After New Zealand’s magnificent World Cup win, i couldn’t help but think back to 12 months ago when Great Britain put the cleaners through the Kiwis 3-0. They were rated one of the worst NZ sides ever but they have managed to turn it around in a short space of time.
So the question is why can’t England do the same in next years Quad Nations ?
The hard work starts now.
There’s no such thing as the inevitable!
The Australians came to Suncorp Stadium expecting to coast to victory against a New Zealand team they had beaten easily in the pool game, and after easy wins against PNG and Fiji.
With Ricky Stuart and many Aussie commentators claiming that this Australian team ranks among the greatest Oz outfits, it only seemed a matter of time before they would show their dominance against a Kiwi side that had lost some of its star players (Sonny Bill Williams to rugby union, Roy Asotasi and Frank Pritchard to injury), and that seemed to be in a rebuilding phase under their new coach Stephen Kearney.
But the Kiwis refused to be overawed, and I thought the Haka set the tone, with the two sides squaring up to each other and alighting the crowd. When the Aussies took a ten-point lead, however, you could have got long odds against a Kiwi victory, and yet, guided by Benji Marshall and Nathan Fien - two halfbacks who knew how to guide their team around the pitch - they fought back and took advantage of every bit of luck that they had going for them.
It was a great day for international Rugby League, and we will all now look forward to the next World Cup in 2013 with far more enthusiasm than we would have if Australia had strolled to victory.
It’s been a great tournament, in my view, not least because it has stimulated renewed interest in Rugby League in so many countries that want to play on the big stage. When the Kiwis won the Tri-Nations in 2005 I don’t think they returned as a squad to New Zealand to celebrate their triumph. I hope that this time they will have some ticker-tape parades through some of the larger New Zealand cities, and I hope there will be a strong demand for more NRL teams in New Zealand.
What a wonderful day for Kiwi Rugby League!
And wasn’t it nice to hear their captain Nathan Cayless thanking the English supporters after the game?
This is the second time in four years that the Kiwis have beaten Australia in a major final. Let’s hear no more about Australian invincibility!
The Rugby League World Cup 2008 has raised an AU$5m profit which is to be reinvested into the game. I caught up with Richard Lewis afterwards and this is what he had to say.
IT’S been five days since anyone posted anything here. There could be a few reasons for that. “England” is one self-explanatory one. Have most of the bloggers returned home? Are they discouraged by the lack of comments from readers?
It’s more likely that, like just about everyone associated with the World Cup, they’re a bit bored this week. I mean, an Australia-New Zealand final which is already sold out and in which the Kiwis have an 18 points start? Ho-hum.
This is where our game needs to go to the next level in the PR department. it happens too often in league today. If there is no need to sell any tickets and the journalists and sports editors aren’t interested, nothing happens. Closed training sessions, all-in media opportunities. Beige with a beige “V’, beige shorts and beige socks.
It has got to the point where journalists have forgotten how to call players in their hotel rooms so team management have forgotten to tell hotel reception not to put the calls through! Having a sold-out Suncorp Stadium is an OPPORTUNITY for our game to dominate the papers for a week, not an excuse to take it easy. If the reporters are bored, get them interested by pitching story ideas to them, furchrisakes!
One thing is for certain, if the Kiwis manage to revisit 2005 and actually win, the follow-up demands by sports editors will last for weeks!
(* inspired by Ricky Stuart’s proclamation that “criticism is for the weak”
Today, I have watched two matches in two rugby codes in which New Zealand were involved. Both were won by New Zealand. In both games, the eventual winners appeared to be superior to their opponents, both in terms of physical athleticism and skill. The main factor in the outcome, however, was a lack of composure from over-anxious players on the losing side. ‘Schoolboy’ errors abounded as international rugby players dropped the ball under little or no pressure, fired passes directly into touch or behind team-mates, fly-hacked at thin air, kicked out on the full etc etc… the list goes on.
