Life goes on for Larkham and Gregan

[Burgs]

Life goes on for Larkham and Gregan

By Darren Walton
July 04, 2007

EVER the consummate professionals, it's business as usual this week for George Gregan and Stephen Larkham as the two rugby legends ready themselves for one last Australia appearance on home soil.

Gregan, 34, will extend his world record to 133 Tests when the Wallabies and Springboks clash in a pivotal Tri-Nations encounter at Telstra Stadium on Saturday night, while Larkham, 33, will join Gregan and David Campese (101) as only the third Australian to rack up 100 Tests for their country.

But the pair are determined not to get caught up in the inevitable hype their farewell Tests will generate, preferring to focus on conquering the Springboks to keep Australia's Tri-Nations hopes alive.

"It's like that Faulty Towers episode: Don't mention the war," Gregan said today.

"No one's really mentioned it, but everyone's aware. Particularly with Stephen, it's his 100th Test match. It's very, very important.

"But you've got to pay tribute to the team and the coaching staff and management staff, in the sense that we've just gone about this as another week.

"We've started preparing for another Test match as we normally do with our analysis and our rehab and all that sort of stuff on Monday and just made this week an important preparation, and everyone's gone about it that way.

"It's in the back of everyone's mind, but it's not the most important thing in terms of our preparation this week, which is good."

Gregan said it would be dangerous for the Wallabies to get lost in the fanfare for Australian rugby's two longest-serving players, especially with the Springboks stinging from criticism over coach Jake White's selection of a second-string squad.

"Any time you play the Springboks, you know you're going to be playing a tough Test match," he said. "Then when people question the quality of the players representing the Springboks, then they're going to take that personally.

"So this is going to be a very tough Test match, in which we're going to have to start well and build on what we've done in the last couple of games.

"We can't get carried away. Knuckles (coach John Connolly) said it and other players have said it within the group: it's about consistency. It's about building one good performance on top of another and not taking one step forward and then two steps back.

"It's important that we keep going forward, so the team's highly motivated."

Larkham said the significance of Saturday's match had left no time for sentiment.

"So far we haven't really delved into the emotional side," he said. "I know with (our last game with) the Brumbies it was a little bit emotional afterwards with the presentation on the field and you really get to reflect after the game.

"But I didn't feel too emotional in Melbourne last week against New Zealand. I know it was the last Test match in Australia against New Zealand, but I didn't get too carried away with that and I'm certainly not getting too carried away with this one either.

"Maybe after the Tri Nations is over and that period between the Tri-Nations and the World Cup there'll be a little bit of time to reflect and there might a few sad moments, or emotional moments, there and particularly after the World Cup.'

AAP

[prop53]

Good luck for the furture boys, you have served your teams well. I hope in the future you both will be honoured in the Hall of Fame

[Jess]

I'm really going to miss those two. Really going to miss them.

[Burgs]

Two halves united by remarkable run

* Bret Harris, The Australian
* July 05, 2007

IF Stephen Larkham's boyhood dream had come true, he would have grown up to become, well, George Gregan.

Growing up in Canberra, Larkham was a gangling halfback and the player he looked up to was Gregan, who made his Test debut in 1994.

A year apart in age, Larkham and Gregan were rival halfbacks, playing for Wests and Easts, respectively.

Gregan could quite easily have blocked Larkham's path to Test football rather than being the most important player in it.

It was not until the twain met at the Brumbies in 1996 that Larkham moved to fullback and then five-eighth in 1998 to become Gregan's long-time halves partner.

"I remember playing against him (Gregan) in a Canberra sevens competition one year," Larkham said. "I would have been 18 or 19.

"At the time I was playing halfback as well. He was my idol for that short period of two years when he was playing for Australia in my position. I really admired his play and aspired to be just like him.

"He always had the raps on him down in ACT. It wasn't until that first year at the Brumbies I moved out of the halfback position.

"Until then I was always playing second or third fiddle. Growing up, I always wanted to play halfback for the Wallabies. That was my dream.

"I suppose, I looked up to Nick Farr-Jones at the time as the current Wallaby halfback.

