Marshall dissects rugby’s culture clash Phoenix shift focus to Western United
An hour in the company of Rhys Marshall is time well spent. The Highlanders hooker only turned 30 last month but his rugby story is already rich with experiences: he had success early, won Super Rugby titles, hit a flat patch, shifted to Munster in Ireland and then returned to New Zealand to help Waikato to an NPC title.
He’s played under Wayne Smith, Dave Rennie, Rassie Erasmus, Jacques Nienaber and Stephen Larkham and alongside players who are already quasi-coaches such as Michael Leitch at the Chiefs.
He’s a rugby sponge, candid, inquisitive and with well-formed opinions about everything from the stark difference between New Zealand players and the Irish, players’ egos (including his own), team dynamics, the elusiveness of ‘‘culture’’ (the Highlanders have brought in club legend Nasi Manu to show their players how to live it) and his admiration for the Black Ferns’ players and their ability to sell the code during the Rugby World Cup.
His time with Munster, in particular, has given him an insight into Irish rugby culture compared to New Zealand – and perhaps explains why the All Blacks are now playing catch-up.
‘‘The level of detail that the Irish player gets over and gets through, compared to a New Zealand player who’s probably more talented, is a lot less,’’ said Marshall, who played 80 times for Munster between 2016-2021.
‘‘The Irish boys had their books and it would be very orderly and they’d know their role inside out.
‘‘Whereas Kiwis, because we want to be seen as a fluid rugby nation, they are a lot more casual. They are not as reliant on the scrum detail, lineout detail, kickoff detail – the basics.
‘‘I’ve got a real passion for the game, the nitty gritty, the detail and all the rest of it. And I know the detail. I’ll have a conversation with the coaches, and I’ll have a conversation with the leadership group.
‘‘There’s guys here . . . that’s not their passion. They love playing code, and they love being an athlete, but it’s almost as if they spend time on the other side of the game, they’re going to take away from that.’’
Marshall has his concerns about New Zealand. He worries a bit about Super Rugby’s future and he certainly worries about the decline in rural rugby clubs and the subsequent social isolation of farming communities.
The Taranaki local loves that side of the game. At the end of Super Rugby Pacific and before the NPC this year, he persuaded the Highlanders and Waikato to let him play club rugby. When it is suggested that he is a good fit for a professional coaching role, he says he would prefer to have an impact at the grassroots level.
In fact, he sees an opportunity – or a necessity – for Super Rugby clubs in New Zealand to up their game in the community, an area that was hard hit during Covid.
The ingredients that make a successful team are also a source of fascination for Marshall. He’s seen undoubtedly passionate players struggle to communicate a good idea.
He’s seen a theme for a year fall slightly flat, such as the Chiefs’ ‘reload the double-barrel shotgun’ effort in 2014. He’s seen teams where players who aren’t in the leadership group but influence three or four others around them either sink a team or elevate it.
He takes his hat off to coaches who can capture the magic formula, but he convinced that unless there is a bigger cause to play for then coaches are effectively repackaging the same message every year without much meaning.
‘‘Rugby players are no different . . . like lots of things when you have external motivation that makes your day-to-day stuff a little bit less of an obligation.’’ he said. ‘‘The prime example would be the Reds back in the day winning it [in 2011] after a whole lot of floods went through Queensland.
‘‘Their ability to get out into the community helped them realise, ‘Actually, what we do isn’t as tough as what other people were doing’.
‘‘It’s no different to the Highlanders culture and no different to the Munster culture. All these cultures are trying to get you to do things that you’re not comfortable doing: putting your head into dark places, doing big contact training sessions. That’s what I love about rugby. It’s a job, but it’s so much more than that.’’ ‘‘New Zealand struggles to understand the complexities of northern hemisphere rugby, while northern hemisphere rugby struggles with the simplicity of New Zealand rugby. It’s almost like to two polar opposites. But the All Blacks have not evolved. And Wales and New Zealand, especially those two countries, if they don’t continue to develop and evolve, then the Englands, the South Africans, the Argentinians – those teams are always going to be hard. It’s almost brains versus brawn in my head.’’ ‘‘One of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. Basically, he and [Springboks coach] Jacques [Nienaber] worked in tandem [at Munster]. He had to make the tough calls. He had to pick guys, he had point out reviews, he had to be nasty. Jacques has the other side of that, where he’s the people’s person and really understands what people are going through. Rassie, he put himself into a position that he couldn’t be that friendly if he wanted to cut you, or pick someone else. And there was one thing that I found fascinating. We played a very boring type of rugby but we won. It’s something that I wasn’t used to and probably didn’t enjoy as much . . . but f..k you enjoy winning.’’ ‘‘Eddie Jones is a World Cup coach. He’s not worried about a 25-25 draw with the All Blacks. Whereas Dave Rennie is a different kind of coach, where he’s going to elevate these guys [Wallabies] to be their best selves. Under Dave, for me, that was ‘I can do more than I think I can. And that’s lifting weights, that’s analysis, and also I can do more in the community, I can do more with my wife’. He was awesome in that space. They [Wallabies] might come right, but maybe the balance has been off.’’
Wellington Phoenix have had to move on quickly from their first A-League Women home game.
Addressing the defensive shortcomings that led to their 4-1 defeat to Melbourne City has been a big focus as they seek an immediate bounce-back in their second game at Sky Stadium, against newcomers Western United today.
Western made a contrasting start to the Phoenix, toppling two-time defending champions Melbourne Victory in their inaugural game.
The matchwinning goal was scored by striker Jess McDonald, a World Cup winner with the United States in 2019.
Phoenix coach Natalie Lawrence has demanded improvement in onev-one defending this week after they were run ragged by Chilean international Maria Jose Rojas, who had a hand in three of City’s four goals.
‘‘Obviously we can’t deny the fact that there were some technical onev-one errors that led to goals,’’ Lawrence said. ‘‘That’s been a big focus for us.’’
The Phoenix will need to tighten up at the back as they have another top quality striker to deal with today, coming up against McDonald, a 19-cap US international and threetime NWSL champion.
‘‘We know that she’s going to provide a lot of class, provide a lot of speed and provide experience.
‘‘We obviously watched their game back and she scored their goal ... but she’s always going to be someone we’re going to have to watch out for.’’
The Phoenix have received a boost up front with winger Michaela Robertson over the concussion symptoms that ruled her out of the season opener.
Robertson is expected to slot straight into the starting lineup and will become the first player from Wellington to turn out for the Phoenix in the A-League Women when she debuts.
The fringe Football Fern was concussed when she took a ball to the face during the first week of preseason and said it took her a month to recover.
‘‘I got kicked in the face with the ball, and it took me out,’’ Robertson said. ‘‘I thought it was fine but a week later symptoms kicked in and a month on here we are.
‘‘Concussion symptoms are a little bit strange and they’re a bit different for everyone but I had a lot of pressure in my head, struggled to focus.
‘‘But now I’ve done all the tests and I’m passing them symptom free, it’s good to be back. This is a moment I’ve dreamed of my whole life.’’
Captain Lily Alfeld (knee), forward Emma Rolston (back) and midfielders Isabel Gomez (foot) and Grace Wisnewski (calf) remain unavailable.
Wellington Phoenix captain Alex Rufer is edging closer to an A-League Men comeback, after suffering a serious knee injury in March.
Phoenix coach Ufuk Talay confirmed Rufer and Brazilian import Yan Sasse will both feature for the club’s reserve team in the National League tomorrow, giving them valuable minutes during the World Cup break.
Rufer’s inclusion in the reserve team is significant. It will be his first competitive hit-out since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in an A-League match against Brisbane Roar eight months ago.