Singing a song of (not so) angry men

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

Well the crowd at AAMI Park – so far I’m holding out and won’t call it the stockade – were in full song this week, and I can’t say I blame ‘em.

It was a terrific atmosphere and a great occasion.

Let the haters say what they want about the, admittedly, soft penalty in the dying moments. Others might call it justice for some seriously dubious calls from Jonathan Kaplan (and his ‘assistant’ on the right touch line who missed Rebels bad-boy Danny Cipriani getting a slap to the upside of the head).

Cipriani has been lauded in all the Melbourne papers this week – well, in the sports section at least. The social pages still talk about his penchant for nicking vodka and subsequent banning from a completely different night-club. But at some point he is actually going to have to put his defenders onside by actually chasing one of those long punts downfield.

Back to my point, the Rebels team song (appropriated from Les Miserables) seemed particularly apt on Friday night.

The people were most definitely singing, and although over the moon by the result, were mad at Kaplan often enough to fulfil the second line – we were angry, damn angry.  And I, personally, think Kaplan looked a bit sheepish himself when he saw the replay of Henry Speight’s try on the big screen.

All-in all, it was a performance by a team which announced that they would not take another 32-0 ass-whooping, would not be slaves again, were going to stand up and be counted in this competition. Yes, points help in this regard.

There was another kind of music, a brutal, savage music coming from the massive hits laid on by Mortlock, Lippman and co. There is no sugar coating this. Defence was the key to the Rebels first win.

They had next to no ball, and the set pieces were a mess. How they managed to win this game with stats like Rucks and Mauls: Brumbies 118, Rebels 29, is beyond me. But with the ball in hand, playing running rugby, they looked great. So there is definitely life in the new boys yet – now let’s back it up and do it again.

Interestingly enough, for the statisticians among us, the Rebels vs Tahs game – although a complete blow out – was the most watched regular season rugby game in Australian TV history; double the regular audience and more viewers than the last Bledisloe match (source superXV.com). I’m guessing nowhere near that number tuned in this time around, and there were 11,000 less people in the stands, but it was undoubtedly a better game of rugby.

I was moved by the minute’s silence observed at all games for the victims of the Christchurch quake (and at the England v France 6 Nations game, which I am watching now – IQ, gotta love it). And my thoughts are with all of you in CHCH, friends and otherwise, here’s hoping things look up for you all soon.

So, with the honours divided equally between the Crusaders and the Hurricanes … what did I think of the others? Well I might just tell you.

Quote of the week has to come from Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph. At half time, when the Chiefs had had 71% of the possession he was asked if he had anything to say … ‘No, not really. We haven’t started to play our game yet.’

Classic. Well, that all changed in the second half and the southern men walked away with the honours. Much to my chagrin I might add as, at the risk of inciting the wrath of a feisty highlanders supporter who shall remain nameless, I’d tipped the Chiefs, and so my picking nightmare began.

The Cheetahs scrum seemed to start where they left off against the Sharks, giving away penalties against the Bulls. But the champions didn’t have it all their own way. Matfield continued his identity crisis, where he seems to think he’s a flyhalf and fancies sending a kick downfield for a winger to chase – or to go out on the full, and they had to fight back for an unconvincing win.

The Waratahs are playing with a lot of confidence and look dangerous from anywhere on the park. The Reds were never in it.

The Sharks did well to contain the Blues (who took 10 minutes to get out of their own half), and the game was the cracker it always promised to be, but – seriously – how is it possible that Patrick Lambie looks even younger than he did last year?

Drivers, start your engines

Well, the moment we were all waiting for came this last Friday night as Super 15 took off at last.

The opening weekend delivered a mixed bag of results, some surprising, some thrilling and some just down-right shocking.

You know you're in a bit of trouble when you're at a game and the crowd is cheering - for the Mexican wave! Yes, I was at AAMI Park and the result was doleful. But the first 20 minutes were great!

Then the Rebels seemed to forget that this was full halves rugby - rather than the 20 minute quarters played in each of the trial games - and got a bit confused. I'm not entirely sure the forwards really came back on the field in the second half, the lights may have been on but it didn't look like anyone was home as the Waratahs completely out-muscled the pack and took control of the scrum.

Scrum Trouble. Seemed to be the order of the day virtually across the board.

The Cheetahs had an absolute shocker, going early in their first 3 scrums against the Sharks (who then got a little over-eager themselves) and then pinged a few times for putting a hand on the deck. The Lions had similar issues at times against the Bulls.

The Crusaders/Blues game was a thing of beauty - pity about the result (I may need to re-think the stream of conscious tweets during games I'm going to get fired up about, although at the time I felt BASTARDS was totally called for).

If you could indulge me for a moment, if stats aren't your thing scroll down now, have a think about this: 

Only 8 handling errors - combined - through the whole match.
(The stats don't lie: Blues v Crusaders, New Zaeland Herald, 21 February 2011, www.herald.co.nz)

I know the Sharks/Cheetahs (and the Bulls/Lions) had issues when their pill turned into a bar of soap, but the Chiefs had no such excuse, and they absolutely butchered at least 3 certain tries through poor ball handling.

First round picks are usually a bit of a stab in the dark. No no, I'm not trying to make excuses, honest.

But you kinda have to go in sight unseen on a lot of teams and make your pick based on last year's form, when some teams have changed quiet substantially.

The Highlanders surprised me - helped a little by Nonu's brain explosion. Yes, Jimmy Cowan milked it, but I still think it was a fair cop.

I thought the Rebels would have been a lot closer, I definitely expected them to score. They played much better in the trial game against the Crusaders and I'm sure they will be looking at both those games very closely in the build up to Friday night's clash with the Brumbies.

Damn Blues.

