Breakaways Too Good Now?

Pilfering breakaways now so good are they bad for rugby?

Matthew Burke

July 1, 2012

Thieves in the night … David Pocock and Richie McCaw. Photo: Getty Images

The Olympic motto is citius, altius, fortius. These three Latin words mean swifter, higher, stronger. These words could easily be adapted to the way Super Rugby has progressed since its inception in 1996.

From those first days of competition I don't think we realised what we had stumbled across. The product was faster than anything we had seen, it was more physical and supporters were coming in their droves to see a "new and improved" game of rugby. The premise of the new-age player was to find something that was your niche and work so hard at that skill that you would be known as the best in the world in that position.

Some of the magnificent players to date that have elevated the standard of play in the modern game have been the likes of Jonah Lomu, Francois Pienaar, John Eales, Tim Horan, Christian Cullen, Joel Stransky and Sean Fitzpatrick. And in the next breath you could rattle off even more players who have just as much an influence on the game. Their influence has certainly shaped the game to what it is today, but the game of rugby is ''live''. It is forever reinventing itself.

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Perhaps the most influential position has moved from five-eighth to openside breakaway. In the professional era David Wilson, Josh Kronfeld and Corne Kruger were putting their heads in places you just shouldn't go. They made stealing the ball an artform. Teams relied on that aspect of the game to stop the opposition's momentum. At the time it was lauded.

From an Australian perspective, we saw the emergence of two of the best in the game in George Smith and Phil Waugh. Their ability to get down low and hold their feet in the ruck made it so difficult for teams to remove them, they most often drew a penalty. In the present game, we have two of the best exponents in pilfering the ball in David Pocock and Richie McCaw. They have been so dominant - and in the case of McCaw, for so long - but they have drawn criticism they are bordering on the illegal and, for some people depending on what side of the ditch you are on, blatant cheating. My admiration of these two players is incredibly high. How they have been able to transform the game to the point where game plans are strategised to try and nullify their involvement is quite unbelievable.

But I am going to to play devil's advocate, though, in asking, is their dominance becoming, in part, a detriment to the game, and I say this with the utmost respect. Why? Because the players in question and just about all the No.7s running around in world rugby these days are able to nullify and stifle their opposition's attack.

Let's take the third Test against Wales for example. The game was dominated by the powers of the two openside breakaways in Sam Warburton and Pocock. Surprisingly, Pocock didn't receive man-of-the-match honours for his performance, despite having such an influence.

The contest was a stop-start affair and the fans were getting agitated, yet what they were doing was perfectly executed and legal. Being a day game and a dead rubber, the crowd wanted to see the ball moved about and the continuity of the game to be what everyone remembered. We got stuck into the referee about being pedantic at the breakdown but is it a case of these guys being too good at what they do? That's what everyone was talking about after the game. Are they dominating the game so much it could be having a negative impact on the entertainment value and free flowingness (I think that word applies here) of the game? There is no doubt they make the game difficult for the opposition but also for the referees. Are they taking away some of the entertainment factor that we go to see? For the purists, you will be turning in your graves with the thought of such an accusation. I have, if you remember, also questioned the value of the penalty and field goal, something that was dear to my heart.

So how to move forward? I know the laws will not change and the game won't reduce the numbers to 13 and drop the breakaways, so perhaps the referees have to include a benefit-of-the-doubt call that sways to the advantage of the attacking team. The laws are such that you have to give the player with the ball time to play the ball on the ground, then the defenders can attack the ball. Perhaps the referee should try to include a ''pause'' call before the defender has a go at the ball. It has worked well in other areas. Until a player, a position or a team revolutionises the game, the No.7 will continue to dominate.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/pilfering-breakaways-now-so-good-are-they-bad-for-rugby-20120630-219gv.html#ixzz1zIDl3TBS

Disrupted Preparations

Dealing with disrupted preparations a tough balancing act

June 28, 2012

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Returning to battle ... the Super 15 season resumes this weekend. Photo: Getty Images

The Super Rugby competition returns after its first mid-season hibernation and its impact remains to be seen.

