The Great Underachievers

The term underachieve is becoming as popular in the world of sport as average sportsmen and women are referred to as 'legends' (a discussion for another day) but who are the true underachievers in the modern era?

The world of football is a bizarre one, and one that I try not to take literally, for personal health reasons more than any with the risk of high blood pressure when premier league managers complain of “insufficient funds” (again, a discussion for another day). With no English teams reaching the semi-final stage of the premier European competition for the first time in 6 seasons, the first final without English presence since 2004. This has seen the column fillers of The Sun, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Star and the like scuttling with displeasure to condemn the English Premier League and its failings to prepare the teams for the Champions League.

“Whatever the sport, the British consider themselves to have a divine right to success.”

(http://dafpritch.blogspot.com/, 2010)

This statement is echoed around every corridor of English, Northern Irish, Scottish & Welsh sport, and if the desired trophy or medal isn't “brought home”, the individuals or teams are branded as underachievers. Predominantly, these labels are preposterous nonsense, such as the berating of the Premier League's sides failed conquests in Europe this term. Looking at the four semi-finalists in Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan & Lyon,with the possible exception of Lyon, they are all European Footballing Super-Powers, and unfortunately for Arsenal and Manchester United, they weren't drawn against the French outfit, were outplayed by their opponents over the two legs, and that should be the end of it, better luck next year.

However, sometimes the label of an underachiever is just. The sporting equivalent of a 14 year old not submitting his homework and playing up to the teachers to fit in with the cool kids at school are to be found in abundance in the world of rugby union. The New Zealand national team have had arguably the best crop of players to choose from in the professional era than any other nation (albeit done by raping South-Sea Islands of all their rugby talent to all intents and purposes) yet their solitary World Cup success came in the inaugural tournament in 1987. They are a dominant force in world rugby, but by their own standards, 2 unsuccessful finals in 6 attempts is nothing to write home about.

Yet, there is a side in the domestic world that blow the All Blacks out of the water as far as receiving C-'s when they are more than capable of A+'s across the board; The Ospreys. Much has been made in South Wales of the Regional system, but the 2 Grand Slams in 2005 and 2008 have answered all critics, still, the Regions themselves have achieved very little since their formation in 2003. The Cardiff Blues reached the semi-final or the Heineken Cup in 2008/9 losing in the most inhumane of fashions in a penalty shoot-out to the Leicester Tigers. The Scarlets were Wales' European flag-bearers once upon a time but since their move away from the Strade, the West Wales club have lost their panache. The Dragons have always been the “lesser economically developed club” and their results and honours reflect that, but on the other side of the coin are the Ospreys who are very much in rugby's “more economically developed clubs”. A squad packed full of internationals and quality overseas players and that have never reached even the semi-finals of the prized European tournament and the quarter-finals only twice in their brief history. Two Celtic League winners medals and an Anglo-Welsh cup medal is all the franchise have to boast which can be found in an embarrassingly empty trophy cabinet in Swansea.

The squad of 47 produced 8 Lions for the 2009 tour to South Africa, and is made up of a staggering 32 full internationals, 8 U21 internationals and 7 uncapped players. The region is an absolute hotbed of talent, yet this has yet to be utilized on the field with any significant results. The club could put out two competitive teams on the same day if injuries allowed:

15. Lee Byrne / Barry Davies

14. Tommy Bowe / Nikki Walker

13. Sonny Parker / Gareth Owen

12. Andrew Bishop / Gavin Henson

11. Shane Williams / Tom Prydie

10 . James Hook / Dan Biggar

9. Mike Phillips / Ricki Januarie

8. Filo Tiatia / Ryan Jones

7. Marty Holah / Steve Tandy

6. Jerry Collins / Tom Smith

5. Alun Wyn-Jones / Ian Gough

4. Jonathan Thomas / Ian Evans

3. Adam Jones / Cai Griffiths

2. Richard Hibbard / Huw Bennett

1. Paul James / Duncan Jones

With the exception of French giants Toulouse, no other side in Europe plays home to the sheer amount of international rugby players, not even the ever-dominant Leicester Tigers, London Wasps or Munster who since the Ospreys' formation in 2003 have won 8 domestic titles (Wasps 4, Leicester 2, Munster 2) and 4 European titles (Wasps 2, Munster 2). This makes Ospreys' conquests even more minuscule.

