A weekend of slippery storylines
The Blues and Crusaders look set for the final... if you're willing to ignore the Brumbies, PLUS: The Warriors lack ambition, a new tennis superstar and much more.
This was a weekend where there was plenty of oval-ball sport, but it was a struggle to find anything to grip tightly to.
This happens from time to time.
Super Rugby spluttered on in its impossible-to-please way. We’ve got what we wanted in terms of the Australian franchises being more competitive, yet it feels like we won’t be happy until this tournament reaches its inevitable Blues v Crusaders finale.
Unless those meddling and supremely efficient Brumbies get in the way.
The Blues were brilliant for a spell against the Rebels and were nice enough to spot them a 14-point start. It was excellent exhibition footy, as was the Crusaders response to their shock loss to the Waratahs as they thrashed the Force in Perth, but it all felt so... curtainraiserish. I know that’s not actually a word, but I’m not sure how else to explain the feeling when you know it’s not pre-season, yet it still doesn’t feel like the real thing starts until the playoffs.
The Crusaders travel to Canberra next. Then they’re followed by the Blues. It feels like it will take a Brumbies double to convince people in NZ that there’s a genuine contender across the even, even after they humbled the Chiefs 38-28 in the Tron.
The Highlanders upset the Reds, the most disappointing team in the comp, but if I was looking for a signature image for the weekend, it would have to be this.
The broadcast producer must have been mortified as Sky makes a point of zeroing on whatever parts of the stadium have anything resembling a cluster of people in a vain attempt to try to give the impression of atmosphere.
After the high of playing in front of a packed house in Suva, Fijian Drua failed dismally to rise to the small occasion and their commitment to defence reminded me of Pakistan cricket’s commitment to fielding in the 1990s.
Elsewhere, this was a lovely moment as Christian Leali’ifano brought up 1000 Super Rugby points and got to share it with his son. Moana Pasifika were a little unlucky to lose to the Waratahs, which is emblematic of their first season.
He also wants to play full series against the All Blacks… and tour Argentina and Australia at the end of the year, too.
So there’s probably a little more work to do on his project yet.
The Warriors stunk up greater southern Sydney losing 10-29 to the Sharks, somehow managing to make a numerical advantage look like a handicap. I’m no Phil Gould but it would seem to me that if Matt Lodge and Addin Fonua-Blake are your best on show when you’re presented with the chance to test the edges of a depleted defence, then you’re in real trouble.
In a game that has been increasingly burdened by statistical white noise1, the numbers that trouble me most about the Warriors are these: Reece Walsh has the most line breaks in the team with four, yet 37 players in the NRL have more than him. There is only one Warrior in the top 50 for offloads - Jazz Tevaga with 10 (27th).
Yes, it’s important to do all the gritty stuff - the hit-ups, the tackles - up the middle of the park, but at some point you need to create. That’s why this line from Shaun Johnson’s press call, when he was asked what the instructions were from the coaches at halftime, baffled me.
“Literally to go out there and get into a grind with them. Don’t look for quick solutions.”
If that’s “literally” what was asked of them, that is anti-coaching. It’s not a matter of looking for “quick solutions” but you should be at least offering solutions. Telling a team to get into a “grind” is shorthand for saying you’re not as talented as them but you have a chance of keeping them close and dragging them down to your level.
I’ve been quite taken by the Warriors roller-coaster in 2022 but I’m worried about the long haul if that’s the limit of their ambitions.
If you told me a year ago that Lydia Ko would be the catalyst for a widespread and healthy discussion on the previously taboo topic of menstruation and how it affects women’s sport, I would have choked on my granola (just joking, who can afford granola these days?).
But here we are, with the Herald’s Kate Wells explaining that it’s not just acknowledged in sport, but also used as a performance-boosting tool.
This is just horrendous news. Thoughts go out to the Samoan rugby community and Kelly Meafua’s family and friends. The 32-year-old flanker died after jumping from the Pont-Vieux into the River Tarn after celebrating a win for his Montauban side in the French second division.
There’s a bit to chew through here, but this is the best wrap of the pitiful Breakers season, from The Niche Cache. While it’s easy for transitory observers like me to blame the morass on poor recruitment and poor club-wide decision-making, this piece gets more granular.
https://theniche-cache.com/american-sports/2022/5/4/there-goes-another-disappointing-breakers-season
Staying with basketball, I always wondered why the split between Australian basketball and their best women’s player, Liz Cambage, was so bitter.
This explains it. Sort of.
Between Cambage and Ben Simmons there’s an awful lot of baggage they’re carrying into their NBA and WNBA careers.
Tennis has a new superstar and it is overdue.
If you think about the men’s tennis news agenda in 2022 it has been almost entirely set by Rafa Nadal and, for good and silly reasons, Novak Djokovic. Yes, there’s been a little bit of Daniil Medvedev on the side, due mostly to the country he hails from, but the men’s game is desperately in need of a generational shift.
Medvedev, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios (for non-tennis reasons mainly) have had their moments, but the sport remains in thrall to Nadal, Djokovic, and the dying embers of the careers of Roger Federer and Andy Murray.
Carlos Alcaraz might change that. The 19-year-old Spaniard won the Madrid Open last night, his fourth ATP title and his second at Masters 1000 level, the next level of prestige down from the four grand slam tournaments.
He did so by beating Nadal, Djokovic and Zverev from the quarters in.
He’s the real deal, we hope.
As is Devon Conway.
Left out for more than half of Chennai Super Kings matches, Conway has been brought back into the XI and his form has coincided with an uptick in his team’s fortunes. He has scored 85*, 56 and last night’s 87 in successive matches to top the IPL averages with 77.
CSK are still on the outside looking in at the IPL top four, as are Kane Williamson’s Sunrisers Hyderabad. Williamson’s season has gone from bad to worse, as the skipper bagged a diamond duck (out without facing a ball) in the team’s loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Williamson and Conway will likely take the first- and second-drop slots on the upcoming tour to England, but in a special BYC podcast, we ask whether Conway would be better employed against the new ball.
Since the podcast was recorded, Will Young, who had been off to a good start in his stint at Northants, bagged a match double of 2 and 3 opening against Surrey.
Metres after contact seems to be the darling stat of league’s sabermetricians, and while it’s clearly an advantage to play with front-foot ball I wonder if it’s over-valued in comparison with stats that lead directly to try-scoring opportunities.