It’s interesting to note the different approaches teams have taken: some do nothing in terms of games, others compete in internal trials and the rest feature in full games in an effort to replicate the intensity of the competition proper.

Who is right? We will probably never know, but it’s a period we have put a lot of time and thought into.

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For the Reds, we played an exhibition match against the Hurricanes, a match that will be remembered more for the season-ending injury to their halfback TJ Perenara. While this is an unfortunate consequence, I think Hurricanes coach Mark Hammett and I were looking for the same outcome from the match – the replication of Super Rugby-level intensity.

The scoreline was not flattering for the Reds but every knock, tackle and bump was important to keep the minds of players tuned into that level of rugby because it will be instantly required this weekend.

So what exactly are the challenges for the teams playing this week? 

For me, it’s primarily about assimilation and making sure everyone is on the same page when they run out in Melbourne tomorrow night.  The reality is we only have a limited amount of time to prepare and the short preparation, along with travel, leaves us with only two proper sessions together and also a short captain’s run.

We can’t do much about this as our Wallabies only returned on Sunday and the Australian under-20s from South Africa that night.   

With this in mind, assimilation is the most important thing we have control over.

What does this involve?  Primarily, finding a balance between the fatigue, frustration, elation and stress levels of the playing group. Every player returning has a different story.

We have Will Genia coming from a successful man-of-the-series effort against Wales to a James Slipper who has been in Wallabies camp for a month without a game. We also have Liam Gill, who played the most minutes in the Australian under-20s playing halfway around the world. Further to this, Quade Cooper was at Ballymore in rehabilitation for the past five weeks. It’s a mixed bag, so as a coach, the worst thing you can do is add to their stress levels.

Under these circumstances, tailor-made training preparations are important for individuals.

That will ensure players are prepared physically, but you can also minimise their mental stress by ensuring the cerebral part of our team preparation is done in advance. We have worked hard on the game plan with the players who were here in previous weeks and it now requires the players coming back to accept and trust its credibility.

For this to occur, you must pitch the game plan in pragmatic terms and understand what the players will be able to digest and replicate under pressure in such a short space of time.

If you transfer this across the park, there is a lot of room for error and stress.  As we prepare this week, it is important we get the level of knowledge right, without overdoing it.

Generally, good players are good for a reason so a simple framework is all that is needed to get them going again.

Once you have everyone up to speed on the knowledge component, we hit the training paddock. 

The greatest thing a coach can do is work out what needs to be left out of a training session. 

This is particularly difficult as you automatically feel that if you don’t run through certain elements, then it won’t happen in a game.

This is generally true and therefore you need to be brutally pragmatic and seize upon the areas you feel will have the biggest influence on the game. 

But importantly, there has to be fun. Nothing brings the camaraderie back faster than fun. 

If you have a good group of guys then the natural competitive juices begin to flow quickly and the banter among the squad returns.  With this, familiarity also returns and so does a high level of positivity.

When you are deciding what needs to be left out, you don’t leave out the fun – the players love it.

Trust is also a key ingredient and when you are working out the dynamics of training and team selection, you need to have faith that the players haven’t forgotten how to play. 

If you have a strong ‘base’ game then this is your crutch. It gets you through the tough times in matches and during weeks where there is a lot of uncertainty. 

If you get this bit sorted and the players are ready to play, it comes down to one final element.  This is attitude.

Attitude in sport and the value of a seven-day preparation was on show in the recent All Blacks v Ireland Test series. 

For Ireland to lose by 40 points, be a minute away from victory seven days later, and then get toppled by 60 a week after that shows that if the top two inches aren’t right then the rest doesn’t matter.

