2015 Rugby World Cup semi-final match review: Argentina v. Australia at London

2015 will go down in history as the Year of the Three Trans-Tasman World Cup Finals: after meeting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March in fifty-over cricket’s showpiece event, and at Homebush in netball’s, Australia and New Zealand will face each other at Twickenham for the William Webb Ellis Trophy.

There was little doubt about the outcome of this semi-final, at least not from the moment in the second minute when Wallabies lock Rob Simmons intercepted a wayward Argentine pass and scored the first of four Australian tries. Five minutes later came the first of five successful penalty goal attempts for albiceleste five-eighth Nicolás Sánchez; like the Springboks the previous night, it seemed that a tryless Argentina would try to kick its way to victory.

Inside ten minutes, a swift backline move from the scrum ended with Adam Ashley-Cooper touching down: it was the first of a hat-trick of tries, two on the right wing and one on the left. After Bernard Foley hit his second conversion and Sánchez scored a penalty following a farcical series of scrum collapses, Australia led 14-6 when lock Tomás Lavanini was sin-binned for up-ending Israel Folau.

The ensuing period of Argentine short-handedness yielded one (unconverted) try for i gialloverdi, Ashley-Cooper’s second. Las Pumas goaled again from a penalty to narrow the margin to 19-9, but their late-in-the-half surge was repelled by some solid Australian defending.

Foley missed a penalty in the second minute of the second half, and a collapsed scrum two minutes later gave Sánchez another set shot, putting the South Americans within seven points. Foley and Sánchez then traded penalty goals, precipitated by various ruck- and maul-related infringements, before Foley fell short with a drop goal attempt in the sixty-first minute.

A tense period ensued, as the Wallabies fought to hang on to a one converted-try lead against an Argentine side more than capable of snatching an interception or powering through the defensive line. In the seventy-second minute, however, Ashley-Cooper put the result beyond doubt with his third try, thanks to a blistering cross-field run from Drew Mitchell. For the first time since that ill-fated night at Homebush in 2003, the Wallabies were into the World Cup final.

Argentina 15 – Australia 29

Tries: Rob Simmons (Aust.) 2’; Adam Ashley-Cooper (Aust.) 10’, 32’, 72’

Conversions: Bernard Foley (Aust.) 3/4

Penalty goals: Nicolás Sánchez (Arg.) 5/5; Bernard Foley (Aust.) 1/2

2015 Rugby World Cup semi-final match review: South Africa v. New Zealand at London

With a berth in the World Cup final on the line, the southern hemisphere’s two historic rugby heavyweights met at Twickenham. After South Africa had lost to Japan in their opening match of the group stage, few envisaged that they would get this far in the tournament, but they held the world champions right until the end in an enthralling encounter.

Die bokke scored the first points when Handré Pollard slotted home the first of his five penalty goals, but the All Blacks took an early lead when flanker Jerome Kaino touched down in the corner in the sixth minute. When a South African jumped the gun with his charge-down attempt, Daniel Carter got a second bite of the cherry, and the reigning world champions led 7-3.

The Kiwis, however, had an undisciplined first half; a post-lineout infringement in the tenth minute, another in the twentieth, and an offside call in the thirty-ninth all resulted in Pollard penalty goals. Carter had a set shot of his own but hit the post, and South Africa led 12-7 at the break with Kaino in the sin bin for dissent; all this despite New Zealand having sixty-five percent of possession.

London’s famous rain began to tumble down as a fourteen-man All Black outfit very nearly punctured the Boks’ defence, settling for a Carter drop goal from a smart move at the lineout. Two points down and with Kaino back on the pitch, the momentum was with the men from the Shaky Isles as they switched an attack to the left wing for substitute five-eighth Beauden Barrett to score. Carter made no mistake, and they led 17-12.

To add to the South Africans’ misery, veteran winger Bryan Habana earned himself a yellow card, forcing them to endure ten minutes short-handed against the rampaging All Blacks. But solid defending ensured that the period ended with one penalty goal apiece; Pollard from a scrum infringement in the fifty-seventh minute, and Carter after an Eben Etzebeth misdemeanour in the ruck two minutes later.

Back on, Habana saved his team further troubles by batting a Kiwi chip-and-chase over the dead ball line. Twelve minutes from time, an infringement at the lineout gave substitute Pat Lambie the chance to put himself on the scoresheet, converting the Boks’ sixth penalty goal from six attempts to reduce the margin to 20-18.

