Australian Rugby
Wanted man… Matt Giteau playing for Toulon.
Matt Giteau has long been lost to the Wallabies for next year’s World Cup, but the bidding in French rugby for his services speaks volumes about his value as a player.
Giteau, an established star in the Top 14 champion Toulon club in the south of France, has reportedly become the target of the Paris-based Racing Metro club with a €1 million ($1.4 million) a year offer reportedly on the table.
It has been widely acknowledged that the standard of refereeing in the Rugby Championship this past weekend was less than stellar. All lovers of the game, from fans through to coaches and players, are justifiably exasperated by such result-affecting calls by refs.
Sadly, this is not the first time and, probably, won’t be the last time the rugby world is incensed by sub-standard refereeing performances – unless something proactive is done to address what is a very real problem.
What is missing in all the blustery huffing and puffing though, are solutions or suggestions that the IRB (or World Rugby) can use to address the problem.
So here are my suggestions. My solutions. As just a passionate lover of the sport. See if you agree or disagree. Pick them apart. Point out their weaknesses. Tell me why they won’t work. No hard feelings. All I ask is that for every criticism, you offer an alternative solution.
Hopefully with all the traffic Rugby Talk.com is attracting these days, someone of influence will read all our comments and maybe… just maybe… do something positive with them.
I believe a three-part solution will sort out most of the issues but, like anything, there has to be the political will to address and sort out the problem instead of worrying about offending egos or apportioning blame.
Waratahs hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau will play his 50th Test after being named for the Wallabies to start against Argentina in his first match since the Super Rugby final.
Polota-Nau injured the medial ligament in his right knee in the Waratahs’ historic title win five weeks ago and has been gunning for a comeback ever since, joining the Wallabies 10 days ago to finish his rehabilitation in camp.
He made it through a contact session on the weekend, ran with the side at training on Monday before being named to start on Tuesday in his 50th Test appearance and his first Test since the Wallabies’ final triumph against France in June.
Spiro Zavos
When Rob Horne cut inside the Springboks covering defence and headed for the line to score the Wallabies’ last try I almost jumped out of my chair.
Then I started to rage that he had dived early rather than run round to create an easy conversion that would give the Test to the Wallabies 24-23.
Not quite Julia Roberts, but still a happy hooker – Josh Mann-Rea
Josh Mann-Rea has saved the number of the Wallabies coach in his mobile phone so he never again thinks he’s being pranked with a call-up every rugby journeyman dreams of.
Not getting on as a reserve against South Africa last weekend for the most unlikely Wallabies debut of the professional era has only slightly dented the fairytale that Mann-Rea calls “my wild ride”.
Jerome Garces
France’s Jérôme Garcès will referee the All Blacks v Springboks Rugby Championship clash in Wellington on Saturday.
Following a weekend of highly debatable referee, assistant referee and TMO decisions, Heyneke Meyer will be hoping Saturday’s crucial clash is free of controversy.
The Springboks’ remaining Rugby Championship matches will be refereed by Wales’ Nigel Owens (v Australia at Newlands on 27 September) and by England’s Wayne Barnes (v New Zealand at Ellis Park on 4 October).
Yes, Irish referee George Clancy made some howlers at the weekend, but the Springboks should really have no excuses for losing to Australia in Perth.
The Wallabies sneaked a 24-23 victory after at one stage trailing 23-14 in the second half.
The performance of Clancy was no doubt below par, but the decision-making and poor execution of skills of the Springboks should also be highlighted.
Here are FIVE key moments which cost the Springboks in their Rugby Championship Test against the Wallabies in Perth:
Tatafu Polota-Nau
Injury-plagued hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau is set for a shock Wallabies starting return to quell an improved Argentinian outfit closing in on a maiden Rugby Championship victory.
Polota-Nau, without a game for six weeks, will Tuesday be named as one of three changes to Australia’s line-up for Saturday night’s clash on the Gold Coast.
While coach Ewen McKenzie is poised to promote winger Peter Betham and back-rower Ben McCalman, to replace injured stalwarts Adam Ashley-Cooper and Wycliff Palu, he could have easily eased Polota-Nau back on the bench.
Jonathan Kaplan
Do I really need to confirm what everyone else already knows… This was not a good weekend for referees!