Making sure your players have a positive head space is about the best thing you can coach at this point of the season – hopefully we have got ours right as we can’t afford a bad day at the office.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/super-rugby/dealing-with-disrupted-preparations-a-tough-balancing-act-20120627-212tx.html#ixzz1z39cthyt

Progress is Continuously Uphill

Poetic justice: Welsh show Kiplingesque courage

John Eales

June 25, 2012

• Comments 25

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Australia complete clean sweep over Wales

Rob Horne makes a clean break. Photo: Anthony Johnson

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There's no downhill in sport, progress is continually uphill. Just because the Wallabies had sealed the series against Wales after game two didn't mean they would relax. Their subsequent 20-19 victory and series whitewash was exactly what was needed. It wasn't easy, at times it wasn't pretty, but in the end it showed character and gave cause for pride.

Even the Welsh, although they would have preferred a trophy or at the very least a win and as devastated as they would be, can take much encouragement from their efforts. They certainly demonstrated that as Six Nations champions, they are no pretenders, they are contenders who can mix it with the south.

To understand how good the Welsh team's performance was, it helps to look at how poor their Celtic neighbours, Ireland, were across the Tasman. Now the Wallabies are no All Blacks just yet, but they still rank as the second-best team in the world and can be difficult to beat at home. After losing the series in Melbourne last week, it would have been typical of previous Welsh teams to drop their bundle and capitulate. Such thoughts never entered their psyche.

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For the duration of this three-test series they matched the Wallabies, as both teams tinkered with and redefined their tactics attempting to outwit their opposition.

The difference between the Irish and the Welsh responses were dramatic and a great measure of the Welsh team's mental toughness and the lack of the same from the Irish.

The Irish were poor in their opener against the All Blacks, losing 42-10, were unlucky to lose to a field goal on the bell in the second match last week, but surrendered meekly, 60-0 in the third match of the series.

In South Africa the English were similarly steely to the Welsh, drawing their final match 14-all after two close encounters.

The Welsh were pipped in all three, twice at the last, though never once in attitude or endeavour. They shed their rust in minute one of the series and battled through four hours of evenly contested, hard but fair, see-sawing rugby, to finish devastated but hardly defeated.

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same . . . Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools . . . . . . you'll be a Man my son!”

Of course Kipling (though liberally cobbled together here) wasn't writing on matters as serious as rugby but, if he were, his wisdom was aptly penned for the Welsh; a pejorative limerick may have been more relevant for the Irish.

The only downer on a perfect Sydney winter's day, as a capacity Allianz Stadium warmly welcomed back Saturday afternoon Test rugby, was the pedantic nature of the officiating.

On a quick survey of my AFL-loving mates, they could nominate just one umpire by name – McBurney – and solely by his surname. A rugby supporter could name many, although they often substitute unsavoury, sometimes unfair, adjectives for Christian names nominated in programs.

When rugby's complexities are mastered, it answers to no sport but too often it is compromised by incidentals that otherwise have no bearing on the game's outcome. For example, if a ball is out of the scrum and the scrum collapses – but no team has been disadvantaged and no one's safety compromised – then it should be play on.

In selecting teams and refereeing matches you would almost invariably attain the fairest result by surveying the crowd rather than relying on the eye-witness of one, two or three men.

Craig Joubert is a good referee and deservedly was awarded the World Cup final last year, but it is a difficult duty over which he and others must preside. Although it is too simplistic, I can't help but think that rugby would be better served if referees were principally concerned about game's flow rather than focused on playing advantage to its fullest and obstructing it.

While there is some degree of subjectivity in how the laws of the game are to be interpreted

(although that is not the intention, it is the reality) then one of two things should happen. Some laws need to be simplified (e.g. in the scrum – and we do not have time or space to go into that detail here) or referees should be classified as artists and given licence to create the most beautiful art that rugby can produce. The best artists would then be appointed to the biggest matches.

The latter is enticing but somewhat frightening and unrealistic. So that leaves simplifying and decluttering the rulebook, but that is definitely an uphill climb.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/poetic-justice-welsh-show-kiplingesque-courage-20120624-20wln.html#ixzz1yuiKD4nt

From Baseball

Youth Baseball Coaches Must Honor Player Questions About Playing Time

“Coach, can I play more at third base?”

