Waratahs coach stays grounded
Thank goodness for Daryl Gibson.
His record as Waratahs head coach might be pretty forgettable, but it hasn’t cost him his marbles.
Australia and Super Rugby success have become strangers in recent times. Their teams regularly make up the numbers; not that you’d easily tell from the positivity of the coverage.
So while the odd person’s hailed the Waratahs 24-24 draw with the Sharks as heroic, former All Black Gibson wasn’t as easily impressed.
‘‘I thought we were pretty poor, to be frank,’’ Gibson said. ‘‘At times we lacked ball control, we turned the ball over too much, put a lot of pressure on ourselves and to come away from a game with two points; sure, happy about that. Certainly not happy about our performance.
‘‘We’re not walking away rejoicing at all. We had a pretty honest assessment in the change room and probably know we need to get a lot better if we want to be competitive in this competition.’’
The team have finished 10th and 16th since Gibson took over from Michael Cheika; well down on 2014 when they won their sole Super Rugby title.
Yesterday morning’s (NZ time) draw sees them sit fifth on the table, having snatched a last-second victory over the Stormers in their first game. We’ve since seen how good the Stormers are, following Saturday’s 45-28 loss to the Crusaders.
The Rebels – who finished dead last in 2017 – are Australia’s best-performed team so far. They’re third, after beating the Reds and then coming from behind to beat the mighty Sunwolves 37-17 on Saturday.
Only masochists would’ve sat through the Reds’ 18-10 win over the Brumbies on Friday. But at least they’re all going better than the poor old Western Force, who got culled from the competition.
Given the overall state of things, you can almost understand why so many media types persist with talking up Quade Cooper and Karmichael Hunt. It might be years since either produced much.
The Brumbies, in 2001 and 2004, Reds in 2011 and Waratahs (2014) are the Australian teams to win this competition and it’s hard to see that tally being added to any time soon.
South Africa’s Lions again appear the only real challenge to New Zealand’s franchises. They beat the Bulls 49-35 in Pretoria and are now set to host the Waratahs this week.
Despite a huge number of their quality players unavailable, with Richie Mo’unga having joined that list, the Crusaders are the team to beat. Their clash with the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday will be appointment viewing for some.
Time will tell if the Chiefs and Highlanders can enter the title calculations too. The Chiefs’ 27-21 win over the Blues was meritorious, given they had 15 players unavailable, while the Highlanders haven’t really had a chance to show their wares.
They host the Stormers on Friday, after a bye following their first-up win over the Blues.