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0darroch

Listed below are comments made by 0darroch between Monday, 10th August 2009 and Monday, 30th November 2009.

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Southern teams hold autumn supremacy 11:36am on 30 Nov 2009 Thanks for the response Tom.

My 6 Nations, after watching NZ vs. France, I think France have a long way to go at the moment, and have to agree with DrRichie that Ireland look head and shoulders above the rest. Wales are inconsistent, as are Scotland, and the latter never look anywhere near scoring a try.

I think England are the unknown quantity, simply because if the injured players come back their match day 22 will be markedly different from the one that played NZ. As such, we have no idea how they'll perform, will we get the "it's a new team, give them time to come together" speech for three games, or will they pick up where they left off at the end of last Six Nations? I think they will be on a par with Wales overall, so:

Ireland, France, Engalnd/Wales, England/Wales, Scotland, Italy.

PorterRockwell, how can tiredness in the last 20mins be "nothing to do with conditioning"? Surely it has everything to do with conditioning, as were they fitter, they would not be as tired. I agree that tackles make teams tire quicker, but it seems then when England particularly is in a tough and even match with a Southern Hemisphere side, after 60mins it is the England players who tire, not the Southern Hemisphere players.

My answer is that the Super 14 is played at a much higher pace than the Premiership. This is partly to do with the conditions and partly to do with the emphasis on running rugby that exists there, on the will to score tries rather than grind out wins. Admittedly the SA team play a kick and chase game a lot of the time, but the threat of the running counter attack is always there. This higher pace means that players simply have to be fitter to keep up. The Premiership, whilst often displaying some great rugby, still has long periods of rumbling forward play in which players do not use up as much energy.

Consequently, when we try to take them on at their own game, we tire, and lose, after matching them for 50-60mins.
Southern teams hold autumn supremacy 11:32pm on 29 Nov 2009 Great Blog as usual Tom.

If you were to look at the last 20mins of all the games, barring the SA-Ireland game, the gulf in class is very obvious. It's all very well matching a southern hemisphere side for 60mins, I simply don't understand how, when every professional side has three or four specialist conditioning coaches, how our players cannot keep up that intensity for the full 80mins when NZ, SA and Aus can.

The big difference between them and us is that they pick teams to win games, rather than to avoid losing. A perfect example is England's selection of Erinle for the AB match, selected purely to tackle Nonu. He's never going to win you a game, ever.

However, as Ireland showed, we are capable of matching them, and it is not by booting us aimlessly down the pitch, it is by attacking them and forcing them to concede penalties or tries. Kearney was so effective because he had the confidence to run back at SA and back himself. How often do you see the ABs running it from their own half, look at Muliaina's try against France, I would have backed England, Scotland and probably Wales to have kicked the possession away to clear the lines, rather than back themselves to take on the opposition.

England looked most effective when they threw everything at the ABs in the first half, Ireland did exactly the same against Australia. Our teams need to understand that these southern hemisphere teams are not supermen, they will miss tackles and they will creak under pressure.

Tom, I'd be interested to hear your predictions for the 6 Nations. In the pub I work in the punters seem to think it's a toss up between Ireland and France. Your thoughts?
What we can learn from Rooney, Dan Rooney 08:21am on 11 Nov 2009 #89 - the78sum I don't know if this is just my view, but I've always found "coloured" a horrendous word, obviously implying whites and the rest! I don't know what the alternative is, but I've just never liked that word.

I liked the article Matt, and I recognise that you don't need to give us precise stats for the article to be credible, this is a journalistic piece, not an academic paper. What you have done, which I applaud, is raised the topic. Most are terrified to raise this subject, at the risk of being labelled a racist (which, by the way, you clearly are not).
Relaxed Wilkinson still in search of perfection 11:32pm on 04 Nov 2009 It's been great to see JW playing with a new lease of life in France. One can't help but think that had he been playing in a side where he was given slightly more protection than the Newcastle pack could give him he'd be nearing 1500 test points by now.

He also seems far more happy with himself, and has apparently accepted that there is more to life than kicking a ball through the posts, which can only be healthy. He is enjoying his rugby, which by his own admission he never did in his early 20s.

The JW and SG midfield is exciting, Wilkinson has always been at his best with a playmaker outside him, a la Greenwood and Catt, and Geraghty could easily fill that role too. Geraghty can easily fill in at 10 too if Wilkinson finds himself at the bottom of a ruck.

Great blog Tom.
Johnson primed for battle ahead 9:32pm on 03 Nov 2009 Firstly, welcome back Tom! I know it's your second post since the triathlon, but thought I'd say it anyway - hope the hammy is feeling ok!

It's an interesting team selection. I think the backs are exciting, Hipkiss should be playing anyway, regardless of injuries, and with JW and SG at 10 and 12, we could have an excellent midfield there. Banahan is quite a prospect, and with Monye's extreme pace, we could rip teams apart there.

The concern for me is the pack. I think with regards to the 3 props, all the rules stipulate is that there must be 5 players in the 22 who are trained to play in the front row. We have the starting 3, and a prop and a hooker on the bench, so perfectly legal.