After only one of these games, however, was the conclusion drawn - by fans, media and former players alike - that the competition they play in week in, week out, is simply not good enough and somehow sub-standard ‘quality’. And that the players are, almost to a man, rubbish and not fit to wear the national shirt. That game, of course, was the England v New Zealand Rugby League World Cup semi-final. This despite the fact that, last year, England whitewashed New Zealand in a Test series 3-0.
No such hand-wringing or doom-laden naval gazing, meanwhile, after the Ireland versus New Zealand rugby union autumn international. And THIS despite the fact that the Irish rugby union team has never, repeat NEVER, beaten New Zealand in its entire 103-year history. I’ll say it again. Ireland has NEVER beaten New Zealand in a rugby union Test match. And yet the Irish domestic RU competition seems fine and dandy.
Am I missing something here - or perhaps someone would like to explain this rather curious discrepancy?
Oh, and good luck Fiji.
What is really frustrating is watching England lose matches that they clearly have the ability to win.
Last year New Zealand came to England with a squad that wasn’t very different to the one that has played us twice in this World Cup, and we hammered them.
This year they have changed their coaching team, but, to my eyes, they haven’t improved radically. But for some reason we have gone backwards.
I think there are both short and long term reasons for this.
Our guys had the look of players coming to the end of a very long, hard season, which is precisely what they are. In any job, when you’re tired you make errors, just like England did today.
So the long term problem is the issue of reducing the relentless demands of the Super League season.
The short term problem relates to the coaching and selection of the team, and the tactics we employed.
I’ve suggested before that Tony Smith’s tactics of trying to play mind games with his selection was likely to backfire, by taking away the confidence of his players, and I have no reason to change my view on that.
From last week’s team Smith left out Lee Smith, Paul Sykes, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Kevin Sinfield, Gareth Hock and Jamie Langley.
He brought back Ade Gardner, Danny McGuire, James Graham, Leon Pryce, Jon Wilkin and James Roby.
Sinfield has come in for some criticism from a section of supporters in this tournament, but in my view he is the only player in the England squad who can guide a team around the pitch with his distribution and kicking game, as we saw in the Grand Final against St Helens. England’s kicking game today was a shocker, and Sinfield’s absence was the reason for that, in my view. Fien was doing for New Zealand what Sinfield should have been doing for England, if he had been playing.
And, by leaving out Hock, Smith dispensed with a player who probably has the best offloading game in the English squad, and has a physical presence on the pitch that will make his opponents take notice. And when you go without Jamie Jones-Buchanan you dispense with a player whose work ethic and enthusiasm is second to none.
One of the big disappointments of this tournament has been Leon Pryce, and I just didn’t see the point of having him on the bench today. Inevitably when he did get on the pitch his contribution was limited, while the English back three of Wellens, Gardner and Calderwood made too many errors. I was surprised that Lee Smith wasn’t given his chance at fullback, given that we could have used his pace running the ball out of defence.
We now have five more years before the next World Cup, and we have to begin planning for it now, if we are to avoid a similar disappointment in 2013.
If this doesn’t get the lads’ competitive juices flowing nothing will. It was either this or Bernard Cribbins.
England’s two defeats have impacted on the World Cup in a number of ways, and the effect they’ve had on media interest in the competition should not be underestimated. Today’s Brisbane-based paper the Courier Mail is a prime example.
On the day before the game, the paper has virtually five full pages of Rugby League. Unfortunately, of those, only five sentences of that make any reference to the England-New Zealand game at Suncorp Stadium.
There are two pages covering stories from Wayne Bennett’s new book, a back page on the ever-popular grapple tackle issue, and a column on the proposal to operate with two referees in the NRL next season.
There is a page supposedly dedicated to the World Cup with a big picture of rival captains Darren Lockyer and Wes Naiqama, but the story running alongside that is Lockyer’s opinion on the much chronicled off-field incident with his Broncos teammates Karmichael Hunt, Sam Thaiday and Darius Boyd.
In the city where the game is staged, to have just those five sentences on the England-New Zealand semi-final is staggering. But England’s performances against Australia and the Kiwis have undoubtedly led to that – the local media don’t need any excuse to write Tony Smith’s side off.