We are operating in a system where I have said that these type of weekends are not avoidable and until key elements of the system are exposed, and then adequately addressed, this will continue into the future.
The referees are not getting it right, and it is pointless saying after the fact, that things need to be looked at, when the writing was on the wall from the get go.
Greg Growden
The Wallabies have at last beaten someone perched above them in the world rankings.
It has taken awhile.
But if the Australian players and management seriously start believing they are back on track then it’s time for them to take some ‘truth pills’.
Their one-point win over the Springboks was deeply flawed, exposed many of their inherent weaknesses including a lack of discipline, and showed their fundamental skills are at best average.
The Wallabies can also no longer carry on about being a luckless team, as they received the benefit of a string of dreadful decisions from referee George Clancy, who should have his whistle confiscated after such a diabolical performance. The Springboks have every right to cry foul as they were victims of numerous Clancy blunders.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer
The Springboks will need a monumental effort to down the All Blacks, but coach Heyneke Meyer believes South Africa can win for the first time in New Zealand in five years.
South Africa face to the world champions in Wellington next Saturday trailing by three points on the Rugby Championship standings after a last-gasp 24-23 loss to the Wallabies in Perth on Saturday.
It was the Springboks’ first defeat in this year’s four-nation tournament after winning back-to-back against Argentina, but they face their supreme test away to the All Blacks.
(Revised)
Will Genia and Joe Tomane will join the Wallabies but Henry Speight’s Test start will have to wait, as Australia begin preparations to face an improved Argentina on the Gold Coast this week.
It is understood Genia is some way off his Test return but will be brought into the training squad this week, along with Tomane and Rebels centre Tom English, after playing in the National Rugby Championship on Saturday.
But in a disappointing development over the weekend, Speight will remain in Canberra after pulling out of an expected NRC appearance with a sore hamstring.
Die Springbokke moet in die spieël kyk om te sien waarom hulle gister hier in die Patersons-stadion met 23-24 teen die Wallabies verloor het.
’n Drie deur die linkervleuel Rob Horne minder as twee minute voor die einde het die Bokke se lot verseël nadat hulle met ’n kwartier se speeltyd steeds ’n voorsprong van nege punte (23-14) gehad het.
’n Keerpunt was die geelkaart wat Bryan Habana, met 15 minute oor, gekry het vir ’n beweerde hoogvat op Adam Ashley-Cooper.
Centurion Bryan Habana
The Springboks will seek “clarity” around Bryan Habana’s controversial sin-binning but have refused to blame match officials for their one-point loss to the Wallabies in Perth.
Referee George Clancy’s call to pull a yellow card from his pocket in response to Habana’s high shot on Australian winger Rob Horne in the 65th minute lit up social media with a torrent of criticism for Clancy and the International Rugby Board’s management of its match officials.
And while a clearly agitated Heyneke Meyer walked into the post-match media conference after the match, the South African coach demurred from jumping on board, calling instead for “consistency” across the board.
New Zealand (13) 28 / 9 (6) Argentina
It was never going to be pretty, but the All Blacks will find plenty to admire when they look back on a 28-9 win over Argentina.
Steve Hansen’s side delivered enough to keep their coach smiling as they ran in four tries to remain unbeaten in this year’s Rugby Championship.
Wallabies (11) 24 / 23 (14) Springboks (Final Score)
The Australian Wallabies and South African Springboks did battle in The Rugby Championship at
Patersons Stadium, Perth, Australia at 12:05 SA Time (18:05 AWST, 10:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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James O’Connor: The worst of the three Amigos.
Drew Mitchell doesn’t mind admitting he didn’t jump for joy when told James O’Connor would be joining him in the south of France.
When O’Connor signed on for Toulon in February, the former Wallaby wing thought only of the brash youngster he’d known in Australian rugby, and the poor form and controversy behind his exit.
Out of Africa: Bryan Habana trains with the Springboks in Perth this week.
Bryan Habana likes to talk about what rugby has done for him.
He talks about the 1995 World Cup, when he was an 11-year-old boy in a bubble of privilege with an abstract understanding of the dividing force of apartheid in his country, but no experience of its implications.
He talks about the path he was put on, one afternoon at Newlands Stadium, when his father pulled him out of school and drove him down from Johannesburg to watch the Springboks beat the Wallabies in the opening round of that historic tournament.
