Weekend Round Up
We start the weekend round up with Rugby Union. There is absolutely no doubt that England coach Andy Robinson could learn an awful lot from watching the Hurricanes vs Bulls game on Friday night. 13-0 down after 15 minutes the Hurricanes showed the way to play. They stuck with their gameplan and defended as though there lives depended on it and gradually managed to gain the ascendancy from the Bulls. They battled back to within 1 point and then got hit with a sucker punch, but still they carried on with their game plan. They had a bit of luck with a disallowed try but with grit and determination they got the go ahead score two minutes from time. They then battled and battled in defense to secure the ball and kick it out to win the game. If only the England team could show this kind of spirit. Two wins out of three in South Africa is a great platform for the Hurricanes to build on, if they can now go on to beat key teams like the Waratahs and Brumbies they may make it all the way to the final this year.
In stark contrast England ended the six nations in fourth place after conceding a try to Ireland in the last minute of the game. They then proceeded to moan and groan at the officials as they failed to give penalties for Ireland infractions. Two thing come out of this game for me. Firstly it looks like coach Robinson does not have the ability to get the best out of this group of players and it is time he was replaced. Secondly we have to stop living in the year 2003, if we want to stand a realistic chance of defending our World Cup we need to start building now. That means getting rid of the dead wood and bringing in quality players. It disappointed me that Andy Goode claimed they had the luck of the Irish, this would not have even been an issue had he managed to score the three kickable penalties in the first half. Yes England were better than last week, but Ireland were not as good as France. We need to work on the lineouts the scrums and show a lot more adventure in our backs play. It is true that tough defense wins matches, but if defense is all you can do and there is not attacking ambition, all we will ever be is a runner up in the Six Nations. There is a lot of work to do before the autumn internationals
Speaking of lack of attacking ambition we move on to Cambridge United who achieved what looks, on paper, to be a credible 1-1 draw against high flying Halifax Town. With Westcarr scoring again, this time in 80 seconds, we had hoped they would go on to record yet another win against a top three side. However we seemed determined to let them attack us whilst trying to catch them on the break. And what was even more frustrating with 15 minutes left we gave up all hope of scoring another goal. Which of course meant that when Halifax eventually scored it was us who were hanging on for a point again. The manager was true to his word and gave some of the fringe players a chance to play for their contracts. Gavin Heroo did well at right back, but I'm not sure he is one who should be kept. The midfield did OK and the defense were solid. Home debutant Medine offered very little up front and you have to wonder what Onibuje has done to be on the bench instead of this guy. The positives, a good result, another point closer to mathematical safety and a third goal in three games for Westcarr. The negatives, lack of ambition for the killer second goal and the goalkeeper needs to be taught how to kick the ball properly.
An appalling weekend in Rugby League. Both the Wolves and the Warriors were beaten. The worst of these defeats was for the Wolves as they surrendered a 10 point lead to the Catalan Dragons. This is a team that they should be beating comfortably. The coach, Paul Cullen, said not enough players turned up for the game. I would like to know he intends to do about it. After battling back to show their superiority and get a 10 point lead, they then hand it back almost immediately. There can be one of two problems here, Warrington played above their level last year or the coach is failing to motivate his players enough for them to do the business. If this is the form they are going to show then a top 6 finish will be a distant target by the end of April. The players need to take a hard look at what went on and then bounce back next week. They have two game before they take on the Bradford Bulls and they have to win them or their season will be one of re-building.
As for the Warriors, they should beat teams like the Eels, they just don't. There were too many school boy errors in their display. I know that it will be hard to get themselves motivated after the four point penalty they received but they have to dig deep and show some determination. It will be interesting to see what coach Cleary does to try to get them on the up. With three tough games coming next it is difficult to see where there first win will come from. After two games it is already roll on next season!
In stark contrast England ended the six nations in fourth place after conceding a try to Ireland in the last minute of the game. They then proceeded to moan and groan at the officials as they failed to give penalties for Ireland infractions. Two thing come out of this game for me. Firstly it looks like coach Robinson does not have the ability to get the best out of this group of players and it is time he was replaced. Secondly we have to stop living in the year 2003, if we want to stand a realistic chance of defending our World Cup we need to start building now. That means getting rid of the dead wood and bringing in quality players. It disappointed me that Andy Goode claimed they had the luck of the Irish, this would not have even been an issue had he managed to score the three kickable penalties in the first half. Yes England were better than last week, but Ireland were not as good as France. We need to work on the lineouts the scrums and show a lot more adventure in our backs play. It is true that tough defense wins matches, but if defense is all you can do and there is not attacking ambition, all we will ever be is a runner up in the Six Nations. There is a lot of work to do before the autumn internationals
Speaking of lack of attacking ambition we move on to Cambridge United who achieved what looks, on paper, to be a credible 1-1 draw against high flying Halifax Town. With Westcarr scoring again, this time in 80 seconds, we had hoped they would go on to record yet another win against a top three side. However we seemed determined to let them attack us whilst trying to catch them on the break. And what was even more frustrating with 15 minutes left we gave up all hope of scoring another goal. Which of course meant that when Halifax eventually scored it was us who were hanging on for a point again. The manager was true to his word and gave some of the fringe players a chance to play for their contracts. Gavin Heroo did well at right back, but I'm not sure he is one who should be kept. The midfield did OK and the defense were solid. Home debutant Medine offered very little up front and you have to wonder what Onibuje has done to be on the bench instead of this guy. The positives, a good result, another point closer to mathematical safety and a third goal in three games for Westcarr. The negatives, lack of ambition for the killer second goal and the goalkeeper needs to be taught how to kick the ball properly.
An appalling weekend in Rugby League. Both the Wolves and the Warriors were beaten. The worst of these defeats was for the Wolves as they surrendered a 10 point lead to the Catalan Dragons. This is a team that they should be beating comfortably. The coach, Paul Cullen, said not enough players turned up for the game. I would like to know he intends to do about it. After battling back to show their superiority and get a 10 point lead, they then hand it back almost immediately. There can be one of two problems here, Warrington played above their level last year or the coach is failing to motivate his players enough for them to do the business. If this is the form they are going to show then a top 6 finish will be a distant target by the end of April. The players need to take a hard look at what went on and then bounce back next week. They have two game before they take on the Bradford Bulls and they have to win them or their season will be one of re-building.
As for the Warriors, they should beat teams like the Eels, they just don't. There were too many school boy errors in their display. I know that it will be hard to get themselves motivated after the four point penalty they received but they have to dig deep and show some determination. It will be interesting to see what coach Cleary does to try to get them on the up. With three tough games coming next it is difficult to see where there first win will come from. After two games it is already roll on next season!
posted by Sports Potato at 2:10 PM
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