I hate it when this happens. Surely pro rugby players know how to react when the 9 gets sucked into a ruck rather than just blindly trundling to their pre-assigned spot.
Give Tom Wright his due he cleared from a couple of breakdowns when Nic was otherwise engaged but his passes left a lot to be desired. Reminded me of the harbour bridge shape often seen with Josh Holmes in later years at the Rats.
Completely agree the pigs need to give White the ability to get clean ball and too often they were out muscled. However, even the times that we gained parity on our own ball he is still glacial at getting the ball out and when he does we too often immediately move into the caterpillar and a horrendously telegraphed box kick. While it may seem like I am blaming White for this I am more blaming Rennie as this seems to be a conscious game plan. The pack hit the pass from the ruck very flat and with little momentum so we rarely if ever have the defense back peddling. If we hit the defensive line with a bit more ferocity I think we would have the opportunity to get cleaner and faster recycles. If you have a bull charging through it immediately will commit two to the tackle reducing the numbers they can commit to spoil the ball.
This slow and steady style is one that works well for the Brumbies because no one in Australia is trying to absolutely cream you at the breakdown.
Let's see. What's wrong with this post? Of course, the Brumbies actually had four wins against NZ sides this year and very nearly made it to the final of the SRPacific. Is it true, too, that most of the NZ Super sides are absolutely not trying to cream them at the breakdown?
Then, which of the other Aus sides sailed through the Super Rugby comp by playing fast and furious from the breakdown?
Those issues aside, I agree that the Wallabies would look a lot better and would place oppositions under more pressure by quick ball, a la Aaron Smith, and with the forwards runners hitting the ball at speed. There is a place for box kicking in test match rugby, but we probably (in my view most certainly) kick possession away far too often.
The most promising approach from SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) this year was by the Tahs who were more than willing to get the ball to their backline and attack with some gusto. Next year I expect they will be quite a bit more proficient and I think will give the SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) comp a fair shake. If so, hopefully the approach will translate to the national side as well.