Assuming Borthwick plays, I would have started Kennedy alongside him, with Lawes to come on a an impact player. Deacon is good, but not great. I agree with the lack of a genuine openside, Moody is good there but better at 6, I believe. Croft is truly world class and is a shoe in, and Crane is a wonderful prospect at 8 - not quite the finished article, but great for the future.

My problem is that there is a lack of 'grunt' in the scrum. All are very nice players, but there is little bulk and bruising there. Smith is in a different league to our back row, and will almost certainly control the breakdown, unless Moody plays out of his skin. We should dominate the lineout, with five possible jumpers, and I think scrummaging will be about equal.

I think it hinges on our backs defense. Can we keep the Aussies from busting through our line? I hope so. It should be a great game.
Flintoff a very English hero 07:14am on 29 Aug 2009 Flintoff may not be the best player to play the game, but he advocates something that is so often lacking in professional sport these days, that it is important to enjoy what you are doing. He recognizes that many people would give a great deal to be able to play sport for a living, and so has a great time doing it.

His influence also extends far off the field. He visits school and inspires children, he talks to fans and gets them more involved with the game. He shows that professional sportsmen are not all robot-esque.

Any calls for a knighthood are, of course, premature. He will no doubt continue his charity work, and only after he has made a significant contribution to that area, as Botham did, should he be honoured again.

As for the silly argument about whether or not Faldo is one of this country's greatest individual sportsmen, this is surely beyond debate. The man won majors over nine years, not many sportsmen lead a sport for that long, let alone Brits. Daley Thompson was indeed fantastic, (and for the record did not "conquer the world in no fewer than 10 disciplines", he was not even close to being the best in the world in any one of those disciplines! However, Colin Jackson never won Olympic gold, and never really got close to his PB after setting it, a great athlete, but not one of this country's greatest.

As for Phil Taylor, I struggle to call something that can be won by someone over thirty stones a "sport". Darts is an impressive skill and a discipline, not a sport. Taylor is, however, undoubtedly a master at it.
Monty pencils in Celtic Manor dozen 2:23pm on 27 Aug 2009 I completely disagree with those who say that it is counter productive for Monty to say that he already has an idea of who he wants to qualify. This is not everyone-gets-a-go school sport, it is completely correct to lay down the gauntlet and say to the will-they-wont-they-make-it players, go ahead and change my mind, or better yet, take it out of my hands and qualify by right.

Bear in mind he only has control over three spaces, and no-one should be aiming to get one of those spaces, all should be aiming to qualify by right. The wild card places almost by definition are for those who previously have shown great skill in the Ryder cup or in similar competitions, but who have not performed well recently - so the captain will of course have an idea of who he would choose were certain players not to qualify by right.

I think to forget Justin Rose is a mistake, he's so talented and will come good this year!
A new day, a new wonder 08:07am on 21 Aug 2009 I disagree with those who say that Bolt would not be able to transfer to the 400m. Michael Johnson said last night that Bolt's bend was the best he's ever seen, and that's coming from one of the best bend runners ever. That shows that Bolt is much more than just a sprinter, he is a supremely talented runner.

If Bolt could sustain a 400m pace he would certainly be able to more than compete. Bear in mind that with no training he ran 45.28 two years ago. Since then he has got a lot faster. He only needs to knock two seconds off his untrained, undeveloped time to be absolutely world class. I would never bet against that.

Amazing race last night, it's difficult to comprehend that no-one in history has got within 0.13 of his 100m time, and 0.12 of his 200m time, incredible.
Ponting left laughing as England get the script wrong 12:06pm on 10 Aug 2009 And let me clarify, Hick and Ramps are obviously classy players, but their Test record speaks for itself, they murder bad bowling, but struggle against true top class bowling.
Ponting left laughing as England get the script wrong 12:05pm on 10 Aug 2009 Unfortunately the problem stems from the county system. We have so many teams playing that it is a given that there are going to be some very average cricketers playing in these teams. That is what has enabled players like Hick and Ramprakash to pile on the runs for years, there are endless lifeless tracks and mediocre medium pace bowling. Players like Harmison look great at county level because of that. It's no co-incidence that the best players that Duncan Fletcher picked weren't necessarily successful at county level, i.e. Trescothick.

Picking Trott because he's scored a lot of runs on the Edgbaston Road is a tough one, what else could he do I suppose? But any player with no test experience who is brought in for a deciding Ashes test is almost certainly going to freeze, it's a massively pressurized situation to be thrust into.

A middle order of Bell and Bopara simple doesn't have the confidence or wealth of runs to intimidate an opposition. Bell looks beautiful when he bats, but does not have the application to bat all day. Our batsmen are so hell bent on scoring at 4+ an over that they have forgotten how to grind out an innings. Look at Marcus North and Michael Clarke. They do not swing at every ball outside off stump. They wait for the right ball to hit, and hit it with correct technique.

Our Batsmen need to learn that they need to apply themselves not just when things are going well, but when things are going badly too. If two or three batsmen had done that during the last test and got slow, ground out 100s, we would have saved the match.

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