🏉 Rugby may not be "back"... but it's on the way
Saturday night was a great night for rugby, with TV viewership up over 230% from the previous year’s grand final and the 41,000+ crowd was the second largest in history for an all Aussie clash.
Saturday night was a great night for rugby, with TV viewership up over 230% compared to the previous year’s grand final, and the 41,000+ crowd was the second largest in history for an all Aussie clash.
And while those stats are great and evidence that Rugby’s tide is turning, it’s little comfort to the Brumbies and us fans, as it’s hard to remember a losing team being more deserved of victory than the Brumbs.
As he always does, Brumbies forwards coach Laurie Fisher summed up the match and it’s controversial ending well when he tweeted:
“Will be lots to dissect and digest but in the end we had the game in our hands at that last lineout and couldn’t seal the deal. It’s tough”
Failing to secure that last lineout is a tough pill to swallow, and you only need to ask the Scots about how the pill tastes after they failed to secure the final lineout of their 2015 World Cup Quarter Final, giving Australia the opportunity to kick a last minute penalty and steal the win.
But it’s a lesson the young Brumbies side will take in their stride, one that will no doubt will fuel the Brumbies fire for the next time the two sides meet.
“It’s a nice place Queensland”
One of my favourite jokes is “It’s nice place Queensland… except for all the Queenslanders” as I grew up supporting NSW in the State of Origin, and it always got under my skin when Reds players bagged Canberra while I was in Wallaby camp with them.
It also gives me the shits that Queenslanders think they have a mortgage on pride and passion, and what it means to represent your state.
But that being said, geez you gotta take your hat off to the Reds as no team coached by Brad Thorn could even spell the words “Give” and “up”.
Thorn is many things, but being profound is not what I’d expect from the notorious hard man, and I remember watching an interview once where he said:
“If your words are preceded by actions, then people are more likely to listen and respect what you have to say”
His way of saying “walk the walk, before you talk the talk” and I’d love to know his thoughts on the old advice of “Fake it till you make it”.
Despite losing his father at a young age, Thorn dedicated himself to sport and his work ethic is stuff of legend.
I heard plenty of stories about how much time he spent lifting tin in the gym and of the dedication he had to always be getting better.
And one story stands out from the rest.
After coming to Rugby from Rugby League, Thorn was already world-class at the physical aspects of the game like tackling and was a great scrummager, but he wasn’t happy with just being great at those, as his lineout skills had improving to do.
So at the end of every team session, he would demand to do extra lineout practice with it all paying off when he won the last lineout of 2011 Rugby World Cup Final and secured victory for New Zealand, despite being under huge pressure from the French.
And his influence on this Red’s group can not be overstated.
After copping heat for controversially moving on some of Queensland’s favourite sons, he’s certainly delivering.
Thorn was fortunate to have played for some great coaches like Wayne Bennett, Robbie Deans and Graham Henry, and there’s a chance his coaching career may end up just as success as his playing one.
Blind Freddie could coach Taniela Tupou, but there’s little doubt he played a pivotal role in helping James O’Connor (Rabs) to get his life and career back on track.
Following Saturday night’s win, Thorn was asked about O'Connor’s turn around and said:
“He’s got his house in order and the only thing he’s being talk about for is rugby. It’s all in a positive light. Isn’t that cool?
From trashing hotel rooms, sleeping through World Cup announcements, late night burger runs, and problems with drugs, O’Connor wrap sheet was long and many (including myself) doubted he’d ever return to Australian Rugby, let alone fulfil his potential.
Thorn continued to say:
It’s a great story because he’s done what he said he’d do.”
His way of saying that O’Connor is “walking the walk” and being a man of action by delivering on what he promised the Reds, when Thorn decide to take a gamble and sign him.
As someone who was there during Rabs’s early days, to see him calmly lead his team during in the championship minutes (the last 10 minutes before a championship is awarded) and personally deliver the knock-out punch is just so great to see, proving that a leopard can change his spots and that fairytales do exist.
Despite trying my heart out, mastering the championship minutes was something I was unable to do and I have the utmost respect for anyone who does, no matter what the team or the sport.
Well done to Rabs and Queensland, it’s just a shame it was against my Brumbs.
But they’ll be back. You can count on that.
Great Ben. It's great to see Aussie rugby heading in the right direction!
Great piece and thoughts again Ben. Gracious words when the Brums were just defeated (somewhat controversially in the eyes of a few).