The Waratahs are the 'Penney dreadful' of the Super Rugby news stand
After yet another defeat, this time against the Melbourne Rebels, the 2020 Super Rugby season for the New South Wales Waratahs is starting to read out like a 19th Century penny dreadful.
It is official, after three chapters of the 2020 story: the Waratahs are currently the worst side in the 2020 competition having not won a match, nor even really looking like doing so. Furthermore, they have conceded 14 tries in just three games and have been unable to obtain any face-saving bonus points along the way. It’s a truly unremarkable effort.
This story is already turning in to situation critical for Waratahs head coach Rob Penney and his team, yet how and why has this season already become a ‘train crash in slow motion’ when there is obvious talent and experience in both the coaching and playing staff?
What is going wrong?
Earlier this year, there was every reason to believe that the Waratahs would at least have a competitive forward pack. As it has played out thus far, their quality must be questioned.
Are they competitive? Yes. Consistent? No. Dominant? Infrequently.
How can a forward pack that contains significant international experience in the likes of Rob Simmons and Michael Hooper, coupled with the likes of Jack Dempsey, Jed Holloway, Lachie Swinton, and Tom Staniforth not be consistently ruthless at the collision? After all, they are not lacking in size or skill to do so.
Individually, each has done some exceptional work in the three games played thus far – consider Hooper’s performance in the opening round against the Crusaders as an example. Why this Waratah pack has failed to galvanize as a playing unit after three defeats, however, despite their experience, is perplexing.
It appears they have the ‘bricks’ to be a better side than they are now, but are well short on ‘mortar’.
Rob Penney has taken on arguably the toughest job in Australian provincial rugby. He has the unenviable task of trying to implement his style of rugby into a playing group that may not entirely understand his intentions.
It is obvious from the rugby being played on the field that there is discourse or confusion somewhere within the operation as the option taking and decision-making has been substandard and has cost the Waratahs dearly.
During the press conference post the defeat in round two against the Blues when Rob Penney was addressing the media and commenting on his thoughts, his captain Rob Simmons turned and faced Penney, and appeared to give him a prolonged stare with a facial expression that exuded one of confusion.
It begs the question, are these two even on the same page? Because there does not really appear to be a consistent coherent output on the field to suggest they are.
Against the Rebels, it was patently obvious the Waratahs did not deserve to win. Ill-discipline coupled with poor application to facets of the game, that requires no talent, were evident in the Waratahs’ performance.
At times the Rebels were allowed to exit their 22 with ease with little to no pressure coming onto the clearance kick. Furthermore, how many kicks from the Waratahs were kicked into an area that relived themselves of possession but not pressure?
This again comes back to option taking and whilst rookie flyhalf Will Harrison is handling himself admirably, he requires a more experienced rugby player than Karmichael Hunt closer to him to assist him with that decision making moving forward.
There is now speculation Kurtley Beale might be brought into the flyhalf role.
Moving Hunt into 13 and bringing Beale into 12, allowing him to assist the talented youngster, would be of greater benefit to the Waratahs in the immediate term. Such a move would allow Jack Maddocks to play from fullback where he could flourish.
A positive for the Waratahs was the performance of 19-year-old loosehead prop Angus Bell. He has the size and strength to be something special, yet technically he appeared to be packing a little too high initially and furthermore spent too much time talking to the assistant referee. More scrums and less chatter would serve him best but it’s easy to understand why the young prop is generating so much excitement.
How chapter four of this story unfolds is unknown, yet if a reader were going to buy the fourth chapter of this Penny Dreadful, they must be hard up for entertainment because the Waratahs thus far are anything but a good news story in 2020.
Rob Penney ahead of the Waratahs match against the Rebels:
Comments on RugbyPass
This is short sighted from Clayton if you ask me, smacks of too much preseason planning and no adaptability. What if DMac is out for a must win match, are they still only going to bring their best first five and playmaker on late in the game? Trusting the game to someone who wasn’t even part of planning (they would have had Trask pinned in as Jacomb preseason). Perhaps if the Crusaders were better they would not have done this, but either way imo you take this opportunity to play a guy you might need starting in a final rather than having their 12th game getting comfortable coming off the bench.
1 Go to commentsThanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.
21 Go to commentsWhat a load of bollocks. The author has forgotten to mention the fact that the Crusaders have a huge injury toll with top world class players out. Not to mention the fact that they are obviously in a transition period. No this will not spark a slow death for NZ rugby, but it does mean there will be a new Super Rugby champion. Anyone who knows anything about NZ rugby knows that there is some serious talent here, it just isn’t all at the Crusaders.
2 Go to commentsI wouldn’t spend the time on Nawaqanitawase! No point in having him filling in a jersey when he’s committed to leave Union. Give the jersey to a young prospect who will be here in the future.
4 Go to commentsIt was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
7 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
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