We hear lots of questions like that from players with all sorts of abilities.  The requests can quickly get old.   After all, we have a plan.  We have a routine.  We have a strategy.

While all of that is important, we have to remember the larger picture of what we’re trying to accomplish with youth sports:  give kids a great experience and help them learn and grow as ballplayers AND people. 

While they may feel pesky to us, asking the coach for more playing time is a big deal for most kids.  They usually don’t have to advocate for themselves that much – especially this generation.  Parents often dictate schedules, coordinate logistics, and smooth details so that the kids just show up and play.  While there’s an efficiency to this that may be appealing, kids need to learn those skills for themselves.  It’s a critical life skill.

5 things Coaches Should Do

So the next time Johnny comes to you and asks what he can do to move up in the batting order, here are five things to keep in mind to make sure you make the most of this coaching opportunity to develop a ballplayer AND person:

1. Validity.  Consider the validity of the request.  With all that rattles through a coach’s mind, we may overlook getting a kid playing time at a position or not realize he’s been hitting in the nine-hole for the last five games.  Acknowledging the oversight and changing things at the next game is an easy fix.
2. Question.  In a supportive way, ask the player why this would be good for him and good for the team.  This helps him put things in a larger context than, “Gee, I just want to play shortstop.”  Coaches can quickly tie their answers back to team goals, rules and expectations.
3. Improvements.  Usually there’s a good reason Jimmy isn’t playing five innings every game at second base.  He has deficiencies, either in his ability or mechanics, or there may be maturity or behavior issues that are holding him back.  Coaches should explain these deficiencies AND what steps the kid needs to take to get more of what he wants.  “Jimmy, I need you to get better at staying down on ground balls and making good throws to first.  If you work hard at that at practice – and maybe with your mom and dad too – you can help the team at second base.”  Now Jimmy understands why he hasn’t been getting the playing time and has something to motivate his improvement.
4. Alternatives.  Josh may really want to play catcher.  But if he’s got a weak arm and is left handed, catcher may not be where he should be spending his time – for his long-term good and that of the team.  Try giving him an alternative.  “Josh, I’d like to see you get more time at first base.  That seems like a great spot for you, and here’s why it would be good for you AND the team . . .”  Do try to give him a little of what he wants at catcher.  When it’s a blowout, let him strap on the gear.
5. Personal Development.  It takes a great deal of courage for most kids to confront the coach about playing time.  We have to realize that overcoming this fear and developing a logical argument and honing communication skills are the same things they’ll use in high school to talk to teachers about grades, missing assignments and disciplinary issues.  They’re the same ones they’ll use as they join the workforce to ask for the shifts, assignments, and raises they want.  For this reason alone, coaches need to make these interactions as positive as possible for kids so that they gain comfort and confidence in advocating for themselves.

Our Legacy as Coaches

If we help kids learn these advocacy skills, that’s what they’re going to remember about their playing experience with us.  That’s our legacy as coaches . . . not whether we went 12-8 or 10-10 that summer with our 9-year-olds.

In the end we can’t give everyone what they want, and tough decisions need to be made.  But if we keep in mind the larger opportunities that youth sports affords, we can find ways to accelerate the growth of our kids and do our part to make them productive members of society.