Then there is the issue of media access to the England party, which has been questioned by the Kiwis in stories emerging today. With less visible promotion in the city than other venues, it will be interesting to see what the crowd ends up being tomorrow night.
I managed to catch up with Adrian Morley at a barbecue function this evening at the Broncos club in Brisbane. He was pretty upbeat and the players are relishing the challenge ahead.
As a slight diversion away from the pessimism surrounding England’s World Cup campaign, I’ve put together my own personal “Team of the World Cup” to date.
I’ve seen all ten teams live now at some stage, and these are the 17 players who have impressed me most in those matches. I’d like to specify early on that this is not the players who I think are the best 17 in the world – more those that have contributed most to their teams’ performances so far.
Some are automatic picks, others have got in for their consistency in teams that have struggled – with Jamie Peacock and Jerome Guisset falling into that category. Others have been simply inspirational for their countries - players like Ian Henderson at Scotland and Tevita Leo-Latu for Tonga.
I’ve utilised artistic licence only once, naming Fijian winger Akuila Uate on the bench rather than the usual second prop, just as I feel he deserves to make the 17 along with Damien Blanch and Manu Vatuvei, who have both been excellent.
See what you think and I’d be interested to read about any rival 17s from anyone. Among the others that have also impressed me but just missed out are: Charlie Wabo (PNG), Lagi Setu (Samoa), George Carmont (Samoa) Jarryd Hayne (Fiji), Lance Hohaia (New Zealand), Darren Lockyer (Australia), Aaron Groom (Fiji) and Iain Morrison (Scotland).
1 Billy Slater (Australia)
2 Damien Blanch (Ireland)
3 Greg Inglis (Australia)
4 Michael Jennings (Tonga)
5 Manu Vatuvei (New Zealand)
6 Stanley Gene (Papua New Guinea)
7 Scott Prince (Australia)
8 Jamie Peacock (England)
9 Tevita Leo-Latu (Tonga)
10 Ryan Tandy (Ireland)
11 Anthony Laffranchi (Australia)
12 Tony Williams (Tonga)
13 Ian Henderson (Scotland)
14 Isaac Luke (New Zealand)
15 Scott Grix (Ireland)
16 Jerome Guisset (France)
17 Akuila Uate (Fiji)
Tony Smith has named a 19-man squad for this Saturday’s World Cup semi-final, and has left out Danny McGuire and Ade Gardner, who were both expected to come back into the team after the weekend’s debacle.
No explanation has been given for the absence of McGuire and Gardner. We haven’t been told whether they are injured or dropped, although we are told that the squad “may” change by the time that Saturday comes around.
The word “may” should surely be replaced with the word “will”.
Smith is surely playing mind games. But why is he doing this?
I hate the idea that a coach won’t name his team several days in advance of the game. I’m sure Smith would say that he doesn’t want to reveal his hand, but to me it suggests a lack of confidence in the team that he will ultimately name.
Tony Smith seems to be following the lead of his brother Brian in seeking to disguise his team until moments before the game. Brian is well known for naming players in the team who don’t run out onto the pitch, to be replaced by players who hadn’t been named in the squad. If I were a player I wouldn’t tolerate this behaviour by a coach. If a coach named me in his squad and then didn’t play me, or vice versa, would be unacceptable, because it would suggest that the coach didn’t have confidence in me. I would challenge a coach on this behaviour.
It’s also worth remembering that Brian Smith has never won a major trophy by following this policy.
There is also another thing to bear in mind.
In rugby union the England coach names his team on a Tuesday, and the team is then set in stone. It gives journalists the chance to debate the merits of his selection for the rest of the week, and generates acres of newsprint. But who can write about this Saturday’s game between England and New Zealand, when we don’t know what the teams will be?
It’s yet another example of coaches having far too much power in Rugby League. As in rugby union, they should have to name their team on Tuesday and then have to stick to it, with changes allowed only in very exceptional circumstances. Until that happens we can’t really complain about the relative paucity of press coverage of our major international matches.