But the All Blacks held out, driving forward, looking for space for a drop goal attempt, and hanging onto the ball. A successful South African scrum feed with less than a minute on the clock gave the men in green some hope, but nearly two minutes later they had gained little territory and prematurely ended their drive by conceding a penalty. One of sport’s great international rivalries had produced another classic encounter, and a formidable opponent for the winner of the next semi-final between las pumas and the Wallabies.

South Africa 18 – New Zealand 20

Tries: Jerome Kaino (N. Z.) 6’; Beauden Barrett (N. Z.) 52’

Conversions: Daniel Carter (N. Z.) 2/2

Penalty goals: Handré Pollard (S. Afr.) 5/5; Pat Lambie (S. Afr.) 1/1; Daniel Carter (N. Z.) 1/2

Drop goals: Carter (N. Z.) 1/1

AFL Grand Final 2015 match review: Hawthorn v. West Coast at Melbourne

After a year – one might call it an annus horribilis – in which football became increasingly stoppage-infested and whistle-heavy on the field as well as marred by race- and gender-based controversies off it, Hawthorn and West Coast played out a so-so Grand Final in front of 98,633 M.C.C. members, corporates, coterie group members, and other assorted hangers-on.

‘PLAY YOUR ROLE’ screamed a sign in the Hawks’ dressing room, the club of the Liberal-voting I’ll-Be-Right-Jack eastern suburbs nouveau riche telling its players to be cogs in the machine. This is a team who know exactly where to be and what to do at ball-ups, throw-ins, and kick-ins, coached by a man for whom football is a sudoku puzzle he has already cracked many times over.

Although Luke Shuey was the first to goal, Hawthorn answered with five straight in the remainder of the opening term, including a snap and a set shot from Cyril Rioli which got a certain commentator’s blood pulsating. Down 1.5.11 to 5.0.30 at the first change, it was possible to claim that i gialloblu were ‘kickin’ themselves out of it’, but their loss would be about more than inaccuracy.

The truth was that the Mayblooms were simply better all over the park, and in hindsight, never looked troubled after Luke Hodge, fresh from being fêted as ‘a good bloke’ by the incestuous back-slappers who populate Melbourne’s football media, produced a wonder snap from the left-hand pocket to open the second quarter. Before long, Jack Gunston had added two goals from open play in the forward line, before Isaac Smith got in on the action, putting the home side forty-four points up mid-way through the period.

For the rest of the second term, and for a bit of the third one, the ‘Weagles Web’ began to tighten. This tactical system, in which the Eagles push their back pockets forward and their wingmen back, and then congest space behind and in front of the opposing forwards, is hailed as the greatest innovation in footy since Jack Dyer invented the drop punt. A goal against the run of play and another after the siren made the score 9.3.57 to 3.8.26 at half-time, while a third consecutive West Coast goal, coupled with two out-on-the-full kicks by harried Hawthorn defenders, brought the margin down to an agreeable four goals.

‘STAY IN THE MOMENT’ read another fancy brown and yellow sign in the Mustard Pots’ dressing rooms, but it felt as if they were rattled. Two nagging problems remained for the Eagles, however: long sequences of stoppages in their forward fifty which went unconverted, and the unexplained disappearance of Coleman Medallist Josh Kennedy.

From there, the two sides traded goals before another brace from Gunston and then a beauty from Isaac Smith, who roved a loose ball in the pocket and slotted it through on the half-volley. Late in the quarter, Matt Suckling became the last ever player to be substituted on in an AFL match in place of David Hale, and he goaled almost immediately, putting his side ahead at the final change, 14.5.89 to 5.9.39.

I giallomarroni began the fourth quarter with two goals. West Coast forward Josh Hill provided the crowd with some slapstick entertainment, taking three bounces and waltzing into a seemingly open goal, only to find his kick smothered by the on-rushing Brian Lake. With the margin at a game-high ten goals, it was a procession from thereon in. Kennedy’s first shot for the day (!) came with five minutes remaining and fell short. Jeremy McGovern kicked two goals soon after to become the Eagles’ only multiple goal-kicker.

With two goals, four score assists, eleven score involvements, and some great lock-down work in the forward line, Cyril Rioli was named Norm Smith Medallist, the third Tiwi Islander and second member of the Rioli family to win the honour. It could equally have gone to Isaac Smith, Hodge, or the possession-happy Sam ‘Knees’ Mitchell, and the overlooking of James Frawley’s neutralisation of the league’s top full-forward (the AFL website called it a ‘Kennedy Assassination’) by the selection panel demonstrates the anti-defence bias typical of such a cheap-thrills, TV ratings-hungry league.