"When I got to 18 or 19 George was the Wallaby halfback and I looked up to him. Still do."

The Gregan/Larkham combination is one of the greatest halves partnerships in world rugby. It is up there with Gareth Edwards and Barry John, Ken Catchpole and Phil Hawthorne and Farr-Jones and Michael Lynagh.

Larkham will celebrate his 100th Test when he plays for the Wallabies against South Africa in Sydney on Saturday night, while Gregan will extend his world record number of caps to 133. The veterans will also play their last games on home soil.

They have played a world record 75 Tests as a halves combination in careers which have secured at one time or another every trophy and cup on offer.

In many ways, Gregan and Larkham are an odd couple. Gregan is a pinot-drinking sophisticate, while Larkham is a meat and three veg country boy.

Where Gregan is hyper-professional, Larkham is laid-back.

But there is an absolute trust and respect at the core of the relationship, as well as a recognition that for all of their achievements, they could not have done half of it without the other.

"We share a passion for the game, which is the first step towards forming a combination," Larkham said.

"He understands my game very well and I understand his game very well, but I think that has come about from the amount of time we have spent at training and the amount of time we have played together. I think we have both been good for one another's game. He seems to deliver the ball exactly how I want it delivered and he has a good understanding of where I normally am. That probably helps us play better."

Gregan and Larkham demand a lot from each other.

"We are always pushing each other to become better," Gregan said. "I expect a certain standard from him and he expects a certain standard from me, and when we don't reach that standard we are happy to get into each other a little bit, which is all right."

Since Larkham made his Test debut against Wales in 1996, another 91 players have earned Wallabies caps. And Larkham and Gregan are still there.

The partnership has been tested in recent years, especially with Matt Giteau trialled at halfback and Mat Rogers given a chance at five-eighth before he returned to rugby league.

There have been changes in coaches, administrators, team-mates and the game itself.

But Gregan and Larkham, the old firm, have survived and will be the Wallabies' halves pairing at the World Cup in France, starting in September.


Boks praise Gregan and Larkham

July 05, 2007 - 10:02am
Story by: Sportal

Springboks coach Jake White has paid veteran duo George Gregan and Stephen Larkham a huge compliment ahead of Saturday night's Tri Nations Test in Sydney.

South Africa is a very proud rugby nation and they showed the amount of respect they have for the Wallabies halves combination by praising the duo as well as making the effort to commemorate Larkham's becoming a Test centurion with this weekend's match at Telstra Stadium.

At the South African team announcement on Wednesday, White paraded an official Springboks jersey that they will present to Larkham before Saturday night's match. The jersey is embroided with the words - 'Stephen Larkham congratulations on your 100th Test'

"I was privileged to be in Perth for George Gregan's 100th Test and it happened to be against the Springboks," White explained. "And it is going to be an honour this weekend to be there for Larkham's 100th."

"We have a got a special embroided Springboks jersey to present to him - it is a gift from South Africa to congratulate him on his 100th Test. Not too many coaches can be lucky enough to have players like Gregan and Larkham play against the Springboks in their 100th Test match."

White said the veteran pair never failed to surprise him with their professionalism and dedication to the game.

"People said that Gregan and Larkham were going to go into hiding and avoid contact before the World Cup but I can tell you in Cape Town, the way Larkham was climbing into the defence and all that it was far and away from people perceived what was going to happen," White said.

Mark Hughes

[Burgs]

I really liked this article

The odd couple

Saturday, July 7, 2007, Rupert Guinness

It's the last home Test for Australia's chalk-and-cheese halves pairing, writes Rupert Guinness.

George Gregan bounds through the door, tail up, and approaches the table with a cup of tea in hand. He immediately realises that his partner in Wallaby crime for 75 Tests, Stephen Larkham, is yet to arrive. "Agh … Stevie … he's always late," mutters Gregan to himself before rushing off, obviously annoyed.

You can tell there is history there. But matches seemingly made in heaven are often between odd couples.

