Tahs need to find flair

By David Campese (Last line knocked me over, a campo compliment for the force...)

March 03, 2008 12:00am

THREE games down - and while there have been highs and lows for the Waratahs, two things have been missing from all their games: flair and support play.

I'm sure I am not alone in thinking NSW are a good side capable of doing well, but boy, it's been hard work sitting through their matches this season.

The win over the Highlanders was obviously affected by the wet weather but the way I see it, there are still several problems with the Waratahs' football.

NSW try to adapt their tactics to fit the opposition but my feeling is we have to get back to free-spirited footy.

You have to throw the ball to Lote Tuqiri on the wing, with plenty of room to move. If there is a kick to one side, the guys should get back and, like the Crusaders do so well, shift the ball to the other side of the field for Lote or Timana Tahu in space.

Sadly, and surprisingly, they don't play as a unit like that. They all seem to go themselves far too often.

For example, in the first half the Highlanders cleared the ball to Kurtley Beale, who ran and then passed to Lote with the defence just about to hit him. They lost the ball and the Highlanders scored up the other end.

Kurtley should have shifted the ball straight away, giving Lote 20m of room, then Kurtley could have supported.

The part of the game that hasn't developed in Australian rugby is the "pass and support". It's just not a common enough skill.

Mark Ella says that if you pass the ball once you're not going to score, if you pass the ball twice you have got a chance, but if you touch the ball three times in a movement you are going to score a try.

We just pass and watch. There is no support. Don't kick the ball mindlessly. Shift it and support. Use a player on the loop. That's when you get dangerous.

Lote is a danger man and Tahu is a good player. We saw that with his flick-on against the Hurricanes. Get him involved.

It couldn't hurt for the Waratahs to take a trip down memory lane and pull out some videos of the Randwick backline in the 1980s. In terms of flair and support play, there's been none better.

THE Reds are struggling badly. They have good players but are low on confidence. I'd be amazed if they can rescue their season.

By contrast the Brumbies, who are full of kids and inexperience, have a winning culture. They go out there expecting to win.

And you have to hand it to the Force, who've taken two wins from three games in South Africa after all that mess with Matt Henjak. That's a pretty good effort.