Young playmakers need kick-start

[KenyaQuin]

Young playmakers need kick-start
Mark Ella | May 10, 2008 Young playmakers need kick-start | The Australian


THE Waratahs' loss to the Bulls last Saturday again highlighted a failure in Australian teams to master their kicking game in adverse conditions.

For many years, the 100-plus Test veteran Stephen Larkham was reduced to mere mortal whenever the heavens opened, and the Wallabies rarely won a Test match against either the All Blacks or Springboks when it rained.

Watching Kurtley Beale aimlessly trying to kick the Waratahs to victory brought back memories of when I first played senior rugby.

I was raised on running rugby under Geoff Mould at Matraville High and all the backs, including myself as five-eighth, rarely if ever kicked the football other than for touch or goal.

During an Australian schoolboys Test match against England at Twickenham in extremely dense fog, I was chastised by future Wallabies flanker Chris Roche for kicking the football.

When I told him I had never kicked a football out of sight before, he didn't find it funny at all and quickly told me what would happen to me if I attempted to repeat my foolish action.

When I finally left the schoolboy ranks for senior rugby at Randwick it was pretty much the same philosophy under Bob Dwyer, with catching, passing and supporting the creed of the time.

It wasn't until I played representative rugby in my second year out of school that I realised that my education was far from complete, especially watching Queenslander Paul McLean direct the flow of the game with his special talents.

It didn't get any easier playing against McLean and even though his approach to rugby differed from mine, the Reds managed to defeat the Waratahs more often than not.

Apart from Matt Giteau, the elder statesman at the tender age of 25, the rest of the Australian five-eighths are only a year or two out of school. Although they are creative with the football in hand, they all have less-than-strong kicking games.

Brumbies five-eighth Christian Lealiifano has played a great part of this year's Super 14 without the experience of Stirling Mortlock, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Julian Huxley or Gene Fairbanks, but his strength is his running game and not his kicking.

The Waratahs' combination of Beale and Tom Carter is delivering the goods, although each player lacks a competent kicking game which contributed to their demise in shocking conditions against the Bulls.

The Reds' No10 Quade Cooper is also raw in terms of experience, although he at least has the luxury of playing inside Berrick Barnes, whose kicking game is strong and reliable and only will get better with time.

When I played rugby for Sydney and NSW, I had my old schoolboy friend Michael Hawker to fall back on and whenever we need to thump the ball downfield, Lord Hawker never let the team down.

Becoming an accomplished kicker will come soon enough for Beale, Lealiifano and Cooper, but not without hard work.

Like these young stars, I wanted to play rugby for Australia and it was on my first Wallaby tour to Argentina in 1979 that I realised that I couldn't fulfil my dream until I developed my kicking game.

During that series, which we drew one Test apiece, I watched in amazement as the Pumas five-eighth and captain Hugo Porta mesmerised the Wallabies with his unbelievable kicking that kept us pinned inside our 22 for most of the game.

The next year, the Wallabies, with the late Bob Templeton as coach, toured Fiji and I thought I was odds-on to make my run-on debut in Suva.

I was absolutely devastated when Hawker was picked at five-eighth ahead of me, with McLean at fullback. Then I realised once and for all that I was overlooked not because I wasn't good enough but because I didn't have a strong kicking game in any conditions, let alone the wet.

At international level, it is critical to have a five-eighth who can be relied upon in tough times to take the pressure off the team and during my formative years I simply wasn't up to the task.

Likewise, the young five-eighths of today run the risk of non-selection for the Wallabies based on their lack of a strong kicking game.

It may take another year or two for Beale, Lealiifano and Cooper to mature into better all-round players, but until they do there will be question marks over their Test selection.

While I have always preached the running game, I appreciate how important kicking is in rugby -- as long as it is not abused as we have seen in recent years.

The current generation of five-eighths has exciting players but give them a year or two and they will bring a better balance to their game and we may rediscover our winning culture as a result.

[KenyaQuin]

Beale feels secure in vital role
May 12, 2008 12:00am Beale feels secure in vital role | The Daily Telegraph

TEENAGE sensation Kurtley Beale says he finally feels at ease in the driver's seat for the Waratahs despite his disappointment in missing a last-gasp field goal to beat the Stormers on Saturday.

In yet another NSW match played in driving rain - the ninth in 12 outings - Beale's 83rd-minute snap at an injury-time match-winner was charged down and left scores locked at 13-13 in Cape Town.

But no blame was heaped on Beale's shoulders post-match after an impressive overall performance in which he had earlier nailed a sideline conversion to level the scores and silence 47,000 heckling fans.

The clearly increasing maturity of the 19-year-old drew praise from Waratahs captain Phil Waugh, after Beale's direction and kicking game proved crucial to NSW rallying from 13-6 down in the second half and emerging with two points.

"I just feel so comfortable now," Beale said yesterday.

"I have learned so much in my whole game. I didn't really want to have doubt in myself, or I'd be shanking kicks left, right and centre, or in passing and tackling. I have just taken full-on confidence out of the whole season. The boys have helped me a lot, particularly the forwards.

"I was really disappointed with that (field-goal) moment but now I am pretty happy. I kicked the goal to get the boys level. I guess I am happy with that."

Beale's boot kept the Waratahs in the game after they started poorly and the Stormers bagged tries early in both halves. On an unhappy night for Lachie Turner, mistakes from the young winger led to both.

The first, to Sireli Naqelevuki, came in the eighth minute after Turner failed to clean up a grubber and the Stormers spun the ball wide to the Fijian's wing. A Rob Horne tackle failed to stop the big winger sliding across a drenched tryline.

The other wing, Wylie Human, scored the Stormers' second when he charged down a Turner punt straight after the second-half kickoff.

Beale's two penalties kept the Waratahs in striking distance, though, and when they held on to possession in the last 30 minutes, they stormed home.

A wide-running try to Lote Tuqiri set up Beale's sideline conversion, but the five-eighth conceded he was "too shallow" when attempting his drop goal.

Waugh said he made the call not to push for a try or a penalty.

"We have no regrets about making that call," Waugh said. "Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If he puts it over, it's the greatest call of all time. He (Beale) will be better for that.

"The best thing about Kurtley is he's grown this year not only as a footballer but as a person, the direction he gives the team, and the confidence he has. It is such a significant difference from last year, and that's encouraging."

Waugh was named man-of-the-match for a typically tough performance, while prop Benn Robinson had his best game of the year. Rookie Matt Carraro was strong and will push to keep his place ahead of Turner if Sam Norton-Knight did enough in a classy 25-minute outing to win his fullback jersey back.

Coach Ewen McKenzie said that it was good not to walk away with nothing.

"I was pleased we got back into the game after halftime, I was pleased we got a couple of points out of it," McKenzie said.

"We are a very competitive team. We have been giving everyone a good run for their money. That puts you in the hunt."

Stormers coach Rassie Erasmus said the high-pressure draw was a fair result that both sides could take positives from.

[James]

Then I realised once and for all that I was overlooked not because I wasn't good enough but because I didn't have a strong kicking game in any conditions, let alone the wet.

Funny thats the same reason I didn't make the Wallabies, not because I wasn't good enough, but because I didn't have a strong kicking game in any conditions. Or a strong passing game or a strong running game.