocks to return to his native Sydney.
He could be the fly-half New South Wales are looking for.
Maddocks is fast, plays with good lateral vision and runs excellent support lines, yet there has always been a feeling that his talents were wasted on the wing, where he has largely played his rugby for the Rebels and Wallabies.
Maddocks is a player who can run at a gap and receive a pass, but appears to be better the more he has the ball in his hands and looks like a frustrated playmaker as he bides his time out wide.
There hasn’t been a player who seems to have ‘time’ like Maddocks does since Stephen Larkham made the transition from fullback to fly-half.
That’s not to say Maddocks is a Larkham in waiting, but he does possess a greater threat than either Mason or Harrison when running the ball. These abilities, coupled with his Wallabies and Australian sevens experience, make Maddocks a more than interesting prospect as a fly-half for the Waratahs if they can secure his services.
The @NSWWaratahs may have found their replacement for controversial fullback @IzzyFolau after entering negotiations for a player swap deal with the @MelbourneRebels.https://t.co/L9QeNOLNCF
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 7, 2020
The Waratahs have some potency in the backline attack, but it is one void of one of two players that could tear a defence apart. Beale has played his best rugby, as has Karmichael Hunt, and neither should be banked on causing as much havoc as they have done previously in years gone by.
That is not to say they won’t add value and experience to the Waratahs backline, but where will points come from in this backline?
Junior Wallabies winger Mark Nawaqanitawase is an exciting prospect, while Alex Newsome is also developing into a very good winger, but it remains to be seen if these Waratahs backs have the class to breach the defensive systems of the other Australian sides consistently, let alone foreign opposition.
The Waratahs’ backline appears to be their Achilles heel.
They will be a force to be reckoned with in the forwards, yet do not possess the backline to seriously contend for the Australian conference.
Akin to the Brumbies, the Waratahs will look to make their forwards their weapon scoring from driving mauls off lineouts and looking for penalties from set piece.
Such a game plan can only take you so far. A fourth place finish in the Australian conference looms for the Waratahs, but they will earn respect and experience along the way and lay the platform for greater success in 2021 and 2022.
Waratahs Player Movements 2019-20
Ins: Robbie Abel (Melbourne Rebels), Darcy Breen (Sydney University), Joe Cotton (Wests), Max Douglas (Manly), Tetera Faulkner (Melbourne Rebels), Charlie Gamble (Sydney), Tom Horton (Wests), Michael McDonald (Sydney), Tepai Moeroa (Parramatta Eels), Mark Nawaqanitawase (NSW Country Eagles), Triston Reilly (Australia Sevens), Henry Robertson (NSW Country Eagles), Tiaan Tauakipulu (St Kentigern’s College), Carlo Tizzano (Western Force), Joey Walton (NSW Country Eagles).
Outs: Adam Ashley-Cooper (released), BJ Edwards (released), Israel Folau (released), John Folau (released), Bernard Foley (Kubota Spears), Sekope Kepu (London Irish), Tolu Latu (Stade Francais), Will Miller (Brumbies), Tatafu Polota-Nau (Leicester Tigers), Nick Phipps (London Irish), Le Roux Roets (released), Curtis Rona (London Irish), JP Sauni (released), Rory Suttor (released), Tautalatasi Tasi (released), Shambeckler Vui (Brumbies), Michael Wells (Melbourne Rebels).
Waratahs 2020 Super Rugby Squad
Forwards: Angus Bell, Darcy Breen*, Tetera Faulkner*, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Rory O’Connor, Tom Robertson, Chris Talakai, Tiaan Tauakipulu*, Cody Walker; Robbie Abel*, Joe Cotton*, Damien Fitzpatrick, Tom Horton*, Andrew Tuala; Max Douglas*, Ned Hanigan, Jed Holloway, Ryan McCauley, Rob Simmons, Tom Staniforth, Jeremy Williams; Jack Dempsey, Charlie Gamble*, Will Harris, Michael Hooper (captain), Hugh Sinclair, Lachlan Swinton, Patrick Tafa, Carlo Tizzano*.
Backs: Jake Gordon, Michael McDonald*, Mitch Short, Henry Robertson*; Will Harrison, Mack Mason; Kurtley Beale, Lalakai Foketi, Tepai Moeroa*, Joey Walton*; Cameron Clark, Ben Donaldson, Karmichael Hunt, Mark Nawaqanitawase*, Alex Newsome, James Ramm, Triston Reilly*.
(Bold and italics denotes internationally capped player, italics denotes development player, * denotes new signing)
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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!
3 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 …
30 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
3 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 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.
30 Go to comments