Leadership USA

Leadership in Sports

From high school stadiums to professional arenas, sports today are played in a very competitive environment.  Coaches and players feel the pressure to succeed, and the measure of success is found in the win / loss column.  That's why - as a coach and a player - leadership in sports is getting so much attention. The concepts that apply to the workplace are pretty much the same as those found in sports.  As a coach or a manager, you're trying to motivate your "players" to reach their full potential.  When everyone on the team understands the direction and strategy the manager / coach has developed, then success is much easier to obtain. Head Coaches as Leaders  Additional Resources Effective Leadership Ethical Leadership Leadership in Sports Motivation Theory and Leadership Presentation Skills As a head coach, you have position power over all the players.  After all, you're determining the starting lineup.  But as a coach, you need to understand that your role needs to be more than just a good judge of a player's abilities.  If you want to maximize the team's chances of winning, then you need to apply the same leadership theories that exist in today's workplace. That means treating players with the respect they deserve.  That also means understanding that the same leadership techniques do not apply to all players.  As is the case with workers of varying strengths and weaknesses, sports coaches also need to flex their leadership style and practice the teachings of situational leadership. Examples of Leadership at Work in Sports There are many examples of team owners or general managers demonstrating an understanding of the dynamics of leadership in professional sports.  Since we're based out of the New York metropolitan area, we'll use an example coming from the New York Giants. Jim Fassel was the head coach of the N.Y. Giants from 1997 through 2003.  In his first year with the Giants he was 10-5.  In 2000, he led the team to a 12-4 record and trip to the Super Bowl.  Just three years later, the Giants finished up 4-12, and it was time for a change. According to all accounts, the players liked Coach Fassel.  In fact, he is well known for his "playoff guarantee" during the 2000 season in which he led the Giants to what was thought to be an improbable Super Bowl run. But with a 4-14 record in 2003, the Giants decided to replace Jim Fassel with Tom Coughlin to start the 2004 season.  It was certainly no accident that Tom's leadership style was much different than Jim's.  Coach Fassel had become a friend of the players, and Tom Coughlin was a no-nonsense guy with a firm hand. In 2003, Fassel was demonstrating the coaching leadership style; he was still the leader of the team, but he sought advice from players in a participative manner.  The team's management realized it was time for a change so they brought in Tom Coughlin. Tom's leadership style was to give much more direction; he was even autocratic at times.  He was brought in to instill a sense of discipline back into the team.  It is no accident Tom was selected; he demonstrates the leadership style that is most effective when a turn around is needed - whether that be in a company or a sports franchise. Getting the Most Out of Players The great head coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi once said "Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile."  It's not easy to be an effective leader, you need to work hard to gain the confidence of the team and understand the motivational dynamics of each player. Fortunately, there are some simple rules that apply to all leadership situations, including sports: Treat players with respect, and you will earn their respect. Try to understand each player on the team well enough to be able to identify their specific strengths and weaknesses. Lead by example - if you expect players to be on time, then you should never be late for a meeting yourself. Share your strategy with your players.  It is much easier for players to support a strategy if they understand it. Remain decisive and confident.  A coach's confidence can be contagious.  If the players know that you believe in them, then they might start believing in themselves too. Finally, instruct players in a positive manner.  Tell them what you want them to do, not what you don't want them to do. This last point is often missed by inexperienced coaches and leaders alike, and this rule applies to all sports.  For example, if you're at a critical point in a baseball game, don't tell the pitcher: "Whatever you do, don't throw one high and inside, this guy will hit it over the fence." Instead, you should say: "I want you to strike this guy out with a fast one, low and outside." Suggested Reading for Coaches as Leaders in Sports The same formula in the workplace applies to sports.  Our suggested reading list includes two articles that outline the fundamentals of leadership theory: Situational Leadership Transformational Leadership Even Vince Lombardi recognized that worthwhile goals take effort to achieve.  If you're a coach that wants to be a leader, or you're a player that wants to step up into a leadership position - such as team captain - then you need to learn how effective leaders in the workplace accomplish above average results.  Those above average results in the workplace can translate into victories on the playing field. About the Author - Leadership in Sports Copyright © 2006 - 2010 Money-Zine.com

Preparation

Mrs Barnes delivers, and so does her hubby

John Eales

June 18, 2012

• Comments 6

Calm ... Berrick Barnes of the Wallabies. Photo: Getty Images

The human mind can make for a cantankerous companion, confounding when it may liberate and liberating when you think it may consternate or even collapse.

Perfect preparation doesn't always lead to perfect performance.

