Sometimes you just have to sit back and admire the best
Six from Six in The Rugby Championship and a full house of 30 points – 17 more than their nearest rival – for the All Blacks means it looks very difficult to envisage where or when the men in Black will be beaten again.
The lesson that needs to be learnt after their demolition of the Springboks is that there is no ego about this team and they do the simple basics better than anyone else on the planet.
So many times one player could have scored but as the chances were less than 100% they are more than happy to pass it to the man that is certain to score. They pass better than anyone and offload better than a Fijian Sevens team. Simply put, the ball never dies which means that their opponents slowly but surely do.
Saracens shows Wasps whose boss
Anyone who thought that Wasps may be able to show that the tide was turning at the top of the Premiership tree were put firmly in their place on Sunday as Saracens ground them down and put them to the sword late on.
The game was pretty close for long periods but when Jamie George entered the fray, the exceptionally dynamic rolling maul of the hosts took control. George nabbed a brace and although Wasps may rue some missed opportunities early in the second half, there are 80 minutes in a match and the reigning champions showed how to use every single one of them.
Connacht looking to join the party late
After a catastrophic start to defending their title with three losses and a likely defeat in Italy only swerved due to a vicious storm abandoning the match, Connacht have won their last two and now claimed the scalp of the unbeaten Ulster in the process.
There is still plenty to work on however as they let a 14-point lead slip within six minutes of the restart but then they showed true character to turn the tide, ride out the storm and come away with an impressive victory.
It is still early enough in the season for Pat Lam’s men to gain some momentum, and start climbing the ladder but they are the lowest point scorers in the league barring the Italian teams and their defence is leaking an average of 26 points a match, so there is a lot of work still to be done if they are to hit last season’s dizzy heights.
It could finally be Clermont’s year
It is a bit early I know, but the perennial Bridesmaids look in better shape than they ever have as they charged four points clear of the Top 14 with an impressive victory over Toulouse at the weekend.
Morgan Parra rolled back the years with 18 points from the boot, but the team itself look very hard to beat and united in the goal of finally winning their first title until 2010. They may even fancy breaking their Champions Cup duck.
One loss in the last eight is certainly the form that they need to continue and travelling to play Exeter Chiefs this Sunday will certainly be a good gauge.
Gloucester continue to flatter to deceive
It must be very frustrating to be a Gloucester fan right now. Another significant lead was followed by another even more significant collapse. They’ve been ahead against Leicester, Bath and Newcastle and somehow managed to implode and throw them all away this season.
The strange thing is that they have controlled large proportions of games and not looked like conceding, then all of a sudden a switch seems to be flicked and they power down.
They now sit 10th in the league with just a single win from the opening six games.
If at first you don’t succeed…
If there is one story that will warm anyone’s heart from the weekend it will be that Leroy Houston finally won his first cap for Australia 11 years since being in his first Wallaby squad.
Looking like a kid at Christmas for the whole day, there was not a person in the stadium that could have succeeded in wiping the smile from Houston’s face.
His Bath teammates travelled to watch him and joined the fans to welcome the team bus to HQ, much to Houston’s surprise and delight as he embraced them on the way to the changing rooms.
One can only assume that the smile is still as firmly placed on his face as his cap was post-match.
Andy Daniel
Follow Andy on Twitter (@scrum5ive)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
I can confirm it is extremely frustrating being a Gloucester fan right now. Some terrible decision making, poor discipline and just inexplicably switching off at key moments. Hoping the European break can help us gain some momentum but looking at our fixtures in November this poor start to the AP season could well continue!
Who’s
Wonder if AlexD (what does the ‘D’ stand for I ponder?) read the above AB/SA post? Not bluudy lightly. Show him up for the jingoist he is I expect.
And he reckoned that the Lions pack with its English core & Welsh flankers will frighten the AB’s. Not likely. Not on this last performance it won’t.
There are no guarantees in rugby & all are entitled to their opinions. However, unless they are predicated, opinions, they’re simply empty rhetoric.
My original ? was about HOW the Lions will seek to beat NZ, because I am actually interested to know. Nothing to do with AB ‘cheer leading’. No need is there, at present?.
And when EJ states there’s no pt in copying the AB’s, this raises the ? of what is there to copy? Attack when is possession & defend when not? Well, I’d have thought so as what else is there?
Limiting yrself to a set piece & defence (which is what Eddie opines is England’s current state)? What of the attack? Surely every team must offer more than the aforementioned in order to be better or best, incl, esp, the Lions, surely?
‘Likely’ not lightly & – 1 ‘surely’, surely to above.