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Welcome back to The Rolling Maul and the new season, and please be as happy
and angry and involved during the new campaign as you were last time around.
After long consideration we decided to retain the old title for the weekly
column. The IRB, as part of their horrific raft of experimental laws, have
ended the rolling maul and removed the good it can do for the game in
clearing the field, by allowing the opposition to collapse the maul (though
thanks to the RFU and to your own campaign, you still cannot collapse the
maul in England in rugby involving under-19s, on safety grounds).
However, the IRB say with breathtaking optimism that when the first maul is
collapsed, a breakaway maul can then arise from the back, from the ashes of
the old maul, and continue. I put to Martin Corry, the Leicester giant, this
idea of resuscitating the maul. He shook his head and said that it can't be
done. If Leicester are talking about giving up on mauling, then we can draw
a line under the whole activity.
So "The Rolling Maul" stays as our title. The alternative was this: "The
Rolling Maul Which Can Now Be Pulled Down, With The Idea That You Can Start
Another, But It's Been Tried And It Doesn't Work." See, that was simply
not snappy enough.
Selection policy takes a dive
One incident in the Olympics summed up everything I feel about sport and
especially rugby. No, it wasn't the Cuban Taekwondo bloke kicking the ref,
even though as we all know, refs have been asking for it for years in all
sports.
It was a press conference held by Blake Aldridge, the synchronised diver,
after he and his partner, the squeaky, over-exposed, 14-year-old,
cloyingly-beaming Tom Daley had finished last in their final. Their marks
were low, Aldridge suggested, because while he had entered the water head
first, as is the tradition, his overawed, teenage partner had largely
belly-flopped. Aldridge claimed that Daley had been "very nervous"
and was clearly fed up to the back teeth and half way down his throat with
the attention paid to his team-mate.
What did Daley care? He'd had a ball. The darling of the media and clucking
grandmothers everywhere had this to say after his failure. "I had so
much fun. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed myself." He
then said that the experience was all part of his build-up for 2012.
Aldridge had another view. "Unfortunately, I won't have another chance,"
he said. My heart bled for him. How dare anyone use the Olympic Games as a
rehearsal, be they selectors or competitors? Being ready means being ready
in mind and soul, as well as in body and techniques. Daley should never have
gone.
And how much it reminded me of one of rugby's biggest problems: the
unfathomable urge to pick kids who are not ready, in the hope that after
they have finished letting you down for about three years they might
suddenly become true Test players. Sadly, in those three years you've lost
all your games, so the team's morale is shot anyway and the coach long since
sacked.
When teams are struggling, why does no one ever call for some different
experienced players to be drafted? Why the dire clarion call for youth? Why
does no one ever make an individual decision rather than a blanket, dogmatic
call for youngsters? Danny Cipriani is ready, not because he is young but
because he is mature and outstanding. Others that England have picked have
not been nearly ready.
Nor was Tom Daley. His selection gave Team GB their first ever one-man
synchronised diving team.
The cats that didn't get the cream
What a great job we did in looking after Argentina, who were the sensation of
the World Cup and who caused their football-nuts country to sit up and take
notice, their columnists to write eulogies and their government to throw a
reception for the heroes, who were at the very worst the second best team in
the event.
All they needed was meaningful competition and somewhere to play. The IRB's
Woking conference came up with a quarter-baked plan for the Pumas to join
the Tri Nations at what amounted to an indeterminate point in the future.
The Argentina Rugby Union then revealed itself to be so bad that the IRB,
quite rightly, refused to send millions of pounds worth of grant money to
them because they could not even come up with a business plan.
The last few months have been ever more disastrous. The Pumas had a home
series last June against Scotland - a series that was eminently, terminally
winnable. Crazily, the Argentina RU, with a perfect right to claim all their
top players under Regulation 9, did a deal with the French clubs whereby all
the French-based Pumas (hordes of them) would stay with their teams and miss
the home series, and in exchange they would be available for the one-off
Test against South Africa in August.
So Argentina, who could only draw the Scotland series with about a fifth of a
team, missed the chance to parade their best side in two home Tests and let
their people and television audience know what the fuss was all about. And
then they went on to South Africa with no warm-up, hardly any training, a
side weakened by injury and with their main players way out of season, and
were predictably crushed by 60 points.
What a catastrophic sequel to a magical story. What a shambles.
What do you think? E-mail Stephen at
rollingmaul@thetimes.co.uk with your opinion and he'll reply to the best
of the letters next week.
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>>>>>LIST OF THE WEEK<<<<<
The top five men to watch this season.
1. Tom Rees (Wasps and England) - I feel he has had his career dip and
that he is on his way to world stardom.
2. Mike Phillips (Ospreys and Wales) - If the richly-talented Phillips
carries on improving at his current rate he will be Gareth Edwards and Colin
Meads inside two years.
3. Rob Kearney (Leinster and Ireland) - Good grief, it's an Irish back
who isn't Brian O'Driscoll! This man has something about him.
4. Chris Latham (Worcester Warriors) - Just a fantastic, footballing
diamond, hopefully with enough energy in the old legs for a twirl or two
round the Premiership paddock.
5. Ayoola Erinle (Leicester) - Yes, I know I tip this giant, elusive,
striking centre every year and he never comes through. In about five years'
time I am going to give up altogether.
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>>>>>HERO OF THE WEEK<<<<<
Rob Andrew
Yes, our Rob! And no, not for the brilliance of his passing of the buck,
masking all his failures in office and of those of his own union by blaming
them all on Sir Clive. It was for his belated, horse-has-bolted assertion
that from now on Twickenham will not be funding, in whole or in part, any
transfers from rugby league. At last. God bless all the cross-coders, but
the sublime Jason Robinson apart, they were a truly dire bunch.
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>>>>>LION WATCH<<<<<
Every week I will update the Lions putative squad, depending on whim, performance
or lack of it, inside info and guesswork.
Let's begin with a short list from which the Lions captain will definitely
come. Definitely ... as of this week, that is.
Ryan Jones
Tom Rees
Paul O'Connell
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The Stephen Jones Debate
This area of the e-mail is reserved for your views and boos. The former Sports
Writer of the Year responds to your arguments - but beware, Stephen is ready
to tackle you with the ferocity of a Jason White leg-cruncher. E-mail him at rollingmaul@thetimes.co.uk
and he'll agree, disagree, add some insight or come back firing...
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