Jean de Villiers
South Africa captain Jean de Villiers says the Wallabies might be feeling some “psychological pressure” going into Saturday’s clash after dropping their last three Tests by 20 points or more to the Springboks.
After years of Mandela Challenge Plate dominance, the Wallabies have gone missing in the two sides’ last three hit-outs, going down 28-8, 38-12 and 31-8.
Copping criticism: Wycliff Palu
Wallabies captain Michael Hooper has rejected a stinging accusation that Wycliff Palu “dogged it” at Eden Park and let Australia down badly in the heavy loss to the All Blacks.
Former Test fullback Greg Martin made the comments on FoxSports Rugby HQ program on Thursday night and they caused a sizeable ripple in Perth ahead of the Wallabies’ next Test with South Africa tomorrow night.
The Mandela Plate that is on the line this Saturday.
The Australian backline has a better balance but is it still one Waratah short? And which under-fire forward pack will bounce back – the Wallabies or Springboks?
The battle for the Mandela Trophy is almost upon us and we’ve got your top five talking points ready to go below!
Ewen McKenzie
After a draw and a lopsided loss to New Zealand in the Rugby Championship, Australia goes into its match against South Africa on Saturday with a chance to give coach Ewen McKenzie a first a win against a team ranked ahead of the Wallabies.
In his 18th test as Wallabies coach, McKenzie still hasn’t led the third-ranked team to a win over a side with a better International Rugby Board ranking.
Greg Growden
Michael Cheika’s re-negotiations with New South Wales Waratahs remain murky, with Ruck’n Maul hearing that Argentina have once again upped their bid to lure the Super Rugby-winning coach.
Our Waratahs snouts say that Argentine officials have told Cheika to “name his price” as they are relentlessly pursuing him to be the country’s director of rugby for the next four years.
The deal includes accommodation, incentives, cars, and schooling for his children.
The Waratahs, meanwhile, have tried lately to entice Cheika by inviting him and his wife to a dinner with the board members. “He has declined the feed,” said one well-connected source.
Michael Hooper
Wallabies captain Michael Hooper has put South Africa on notice, saying he wants both their No.2 world ranking and the Mandela Challenge Plate back.
With Australia ranked third behind the All Blacks and Springboks, wins in Perth and then Cape Town could see them rise to No2 for the first time under new coach Ewen McKenzie.
It would also see them regain the Mandela Plate, which they lost last season after holding it for three years.
And it all starts at Perth’s Patersons Stadium this Saturday.
Jacques Potgieter
He became an honorary Australian by starring for the Waratahs in their Super Rugby triumph but Jacques Potgieter is set to go from teammate to fierce Test rival with a recall to the Springboks later this month.
The wildman flanker, who became a cult hero for NSW, is a favourite of Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer and News Corporation understands Potgieter will be drafted into the South African squad for home games against Australia and New Zealand.
Potgieter is currently playing in Japan for the Fukuoka Sanix Blues but recently returned to South Africa on holidays and spoke with Meyer at the Boks’ first Test win over Argentina at Loftus Versfeld.
The Wallabies
How does a Wallaby supporter feel about the upcoming test?
If you had asked Wallabies fans at the start of the year if they’d be happy with three wins, a draw and a loss to start the season nearly everyone would have replied in the affirmative.
Last week you might have thought the sky was falling given the angst of many Wallaby supporters.
This week we have a different challenge. The South African Barbecuing Behemoths have sashayed into Perth for what many of them think is a home game.
Long road taken: Josh Mann-Rea to answer Wallabies S.O.S.
ACT Brumbies third-string hooker Josh Mann-Rea is on the verge of a shock Wallabies call-up as coach Ewen McKenzie battles an “unbelievable” injury toll that is set give former coalminer Mann-Rea his national debut.
Injured Wallabies captain Stephen Moore says Mann-Rea has the resolve to perform on the international stage, as the rake known as “Bongo” contemplates the biggest moment of his career.
Game face: Francois Hougaard
Talk about the one per centers.
The Springboks are trialling top-secret technology to give themselves an edge in the Rugby Championship.
Every player has been kitted out with two sets of hi-tech glasses designed to beat jet lag and help their bodies adjust to the time zone in Perth this week.