In fact sometimes quite the opposite is true. A scattered or distracted preparation can have you humming and a faultless preparation have you playing a dirge.

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Twelve days and three Tests into the international season and the Wallabies have secured the James Bevan trophy against the Welsh – just, but frustratingly missed out on the Hopetoun Cup against the Scots after an abbreviated preparation.

Preparation for Saturday's 25-23 Wallabies victory over the Welsh in Melbourne was certainly far from ideal for Wallaby five-eighth Berrick Barnes, who rushed to and from Sydney for the birth of his first child. However, impressively it didn't deter him submitting a man-of-the-match performance.

While it's uncontroversial to say that most fathers' role in the birth suite is secondary to the mother's, it is nonetheless a maelstrom of an emotional experience, unlike anything you have experienced or can properly prepare for.

The subsequent last-minute flight, the hurried cab to the team hotel and the pulsating 80-minute dash of rugby would have seemed relatively simple for Barnes, if not surreal.

In time Archie will be proud of dad's efforts, but he should spare a bouquet for his mother, who thankfully didn't quite share the 30,000-plus fans at Etihad Stadium at her delivery.

I'm not sure of Barnes's involvement in the suite but, despite a build-up where Test rugby would have been his furthest concern, Barnes delivered on the field.

His goal-kicking was almost flawless, as was the way he took the ball to the line, particularly in setting up Rob Horne for the Wallaby try right on half time. Up until that point the Wallabies had dominated but not led.

The lead then changed nine more times, climaxing after the final siren, saluting the Wallabies and shattering the gallant, skilful and somewhat unlucky Welsh.

It was far from perfect from the Wallabies but a win against quality opposition, in such dramatic circumstances, promises progress towards greater consistency.

Such consistent and reliable performance is largely driven through agitation, either external or internal.

Some athletes and teams create their own agitation. David Pocock is one, the All Blacks another. They seem to replicate high standards week in, week out, independent of the weather, the opposition or the phase of the moon.

The team leader is vital in the drive for consistency and in Pocock these Wallabies have a man to follow. In fact they have an equal in James Horwill when he's fit. And in Will Genia and Stephen Moore or Tatafu Polota-Nau, among others.

In fact they are developing a serious group of leaders throughout the team who are models of consistency in preparation and performance.

And this is important as one good leader might win you a Test but probably won't deliver a trophy of any merit, and he certainly won't deliver you a World Cup on his lonesome. You need five or six leaders through the team to do that.

Even then it won't just happen, but it at least gives you a ticket to play. And it is through these leaders, and the consistency they demand, that the other stars are allowed to shine. Enter Kurtley Beale, James O'Connor and perhaps Quade Cooper. Get this balance right and the Wallabies can not only compete with the best, they can be the best.

Don't get it right and in the competitive world of international rugby you will wallow in mediocrity.

On Saturday night the key reason the Wallabies beat Wales was their ability to turn negative momentum around in an instant. Just as there is a premium on leaders, there is also a premium on players who can stopan opposition in their tracks.

Pocock did it at numerous critical times at the breakdown. Nathan Sharpe and Rob Simmons stymied Welsh progress in the lineouts.

Wycliff Palu did it through some brutal defence. And Digby Ioane does it through his incisive and robust zigging, zagging and general terrorising, most valuably when there is nothing obviously on.

Momentum thieves dishearten the opposition, eating at their confidence, dousing the flames of their ambition, while simultaneously puffing the chests of their own team.

In the end it wasn't so much the fact the Wallabies won through the laser-like boot and steely nerves of Mike Harris at the last that mattered most, but the manner in which the victory was achieved.

When all was not running their way, when they were behind on the scoreboard and, perhaps most crucially, when they would have lost in these circumstances in the past, this time they triumphed.

There is a potentially thrilling road ahead for these Wallabies and it will be better for all their previous travails, both comfortable and compromised.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/mrs-barnes-delivers-and-so-does-her-hubby-20120617-20ic0.html#ixzz1yLdxA4MH

Difference Between Hemispheres?