Tactically, this win was all about Hawthorn’s domination of space. The Eagles had only played one match this year on the M.C.G., and their defensive structures, honed on the long, narrow expanses of Subiaco Oval, were ineffective. The Mayblooms racked up double their opponents’ tally of uncontested marks and two and a half times as many uncontested possessions; the width of the famous ground gifting them ample space in which to play their trademark keepings-off footy.

Their total of 270 kicks was the highest in a grand final since 1986; additionally, they kicked 104 times more than they handballed (but at least forty percent of these were chip kicks to an unmarked teammate). The Coasters, on the other hand, handballed more than they kicked.

West Coast won the hit-outs, the total clearances, and the clearances from stoppages. Their midfield seemed to hold up, but Nic Naitanui didn’t dominate Hawthorn’s makeshift ruck unit as much as he might have liked. The ‘Weagles Web’, however, was beaten, Hawthorn taking 17 marks from 59 inside 50’s compared to the Eagles’ 11 from 40. The Hawks were also victorious in the tackle count, 59-45, and in the crucial interchange rotation stakes, 118-100.

So what does all this mean for football, the universe, and everything? We hear a lot these days about congestion and how it is killing modern football (for example, my previous post). This was, by modern standards, a somewhat uncongested match with only fifty stoppages, a majority of which were in fact cleared by the Eagles.

But the fact that only twenty-seven free kicks were paid (14-13 Hawthorn’s way) and only 104 tackles were laid in an era when teams regularly hit the century mark in fiercely-contested matches points to the lack of physicality in this match. This was basketball on grass: Hawthorn chipping the ball around the perimeter until they could find trusty old Cyril loose in the forward line, while Sam ‘That’s Why We Choose Swisse’ Mitchell racked up meaningless disposal stats.

Hampered by the M.C.G.’s greater width than their usual stomping ground, and, like all good defensive teams, hindered by the heat, West Coast were unable to take the game to Hawthorn.

Some are already bigging up this Hawthorn side as (one of) the greatest ever. They certainly have the silverware, but their brand of football is singularly suited to Gillard-Abbott-era Australia: low-risk, TV-friendly, with a paradoxical mélange of keepings-off and unrestrained macho aggression, all combined with a win-at-all-costs club culture eminently attractive to the haw-haw-get-out-of-my-way arriviste bourgeoisie.

So goodbye to football for another season. It’ll be back next year, with no substitutes, ninety interchanges, no Goodesgate, and Paddy Dangerfield in the famous old hoops. Can’t hardly wait…

Hawthorn 16.11.107 – West Coast 8.13.61

Goals: Gunston 4, Smith 3, Rioli 2, Birchall, Hill, Hodge, McEvoy, Roughead, Schoenmakers, Suckling (Haw.); McGovern 2, Darling, Hill, Hutchings, LeCras, Shuey, Yeo (W. C.)

Best: Rioli, Mitchell, Smith, Hodge, Gunston, Burgoyne, Frawley (Haw.); Gaff, Shuey, Butler, Hutchings, Priddis (W. C.)

Football Turned Inside-Outside

Earlier this season, I wrote a few posts detailing how football positions had changed over the years and suggested that the old-fashioned nomenclature of ‘ruck-rover’ and ‘half-forward flank’ might one day be changed to reflect modern tactical realities. It seems that the AFL Coaches’ Association have had similar thoughts, naming their own all-Australian team with players listed in the traditional eighteen positions but given new names to reflect their roles.

The Association’s chief executive, Mark Brayshaw, is quoted as saying that the line-up reflects the game’s modern tactical evolution, “not what it looked 100 years ago”. The teams is as follows:

B: Easton Wood (Footscray) – Alex Rance (Richmond) – Zach Tuohy (Carlton)

HB: Bob Murphy (Footscray) – Cale Hooker (Essendon) – Jarrad McVeigh (Sydney)

C: Dan Hannebery (Sydney) – Matt Priddis (W. Coast) – Andrew Gaff (W. Coast)

HF: Patrick Dangerfield (Adel.) – Jake Stringer (F’scray) – Brett Deledio (R’mond)

F: Chad Wingard (Pt. Adel.) – Josh J. Kennedy (W. Coast) – Jack Gunston (H’thorn)

Foll: Todd Goldstein (North Melb.) – Nathan Fyfe (Freo) – Josh P. Kennedy (Sydney)

I/C: David Mundy (Freo) – Scott Pendlebury (C’wood) – Bernie Vince (Melb.) – Nick Naitanui (W. Coast)

Rance and Hooker are listed as ‘tall defenders’, Wood as a ‘tall/medium defender’, Tuohy, the only foreign import in this all-Australian side, as a ‘small defender’, and Murphy and McVeigh as ‘medium defenders’.