Something has been a permanent thorn in supporters' sides since the beginning of the South Wales regional era, and that is the inept coaching and the “cosy” atmosphere created by owners such as Peter Thomas of the Blues and Mike Cuddy of the Ospreys. With popular Aussie Scott Johnson now at the helm, it's left everyone scratching their heads as to where the problem lies. Unfortunately, ex-England fly-half and full time Susan Boyle lookalike Stuart Barnes has hit the nail on the head. The Welsh Gallacticos are a star-studded team of individuals, and this is exactly how they play. There isn't the bolstering presence of a Munster or Leicester pack or the cohesive flair of a Wasps unit. The Ospreys players seemingly are out for themselves, as harsh and unfair as it may sound. Although, “as a team” they want to achieve things, but not for the right reasons. They want to do it to boost their credentials, to hang a medal in their personal trophy cabinet, not fill the clubs and create an aura or atmosphere of that of Thomond Park or Welford Road.

Shane Williams' interview prior to the epic encounter with Biarritz summed everything up perfectly:

“It's nice having guys like Tommy Bowe and James Hook in the side because instead of trying to create something yourself, you can give those guys the ball and let them do their thing.”

Hardly screams “we are one” does it?

The North-South Refereeing Divide

I’d like to take you back to the summer of 2009 at the ASBA Stadium in Durban. The British and Irish Lions were set for one of the most anticipated clashes of the decade. New Zealander, Bryce Lawrence was to officiate and from the outset, his ability was under scrutiny. The game was dominated by Tendai Mtawarira’s demolition job of England’s Phil Vickery, albeit an illegal demolition. The hosts were eventual 26-21 winners but the uproar had already begun about the poor quality of refereeing. Lawrence later admitted his flaws to the Lions prop where he stated he got the scrum calls wrong and was sorry for the impact it caused on the match. One week later in Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, Lawrence this time a touch judge, was once again at the centre of controversy. Within the first minute of kick off, Schalk Burger was clearly seen to be eye-gouging Leinsterman Luke Fitzgerald; he notified the on-field official Christophe Berdos that the back-rower should receive “at least a yellow card”. A decision criticized by players, officials and pundits as cowardly and unprofessional.

With the Six Nations ending yesterday, unfortunately, the talk was not of the standard of rugby or the entertainment value of an epic day of sport but of the officials and notably (again) Bryce Lawrence. The Bay of Plenty-born referee took charge of the culminating game of the 2010 RBS Six Nations which saw an eagerly anticipated encounter between France and England under the Parisian moonlight. He did so with drastic incapability which had most television viewers siding with the controversial Brian Moore (which incidentally is a miracle in itself) who was under the impression that Lawrence’s handling of the game was “below average to say the least”. The rolling maul, the breakdown and the scrum were all weak areas for the Kiwi who failed to gain any sort of authority on the game and effectively had an influential bearing on the result with 2 of the 3 penalty kicks scored by French scrum-half Morgan Parra coming from dubious scrummaging offences by Leicester youngster Dan Cole
Earlier on in the day Jonathan Kaplan took charge of Scotland’s visit to Croke Park as the Irish bid farewell to the magnificent arena. Much of the same problems were evident in the 80 minutes with the Durban man seemingly blowing up at the scrum and holding out whichever arm happened not to be tied to his mouth by the whistle. Ireland gave away 12 penalties, 6 of which were in the 22 and all of those conceded in Scotland’s attacking territory were offences at the breakdown. The South African found it unnecessary to warn Paul O’Connell for repeated infringements, but to allow the men in green to continually slow the ball down, illegally bringing Scottish phases of play to an end.

Even earlier on in the day, we had glorious Welsh sunshine at the Millennium Stadium and a match that reflected the weather. At centre stage was Englishman Wayne Barnes, whose admirable consistency as an official both at international and club level is something that all referees of any sport should aspire to achieve. He was clear, concise and effective in letting the game flow and making key decisions such as the sin-binning of Mauro Bergamasco. The game was effectively over as a contest, however, the Azzuri had been warned for repeated infringements therefore the Gloucester man carried out his professional duties in giving the Italian a 10-minute sanction.

Nigel Owens, Dave Pearson, Alan Lewis are also up there with the best the IRB has to offer, and it is no coincidence that they are all Northern Hemisphere referees. All of which are good referees because they explain their decisions if approached by a captain or the penalised player. Nigel Owens’ dialogue during a game is an absolute joy and his distinctive West-Walian tone can be heard throughout the 80 minutes. This helps the players and spectators alike with the flowing of the game and the understanding of decisions, something that is very rare with his Southern Hemisphere counterparts.

They have an almost arrogant aura about them which is evident in much of the Southern Hemisphere teams. This pomposity possessed by the Australian, South African and Kiwi referees doesn’t help the game in the slightest. When players ask referees about the decision, they want to know what they did wrong in order for them not to repeat the offence. With every referee having their own interpretations of the law (especially in the breakdown) this communication is essential during the game. Their self-importance is an attribute which is the reason for much of their demise, many say that a good referee will go un-noticed for 80 minutes. Very rarely will the likes of Marius Jonker, Stuart Dickinson, Craig Joubert et al achieve this for they have players, coaches and spectators alike raging with incompetent decisions and the incapability of explaining them.

