WRW #15: LOOKING BACK IN RED-TINTED GLASSES
RUGBY ON TV THIS WEEK
Six Nations
Saturday
Italy v Ireland, 2.15pm, ITV
Wales v England, 4.45pm, BBC 1
Sunday:
France v Scotland, 3.00pm BBC 1
Premiership
Friday
Sale v Exeter, 7.45pm, BT Sport 1
Saturday
Bristol v TIGERS, 1.00pm, BT Sport Extra
Newcastle v Harlequins, 3.00pm, BT Sport Extra
Wasps v London Irish, 3.00pm, BT Sport Extra
Gloucester v Worcester, 3.15pm, BT Sport Extra
Sunday
Northampton v Bath, 1.00pm BT Sport 2
Pro 14
Friday
Benetton v Connacht, 5.30pm, Premier Sports
Cardiff Blues v Munster, 8.00pm, Premier Sports
Ulster v Ospreys, 8.00pm, Premier Sports
Saturday
Edinburgh v Scarlets, 12.00pm, Premier Sports
Zebre v Dragons, 5.15pm, Premier Sports
Sunday
Leinster v Glasgow, 5.30pm, Premier Sports
THE LEICESTER SQUEEZE IS ON
Let me start with a prediction this week.
As this season continues and Leicester’s pack gets more attention, there are those who are going to carp about Leicester’s style in future weeks. Yes it’ll be like going back twenty years to the start of the rivalry with Wasps. Boring, boring Leicester, who kick it and maul it, doing little else. Apart from win.
Because the more time goes on, Leicester are winning more and more. The hammering of Wasps was their fifth victory in six at Welford Road and given how complete the demolition was, you credit Tigers’ coaches and players for their best performance of the season so far.
How much did Leicester create? Well, plenty actually and the grunting, gnarly, nasty pack has now officially arrived. Montoya already has as many tries as every other Tigers alongside Wiese and Tom Youngs. But there were moments when their backs wanted to play too and when that happens, Tigers are really in business.
A few talking points from Wasps:
It’s not just the power about the rolling mauls that impresses, it’s the pace with which the Leicester pack goes over the try line that impresses. As good as anything in the Neil Back era.
Tigers going up against Exeter on March 20th will be a guide as to where they are.They are starting games very well indeed, which is a very encouraging sign of this team being tight. Some stats on Leicester starting well, would back me up. Against Wasps, Leicester dominated not just possession in the first 10 minutes but won 70% territory. Wasps meekly gave away five penalties without reply, before the end of the first quarter.
While Ford is away, Moroni’s long, raking clearance kick in the first half was something the England fly-half would have enjoyed. Allied to Wigglesworth whose talents are well known, Henry who when he gets it right as against Wasps is distinctly handy and Steward whose place kicking is equally howitzer-like, and Leicester have kicking options. Perhaps there are ways in which Tigers can ease the burden from solely Henry’s shoulders.
That first half was as effective and as complete a Tigers display as I’ve seen. I don’t believe I’m exaggerating when I say they could have beaten anyone up that day. I suspect strongly that Bristol will be a different matter, but give it 12 months, Tigers’ performance against Wasps will closer to the norm.
After all, look at this….
Clearly from BT Sport’s stats, the game plan isn’t including the backs that much:
For the record, Wigglesworth, Nadolo, Van Wyk, Van Poortvliet and Steward have those five tries.
Surely, Leicester have no chance of overturning the Wiese and Liebenberg reds and I doubt they will even try. Wasps might try overturning the Brookes red, but it’s still doubtful.
Like other clubs who have a strong South African influence, Tigers forwards do latch in midfield occasionally, as in 2/3 players bind together while they’re running into the tackle - AKA the flying wedge which is illegal. But they’re not alone.
Charlie Morgan brought this to our attention on Sunday and he’s not wrong. This is the best example but as you’ll see from following the thread, Tigers did it just before Brookes committed his red card too.
More on this to come in future weeks I suspect.
THE RED ZONE
The immediate ramifications for Wiese and Liebenberg’s second-half reds could be quite significant for Tigers at tonight’s disciplinary hearing.
Both are key players, especially in the wake of Taufua’s departure, but it’s the Wiese sanction which is likely to be the bigger problem.