Goldstein is, naturally, the ruckman, with Naitanui as his understudy. The two starting wingmen are labelled ‘inside/outside midfielders’, as are half-forward flanker Dangerfield and bench-warmers Pendlebury and Vince. The ruck-rover, rover, and centreman are rebranded as ‘inside midfielders’, as is Mundy.

Up forward, we have Stringer and the Coleman Medallist Kennedy as ‘tall forwards’, Deledio as the ‘high half-forward’, Wingard as the ‘small forward’, and Gunston as the ‘tall/medium forward’.

So this, apparently, is how modern football coaches set out their teams: six defenders, seven midfielders, one forward-midfielder hybrid, four forwards, and one ruckman, with three midfielders and a second ruckman on the bench. Forwards and defenders are differentiated, basketball-style, by their height, while midfielders are designated as ‘inside’ or ‘outside’; reflecting the fact that their role in the team is defined by where they are positioned at stoppages.

Due to lax enforcement of the holding the ball and deliberate out of bounds rule, ball-ups have reached an all-time high of seventy-three per match. Football these days is characterised by teams getting bodies to the stoppage; the game either descends into a series of repeat stoppages, or the team extracting the ball from the muck is left with acres of open space in which to play keepings-off footy and string together chains of uncontested possessions.

With so many stoppages, this is the most efficient way to position players. Reduce the number of stoppages, and it becomes more efficient to position players around the ground in something resembling the traditional eighteen positions.

There was nothing wrong with the way football was played between 1899 (when teams were reduced from twenty- to eighteen-a-side) and 1978 (when the interchange bench was introduced). Teams were set out in five lines of three with three players following the ball; followers and rovers were rested in the forward and back pockets every ten or fifteen minutes in an ice hockey-style line shift.

This positional layout was the most efficient way to spread out a team’s human resources across a large oval field. It enabled tactical innovations from Collingwood captain Dick Condon’s combination play of the 1900s to the handball-centric, play-on game of Len Smith’s Fitzroy in the 1960s. In addition, it gave the sport unique positional terminology: what other sport has a ruck-rover, and what would they do with him if they did?

The football played in those days could be good or bad, depending on the teams playing, but the ideal remained a free-flowing, steadily-paced match between two eighteens. Modern football endeavours to create stoppages and structure set plays around them, while interchange ‘rotations’ are seen as a resource at the disposal of the coach, leading to twenty-one players facing twenty-one instead of eighteen facing eighteen.

How do we get the traditional eighteen-position layout back? By enforcing the holding the ball and deliberate out-of-bounds rules to reduce stoppages. By not paying marks for kicks which travel backwards, so as to stifle the uncontested possession-based antipodean tiki-taka practiced by sides like Hawthorn. By legalising the flick pass and the ‘Crow throw’ to help soon-to-be-tackled players clear the ball from congestion (or, more radically, the ‘throw pass’ used in the VFA between 1938 and 1949). And by reducing the use of interchange ‘rotations’: the only thing rotating on a footy field should be the almighty T. W. Sherrin as it circumulocates into the towering arms of an old-school full-forward.

The number of interchanges per team per match in VFL/AFL football evolved gradually upwards from 1978 to the mid-2000s. It has since exploded, only stunted in the last two years by the 120-rotation cap imposed by the league. Modern teams are able to run players on and off the ground in order to ‘flood’, a verb which originally signified getting numbers into the backline but now refers to any part of the field. This means more congestion: from forty-eight stoppages per match in 2005 to seventy-three this season. Rather than correlating with better football, the high-interchange game is a sign of weakness, of a team unable to outwit its opponents with superior skill and tactics so it instead resorts to out-rotating them. There is a reason why the all-time high number of rotations in a home-and-away match was set by the Gold Coast Suns (176 in 2012).

Order must be restored to the system of player replacement. By limiting players to coming off then going back on again twice or three times per match, footballer-athletes will be forced to be endurance runners instead of sprinters, and technically rubbish teams will be unable to compete by swamping their opponents with fresh legs.