Newtta’s Noos-day – 25/7/23 – Green and Gold Rugby

Newtta’s Noose-day – 25/7/23

Rugby Pass has a abstract from an Aotearoa Rugby Pod dialogue on the Wallabies.

The Aotearoa Rugby Pod gave their insights on what’s troubling the Wallabies to this point and shared their considerations over the complexity of the sport plan and the potential free-for-all that has been offered as a range coverage.  The results of these components are an absence of readability on the sector and busy minds that aren’t in the very best area for vital decision-making.

Of chief concern was how these components had been disrupting the staff’s effectivity across the ruck.

“Their attacking breakdown, (you want) tight pods, readability. ‘I’m carrying, you’re cleansing’,” Former All Black James Parsons mentioned.

“I haven’t seen a ruck stat this low at worldwide rugby. 88%, they gained on their very own ball at ruck time. Argentina had been at 90%, the All Blacks had been at 97%, the Springboks had been at 97%.

Parsons added a selected instance of poor decision-making, recalling a Wallabies participant being penalised for taking part in the ball on the bottom whereas laying in entrance of the ref. To the podcast’s panel, it was additional proof of the gamers being targeted on preventing for his or her positions whereas attempting to execute an entire new system and “overtrying” amongst all of it.

The treatment, within the pundits’ eyes, was to “lean up the menu”. In different phrases, simplify the sport plan so the gamers are extra clear on their roles and will be extra current, simply enjoying the sport because it occurs in entrance of them.

It’s all over for the time being.  Sooner or later issues have to settle and consolidate into patterns and recognisable techniques.  There are three extra assessments earlier than the world cup.  On the earth cup, the Wallabies face Georgia, Fiji, Wales, and Portugal in that order.  Is it okay to make use of Georgia as a part of a consolidation course of, or is that too late and dangerous?  Is the Fiji match too late and dangerous?

Tom Brocklebank of Rugby Coach Weekly seems to have precious expertise teaching beneath 14s, and maybe a few of these ideas may be value Eddie’s consideration:

Some gamers have been lacking tackles in latest matches and are low on confidence – group by comparable means throughout your tackling exercise so your gamers can expertise tackling success.

A lower-ability participant is missing confidence, retains dropping catches and never passing precisely – enjoying them along with your higher-ability gamers can imply they’re receiving extra correct passes, that are simpler for them to catch, and gamers who’re higher at catching can safe a much less correct go.

Seems on the floor like contradictory recommendation, however coaches will be tough like that.  Totally different groupings in participant coaching for various expertise I feel is the message.  And constructing confidence with easy issues can be the message.  I didn’t discover any extra message in Tom’s piece.  Two issues may be sufficient message for gamers with confidence points.

Does Eddie take note of different coaches, or is he his personal man?

Nathan Williamson of Rugby.com.au studies that an U20 Rugby Championship has been introduced for 2024:

The event will kick off on the Gold Coast in April, with groups set to play one another as soon as throughout a three-week interval.

“This can be a important step within the development of younger expertise throughout our member unions as importantly it would present additional growth alternatives annually for gamers, coaches, staff administration and match officers, and can enable for higher preparation into the World Rugby Championship,” SANZAAR CEO Brendan Morris added.

The U20 Trophy is underway in Kenya.  4 groups are nonetheless unbeaten going into the final group matches, but it surely appears like Scotland may be enjoying Spain for a spot in subsequent yr’s U20 Championship.

Wikipedia has a abstract here.

Is beneath 20 too younger?  Would beneath 21 be higher?  Many payers don’t make knowledgeable squad till 22 or 23.  May it not be higher to present gamers not but in skilled squads the event alternative?  Below 23s are frequent in soccer and ice hockey, and American soccer doesn’t draft gamers till they’re completed faculty.

With no tier-one rugby check to evaluate this final weekend, I believed I’d dial 150 years into the Wayback Machine courtesy of the Web Archive, to discover a check evaluate to cite – the England v Scotland match of 1873 on p146 at the following link.

The climate seems to have been nothing uncommon for that a part of the world:

When the English twenty arrived in Glasgow they discovered the nation beneath snow, however this shortly thawed beneath a sizzling solar, and was adopted by a downpour of rain which continued all through the day. The turf was consequently spongy and slippery on the prime, and the working of the backs was severely affected.

However play was completely different in these days:

The bottom measured 130 yards by 70, and was surrounded by some 5,000 spectators regardless of the depressing climate. The English twenty averaged 12st. 6lb. per man, and their opponents 12st. lib., however England’s fourteen forwards (as in contrast with Scotland’s 13) had been at a slight drawback in level of weight.

England had three “backs” (presumably that covers full again, and wingers), along with one three-quarter again, two half backs, and the 14 forwards.  Scotland performed an additional three quarter again and one much less ahead.

Half backs in these days performed left half and proper half of the scrum – not as a scrum half and fly half.  Neither needed to feed the scrum – after each sort out, the tackled participant put the ball on the bottom and the scrum fashioned round it.  And scrums needed to scrummage the ball via the opponent’s scrum in order that half backs needed to take care of a ball kicked out of an enormous scrum by opponents, not in a delicate method properly offered by their forwards for them to choose up.

Maybe not surprisingly for a 20 participant match, the match was a nil-all draw with no objectives scored, however one dropped purpose try hit the put up:

A powerful drop by Freeman from a good catch some 50 yards from the Scottish purpose resulted in a poster, and thus no particular level was gained by both facet.

Occasions much like the “Suzie scandal” of the 1995 world cup closing apparently have previous precedent:

In reference to this match a singular incident occurred. The greasy nature of the bottom induced the English captain to direct his males to have bars of leather-based affixed to the soles of their boots. Freeman and Boyle, who with Finney had been thought of essentially the most harmful males on the facet, reported, when the cobbler had achieved his work, that they had been every minus a boot. A number of of the staff proceeded to ransack the cobbler’s store, however with out success, and it was not till after the match—through which Boyle performed with a costume boot on his left foot—that the canny tradesman produced the lacking articles.

And rugby after-match “traditions” had been current already:

Scottish hospitality ran excessive at Glasgow, and this maybe is accountable for the truth that a sure gallant English ahead was discovered by a few of his colleagues shortly after midnight, driving one among Her Majesty’s mail carts to the railway station. They fortuitously succeeded in persuading him that he had achieved fairly sufficient work already, or he may need came upon to his discomfort that the verb ” to run in ” might be utilized by a policeman within the lively sense as effectually as by a soccer participant within the neuter.

So, regardless of the variations, there was nonetheless loads of enjoyable and tales.  Maybe extra enjoyable was had then than now.

Curiously, the match evaluate studies the typical weight of every staff.  I suppose it was one thing of extra curiosity again then.  Transformed to metric items, it was about 1,500 kg of Englishman towards 1,500kg of Scot, inside a couple of tens of kg of the final time they met within the Six Nations, regardless of 20 gamers per staff in 1873.

So, have we made a lot progress in 150 years?  Was dishing out with 11 forwards an enchancment to the sport?  Is it doable that having two Faf de Klerks and two Nic Whites on the sector would finally be for the higher good?