Wiese is charged under either 9.20 (a) or 9.20 (b) and as you can see, (a) is the slightly harsher sentence. The assumption is that Wiese’s action will come under (a).
The South African is one of the best players in the Premiership right now. South Africa would be mad to ignore him. He has more defenders beaten than anyone bar Tom O’Flaherty - but he does give away penalties (both he and Liebenberg are in the Premiership’s top 15) and his disciplinary record with the Cheetahs has had its moments.
Two bans last season and a similar offence two seasons ago mean that seeking mitigation will be perilous and the panel may well take those misdemeanours into account.
A six week ban for Wiese - which would encompass five of the remaining twelve Premiership games of the season - is far from inconceivable.
As for Liebenberg, his situation looks worse, but his “previous” is not comparable.
A low-end sanction, with mitigation for a guilty plea, could see Liebenberg reduced to 2 or 3 weeks.
I was tweeted at the weekend, to ask when players would start to learn from these incidents so we didn’t see them as often. I dismissed it at the time but on reflection, we have been talking about this for some time now. What do we do if the lesson isn’t being learned?
But to move forward, we need to analyse how we have got to this point and those who say we should go back to rucking, need to do the same.
Take a look at the 1991 World Cup Quarter-Final against France, which includes a very young Fabien Galthie staying close to the French bubble for a change. (more below)
I watched this at the time in a uni TV lounge amid a decidedly mixed audience and in a time when the no-smoking rules were a lot more lax, I can still whiff the Gauloises. This might be my favourite England game of all time, even ahead of 2003 - a serious bit of biff, amazing atmosphere, Guscott’s break for the first-half try is a gem, the French all at sea - and England win.
When you look at it again, there’s just as much kicking from England as now, (in fact, they do nothing else from 9 or 10 inside their own half) but bar one no-arms hit from Cecillon - admittedly he did worse - there’s very little else similar.
After that, have a look at the 1997 Old Trafford Test versus New Zealand, one of the first with Phil Larder as England defence coach, who would of course join Leicester. Look beyond the Haka (yes that one), a frantic, highly entertaining opening before New Zealand score with the first scrap of possession and territory they get as it was ever thus.
Compare England’s defence. In 1997, you see greater organisation including the start of the blitz defence and the shape of the game just “feels” more familiar to here and now. And in an attempt to stop All Black offloads, the tackle height is just starting to creep up.
That was one change of the game going pro, the other is to notice how physiques are getting bulkier which becomes more obvious around the turn of the century. Oh and we’ve not banned rucking yet.
Those themes are still with the game now. Power and strength levels are maxed up to 11, the era of the dominant tackle begins in earnest and the fixation on driving the ball from 5 yards out is soon set. No wonder there is a problem, especially now that players are latching together more before contact and getting away with it.
If you abolish the jackal - as some have advocated - I don’t think you would eradicate the problem of high tackles. But lowering tackle height to say below the chest encourages the offload and will cut out high tackles. It may well reduce the number of rucks, thus reducing the impact on jackals as well.
MORE CHARGES
It’s not going without notice that there was another charge placed on Tigers’ Companies House records on Friday afternoon.
This charge appears to be placed on behalf Sport England (or in their old name English Sports Council) and with recent updates to the records of Newcastle, London Irish and now Tigers and Saracens, there appears to be some momentum now as Sport England conduct conversations with each Premiership club on a 1-2-1 basis.
There is no expectation that funds have been received by any Premiership club at this stage.
In truth, there is little to be gleaned for the outside world from this latest record form the same sources I spoke to last week. Given I know who subscribes to this newsletter, I’m all ears to those who know more…😊
All the document does do is set out the legal protections for Sport England (the downsides) without revealing the upsides for all parties. But there is one comfort to those who are concerned that any propping up of the club’s financial position would allow an early or advantageous sale. While Sport England remain Programme Manager, they would be likely to want a say on any sale or alternative financing measures, such as securitisation on season tickets (basically taking a loan out against future season tickets which is not uncommon within football).
That may not be too much of a compromise, although even when the relationship with Sport England ends, any sale thereafter which is seen as overly profitable will be scrutinised relentlessly.
