Iain Payten
The Daily Telegraph
April 14, 2014 1:12PM



The world has caught up to what Nick Cummins’ teammates knew years ago; he’s just a fraction loose, in an ocker, dry-witted, what-the-hell-is-coming-out-of-his-mouth-next kind of way.

Those same mates are divided about whether Cummins’ one-liner bank is drying up or remains bottomless but no doubt the TV types - knowing they’ve got a live one - will keep up the interviews. Cummins is on the ball, too, and now has an agent booking corporate gigs aplenty.

Characters are all-too rare these days so there are no complaints, but in sport the key to sustaining a profile is walking the talk. Character minus talent doesn’t get you far.

Crucially, Cummins has more chops than a butcher - see, this simile stuff is catching - and he continued to prove why he is an incumbent Test winger with three well-finished tries against the Waratahs.

The oddball flourish masks a driven competitor within, and Cummins’ willingness to throw himself into the fray is why he first picked the fearless Honey Badger as a totem.

The Force are certainly thankful they’ve got him, on a number of fronts.

The Honey Badger routine is attracting plenty of attention and that suits the rest of a radar-ducking outfit just fine.

Apparently wary of the pressure media attention draws from his time in Sydney, coach Michael Foley keeps a tight rein on the exposure of his side. Only he and captain Matt Hodgson were up for interviews last week.

Again all fine if, in this case, the walk covers up for the lack of talk, and keeps the locals coming back each week to see the personalities of their favourite players manifested on-field.

The 14,000-strong crowd in Perth on Saturday night certainly got their money’s worth, and proved you don’t need big crowds to make big noise.

It was the night of the Honey Badger and not just on the left wing. Indeed, based on the evidence of Saturday, there’s a case the entire Force side could replace the Swan on their crest with the small African animal.

Wikipedia sums up the Honey Badger as having “few natural predators because of its thick skin and ferocious defensive abilities.”

Predators will arrive every week but the Force’s defence on Saturday night was of a calibre that will imperil the canastas of most rivals in Super Rugby.

Up against a Waratahs side who publicly announce their intention to run the ball, Foley’s men didn’t plan on getting fancy.

They too would rely on a thick skin, and tackle each oncoming blue jersey with as much ferocity as possible. They would let the Waratahs run themselves ragged, literally, and when opportunity arose with a mistake or an isolated carrier, the Force would turn the ball over and strike.

So it played out.

BRUMBIES & FORCE, OUR TITLE CONTENDERS?

With a whopping 67 per cent of possession, the Tahs ran 143 times for 967 metres, making the Force tally up a whopping 172 tackles. Though the WA men missed 34 tackles, tellingly they only conceded four linebreaks against a side that’s averaged eight a game in 2014.

It’s fair to say the Force weren’t interested in creating any pressure via attack, and they kicked most of their ball away. No.10 Sias Ebersohn ran for zero metres and kicked eight times.

But they backed the pressure via defence tactic and it worked.

For their all-out attack strategy to beat an all-out defensive one, the Waratahs have to hold the ball for long periods, be patient and score off each linebreak - however limited.

Israel Folau’s absence hurt on this front and the unyielding Force defence saw them increasingly rush, panic and ultimately drop the ball seven times.

Folau’s presence dictated terms in the Waratahs’ big win in round two but it’s fair to say Hodgson was equally influential in Perth.

The terrier skipper leads the competition for turnovers, and he showed why he is the best scavenger in Super Rugby by constantly plucking the ball from deep in the NSW ruck.

Hodgson was in the middle of most of the Tahs’ 21 turnovers; particularly in the red zone, and his ever-present threat made NSW throw more men in the breakdown.

That left less men out wide to attack and to secure the next ruck. What comes next? Slow ball and/or turnover ball.

TRANSLATING THE HONEY BADGER

Had the Waratahs scored early instead of Nick Cummins intercepting and racing away for a try, the game might have unfolded differently.

The Force can evidently defend a lead like a cornered African animal but would they have had the attack to come from behind and chase points?

It matters little, because the Honey Badger was on the ball then, and twice more on the night, to keep the scoreboard ticking and win the game.

Tries from turnovers, as the Crusaders and All Blacks have proved for years, are no less valuable as those hewn from a lovely set-piece move.

It may be a different cut but at the end of the day, as Cummins would say, it is all the same meat. Not quite sizzling yet, but it is still steak.

The Waratahs will have to learn how to convert with Folau or they’ll be sweating like a gypsy with .... quick, let’s shut the column down. This Badger stuff is more contagious than a childcare centre.

THE BEST OF THE BADGER

- On how he won his way into a Wallabies jersey: “I’ve been doing it (playing Super Rugby) a good five years now. Lucky for me every bugger fell over and I got a gig.”

- On the French rugby team: “The flamboyant French? They look all right. They have a good style about them with their hairdos. I might take a few pointers and go to a stylist to sort myself out. A few of the boys tell me I look a bit ordinary at times.’’

- On his maiden Test try (in the win over England at Twickenham in 2012): “”I just saw the line, pinned me ears back and ended bagging a bit of meat in the corner there, which was tops!”

- On being named in the Wallabies squad for the British and Irish Lions series: “My old man woke me up in the morning. He was going off like a bag of cats.”

- On the chance to play for the Wallabies against the British and Irish Lions: “If I get a gig, I’m gonna go off like a cut snake.”

- On marking Springboks speedster Bryan Habana: “He’s a pretty quick rooster alright. You don’t show him the sideline thats for sure.”

- On playing alongside Quade Cooper and Israel Folau in the Wallabies backline: “Imagine running off Izzy and Quade. How about that - I’d be happy to get a bit of meat.”

- On returning to the Wallabies side (v South Africa, in Brisbane last month): “When you come into this sort of game you’ve got to show the patience of the Dalai Lama initially in order to get that gig and when it comes round be ready to strike. Tonight unfortunately wasn’t the night for us.”

- On re-signing with Western Force: “I’m looking forward to getting out there and seeing plenty more of the ‘seed’ in 2014.”

http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/su...-1226883687051