Another huge contributing factor is the fact that the Northern Hemisphere referees earn their keep by refereeing in the Guinness Premiership, Heineken Cup, LV Anglo-Welsh Cup, Magners League, French Top 14 etc. The Southern Hemisphere referees’ pinnacle competition is the disgustingly over-rated “super” 14. Any match where the final score is 72-65 isn’t a real game of rugby, neither is it a real league. However, this is where these referees practice their trade for the big international stage, a league with no competitive mauls, scrums or breakdowns; the most inconsistent areas of refereeing.

There is a huge difference between the top refs and the rest, and who knows, if a Welshman was in charge at the Stade de France, there may well have been English smiles and it’s not often you say that.

Woeful Jones

Many people are jumping on the bandwagon of blaming Andy Powell for the lack of gusto in the back row for Wales (and in the light of recent events involving golf buggies, expect that number to grow) but the reality is Powell isn't where the fault is.

Like England, we have a leader who seems to do nothing but lead off the field, because he certainly doesn't on it (difference is England's captain offers a line-out, Ryan Jones offers little else other than a pair of blue boots) and these stats will highlight this:

Wales Vs Scotland - 13th Feb 2010

R.Jones - 12 Carries: 21 Yards

A.Powell - 6 Carries: 20 Yards

B.Davies - 8 Carries: 20 Yards

S.Warbuton - 3 Carries: 11 Yards

J.Beattie - 3 Carries: 33 Yards

France Vs Ireland - 13th February 2010

J.Heaslip - 9 Carries: 79 Yards

I.Harinordoquy - 5 Carries: 45 Yards

Italy Vs England - 14th February 2010

N.Easter - 8 Carries: 19 Yards

A.Zanni - 8 Carries: 42 Yards

These stats confirm Ryan Jones' rockbottom status of Number 8's in the Six Nations 2010 and the reason the Welsh public and pundits are quick to give plaudits to the captain and berate Andy Powell because Ryan Jones is "busier" than him, and that he's on the ball more often. Anyone can get their hands on the ball, what you do with it is another matter, and Ryan Jones seemingly does nothing averaging 1.75 yards per carry, effectively just falling on the floor for a man of 6'3". Andy Powell made half the carries but made almost as many yards, whereas replacements Bradley Davies and Sam Warburton made good ground when they had ball in hand. Ryan Jones' immediate opposition, John Beattie, made a total of 33 yards with just the 3 carries; it would take the Welsh back-rower 19 carries to reach this yardage, whereas Beattie would make 209 yards with the equivalent carries. Beginning to paint the picture?

To those who will say "he does the un-noticed things", I can assure you he doesn't. Versus Scotland he made 9 tackles, 2 of which he missed and gave away 2 penalties and his opposition in John Beattie made 12 tackles (missing none), made a clean break, turned the ball over twice and gave away no penalties.

To the others who will say "it's a one off", I can again assure you it isn't. The skipper was equally woeful in the autumn internationals but somehow slipped under the radar. Here are the stats from two of the games:

Wales Vs New Zealand - 7th November 2009

R.Jones - 10 Carries: 15 Yards

K.Read - 5 Carries: 17 Yards

Wales Vs Argentina - 21st November 2009

R.Jones - 6 Carries: 5 Yards

J.Lobbe - 21 Carries: 120 Yards

These positional hammerings Jones took in the winter require no words, is it any wonder why the Newport-born back rower has only ever scored one try for Wales?

Unfortunately, Ryan Jones has had his day. In 2005 he was undoubtedly up there with the world’s best back-row forwards, but today he is a shadow of his former self. Andy Powell is by no means the player he was when he first burst onto the scene against South Africa, but you know exactly what you’re going to get with him. Some brawn, some pace and some determination (as well as the occasional act of unexplainable stupidity, enter M4 pun), but what have we come to expect from the captain? As much dynamism as a prawn sandwich, the pace of a planning permission and the relentless ability to turn up when not wanted of that of a speed camera.

The Welsh reshuffle is imminent, but will Warren Gatland make the brave call that is needed? I expect not, the back five in the pack for France will probably remain unchanged, or at it's most outrageous:

4.Alyn-Wyn Jones

5.Bradley Davies

6.Jonathan Thomas

7.Martyn Williams

8.Ryan Jones(c)

By now you're probably well aware of what I would do, Andy Powell or back at 8 for some destruction, Bradley Davies in at lock for his ball carrying, Jon Thomas at 6 for some guile, Gareth Delve into the squad and Ryan Jones in a bar in Cardiff/Paris, wherever he feels most at home, because at the moment, it doesn't seem to be anywhere near a rugby field.