Chicago Crowd Treated to an All Blacks Masterclass
At Solidier Field in Chicago, the capacity 61,500 crowd that attended USA’s historic home match against the All Blacks would have been more accustomed to touchdowns than tries at the home of the Bears but the end scoreline eas proof of a one-sided encounter.
Despite the 72 – 6 defeat, the Eagles actually looked pretty handy when in possession, with Blaine Scully causing plenty of problems with his aerial prowess, whilst skipper Todd Clever looked to match his All Blacks counterparts in a ferocious pack effort, but it was in defence where the hosts found themselves way out of their depth. The World Champions were at their clinical best, running in a staggering 12 tries during a match where they were significantly better in all facets of play, and Kiwi fans will also have another reason to smile – the successful return of Sonny Bill Williams to international rugby union. He ran in two tries before retiring early in the second half with a thigh niggle which may threaten his place against England.
The Chicago crowd would have been disappointed not to see their side cross for a score against the World Champions but they, and the sport as a whole, should be proud of a ‘non-rugby’ country embracing the sport fully and putting on a great spectacle. The game garnered plenty of interest – and new fans – on social media, as did the commentary efforts of the ABC coverage team. If you’re having a slow day at work, I implore you to check it out. In my opinion, they just stumbled across a way of making the sport sound more awesome. Who wouldn’t want their sidestep referred to as a ‘cutback’?
Man of the Match: Sonny Bill Williams
New-era Wallabies and Baabaas light it up at Twickenham
If all of Michael Cheika’s Wallabies’ games are going to be as good as the one played out against the Barbarians in West London on Saturday, we are in for a real treat. The men in gold ran out 40 – 36 winners in a thriller, the conclusion of which brought about that sickening cliché that ‘rugby was the real winner here’. But it was true.
The tourists scored six tries in an encouraging display of attacking rugby through but predictably the biggest cheers were saved for the efforts by the Barbarians, who were fielding a side packed with Southern Hemisphere talent.
Tries by Frank Halai, Adam Thompson, Francis Saili had the Twickenham crowd on their feet, but at 40 – 22 down with seven minutes left to play, there didn’t look to be a way back into the game. Enter the Honey Badger. The legend that is Nick Cummins blasted over for a wonderful set piece score before setting up Marnitz Bishoff for not only the try of the weekend, but one of the great Barbarians scores.
It was not enough for the win, but it showed us all that there is still very much a place for the Barbarians within the sport.
Man of the Match: Tevita Kuridrani
English Sides Turn to Youth as the LV= Cup Gets Underway
OK, it’s not a particularly glamorous tournament, but those who did stick around were treated to some compelling and nail-biting encounters. Sale set the tone with a dramatic 32 – 29 win over Wasps in Salford, with a Nick McLeod penalty in the 77th minute with the scores tied at 29-all and four tries apiece settling the encounter. There was a similar story down in the south west as Exeter nicked the West Country derby against Gloucester thanks to a late scrummaging penalty try. There was still time for Aled Thomas to steal the game for the Cherry and Whites with a tricky penalty in the last play of the game, but his long range effort agonisingly struck the post and bounced away.
In the other games, Saracens had just enough to keep the visiting Quins at bay with a 25 – 20 win, whilst Bath and Northampton eased to victory against London Welsh and Newcastle Falcons respectively. Leicester also demonstrated how gritty and tenacious defence can win you games even when you don’t have the possession or territory, as they somehow ground out a 17 – 16 win away at London Irish.
LV= Cup Star Man: Dan Braid
Ospreys stay top with perfect record
It was back to the day job for the Celtic Nations and the Italians, and that day job is going very well indeed for one particular Welsh region. The Ospreys made it a remarkable seven wins out of seven with a comfortable win 26 – 11 win over Connacht at home, despite being decimated by injuries and international call ups. After a dour first half which past without any real incident of note, the hosts eased their way to win with tries from Jeff Hassler and Martin Roberts, with Eoin McKeon scoring a late consolation for the men from Galway.
Glasgow sit hot on the heels of the leaders after a scrappy 17 – 9 win over Treviso, but the best action was to be found in Cardiff on Sunday, where a late score from Paddy Butler earned Munster a 28 – 24 win, despite being outscored by two tries to one. There was a comedy moment with prop Adam Jones attempting a drop goal – something you wouldn’t find odds for on any mobile betting app! Ulster overtook their rivals though to hop back into third place thanks to a 23 – 6 win over the Dragons, helping to erase the memories of a difficult couple of weeks on the European front. The Scarlets and Leinster were the other sides to pick up wins, the latter picking up a bonus point in an easy win over injury-ravaged Edinburgh.
Pro12 Star Man: JJ Hanrahan
Toulon smash their way to the top as Clermont falter
The Galacticos of Toulon replaced Clermont at the pinnacle of the Top 14 win a 61 – 28 win over Grenoble, who may have scored three tries of their own but there was always the impression that the European champions were just toying with them. The hosts ran in nine tries in total, but they only led 25 – 21 after 55 minutes before the floodgates well and truly opened. The men they replaced at the top of the pile – Clermont – fell victim to the French away-team curse, falling to lowly Bayonne, who secured an important 24 – 13 victory thanks to scores from Martin Moyano and Charles Ollivon.
