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Flying fists a healthy sign
John Eales, March 14, 2011
Friends fight. Families fight. In fact we probably fight most fiercely with those whom we love the most. Here's not the forum to go too deeply into my personal examples otherwise I might start a fight myself.
There are always fights in rugby; some of them actually on the field. Not the most vicious however, they're usually behind people's backs within the murky world of rugby politics.
When I heard this week that Drew Mitchell, Al Baxter and Dean Mumm came to blows at Waratahs training it didn't concern me. Perhaps if it were a fist-fight among a group of badminton, chess or Sudoku players I might be more concerned but as physicality is such an integral part of rugby it is of little relevance. In fact it may even be a good thing more than it is bad.
In politics, the only people you trust are those who say they are not going to vote for you. The famed warlord and philosopher Sun Tsu preached the importance of knowing your enemy; at least when the fists and shoves are in your face you know exactly where you stand.
Players are not automatons. You cannot expect them to exhibit aggression on the field and not demonstrate it off the field. Sometimes it's not the aggression that's shown but rather how it is treated that is important.
Whenever two team-mates transgressed under John Connolly he ensured they roomed together for the next "sleep-over". No one was immune – if you played you paid. As long as the Waratahs now channel their aggression into their next match against the Cheetahs the fight will not have been wasted.
Fights come in many forms. For example, we may look at the how the Rebels fought the Sharks until the death in a 34-32 loss on Friday or how the Western Force surrendered in the final moments to the Blues.
Against the Sharks the Melbourne Rebels showed one reason why they are so important to Australian rugby; their existence allows more athletes to play top level rugby rather than playing for the other codes.
Among the Rebels' best in their narrow loss to the Sharks was Jarrod Saffy, the South African-born and St George Illawarra Dragons premiership winning back rower. In his 80 minutes he made 22 tackles, almost double his closest competitor or team-mate. Not only that but Saffy's stats reveal that he also had the highest percentage of dominant tackles in his team, some of which directly resulted in a turnover of possession. This made him one of the most valuable players on the field.
Danny Cipriani, the Rebels' five-eight continues to show why he has played Test rugby, and also why he doesn't now. . . but more so why he has. He has quickly become a crowd favourite for the Melbourne faithful. My mum used to always say, don't save your money buying cheap fruit, toilet paper or toothpaste, with those necessities you can't compromise. If she had followed rugby she may have added five-eight to her list, for you won't win a World Cup or a Super Rugby title without a great one.
Cipriani put in an expert performance with the boot and tactically. And though he made a mistake leading directly to the Sharks' final try, he alone is not to blame as the game should have been sealed prior to his errors.
The biggest frustration for Rebels' supporters was their inability to maintain pressure. Two basic mistakes from Julian Huxley, the first, a dropped ball on his own line preceding the Sharks' penultimate try and the second, a wayward pass leading to the match sealer, compromised the result.
Mistakes are the enemy of momentum and as the difference between teams is regularly so slim, momentum often decrees the winner. Usually it's not the high marker of performance that differentiates teams as much as it is their low mark. So teams that minimise their low points maximise their consistency. The Rebels have shown their high mark is good enough now they must raise their low bar.
The fight for consistency never ends, as the Force will also attest. They similarly let slip a victory, allowing the Blues to score 10 points in the last four minutes to grab a 22-all draw. Sports teams tread a fine wire between victory and defeat but though still winless under new coach Richard Graham, the Force play a passionate and physical game. While at this stage luck evades them, if they continue to play with such purpose and minimise their low minutes, it will eventually fall on their side, as long as they don't give up the fight.
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Originally Posted by Burgs