The Irish dream is over, but they gave everything they had before being beaten 30-14 by a very strong Fijian side. Afterwards I caught up with Irish coach, Andy Kelly.
RUGBY LEAGUE WEAK*: Issue Three
THE average annual salary for a teacher in Fiji is between 2500 and 7000 pounds. Following tonight’s qualification for the World Cup semi-finals, each Fiji Bati player will get 5400 each for just three weeks’ work.
While European readers might be a tad miffed right now that your sole remaining representative in the rugby league World Cup is - ahem - England, there was a great story out of Fiji’s 30-14 win at Skilled Park just then.
I am currently sitting in the media box at Robina, watching a bloke in yellow wash off the queenslandholidays.com.au sign with some sort of power hose. Writing this is my only duty for the evening.
Anyway, the semi-final qualifier was worth 225,000 dingo dollars since the winner got $300,000 and the loser just $75,000.
Normally, when coaches are asked about prizemoney they demure – but Joe Dakuitoga was pretty up front. This, remember, is the man who answered his first press conference question at the tournament by just nodding.
“I think the money will go towards the players,” he said. “If you look at us, the Fiji National Rugby League was sponsored by Vodaphone.
“These players, we asked them to come and there was no money in Fiji National Rugby League. For them to put their hands up to come and represent Fiji, it’s a big bonus.
“To come this far .. I think all the prizemoney we’ve won will be shared among the players.”
If captain Wes Naiqama was excited at this news, he didn’t show it. “I had no idea,” he said.
“It sort of got brought up the other day but I told the players to focus on the main goal and the prize and that’s winning the World Cup or doing well.
“Money was never an issue. We all play the game because we’re passionate about it. Money’s never been an issue here.”
Dakuitoga also said: “We are a sport that has been looked down on. After this World Cup, rugby league will be the number one game in Fiji.”
See? Reasons to be cheerful just keep popping up.
Andy Kelly, for instance, kicked off the push for a Dublin side in National League One. Great idea, that.
PS: the sign on the field is completely gone – already. I think there was green paint in that hose…
I spoke to a very dejected Mickey Higham after England’s second half collapse against New Zealand in their final Pool game.
Glad to be out of Newcastle. Not really a place you want to stay more than three nights, especially with the nearest corner of the street having a pub called the Ducks Nuts and the other corner having a burnt out hotel. The landlord was telling Richard Bott of the Mail that the worldwide credit crunch was biting hard. Apparently the Madam from the brothel next door had complained her first customer of the previous day was at 2.30am! He said when people are not rooting, then the credit crunch is biting hard! All this just before the topless barmaids came on. Richard said he didn’t know where to look. I bet!
Another disappointment at the game of course. Tony Smith was angry. The players were angry. Not half as angry as the fans who paid good money to see the match and then had to queue for almost two hours to get a taxi back from the ground.
But on the Gold Coast now and after PNG didn’t beat the Aussies by three points to knock us out of the competition we are set to head to Brisbane for the game that really matters. Over half way now and still looking for something to cheer on the field.
Went wine tasting up the Hunter Valley yesterday. That was a good trip. The wine was good, but the craic and the scenery was exceptional. Andy Wilson claimed that white wine is invigorating and red wine soporific. I disagreed having had red, and he had white. He said if we look on this bus now all the red wine people will be asleep and the white wine won’t. We were at the front of the bus, turned round and the only two people awake where me and him!
That loss was far worse than last week against Australia, the failure to build any pressure by failing to get to the last tackle was so inept it was unbelievable, I have never seen a worse kicking game and i’ve never seen a team give away so many penalties on the 5th tackle.
The inability to hold out the opposition after the inevitable penalty is now becoming all too predictable.
I always thought the lack of an extra big man or two in the squad would be fatal. Credit to Ben Westwood who has played his way into next weeks 17 as did Micky Higham whilst I think we may have seen the last of Sinfield and Wellens at test level.
Martyn, I’m sure we can win next week. When things were going wrong in that second half it was with players out of position or players who won’t be playing next week making errors.
