Super12 2002 - Round Six

Blues 22 defeated Waratahs 20 (Auckland)

The Waratahs have a horror run heading to the finals. They play the four other sides that currently comprise the top five on the table - the Brumbies (home), Crusaders (away), Highlanders (home), Hurricanes (home) - plus the always torrid match against the Reds (away), who, despite their two from five record, are still themselves semifinals contenders. And, of course, this past weekend they played the Blues in Auckland, a team that whipped them in the preseason, but which, on recent form, were considered eminently beatable.

Of those matches, I considered the games against the Blues and the Hurricanes to be 'must wins'. I hope I was wrong, because the Waratahs saved one of those classic, really horrid, extremely Waratah-esque performances for this critical contest. As has been noted by NSW players and coaching staff alike, this was a game that was there to be won. A game that should have been won. Mistakes and poor on-field decision making cost the Waratahs dearly, and would have disappointed coach Bob Dwyer immensely, as one of his goals for the team is for his players to have the self-belief and skills to play what they see in front of them. In this game, though, the confidence of the Waratahs started to evaporate in the second half as the Blues' attack found some venom. They ditched the style of adventurous and open rugby that some them win their first five matches, and it came as no surprise then that they were unable to score that critical last-minute try which would have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

In a scrappy first half, the Waratahs squandered a mountain of possession, but were not assisted in their endeavours by referee Andre Watson, who seemingly has no grasp of the concept of advantage, and who took great pleasure in giving his whistle a thorough workout, but still managed to miss a blatant Blues forward pass and what looked to be a try to Duncan McRae.

There were few stars for the Waratahs, but both McRae and Mark Stcherbina played very well. Stcherbina pulled off a try-saving tackle, and was generally outstanding in defence, while McRae had a try disallowed, scored a try from a brilliant intercept, and put on an impressive display of precision passing. Just why the best Waratah on the field was replaced after scoring that try is anyone's guess. OK - Manny Edmonds did give the Waratahs some fresh legs, but I wonder whether or not it was coincidence that the Blues went on a three-try points scoring spree following McRae's replacement. Obviously, it would be foolish to suggest that those tries would definitely not have been scored if McRae had been on the field, but I think it reasonable to observe that the Waratah backline lost some of its punch without McRae directing play.

Personally, I reckon that on current form McRae has now leapt Elton Flatley to become the number two fly half in the country. Should Larkham get injured - heaven forbid - McRae would be a good man to come in and replace him.

The Waratahs now have the bye to regroup, take stock, and refocus on playing the flamboyant and superbly executed rugby that has brought them into semifinals contention. Given the opposition awaiting them, they will need to play at their peak to have any chance of upsetting some highly rated teams.

- Dan Fowell

Hurricanes 22 defeated Reds 18 (Palmerston North)

Most Super12 coaches can only dream of having a back three the likes of Chris Latham, Ben Tune and Wendell Sailor. Those three exceptional players pack an astonishing amount firepower. So why, why, why don't the Reds give them some decent ball???

The Hurricanes are the other Super12 team that is guilty of under-utilising backline superstars, but in this match they gave Lomu some decent ball and some room to move, and the big man responded by producing his best performance this year.

By contrast, Latham spent the whole match expertly cleaning up the ball in broken play, Tune (and Steve Kefu) showed some individual brilliance to score one of the Reds' two tries (we even saw the Superman slide which was a welcome sight indeed), and Wendell had at least two Hurricanes on top him on the rare occasions that he received the ball, and still generally managed to stand and deliver under pressure. Yes - there was that very unfortunate knock-on in the early stages of the match, but who can blame him. He is being starved of possession, and his team is failing to give him any opportunity to build up confidence and to develop and kind of instinct for the game. How he must look on in frustration at the space his counterparts at the Waratahs and the Brumbies so often enjoy.

Perhaps coach Mark McBain should get his backs to stand a little deeper, which would give them more time get the ball out wide, and would also allow Latham et al to run onto the ball at pace. To that end, it might also be a good idea to reduce the number of times Toutai Kefu slots into the backline, for while he can be devastating with the ball in hand, he also slows or altogether halts the progress of the ball to the equally devastating outside backs.

It was interesting to see the lowly-rated Hurricanes forwards employing the rolling maul to good effect. The New Zealand teams don't use this tactic as much these days, but when they do use it they do so to great effect. All three Australian Super12 sides and the Wallabies need to develop this area of their game - how to use it to attack, and how to effectively defend against it without conceding a penalty.

The Reds' are sorely missing the great man, John Eales, at lock, and Michael Foley at hooker. The lineout and scrum - for so long such strengths of the Reds - haven't been anywhere near as effective this season. And while Nathan Sharpe and Mark Connors are forming a respectable combination, neither Sean Hardman nor Tom Murphy are currently up to scratch.

One final note - I think Dan Herbert had his best game of the season. Nevertheless, he may still struggle to hold out Matt Burke and especially Stirling Mortlock from taking his Wallaby outside centre position.

Oh - and Round One to Lomu over Sailor.

- Dan Fowell

Crusaders 33 defeated Brumbies 32 (Christchurch)

This highly anticipated match-up produced perhaps the best game of rugby so far in this year's Super12, in which the winner was only certain when the full time whistle was blown.

Sick with the flu since South Africa, Stirling Mortlock produced an amazing performance, repeatedly breaking the Crusaders' line. Steve Larkham, too, showed that he is back in form after an indifferent international season last year.

Though the Brumbies will be filthy that they didn't manage to win this game, they will still be reasonably satisfied that they secured two bonus points against such formidable opposition, playing away from home after traveling 13,000km on the third leg of an overseas trip. The odds were stacked against them, and I dare say that they probably would have won this match if they were playing at home.

These two sides are certain to feature in the finals this year, and may well meet then in another enthralling contest.

In the meantime, like the Waratahs, the Brumbies have the bye this week to rest up. Of major concern to them will be the state of Jeremy Paul's ankle. Predictions at this stage are that he may be out for a few weeks. This would certainly be a setback for the Brumbies, but their main priority will be to have him fit in time for the finals.

- Dan Fowell