And the Gregan-Larkham partnership, for all its on-field flair and finesse that will be on show for the last time in Australia at Telstra Stadium tonight against the Springboks , is definitely a pairing of extremes.

When Larkham arrives and the two sit side-by-side before the media for their last pre-Test media conference in Australia, they seem a perfect match, much as they do when Gregan's at halfback and Larkham's at five-eighth.

As Gregan's grand entrance showed, it's when they are apart that their differences really start to become clear.

Take Larkham aside, as the Herald did, and it doesn't take long for him to reveal something of Gregan that those outside the Wallabies inner-sanctum most probably don't realise about the man most know as "Guv", "GG" or more recently as "Greegs" - names that reflect his indomitable qualities as a leader of men.

Gregan, says Larkham, loves to tell a joke. Trouble is, Larkham continues while looking over his shoulder to check Gregan is not within hearing range, very rarely do any of his Wallabies teammates find them funny.

"We like to say, 'tumbleweed', when he says some jokes in the team environment. There is quite often no laughter, or no one says anything. It's like a tumbleweed rolling around on the floor. Some of the jokes, he thinks that they are funny. But they are just not funny," says Larkham, for whom tonight's clash also marks his 100th Test.

Larkham is not short of an example, either, citing one day at Brumbies training when Gregan was doing drills with the Canberra club's back-up halfback at the time, Travis Hall, while being recorded by a video camera. "Travis slipped over and tried to make up the time," recalls Larkham. "George thought it was hilarious at the time. He put some footage together with the theme from the Road Runner [cartoon] and the 'beep beep' …

"He showed the video and thought it was the most hilarious thing ever. But no one laughed. We couldn't understand what he was talking about. Ever since, when he makes a joke and it's not funny we go 'beep beep'."

When cornered, Gregan, not knowing Larkham has just dished out on his humour, isn't shy, either, about offering up a little dirt on his trusted teammate since 1996, when they joined the Brumbies as foundation members.

He smiles when reminded of his earlier quip on Larkham's tardiness. You can picture their mistiming being repeated over and over in Brumbies and Wallabies tours - off-field at least.

"He is quiet, very quiet. Hence the Weekend at Bernie's," says Gregan of "Bernie" Larkham, referring to a film about two young executives who carry around their dead boss. While unimpressed by Larkham's poor punctuality, Gregan cannot help but admire his tactical cunning and control that has so often saved the Wallabies.

"He is very thoughtful and intelligent," begins Gregan. "For example, we were going to training and he had this chess book out with all these little moves on how to win a chess game. That suits him quite aptly.

"Everyone calls him a dork and everything and he has his little games. He is very intelligent, and very strategic. But also, as you saw today, his punctuality is dreadful. He leaves boots at the hotel when he has a Test match. He will leave mouth guards and head gear. Managers will give him a check list and he will still forget something, like his thigh pads. They say, that with geniuses, they are sometimes not so street smart."

While neither cannot actually recall the day they met each other, Larkham clearly remembers the first game of football they played - as opposing halfbacks - as "18- or 19-year-olds" in a sevens match in Canberra.

Today, with Gregan at age 34 and Larkham 33, the memory of that match is regarded as their uniting moment.

"I remember after the game George coming up to me, looking around and congratulating me," says Larkham. "That felt quite special knowing he recognised me - I had a pretty good day - and wanted to shake my hand."

Larkham, who moved to fullback when he joined the Brumbies in 1996 and then five-eighth in 1998, has not forgotten, either, that it was Gregan who helped make him become one of rugby's greatest five-eighths.

"When I started as five-eighth, I was pretty shy on the paddock, as I was off the paddock," says Larkham. "I didn't do a lot of talking. But George just rode me, rode me and rode me, every single day, every training day, every game.

"He kept riding me about talking … I eventually got to a point where I probably talk more than any others guys on the field, which is good."

Today, Gregan still "rides" Larkham, but more so about being on time - something Bernie is yet to master.

"That is something I have to work on. The guys have ribbed me [for it] over the years," says Larkham. "In the last [few] years I have probably improved to an acceptable level, but nowhere near as professional as George."