The Springboks were reluctant to talk about the gadgets when they were raised – in Afrikaans – at a press conference this week, even asking South African journalists to hold off writing about the innovation until after the side’s two-week tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Danger man: Morné Steyn at Springbok training in Perth on Tuesday.
In the 60th minute of the Springboks’ 33-31 win against Argentina two weeks ago, replacement No 10 Morné Steyn ripped a beautiful flat pass, left to right, to take out two Pumas defenders and put Jean de Villiers in enough space to release Cornal Hendricks for a crucial try.
South Africa has gone back to what it knows against the Wallabies on Saturday – Steyn replaces youngster Handré Pollard and Victor Matfield returns to run the lineout – and it makes it more dangerous for the Wallabies. More predictable?
Possibly, but the Springboks have never done unpredictability well. Territory, set piece, hard kick chases, pressure. It is still a base game that is hard to defeat, especially if the Perth forecasters are right and there are showers and strong winds on Saturday.
Comeback trail: Will Genia
Sidelined halfback Will Genia and Brumbies flyers Henry Speight and Joe Tomane have been cleared to use the National Rugby Championship as a launching pad for Wallabies selection.
The backline trio will make injury comebacks on Saturday in bids to make Australia’s squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa and Argentina for Rugby Championship Tests at the end of the month.
TRY TIME: Richie McCaw rises after scoring a try off the back of a maul in the All Blacks’ Eden Park test against the Wallabies.
The All Blacks have got the masters of the maul thinking hard, with Springboks bosses intrigued at New Zealand’s innovative and successful tactics with this crucial attacking weapon during the early phases of the Rugby Championship.
The big Boks packs have long set the standards in mauling, but assistant coach Johann van Graan has admitted intrigue over the way the All Blacks have developed the art as they displayed in demolishing the Wallabies at Eden Park.
Bryan Habana to become Springbok Centurion No 4.
Bryan Habana will on Saturday become the fourth Springbok and 33rd player overall to play in 100 Tests when South Africa take on Australia in the third round of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship at Patersons Stadium in Perth (kickoff 12h05 SA time).
The 31-year-old Habana, who made his debut for South Africa against England at Twickenham on 20 November 2004, holds the record for the most Test tries in a Springbok jersey. His 56 Test tries places him fourth on the list of all-time international try scorers.
The three-time South African Rugby Player of the Year (2004, 2007 and 2012), who was also named the IRB Rugby Player of the Year in 2007, will lead the Springboks out on Saturday as he follows Percy Montgomery, John Smit and Victor Matfield in amassing 100 Tests in the green and gold.
“It’s always physical playing against Australia”, says Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer.
The last time Heyneke Meyer set foot on Australian soil he heaped praise at the feet of the Wallabies and promptly directed they be torn apart at Suncorp Stadium a few days later.
There was an ominous familiarity then in Meyer’s comments this week in Perth, where South Africa are angling for a ninth-straight Test win and fourth on the trot against a wounded Australia.
Wallabies, a bad team? They’re “brilliant”, but played “one bad game”. The Australian forwards, “powder puffs”? Never. The Wallabies’ back line is “big, quick and in form”, with a newly-acquired kicking game and two “world-class” players on the bench.
In full flight: Wallaby Nick Phipps.
Waratahs halfback Nick Phipps says the Wallabies are out to earn back their “honour” in Perth this weekend.
Phipps said it was “relieving” to know he earned his first Test start since 2012 but said he wanted to make the appearance count with a comeback against South Africa after the lowlight of the loss at Eden Park two weeks ago.
“There has been a pretty big focus at the start of this week just to shrug it off, and get that energy back up,” he said.
“There have been a lot of blokes pumping up at training and having a laugh, and forgetting about [the second Bledisloe Test], that’s in the past.
The Match Officials for this week’s action have been confirmed, with George Clancy refereeing the Wallabies vs Springboks showdown.
The Rugby Championship:
Australia vs South Africa
- Venue: Patersons Stadium, Perth
- Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
- Assistant Referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
- TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
- Assessor: Andrew Cole
New Zealand vs Argentina
- Venue: Mclean Park, Napier
- Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
- Assistant Referees: Jérôme Garcès (France), Rohan Hoffmann (Australia)
- TMO: Peter Marshall (Australia)
- Assessor: Lyndon Bray