Super Rugby
Super Problems
0000s a new season of rugby union 0000is upon us, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to decipher what is occuring in Australian rugby.
What's wrong with Australian Rugby Union, you ask? Let's have a look back at 2013 and talk about some of the events that took place.
When we talk about misdemenours, one common name always pops up and yes, you guessed it, that name is James O'Connor. This kid has a world of talent, yet lets everyone down with his off-field behaviour. So much so, that no Australian team in the Super 15 competition wants anything to do with him. The Wallabies fly-half from just half a year ago but no-one wants him? Like I said, the list of things he has done are too long for any club to even bother with putting up with his antics anymore. O'Connor had to look overseas for work and is now plying his trade at London Irish.
Then there was his partner in crime at Melbourne, Kurtley Beale. Again, like O'Connor, Beale has a world of talent but got lost in his ego and among other things off the field. He came to the Melbourne Rebels by far a better player than most on the Rebels roster but when a senior player asked him to walk to the same beat as the rest of his teammates, Beale just scoffed at the request.
Then there was the proverbial hit of the fan, when Beale was asked to put his shirt on the team bus on return to the hotel, to which Beale replied with a flurry of punches. That was the last time Kurtley Beale would be with the Melbourne Rebels and after a stint in alcohol rehab, he is now back with his first club, the New South Wales Waratahs.
Now these two players were guaranteed starters in the Wallabies line-up but due to all their off-field indiscretions, not only have they hurt any potential prospects of future call-ups, but they have hurt the Wallabies dearly as they add a lot to the team with their talent.
Now, not all of the Australian rugby players are bad boys. Take Ben Mowen for example. This guy has had to work hard for everything he has, and been rewarded for it accordingly. He was nurtured through the Queensland Reds
system before he thought that heading to New South Wales would bring him greater opportunity, it did. He learnt from the greats while still getting some playing time before moving again further south to the A.C.T.
He was surprisingly selected as captain of the Brumbies 2012 campaign and at the age of 29, made his debut for the Australian Wallabies team to play against the British & Irish
Lions. Later on that international season, Ewen McKenzie named him captain. Now you would think that he would be eager and ready to go for the next coming season especially with the Rugby World Cup just around the corner. Wrong!
Mowen has decided at the end of the season, he will pack his bags and head over to Europe and test his skills there. Why?! He was going to lead Australia into battle for the next few years and hopefully bring the Webb Ellis trophy back to Australia. What made this shock decision?
I believe that something deep down is wrong with Australian rugby. What is it? I don't entirely know. To have the captain of your international team quit on you, to have numerous players having very poor off-field behaviors, one coach sacked and then a successful coach walk out on a franchise. Something must be up.
It doesn't sound like the ARU is in a healthy state and this is reflected by the on-field performances of their Super 15 franchises and then in turn the Wallabies. Yes, the Wallabies did have some success later on in the season but they were no competition for the likes of New Zealand and South Africa - who are the benchmark of international rugby.
I am a kiwi and even though I am bagging out the state of play in Australian rugby, I love the close encounters that the Wallabies and All-Blacks have but I am concerned that if
this continues, the Wallabies won't be
the powerhouse it traditionally is come the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
The ARU made a great decision in appointing Ewen McKenzie as coach of the Wallabies (albeit 18 months too late) as he can turn the team around just as he did with the Reds but with only 18 months to go until the RWC, I think it might not be enough time for him to work his magic. Only time will tell.
By Antonie Matthews
#SR
#SuperRugby
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