For the semi-final (assuming the Kumuls don’t beat the Aussies!), I’d leave out Keith Senior and play Leon Pryce in his position. Danny McGuire should play at five-eighth and we need some dummy-half impact on the benck. Higham did enough tonight to get into next week’s 17.
I’d also drop Sinfield, stick with Purdham, use JJB as the fourth prop on the bench and give Westwood a bench spot too.
Wellens
Gardner
Gleeson
Pryce
Smith
McGuire
Burrow
Morley
Roby
Graham
Ellis
Peacock
Purdham.
Subs: Westwood, Jones-Buchanan, Hock & Higham
That team is more than capable of beating the Kiwis next week.
Is it worse to lose like we did last week against the Aussies, when they take an early lead from the start?
Or is is worse to lose like we did today, when we start like a house on fire, but then blow it?
If anything, it feels worse today, because at least last week we had the consolation of knowing we were up against a great side.
The brutal truth is that our defence lacks intensity and intelligence. How many times did we misread the Kiwi attack, particularly when they were funnelling the ball to Matuvei? Unfortunately Paul Sykes probably played his last game for England, he really did have a stinker.
Can we come back from this to beat them next week?
We can, but it’s going to take an awful lot of work on our defensive strategy, although at least the Kiwis have shown Tony Smith their hand. Smith has a big job this week.
Just think we need to be a bit careful about the use of the word pride. There is absolutely no doubting that the English players have immense pride - in their profession, the jerseys, the country and their own personal performance. I call as my witness Jamie Peacock as represenative of his ilk.
We should not confuse pride with a definable identity; something that the Celts, South Pacific Islanders and New Zealand can tap into, not least because they have an obvious ‘bigger’ historical enemy and/or an inherent feeling of persecution as a result (a bit like Rugby League).
All the above nations also have nothing to lose and everything to gain. England’s cause is a different one, to gain ultimate respect.
‘God save the Queen’ has always struck me as an insipid, almost apologetic, anachronistic ideal in comparison to, say, ‘Scotland the brave’.
Play off rugby is about peaking not just pride and passion
In December’s Rugby League World, we have Jamie Jones-Buchanan’s World Cup diary, stretching over 5 pages. This is Part One, starting with news of his call-up and ending with the Australia game in Melbourne.
Obviously I’m now cursing myself for not asking Keith Senior to do one but, nonetheless, it’s a cracking read.
Missing out on selection to play Australia, “is like missing out on a ticket for the trip of a lifetime.” His post-match assessment is “we came here to win a World Cup and with some work there’s no reason why we won’t.”
Look out also for 50 ways to improve Rugby League with plenty of international matters discussed in there.
I caught up with England coach Tony Smith ahead of the final Pool 1 game against New Zealand.
Sections of the Australian media have taken something of a hammering for their coverage of the World Cup, not least on these pages, but their written word has undoubtedly had some bonuses. Their constant sniping at nations such as Ireland and Scotland has inspired some of the best performances of the tournament to date, with Scots hooker Ben Fisher the latest to prove the point.
“We read all the press reports about how this game was dead and how Fiji were going to walk all over us,” Fisher said in the wake of the memorable 18-16 win in Gosford on Wednesday. “It shows that the pride the boys have got in each other and the passion we’ve got for Scotland. When we showed up today we wanted to prove that we’re no walkovers in the World Cup.”
Ireland coach Andy Kelly had made similar comments after his side’s narrow opening game defeat to Tonga. “One of the things pre-competition was that we were written off, and there were some quite detrimental things said about us,” Kelly said. “People asked whether we were physically up to challenging the Tongans and Samoans and I think we answered that.”
The point made below by Martyn on the pride so evident in the Celtic nations is also a telling one. In fact, one leading professional coach not involved in the World Cup mentioned that it was the biggest difference he had seen in those performances and those of England so far.
I’ve been present at three of the four matches played by the two Celtic nations (and watched Ireland’s win over Samoa from the Bluetongue Stadium press box) and can vouch that the spirit among those squads is second to none. Maybe that has been partially inspired – among other things - by the negative media attention they attracted before their brave and accomplished performances.
