The Waratahs had the Blues beat. Then they beat themselves
Idea
Updated ,first published
Updated ,first published
Exactly 50 years ago, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had just finished their first season by losing all 14 games, head coach John McKay was asked what he thought of his team’s execution.
“I’m all for it,” he replied dully.
So is Waratahs coach Dan McKellar – of course – after his first half against the Auckland Blues on Saturday night.
Yes, yes, yes, they were up 17-8, which was a good thing, especially against a team that was heavily favored to win. But you should have seen the ones running away!
By my calculations, there were ten times – count ’em, TEN times – where the Waratahs scored goals, should have, could have, but they blew those goals in much more creative ways.
Everything was dazzling and sparkling.
Time and time again we have seen brilliant leadership work take them straight to goal, with only passes going forward, balls being dropped, balls being intercepted, the damned ball not being brought down even after it has crossed the line – the last three times!
Before we had skillful strikes for flying wingers, we had hookers making dummies only for the ball to go out of the way. Our flying halves were chipping, chasing and re-collecting brilliantly, only to make an unsuccessful pass when the line was wide open.
We had Max Jorgensen twice He made a great no-look strike, passing the ball behind his hand to attacking defender Sid Harvey, sending him into space, but it was lost when the ball was counted. Even if the Auckland Blues faltered before the attack, we suffered endless blows. In the end, all we could stand in the way of tries was scrum-half Jack Debreczeni’s rapid run and a conventional forward lunge from rising star Dan Botha just before half-time, with his nose plotting the path the ball would follow just before it hit the ground. It was a bonus that this was matched by a similar try from fellow prop Tom Lambert just before half-time.
Despite all the missed opportunities, we actually led by nine points at half-time.
Well, look, did it really matter?
Our men would definitely win anyway. I mean, look at the halftime stats!
We not only enjoyed the abundance of balls and space, but also to flood The whole ball covers fucking Auckland. In the first 40 minutes the Tahs had two-thirds of the possession and an astonishing 75 percent of the territory. We had advanced 298 meters with the ball against their distance of only 54 meters.
Tell me, were the Auckland Blues there? All I saw was the Waratahs playing both attacks And defense, because they single-handedly killed their own intelligence.
But these stats were built on dominating phase play and having dangerous backs making countless breaks. It was clear to us that the only thing to do to win the game was to continue doing exactly what they were doing, with LESS than nine turnovers. Ah yes, it would be nice if we could limit the eight rendering errors to just one error. Given how strong we were everywhere else, none of that really mattered in terms of the outcome. It was clear the Waratahs would win. The disappointment was that they should have been in good form to win by just 50 points.
But then a rather alarming notification appeared on the screen:
“THE LAST TIME WARATAHS LEADED AND WON IN THE FIRST TIME WAS 2015.”
Sorry, what?
A. ten years Since they won after leading at half-time? This is not an aberration, this is the weight of history. How can this happen? to be?
But… don’t worry. The team, which held 75 percent of its territory in the first half and was ahead by nine points, was not going to let this point slip away. And certainly not, especially when a penalty goal from Tahs’ outstanding full-back Sid Harvey (every rugby team needs a flying redhead) gave us a handy 20-8 lead just four minutes into the second half.
But friends? Then it started. The Auckland team bus had arrived because suddenly the Blues were attacking back and forth everywhere simultaneously – but most of the time on our try line.
With the uprising of the Blues, all our previous ownership and dominance of territory was eliminated. It would be very depressing and tedious to go over all their efforts, but I think there were four of the savages. I lost count. They were unstoppable, with clever passing and striking from All Blacks five-eighth Beauden Barrett, scoring 27 unanswered points to seal a 35-8 victory.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
And it was because of our lack of practice.
I wouldn’t shoot them all though; I only shoot those whose composure during the incident is no match for their genius in open spaces.
Peter FitzSimons is a journalist and columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X.