I was lucky with the Brumbies - the Chiefs look like being their own worst enemies again this season, and spot on with the Sharks.

The Bulls should have accounted for the Lions much more easily than they did. But now they've had a nasty scare which, unfortunately, will probably only make them more dangerous.

The Reds/Force was a bit of a lucky dip. Apparently I couldn't even remember my own guess and seemed to have picked both, in different picking comps. That's a first.

My game of the round for Round 2 is: Sharks vs Blues.
Both played very physical games against their first round opponents, and, although they couldn't show it this weekend, I think the Sharks are keen to play open, running rugby so we could be in for a cricket score.

If you can't be bothered to wait up, Hurricanes vs Crusaders is always a goodie.

So, now we're underway. Already commentators are talking up the fact that its a World Cup year and players will be putting their hands up for selection. I think its a bit early for that kind of chatter. Let's take it one thing at a time, and enjoy what's in front of us.

All-in-all its going to be a long season, and I can't wait.

The calm before the storm ...

Well here we are, about to launch ourselves into a brand new season, and a brand new format.

It's remotes at the ready as we stand, or sit (in my experience couches are comfier that way), toe to toe and prepare to go the distance against the other teams, the ref ... oh come on, you know you're going to be especially against the ref, and anyone who so much thinks of suggesting that there might be something worth watching on another channel.

I have a confession to make. Last season, I fell in love. Now it wasn't your standard affair to be sure, but I did things I don't usually do in Super Rugby season ... I went out! To bars and places that weren't showing the game!!! It was brilliant, it was sublime, it was ... Foxtel IQ.

Being able to record all the games I wanted (so let's be realistic here and just say all the games) and then watch them over the weekend as it suited me was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. I loved it and it's revolutionised  the way I watch sport.


Don't get me wrong, I made sure to watch the ones we all knew would be crackers live - well the ones in a decent timezone at any rate -and I still watched as much rugby as ever, more in fact ... and I have to confess, I sometimes didn't watch the less compelling games (Cheetahs and Lions fans, you know it's true), until WEDNESDAY. There's no way I'd get away with that on the right side of the ditch. But it was marvelous and I mean to continue what I started in 2010 into 2011.

One part that's going to be particularity valuable is that because I'll be at AAMI Park for the 8pm game the next few Friday nights, it is conceivable that without my trusty side-kick, I would be missing the 'early' game. Bring it on I say, me and my IQ can take youse all ...

So, onto more important things ...

The game of the round has to be Blues v Crusaders at Eden Park on Saturday night. The only other one that should even be close - score wise, but won't, is the Highlanders v Hurricanes where I'm afraid to say I think the Canes will do just that.

I've put my full picks along-side, see what you reckon, and I'll tell you how I went next week.

The rebelution vs the crusade

I went, I saw ... and I have to say, neither team conquered, but that's what you expect in a trial game. Unless it's a blow out like some of the other games this weekend (and the Reds v Crusaders a week ago).

I must confess my plans to wear red and black underwent a bit of a change - in deference to the pain in the ass weather we're having in Melbourne at present rather than a change of heart.

But I did still wear my red and black beanie (and had to defend it once a Rebels beanie was purchased to replace it).

The 13,013 crowd at AAMI Park wasn't quite split down the middle. But there were plenty of red and black jerseys around, and they were reinforced by a fair number of blue and yellow; red,black and yellow (hello Highlander and Chiefs fans) and even some black jerseys, so the Canterbury boys weren't short of supporters.

There continues to be a strong prevalence of New Zealand and South African accents at the Rebels matches (in Ballarat the two guys behind me in the porta-loo que were nattering away in Afrikaans wearing Rebels polo shirts).

That's not to say there are no Australians supporting rugby union in Melbourne - I just mean that ex-pats from the other tri-nations countries are strongly represented. But I spose that's to be expected, this is what we've all been hanging out for - LIVE rugby in our own backyard.

So, to the particulars. Both sides had some shocking periods of ball handling. For a while there it looked like no-one on a wing could catch a ball for love or money (it didn't help the Crusaders cause that, on the right wing at least, the player was a forward - a big one, with a small number on his back).

But there were some moments of brilliance. Zac Guildford and Sean Maitland showed class on the left wing and they combined for some great runs, the pace of which the Rebels seemed to hard pressed to match, in the first half at least.

The Canterbury defense absorbed a hell-of-a-lotta pressure in the first spell (the first try to Matt Todd seemed to come against the run of play) and did well to hold out, but when the competition starts in earnest, first tackles have to be made - and on Saturday night too many of them weren't.

There were some great ones though - thank you Robbie Fruean - and obviously both sides are still shaking off the cobwebs and ironing out the kinks; and, with each try raising $3,000 for flood relief, there was some good to come out of the few that got through.

I was looking forward to the head-to-head between Greg Somerville and Wyatt Crockett in the front row. The pair traded honours in the first period with penalties going each way. But I think the Crusaders scrum was the better of the two in the second half, the Rebels never really got good clean ball from the back.

All in all, a successful night out. Nobody who's watched the Crusaders in previous years will write them off due to a rusty performance in the pre-season. And with Brad Thorn, Dan Carter and Kieran Read coming back next week, the Highlanders will be kept very busy (and I think their fans fairly quiet).

The Rebels on the other hand proved they are nobody's whipping boys or easy beats.

SIDEBAR: This is unfortunate for the other Australian and New Zealand teams as it virtually guarantees at least 2 South African teams in the top 6 as the Sharks and the Bulls will almost certainly come away with maximum points every time they play the Cheetahs or the Lions.

But, back to the Rebels - that was my one game of 'disloyalty' and I will now assume my seat in row E safe in the knowledge that I can be 100% behind the boys in blue .... unless by some miracle they make it to the top 6 ....