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Friday, May 20, 2011
Aussies dismiss 'school stuff' barb
While backing the concept of more derbies under the conference system, Joseph infuriated Western Force coach Richard Graham in particular with his belittling of all-Australian duels.
"You watch the Waratahs play the Reds and it's different rugby. It's like school stuff while we are at war," Joseph told Wellington's Dominion Post.
Graham demanded Joseph explain himself and insisted Australian match-ups were just as intense as New Zealand fixtures, an assertion supported by Queensland coach Ewen McKenzie and New South Wales Test prop Benn Robinson.
"It's a ridiculous statement," Graham said.
"I'd like him to come out and clarify what he means.
"Throwing a statement out like that means nothing in the context of things.
"You have a look at any of the games that have been played in Australia this year.
"Our games against the Reds, the Waratahs have all been physical by nature and, generally speaking, good contests.
"So what Jamie Joseph says, I couldn't care."
McKenzie says one only needed to look at the casualty list from Queensland's brutal recent showdowns with the Waratahs and Melbourne Rebels to see the ferocity of Australian clashes.
Reds Ben Daley (broken nose), Digby Ioane (facial fracture), Luke Morahan (shoulder), Mike Harris (knee) and Ben Lucas (shoulder) were all busted in the bruising encounters.
"I know from the hospital ward after the game, they're not soft games," McKenzie said.
"From our perspective, the derby games have proved quite difficult.
"We haven't been scoring a lot of tries in those games and they've been quite defence-oriented."
Robinson also found Joseph's comments bewildering.
"Every game you want to be winning and playing your hardest all the time, so they're quite strange comments," he said.
"For sure each team is unique in the way it plays and each game is a unique challenge.
"Some teams might carry the ball more and that means you might have to make more tackles in some games, so that can be seen as a more physical game."
Robinson did not believe Australian teams lacked the toughness of their southern hemisphere rivals.
"I don't see any disparity between us and the way the South Africans and Kiwis play or the way we approach the games," he said.
"Teams down in the south of New Zealand play a different style to teams up in the north, so you might say that the teams down south play a more physical game.
"But all games are played at 100 per cent all the time."
The Highlanders are sitting seventh, with five rounds remaining before the finals, and only the top six teams make the play-offs.
"We played four New Zealand teams in a row. That's a big ask because they are very physical," Joseph said.
Despite Joseph's grumblings, Graham, McKenzie, Robinson and Waratahs coach Chris Hickey all agreed that the conference system was as fair as it could be.
"It's freshened the competition up and, from a supporter's point of view, you get to see your own provinces at least playing against everyone at home once a year, which hasn't happened in the past," Graham said.
"So I'm all in favour of it. In the end, you just have to win enough games."
Robinson says he has thoroughly enjoyed the conference format.
"I think all the teams throughout the competition have found it an enjoyable and tough experience," he said.
- AAP
Tags: sport, rugby-union, super-14, australia, united-statesWednesday, May 18, 2011
Aussie Super teams playing 'school stuff'
While backing the concept of more local derbies under the competition's new system, Joseph says matches between Australian teams such as the Reds and Waratahs lacked the intensity of all-New Zealand clashes.
"We played four New Zealand teams in a row, that's a big ask because they are very physical," he told Wellington's Dominion Post.
"You watch the Waratahs play the Reds and it's different rugby... it's like school stuff while we are at war."
Joseph's comments echo concerns from former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones about the revamped Super Rugby competition, which this year introduced country-based "conferences" in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia with five teams each.
With the top team from each conference guaranteed a spot in the play-offs, Jones says it made the competition uneven because South Africa and New Zealand had more player depth than Australia, making their conferences tougher.
Jones, who coached the Brumbies to a Super 12 win in 2001, says the inclusion of Melbourne Rebels this year had further diluted the pool of player talent in Australia.
"It was justified in terms of getting Australia an even share of the television money and that's the only reason," he told New Zealand's Radio Sport.
"There's no way anyone in their right sense can say Australia can have five top-class sides."
The revamped Super Rugby draw was designed to increase the number of local derbies, boosting interest in the competition.
Each team plays all four other sides in its country twice and four of the other five teams in each of the other conferences.
Jones says this meant a team could potentially make it to the final and win the competition without playing its top rivals during the season.
"It's an uneven competition because everyone doesn't play everyone," he said.
Despite concerns the bruising encounters in the New Zealand conference risked increasing the injury rate among players, Joseph supports more local derbies.
"I think it's great, It's quite tribal, the Kiwi boys against the Kiwis... certainly the guys are enjoying the derby matches," he said.
- AFP
Tags: sport, rugby-union, super-14, new-zealand