In that case, let’s hope the English squad take a similarly dim view – because they’ve been hammered from pillar to post all week and need all the inspiration they can get for the remainder of the competition.
Is witnessing the coming of age of Ireland youngsters Sean Gleeson, Eamon O’Carroll, Ben Harrison and Michael McIllorum. All four of them are under 21 years of age and this tournament can do wonders for their future.
O’Carroll may be short in stature but he makes up for it in heart and desire, the way he has stood up to bigger and more experienced forwards has been absolutely outstanding. He just keeps on coming back for more.
Watching Gleeson outplay George Carmont got me thinking, has Wigan ever heard of the word perseverance and will they come to regret offloading Gleeson when he was only 19 ? He has impressed many locals with his classy displays.
Ben Harrison had a difficult 2008 with Warrington due to personal matters but there aren’t too many forwards in Super League with a better offload in traffic.
McIllorum also lacks size but pound for pound he hits harder in defence than anyone.
Keep it going lads.
I caught up with a delighted Ireland coach, Andy Kelly after their sensational victory over Samoa.
Crikey - how much fun was that? Absolutely brilliant for the development of the sport in Ireland and Scotland, surely? Can’t wait to read the reports, particularly from the Irish and Scottish media.
Bigger issue here, though. Earlier in this blog, Martyn suggested, at least partly tongue in cheek, that this World Cup would be just magnificent without Australia. If anything, this morning’s games just underlined his point. How good would this tournament be without them? Just about every match has been competitive and shown the international game in a fantastic, colourful light. Clearly, this must be encouraged, yet if we want the World Cup to have greater credibility, we can’t really stage it without the best team in the world.
So, after wracking my noggin, I believe I have come up with an excellent solution - and one that can be ignored if it turns out we are over-reacting on the basis of one game. In which case, just do it like this again but with 12 teams not 10! Anyway, here goes:
How about holding a World Series tournament in the alternate two-year cycle prior to the World Cup (i.e. 2011), in which 16 nations including England and New Zealand, but not including Australia (as World Cup holders if we need an excuse) take part in four groups of four, with seedings based on this year’s end-of-tournament rankings. We could then have a meaningful eight-team World Cup in 2013, including Australia and the seven top-ranked teams from the World Series, with no contentious and contrived formats.
The beauty of this concept is that anyone choosing to play for one of the 16 nations in the World Series should not then be allowed to switch allegiances and play for Australia in the World Cup, further ensuring that competitions’ competitiveness. Apart from the geography, the cycle would be a bit like soccer’s European Championships/World Cup cycle. Both worth winning, but the latter more prestigious than the former.
Here’s how I see it working -
World Series
Pool 1 Pool 2 Pool 3 Pool 4
England New Zealand PNG Ireland
Samoa Scotland France Fiji
Tonga Lebanon Russia USA
Cook Is Wales Serbia Jamaica
Could possibly have a qualifying tournament for the fourth-placed teams in each group, should the numbers of nations playing the game allow for it (i.e. if Holland, Germany, Japan etc get realistically stronger.
Top two in each pool go through to quarter-finals, then semi-finals, then final to decide World Series champions.
Two years later, World Cup, seeded on basis of World Series results. So:
Rugby League World Cup
Pool 1 Pool 2
Australia Winners World Series (reward for winning to
be seeded outside Australia’s group)
WS runners-up WS 3rd
WS 4th WS 5th
WS 6th WS 7th
Top two teams in each group go through to semi-finals, then final to decide World Cup winners - i.e. best team in the world, seeded direct entry into next World Cup, four years later.
In future years, if necessary, England and NZ and any other country that becomes too strong, can maybe skip the World Series and be seeded direct entry into a (possibly expanded) World Cup proper (unless in doing so it would cheapen the event too much, a judgement call for another day). Either way, lots of room for growth in both competitions, evening out of standards, encouragement of developing nations, more meaningful international games and - most importantly - lots more good old fashioned sporting fun!