There were also ominous signs from Toulouse, who came away with an impressive 41 – 17 win against Lyon away from home (shock horror). Ex-England fly half Toby Flood dictated the game marvellously for the French giants as they claimed their fifth win of the season and continued their recovery with a try bonus point. Elsewhere, there were home wins for Brive, La Rochelle and Stade Francais, but perhaps the biggest surprise and the best display came in Paris as the star-studded Racing Metro collapsed at home against bottom-club Oyonnax. Ben Urdapilleta was the hero for the visitors, the fly half landing six penalties and a drop goal in a nerveless display which inflicted the first home loss of the season on Racing.
Top 14 Star Man: Ben Urdapilleta
Try of the Week: The two international games cooked up several pearlers, but the late effort from Marnitz Bishoff was vintage Barbarian rugby, with a spontaneous counter attack from deep and slick interplay leading to a length-of-the-field classic.
Hero of the Week: Ben Urdapiletta deserves a mention for causing the shock of the season in the Top 14 against Racing Metro, but I’m going to give it to whoever organised the USA v New Zealand fixture. Sure, the cynics may have suggested that it was just a money spinner for the world champs but, having seen the quality of the venue, the support and the spectacle – not to mention the fact that NBC screened it live nationally on Saturday afternoon – it is impossible to underestimate what the game has done from rugby’s global profile. That said, I’m sure the NZRFU’s wallets are feeling a little heavier, too.
Villain of the Week: When you’re well in the game at 11 – 6 with 25 minutes still to play, you don’t really want your prop to get needlessly red-carded. Unfortunately, Treviso prop Albert Anae didn’t consider this, throwing a punch off the ball which was spotted by the officials, and was given his marching orders, effectively handing the game to Glasgow.
By Mike Cooper (@RuckedOver)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
6 replies on “Best of the weekend: Aussies win classic Baa Baas encounter”
I’m not convinced that rugby match will have done much good for rugby in the US – they don’t like seeing their teams humiliated like that. I think the context will have been lost on a lot of the curious observers (the context of a 3rd tier team playing the World Champs) so they’ll have just seen a game where one side ran riot and the US don’t seem to have much to say about it. I think it would have been much better for them to have played Wales/England or someone and at least had the chance to make a fist of it?
Blues – sigh. We’re getting better, I keep telling myself. Munster’s last score should have clearly been disallowed but that’s the breaks. We need to get ourselves into positions where calls don’t make the difference, especially at home.
Does anybody like to see their team/country getting humiliated like that?
I think that it’s a slightly defeatist view to say that it won’t have a good impact on rugby in the US. In line with what you say, the American’s, possibly more than any other nation, like to think of themselves as world beaters. With crowds of 60,000 plus there is clearly a market and I think that it could just as easily encourage people to invest in the sport, with the vision of the US one day becoming a competitive team.
Hopefully the commentators will improve as well… some comedy lines from the two fellas
Rodgers, I can see they had a big crowd but my concern is – would they get that again now the crowd know they’ll see an all blacks procession? I’m just not convinced that it’s a sustainable way to generate long term interest.
Even if America gets investment where does it go? A tilt at the World Cup every few years then scrabbling around to play the odd showpiece game? They need, as do all the 3rd level teams, a meaningful structure for progression. Given how much Sanzar completely ignored the islands forever I can’t see them opening up to the U.S. Hence the Aussie Gospet suggestinge we move a 6Ns game to the US, rather than one of his domestic 4Ns games.
I can’t recall any sport being driven to grow from the top down – schools, colleges and communities are what is needed, not seeing their national stars get mullered?
I agree, grassroots is the key. Can’t say I’ve invested any time at looking at the structure of rugby in the US but I do know a family that has moved over there in recent times and their son is playing junior rugby at school (at an American school, not expat).
I also read this yesterday and it helped me form a view;
http://www.espn.co.uk/blogs/rugby/story/246479.html
I think that where there is money, rugby will shift to accommodate. Look at Japan, huge money and investment has seen some bigger players go over there and their national team is getting better as a result of their league structure. (I’m sure you don’t need reminding of the scalp they claimed. Beating Wales by three scores.. 23-8)
The islands have probably been ignored largely because the economic potential is much smaller, it’s only political pressure that has seen the All Blacks head that way. I don’t think that is a fair approach but the approach a professional industry is more likely to take.
Whatever the way forward it would be good to see future World Cup tournaments where 4 or all 5 teams have a realistic chance of moving out of the group.
Help please, I can remember seeing a tap penalty taken in the same way as the Baa Baa’s before, late 80’s early 90’s
brighty
With ‘a capacity 61,500 crowd’!? And ‘the sport as a whole, should be proud of a ‘non-rugby’ country embracing the sport fully and putting on a great spectacle. The game garnered plenty of interest – and new fans – on social media, as did the commentary efforts of the ABC coverage team… a way of making the sport sound more awesome’. 1/2 empty g;ass?
Regds the sidestep, or ‘cutback’, presumably reffing to a player stepping inside an opponent, what is it called if a player steps ourside an opponent? A ‘cutout’? All sounds a bit cardboard to me.