GOODBYE SHALVA
How it started..on March 2nd 2020.
How it ended almost a year on (poor fella)
QUICK HITS
Oh….
As the great Bob Mortimer might have once said, they just wouldn’t let 2007 lie….and never ever will.
Fabien Galthie always seems to have an inflated sense of self and this will not convince his critics otherwise….
RUNNING FROM DEEP
Admittedly a preview piece for the Wasps game but a nice interview with Joe Heyes in the Telegraph well worth reading if you’ve not seen it.. (£)..
For all of Heyes’ promise, however, he remains fourth choice for England, and must continue to play second fiddle at his club, behind stalwart Dan Cole. But his hard work behind-the-scenes has not gone unnoticed. Heyes spent the first lockdown running – almost incessantly, out of boredom. He dropped down to around 116kg from his usual 120kg-plus. He regained that weight in the gym, but he remains fitter than ever; a necessity for Jones.
“I asked Eddie what I could do to get into the squad and he said he wants me to develop my ball-carrying and things like that, and become a more consistent scrummager.”
Rob Kitson in the Guardian makes the case for root and branch law reform within the game.
No one wants endless law-book tinkering but for how long can smashing isolated “jacklers” and repeated head-down bashing from three metres out remain sustainable? And whatever happened to referees – even the best ones – being seen but only seldom heard? Nowadays the officials are on screen more often than Matt Hancock, trying to be judge, jury, coach and mother hen – “Now, please, 9” – all at once. Rugby’s most dramatic moments should be happening when the ball is in play, not when it is dead.
And while we are at it can we properly deal with the low-hanging lawbook fruit that leaves the game open to constant ridicule – feeding the second-row at scrums, the painful caterpillar rucks, etc – and reconsider anachronisms such as charging down goal-kickers, particularly when the latter have just been told by the referee to take as long as they like with the clock in the red. No criticism of Northampton, who deserved to beat Exeter on Saturday, but the law is an ass when hair-splitting arguments over whether a kicker adjusting his stance is “starting their approach” overshadow the main event. Rugby is developing an image problem and it is not all the players’ fault.
Lions tour at home, anyone? The Times says it might well be, however Australia is still in the frame…BUT..
It is the priority of the Lions board to stage the tour matches in front of a live audience. However, both the UK and the Australia option would come with the risk of a tour being disrupted by Covid. The board is therefore seeking a financial guarantee. If only one of the two governments say yes, that may help decide the destination of the tour.
The request for a guarantee has been put to the Australian government by Rugby Australia. The Lions have had the request to the UK government for a number of weeks. The Times understands that this request has not been dismissed out of hand; indeed, it has been discussed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and is next due for discussion at Treasury level.
A Government bailout??? For the Lions….?
The Argentine invasion has been extensive this season in all the European Leagues. Plenty of the Jaguares are now here, but what about the actual Jaguares? The Irish Times suggests a place in the Pro 14 awaits the team after the pandemic forced the breakup of Super Rugby:
It has forced the UAR to lay out initial yet hugely ambitious plans for the Jaguares to be based in Bilbao, Spain while competing in the Pro14 - a competition soon to become the Pro16.
It is understood private equity firm CVC, who recently acquired a 28 per cent share in the Pro14, are keen on further expansion.
They believe the potential inclusion of the Jaguares would likely bring more TV revenue into the competition. Such a move wouldn’t go down well in Wales. Supporters there are unhappy at the cross-border element of the competition and there is a longing for more Anglo-Welsh fixtures.
I should add to those who want a South American club league….there already is one. There’s just no money in it and of course, the standard is nowhere near European levels.
A bit of reality though..
Don’t forget the WRW Six Nations update out on Friday, looking forward to both Wales v England as well as Bristol v Leicester.
See you then.
Excellent as ever Chris. I still firmly believe that the player leaping, vainly as often as not, to strike an opponent while in the air is equally as culpable for recklessly endangering himself and their opponent as the man on the floor. The law can't continue to allow this unfettered. Bassett had no chance of catching the ball - it he hadn't struck Hanro there was a very good argument for a deliberate knock-on - but there was a very good chance of striking an opponent. Which he did. Under the current law there can be no doubt about the red card - but as is often the case - the law is an ass.