So let’s be honest our World Cup excitement is now officially building. With Super Rugby now over and the Rugby Championship just around the corner, it’s all about International Rugby from now until the end of October – plain and simple. And it’s not just the Men’s game. For us here at the Lineout there is also huge anticipation surrounding the final two Rounds of the Women’s Pacific Four Series, between Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA all being played out in Ottawa in the first two weekends of July. This tournament will also determine the playing order of the new World Rugby Annual Women’s tournament between North American/Pacific and European sides to be played in November. There’s International Friendlies serving as warm-ups for the World Cup also to be played over July and August as well, so in short put away your club jerseys and focus on the global game for the next glorious four months.
There wasn’t too much going on in the Rugby World over the last two weeks, so we didn’t have a huge deal to talk about, but there was enough to keep a few pints frothy so here’s what got us musing.
A chance for Canadian Rugby to shine at long last in 2023
Let’s face it the Men’s game in Canada has so far been an unmitigated disaster in 2023. The Arrows had their worst season ever in the MLR and the National Team is without any meaningful fixtures for at least the next year. For Canadian Women’s rugby, however, it’s a completely different story. 2023 could be a massive year for the Ladies in Red, following on from their stellar World Cup campaign in New Zealand last year. They are well placed to take at least a strong second place finish in this year’s Pacific Four Series being played out in Ottawa next month, and as a result could find themselves competing at the highest level in November in the new annual World Rugby WXV tournament. In short it’s heady stuff for Women’s Rugby and Canada looks set to be a dominant force.
However, let’s not get too carried away as there is still the business at hand in the Pacific Four series. Canada will first play the World Champions New Zealand’s Black Ferns who are fresh off a 50-0 thumping of Australia this week. In all reality Canada will bring a proud fight to the Women in Black, but New Zealand are in such a class of their own it’s hard to see them stumbling to a fired up Canadian team. Nevertheless, it will be excellent preparation for what is to come for Sophie de Goede and her charges. The following weekend sees Canada take on Australia, and we feel fairly certain that this is a game Canada can and should win. Australia has some genuinely dangerous players in their ranks but lack the clinical organisation that has served Canada so well.
It’s going to be a great couple of weekends, and it is our sincere hope that TD Place in Ottawa is a sellout for both of the Canadian games. We’re long overdue to have something to celebrate rugby wise here in Canada, and the inspirational Sophie de Goede and her outstanding charges should be just the ticket!
It may be shortened this year but that should only serve to up the intensity!
It may be a quick fire tournament this year, but it leaves us with so many questions. Due to the World Cup being just around the corner, this year’s Rugby Championship is forced into an abbreviated format where the four participants only play each other once as opposed to twice and the normal home and away structure. As a result the teams have no room for mistakes if they are to get their hands on the silverware. If any of them are to walk away with this year’s trophy the only realistic option is to win all three of your matches, such is the caliber of the opposition this year, despite some of the lingering question marks around all four teams.
Australia, perhaps pose the biggest conundrum with new Boss and Former England Coach Eddie Jones taking over the reins of running the Wallabies. We’re pretty much a divided camp on whether or not Jones will turn Australia into genuine World Cup contenders in a mere four months, especially after Australian sides for the most part failed to make any impression in terms of international competitiveness in the recently concluded Super Rugby Championship. Australia do benefit from two of their games being played at home this year, however their campaign is faced with a daunting start as they have to face the Springboks at altitude in Pretoria. If they come out of that in good shape then it’s back home to face first the All Blacks and then the Pumas. We can’t see them getting the better of New Zealand given Super Rugby form, but a strong second place finish in the Championship would set them up well for what should be an easy start to their World Cup campaign given their favourable draw in the Pools, barring the injuries that have consistently plagued Australian sides.
