Reaction, rebels, overseas derbies
1 How will the Highlanders react to their first loss of the year?
Stung 29-12 by the Hurricanes in Wellington last weekend, the Highlanders won’t be in a panic but it has given their coach Aaron Mauger much to ponder. His Chiefs counterpart Colin Cooper will have noted, with considerable interest, the way the Hurricanes defenders bustled their opponents into making errors and how the Highlanders were exposed down the right-hand channel where wing Ben Lam shaded All Blacks finisher Waisake Naholo.
The Chiefs are a gritty bunch; following the 45-23 loss to the Crusaders in their first game, they have won three straight. The recent 61-10 thrashing of the Sunwolves in Tokyo, with Damian McKenzie at No 10, emphasised their attacking intent.
2 Do the Rebels have the class to be the first of the Aussie teams to break the drought against Kiwi sides?
First things first. At some point the Aussies will snap their country’s dry run in Super Rugby, which stretches back to 2016, against one of the five New Zealand teams. Whether they will do it this year is a moot point.
The Rebels seem well positioned to do something decent, although to expect them to trip up the Hurricanes - arguably New Zealand’s form team at the moment - tomorrow night could be a long shot. With four wins from five outings this year, the Rebels sit at the top of the Super Rugby leaderboard and their sole loss was against the Waratahs in Sydney.
The Hurricanes are building nicely, though. And are still well short of their A-game.
3 Have the Blues been forgiven yet?
The Blues’ 37-20 loss to the Stormers in Cape Town on March 18 was disappointing, but nobody lost the clothes off their back. Yet some people went ballistic. With eyes bulging, and neck veins throbbing, they threw their toys all over the shop because they truly believed the previous weekend’s win over the Lions in Jo’burg indicated that the Blues had turned the corner.
So now the Blues return from the bye, against a Sharks side that got slapped 46-14 by the Rebels in Melbourne. A bold tip: the Blues to thump the Sharks with a bonus-point victory.
4 Does anyone in New Zealand get jiggy with it at the prospect of offshore derby games?
The Brumbies host the Waratahs at GIO Stadium in Canberra, and the Bulls will do the same for the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. These fixtures are a big deal to the rugby communities in Aussie and South Africa. Especially the latter, where supporters of the landlocked Bulls really do hope their men can clean the clocks of the lot from the Western Cape. It’s tribal and very real. But do New Zealanders care? It’s just one problem for Super Rugby.
5 How would you feel if you were a Lions fan? The last time the Crusaders were in Johannesburg, they carted an extra lump of baggage in the form of the Super Rugby trophy through the airport’s departure lounge. Happy days, indeed.
But that was then and this is now. The Crusaders arrive in Jo’burg for the rematch against the Lions on Monday morning (NZT) with a 3-2 record. The Lions are 4-2, but their form has been less convincing than their record suggests.
Ellis Park was a sell-out for the final almost eight months ago, with around 62,000 supporters jammed into every corner of the ground. Then the Crusaders ruined their fun. The crowd for this fixture will be much modest, but those Lions supporters who do turn up won’t have forgotten their side’s 25-17 loss. OPINION: Slowly, because this is cricket, the noose tightens. As it does, the wriggle room narrows.
It is apparent now that although this is a crisis for all of Australian cricket, indeed Australian sport, the locus of the problem is very much the national team.
For a long time, it has operated as its own retreat, a discreet unit within the Australian cricket landscape, and isolated from it. This is evident in the universal disgust of other players, ex-players and officials, all who are now outside the hermitage or never were in it. In that context, coach Darren Lehmann’s position – though apparently not threatened now – will remain vexed.
Only in such a cloister could a plot like this have evolved. The tampering offence itself is commonplace, with this distinction: a foreign object was used to expedite it, an object hastily tailored in the moment for the specific purpose.
But it is the plotting that is the true crime, the wilful deception, the surreptitious maneuvering, the brazenness.
As Cricket Australia chairman David Peever said in a rare offering: ‘‘This issue goes beyond the technical nature of the offences and various codes of conduct. It is about the integrity and reputation of Australian Cricket and Australian sport.’’
In a word, it is the one word
that chief executive James Sutherland refused to say, presumably on legal advice. It is cheating.
But the focus grows narrower still. CA’s investigation has refined it to three players.
Cam Bancroft had to go; he was the perpetrator. He is an innocent, but not that innocent.
Steve Smith had to go. He is the captain, upon whom all responsibility rests in cricket. That paradigm has changed shape, but not so much that this essential truth no longer applies. As details emerge, it appears possible Smith might have made some sort of misguided attempt to cover the tracks of the ingenuous Bancroft. Sutherland made passing reference to ‘‘elements of courage and leadership’’ in this. None the less, Smith is ultimately answerable. He has no choice r but
to take his medicine and his licks.
The odd man out is David Warner. He is not captain, nor did he tamper. He is vice-captain, but in cricket, that is a token position, a side-kick. He was the only other player who knew, investigators have concluded, but merely knowing is not a crime. His indictment lends weight to emerging reports that he instigated the conspiracy, put Bancroft up to his part, swept up Smith, and is now estranged in the team. He was Rasputin.
It is likely that his punishment will be harsher even than Smith’s. It is possible that his days are done. Smith, if he throws himself on the mercy of the Australian people, can still come out of this one day with dignity. Warner can’t. In the beginning, he was a symbol of what is good about Australian cricket. In this
impending end, he is symptomatic of what is rotten in the Australian cricket team.
For now, that is all we know. The noose tightens, but oh so slowly. From our outside vantage, it looks like others have slipped it. One is Lehmann. Even old teammates have their doubts, but he convinced the investigators.
The others are the bowlers. Tapegate was hatched by batsmen, but for deployment by and benefit of the bowlers. Typically, necessarily, ball-tampering is a whole-of-team project. The bowlers identify the side of the ball to be worked on, for instance, and enjoin everyone else to the cause.
Sutherland said CA would review the culture of the national team. This is overdue. For too long, it has been a law unto itself. In South Africa, it became an anarchy.