Tackle-shy Tahs' Shortcomings Exposed In Garden Of Eden

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday March 24, 2007

Greg Growden

AT LEAST it wasn't a recurrence of the 96-19 Jade Stadium nightmare of 2002. Nonetheless, watching the Waratahs being outclassed in all facets by the Auckland Blues at Eden Park last night made for excruciating viewing.

As the New Zealand television commentators correctly said well into the first half, it was as if the Waratahs were still asleep in their hotel beds awaiting their wake-up call. When it counted in the first half, they were just not in it. They were restricted to playing touch football. They were making endless slap-and-tickle grabs at their opponents, and the Blues always seemed to have at least three players to NSW's one.

There were overlaps everywhere. Blues runners were going all ways, with breakaway Daniel Braid, in particular, seemingly having metres of open space in every direction each time he got the ball. There were Waratahs forwards getting spat out at the breakdown. Other notable NSW names were making a mess of whatever came their way. Reputable Waratahs were repeatedly getting the ball ripped off them. They seemed to have the ball for a few seconds only before it was lost. That had a lot to do with the Waratahs too often playing one out, whereas the Blues always focused on supporting one another.

And, when the Blues secured possession, the contrast was overwhelming. Immediately the pace picked up. It was Speedy Gonzalez up against Sleepy.

This was such a mismatch, but one consolation was that at least the rhythmless Waratahs didn't give up. The other consolation was that they lost by only 28 points.

No wonder the Waratahs - and in particular their coach, Ewen McKenzie - hate going to Eden Park. McKenzie has become accustomed to miserable moments in Auckland, where the Waratahs have a terrible record. He has never been allowed to forget 1990, when as a NSW prop he was part of one of the most hideous of Waratahs overseas losses - a 55-13 belting by the Blues.

To top it off, it was also where and when the worst hospital pass of all time was thrown. From a maul, NSW second-rower Peter FitzSimons lumbered across the field and popped a pass up to winger Phil Scarr, only an instant before he was smashed by All Blacks winger Va'aiga Tuigamala. As FitzSimons said some years later: "I heard recently that Phil Scarr is back to eating solids again, which is great."

There were no such atrocities last night but there were still some moments that came pretty close. Then again, no NSW player actually came close to receiving a hospital pass because they hardly had the ball. The Blues hogged it, taking enormous delight in making the Waratahs defenders look like idiots, pushing them this way and that as the visitors believed that a valiant grab and little else would stop them.

The amount of tackles missed by NSW was in double figures by the 30th minute, and it got worse after the break, with the Waratahs lucky the home team did not finish off numerous good opportunities. If that had occurred, we would have been looking at another cricket score.

With their on-field affairs in the doldrums, the Waratahs' off-field affairs are hardly settled either. An enormous bunfight is brewing in NSW rugby over who should be their representative on the ARU board. The latest revelation is that the Sydney premiership clubs are now pushing hard for Alan Williamson to be the new board member. All over Waratahland, there are spot fires that need to be doused. Last night didn't help.