For Argentina, although their Rugby Championship draw may look less than favourable as they find themselves with only one home game, there are some genuine opportunities on offer. Their first game is against the All Blacks in Mendoza and New Zealand tend to be a bit shaky in their first game of the international season. By the same token it’s also Argentina’s but many of their squad will be recently returned from some intense European seasoning. Admittedly New Zealand have also just finished dominating Super Rugby, but as already mentioned they tend to need a game together to work out all the kinks and Pumas Coach Michael Cheika will be keenly aware of this. Add in the fanatical Mendoza faithful and it will be a daunting arena for the the All Blacks to get their 2023 season underway. After that though it’s a tough schedule on the road for the Pumas with long trips to Sydney and Johannesburg. They’ll put up a spirited performance, but in all reality this tournament is about preparation for the World Cup for Argentina rather than actual silverware.
New Zealand look set to continue their domination of the tournament, with their trump card being that their most difficult game is to be played at home. The trip to Argentina could be a potential banana skin, but that’s followed up by hosting the Springboks in Auckland, though strangely not at Fortress Eden Park. South Africa pose more questions than answers at the moment and should the Springboks arrive buoyed by a comprehensive defeat of the Wallabies in the opening round, then the Auckland fixture is likely to be the highlight of the tournament, especially if the All Blacks come unstuck in Argentina. Still we can’t help feeling that New Zealand head into the tournament as hands down favourites, but it will require a focus right from the get go that All Black sides have traditionally struggled with.
South Africa, like Australia have a favourable draw this year, playing two of their games at home. First up they have the Wallabies on the highveld in Pretoria, which given the competitiveness of South African sides in Europe this year, the Springboks should be considered favourites for. Next up is the long trip to New Zealand, but as mentioned above the match is strangely not being played in the All Blacks traditional stronghold of Eden Park for some strange reason best known to the organizers – even though it’s nothing to do with Ed Sheeran. After that it’s back to Ellis Park for another high altitude contest with Argentina. Despite some of the question marks hanging over South Africa as a result of a worrying injury list, our money is still on them to finish a strong second and in the process build nicely for an exceptionally daunting World Cup Pool.
Scott Robertson break dances out of the club scene and onto the International stage in style
Scott Robertson and his Crusaders are the most successful franchise in Super Rugby history – end of argument. Under Robertson’s tutelage the Christchurch outfit have won the title seven years in a row capped off by last weekend’s tight win over the Chiefs. The Crusaders have lifted the Super Rugby silverware in its various guises 14 times since the start of the competition in 1996. That is unparallelled dominance making them the rugby equivalent of something like Manchester United.
Although the match was marred by some controversy in its officiating, that perhaps took some of the shine of this rather special victory, there is no denying that Robertson and his charges are perhaps one of the best organized and most adaptable rugby sides on the planet. Add in the exceptional skills of fly half Richie Mo’unga as your playmaker and points kicker, the brute force experience of Captain Scott Barrett and fellow second rower Sam Whitelock and the brilliance of fullback Will Jordan and you already have a lethal unit. However, perhaps one of the revelations of the season has been winger Leicester Fainga’anuku, and we can’t wait to see him in an All Blacks Jersey come the Rugby Championship and beyond, as the Crusaders firecracker has a turn of pace and strength that has to be seen to be believed. In short, it was a Final that lived up to its billing and provided us with an enthralling contest.
Scott Robertson may be untested at an International level, but there is no denying that his appointment as All Blacks Coach after the World Cup is probably the most eagerly anticipated Coaching decision since Fabien Galthie took over France. The All Blacks need to break out of their traditional mold and the Crusaders breakdancing King has now surely proven that he is the man to do it.
Players unite behind the Man in the Spotlight and Rugby Fans need to respect it
As former referee and whistle blowing legend Nigel Owens once famously said “this is not soccer”. It pains us that we’ve had to talk about officiating so much of late, but sadly the game is in danger of losing one its core values and degenerating into the free for all and often tasteless realm of association football. We thought that for the most part referee Ben O’Keefe had a good game in officiating the Chiefs vs Crusaders Super Rugby Final. Unfortunately, to which he has openly admitted in his post match review, he missed an obvious forward pass that led to a Crusaders try that probably sealed their close 25-20 victory. However, by the same token he also only handed out a yellow card to the Chiefs centre Anton Lienert-Brown at the start of the match and which many felt should have been red. Had it been red then the result could have been a scoreline a lot more flattering to the Crusaders.