Tri-Nations sides superior to home nations

Brian Moore

June 11, 2012 - 12:38PM

• Comments 2

The home nations need to read how David Pocock manages referees at the breakdown. Photo: Getty Images

Twitter is not the best place to look for insight into anything, let alone the nuances of last weekend's southern v northern hemisphere rugby clashes, but just a couple of observations encapsulated the emotions left by the games, if not the technicalities.

"It's Premiership versus Championship. Fitness, intensity, power, game plan, direction all way behind SH [southern hemisphere]," which neatly sums up the impression many had after watching South Africa's physically dominant 22-17 win over England.

Quite a few people, me included, saw the fact that this was a first Test and new-look Springboks side as reason enough to hope for a marginal England victory. In so predicting we failed to properly weight history and the reality of where the England team are in terms of their development.

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Sir Clive Woodward's first 11 games against southern hemisphere opponents, six of which were home fixtures, produced only one win, at home against South Africa by 13-7. Since the Springboks' return to international rugby, England have won only twice on South African soil, in 1994 and 2000. In spite of the transitional nature of last Saturday's Springboks team it still had almost double the number of caps of the England XV, of which more than a third had not toured with the full side before.

There should be no doubt as to how much work is still to be done. It will be unpalatable for England not to win a Test in this series, not least because those who have it in for Stuart Lancaster will gain succour therefrom. From start to finish this tour was always going to be about learning and those who say different have to explain how else you can improve inexperienced players. The minimum they have to achieve is to put together two coherent performances in the remaining Tests and match the intensity and tempo of South Africa.

All that said, and this goes for the other games, save Scotland's courageous win in outlandish weather, you cannot ignore the seemingly omnipresent gap between the two halves of the rugby world.

It was a common theme in the three Saturday games that once over the gain line the Tri-Nations teams generated momentum and sustained it for long periods, meaning they played on the front foot. Wales and Ireland occasionally managed to mirror the speed of possession, but it is this consistent disparity that keeps the southern hemisphere ahead.

Allied to the above, the kick-chase games of the Tri-Nations sides were comfortably superior, which repeatedly led to the ball being turned over when England, Wales and Ireland kicked. The Tri-Nations sides had time to counter-attack or measure their returning kicks, while their opponents received the ball under pressure and often had to scramble to clear it.

Among northern hemisphere fans there was a general complaint about the largesse apparently given to the southern hemisphere No.7s to do pretty much what they want at ruck time. There is little point in pursuing this because even if there is a scintilla of justification in the claim; where does that get you? What every northern hemisphere No.7 has to do is minutely scrutinise Richie McCaw and David Pocock to learn how they manage to stay on the right side of referees and how they get advice from them, not penalties.

Of the four home unions, Wales have most reason to feel downcast, even though their game against Australia was the best of the three Saturday games. The tactical superiority of the Aussie half-backs and the mercurial running of Will Genia kept Australia ahead, but Wales had the momentum necessary to fashion a win when they reduced the deficit to one point with more than 20 minutes to play. Whatever went before and however superior Australia had been, at that point Wales could and should have taken the game. Whether it was Sam Warburton's pass or Rhys Priestland dropping it that butchered a gilt-edged three-man overlap in the Australia's 22 does not matter, the fact is that Wales bottled it against higher-ranked opposition, again.

If you aspire to be the best, you should not shun hard scrutiny, however unpleasant the outcome, and if the Welsh find this an unacceptable comment they need to grow up. They could be a great side, but even Grand Slams are not enough when you see what is served up on the other side of the world.

All of which leads us to Ireland's 42-10 defeat by New Zealand. You could spend a lot of time individualising each area in which the All Blacks were better, but perhaps this tweet sums up the lasting impression of a cogent and comprehensive New Zealand win: "It's like watching your girlfriend dancing with your younger, richer boss."

The Telegraph, London

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/trinations-sides-superior-to-home-nations-20120611-2056k.html#ixzz1xUnSnygb