God, I is genius me.
Scotland and Ireland both restored some pride to Northern Hemisphere Rugby League today with stirring wins against Fiji and Samoa.
And the thing that struck me about both performances was the pride they played with throughout their respective games. From beginning to end they never stopped trying, and their spirit looked in sharp contrast to the lack of spirit shown by England on Sunday.
Why should that be?
I wish I knew the answer. You can guarantee that neither Andy Kelly nor Steve McCormack would ever have been handed the job to coach England, but they’ve both done a fine job with the Celtic nations.
Both the ‘minor’ groups finished with all the sides level on two points, and they both finished with the teams arguably in the reverse positions that were anticipated. Most pundits thought that Samoa and France would be battling for the fourth semi-final spot, and instead they are battling for ninth place, while most thought Ireland and Fiji would be the also-rans of the two groups, and yet they are now both going head to head in the semi-final play-offs.
The two minor pools have been the success story of this tournament, and I hope the Australian media isn’t too blinkered to be able to recognise it. But maybe that is too much to ask.
Phil, you might be right, but let’s not forget that Slater, Inglis and Folau were all in the Melbourne team that was beaten 40-0 by Manly the day after Saints lost to Leeds.
They didn’t seem to be carrying too many hangovers from that disappointment on Sunday.
I think your earlier point about English players having too many matches during the year is much closer to the mark.
In the continuing after-shock of the magnitude of Sunday, one observation. Have the St Helens players had sufficient time and been able to get over the psychological effects of their devastating Grand Final loss?
They were ‘in camp’ with England barely three days after it together with a core of players who wrecked their dreams for the second year - that must be tough to come to terms with, espcially as the Saints boys were favourites both times.
The right sided defence of Gardner, Pryce and Wellens (together with ex-Saint Gleeson) were uncharacteristically exposed. They are coming off a massive domestic blow and going through almost a grieving process - are we all underestimating that factor.
It is surely not about physical conditioning, ability, desire - perhaps the key to ultimate victory is all in the mind
In the light of England’s capitulation on Sunday, we’ve been looking for examples of teams that have been hammered, and have then found the inspiration to come back and defeat their tormentors.
The best example has to be Harlequins Reserves, who lost 86-0 to Wigan in the Reserves competition on 28 June, but a week later they faced the same opponents, with both teams more or less the same, and they beat Wigan 16-14 in London.
It’s interesting to see the comments of the two coaches that were reported in League Express after the first game in Wigan.
“We spoke about being clinical today because we have Harlequins again next week,” said Wigan assistant coach Phil Veivers afterwards. “We said we wanted to send a message to them today and I think that we did that, we were very physical defensively and when we put our offence together we came up with some very nice tries.”
Quins coach Rob Powell plans on making next week a different experience for Wigan. “We just had a really poor day today and not many of our people played very well. Rugby League is a brutal sport and a momentum sport and we probably deserved to get beat by that score because we didn’t show enough character or play enough football.”
If I were Tony Smith I’d give Rob Powell a call this week to find out a little more about precisely how he made the second game a “different experience” for Wigan.
I would love nothing more than to see Ricky Stuart and his boys enjoy a “different experience” on 22 November.
I’ll steer away from the England debacle for this blog entry – thousands of words have already been written about the record defeat. Instead I’ve got another match to look forward to – Scotland against Fiji on the Central Coast tomorrow.
If the Fijians’ performance against France last week is anything to go by, we should be in for a treat. The Scots will certainly be up against in at Bluetonge Stadium – which might just be the most picturesque ground I’ve ever seen – but there is a belief in Steve McCormack’s squad that they can perform considerably better than they own clash with the French.
Walking around Gosford this afternoon, there are posters for the game in almost every shop, and several on the side of buses as well. Certainly as much promotion as I’ve seen for a game so far, and far exceeding that present in Townsville for the England-Papua New Guinea match.
So hopefully there will be a big crowd present tomorrow to see a cracking game. We could all do with a healthy dose of positivity after this week’s events.