In short, referees will never have a perfect match. In general, we find O’Keefe to be a good and consistent referee who has an excellent officiating track record. However, at the end of the day just like all of us he is human and will occasionally make mistakes. Whether or not the Chiefs would have won the game if the forward pass been spotted and the resulting try denied, is a debate than could go on for centuries. However, by the same token it happened just before half time, and the Chiefs had plenty of time to redress the outcome of that decision and yet were unable to do so on the pitch. Sometimes there are hard knocks in a game of margins, which last Saturday’s contest was, and teams simply have to rise above them. Despite some truly heroic efforts the Chiefs sadly were unable to do so, and the Crusaders as they so often do, given their remarkable cohesion and skills sets, were able to by comparison. Consequently as difficult as it may be for Chiefs fans to swallow as a result, the Crusaders went on to emerge the winners in a contest that was well played by both sides.
The resultant lynching that Ben O’Keefe then received on social media, and the abuse hurled at him and his family was truly disgraceful. He had the courage to come out and admit that he made a mistake and apologised for it. Our game is based on the sacred value of respect for both players and officials, and for fans not to honor that code is truly shameful. It’s made more so by the fact that several players on the losing side, the Chiefs, came out in O’Keefe’s defence after the match and that surely should be enough. As mentioned in previous blogs we find the growing lack of respect for officials deeply troubling and sincerely hope that players and fans will come together to reverse the trend as soon as possible. While we don’t deny that some aspects of the officiating process could do with some refinement, especially ahead of such a high stakes atmosphere as the World Cup, respect for the officials being asked to perform an often thankless and almost impossible task should still remain paramount.
Continuing on with the theme of respect Johnny Sexton could do well to learn some humility from fellow Irish firebrand Ronan O’Gara
Both Johnny Sexton, current Ireland Captain and fly half, and his predecessor Ronan O’Gara who also wore the 10 jersey for Ireland and now Coach of European legends La Rochelle have a reputation for not putting brain in gear before they open their mouths. The outcome of Johnny Sexton storming onto the the pitch and verbally assaulting Referee Jaco Peyper after his side lost to Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle in this year’s Heineken Cup Final, is yet to be determined and its resulting impact on Ireland’s World Cup preparations. Ronan O’Gara a fortnight ago then appeared a sour loser after he labelled Toulouse as an “average side” who somehow got the rub of the green in the recent TOP 14 Final against his charges. It smacked of a lack of respect for your opponent. While Toulouse may not have played the greatest game they’ve ever played in their illustrious history, they still had moments of magic encapsulated in that Romain Ntamack winning try which La Rochelle simply had no answer to, and as a result Toulouse emerged worthy winners.
Unlike Sexton, O’Gara has since recognized that his comments were made in poor taste and showed a lack of respect for his opponents. While it still doesn’t excuse his actions on the day, he has at least had the decency to recognize the error of his ways and has come out publicly and made a formal apology. Johnny Sexton on the other hand whose behaviour was in many ways even more distasteful has done no such thing. It’s this arrogance and sense of entitlement which may, unlike O’Gara, seriously trip Sexton up both in the weeks to come regarding the outcome of his hearing and for his team during the World Cup. He needs to learn that humility and respect are still the cornerstones of our game and without them we are in danger of rugby slipping into the tasteless abyss of many other sports. In short, swallow your pride Johnny – there’s still time!
Well that’s it for this week folks, hope the air quality is not ruining the start to your summer and spare a thought for the hundreds of brave souls combating the fires. Make sure you support our fabulous and courageous Women at the Pacific Four series and here’s to an epic summer and autumn of Test Rugby! In a more lighthearted tone to give you a chuckle over that summer libation on the deck here is the “Razor” doing his last breakdance for his beloved Crusaders.
The Lineout 