Three times a failure
7 Feb 2011
JON CARDINELLI can’t understand why the pointless Tri-Series is packaged as an entertaining contest.
The Tri-Series has concluded, and I find myself reaching for superlatives that simply don’t apply. Underwhelming is the best word to describe the three-game sham masquerading as a contest, and I’m underwhelmed because, like many other people, I made the mistake of thinking this most recent tournament meant something.
Did these results matter? No say the coaches of the Lions, Sharks and Stormers. Is there a trophy? Asked last week, one coach wasn’t even sure, but dismissed the question by reinforcing point number one: performance is the priority.
There’s no need to paint a set of pre-season games as a tournament, no need to lie to the public by telling them that warm-up games are contests. There’s no need to charge them to watch these games, nor televise them, because all it does is fuel the expectation of paying customers.
I’m disappointed as a rugby fan, but I would be livid if I’d had to pay to watch the Tri-Series. It’s like paying to watch training sessions be it on a rugby field or in the cricket nets. The players are sharpening their game for the tournament that matters, and while there’s value in watching pre-season matches so as to gauge performances and sneak a peak at potential combinations, there shouldn’t be the drama and illusion that results matter.
I attended all three Tri-Series games, and from what I heard from the public and press, there was a massive sense of anticlimax. But should we have got our hopes up in the first place, or should we have treated these practice sessions for what they were? And the question is directed not only to the fans and media, but to the authorities that green light ‘competitions’ like the Tri-Series.
Pre-season games are scrappy affairs, with coaches experimenting with different combinations. It’s also a time where coaches are reluctant to show their hand. As you can imagine, a pre-season tournament like the Tri-Series that’s watched on national television, and written about by journalists from all over South Africa, is unlikely to give much away in terms of tactical strengths and innovative ploys.
The authorities need to move away from this failed marketing exercise and embrace the kind of marketing that matters. Before 2009, a team like the Stormers would travel to Paarl or Wellington to tackle Boland in a set of pre-season friendlies. The fixtures were a hit in the local communities, and the coaches and players were able to experiment without fear of mass scrutiny or the risk of giving too much away.
There was usually one fixture against another Super Rugby opponent, but the fixture was never hyped to the extent that it is today. There also wasn’t a whole tournament reserved for the pre-season, as the right people realised that too much exposure can be a bad thing. Injuries are also a realistic concern, so you don’t want to be playing too many games at Super Rugby intensity before the tournament has even started. In this sense, the Bulls and Cheetahs have got it right with their pre-season programmes.
The three recent games at Newlands revealed little in terms of how the Lions, Sharks and Stormers will play this year. It may have shown which individuals are out of form, who still lacks conditioning, and who’d rather be at home, but that the Sharks lost two and the Stormers won two matters as little as the Tri-Series title itself.
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74 Comments
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7 Feb 2011, 10:00 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-48: Neither do I – but I feel that some players become progressively less effective the more of a fuss is made about them.
Habana must be having a lot of fuss made about him at WP.
Let me ask you a question, and feel free to respond honestly. Do you think WP/Stormers feel they have gotten the return they expected from Habana for the millions they have spent on him ? I mean, just a brutal, honest yes or no ?
7 Feb 2011, 10:03 am
how is that chris ashton with his pointing celebration?
7 Feb 2011, 10:06 am
@Dusky(Dusky)-51:
I cannot answer that, no fan can. And I will tell you why.
The value of a player in the context you are asking me to judge him on is the 80 minutes he spends on the field every Saturday.
That is probably about 10% of what he does as a squad member.
From all accounts, and what players and the coaching team have said about Bryan in the past is that as a senior player, and an experienced player, his value cannot be measured.
An outside back cannot be judged on his finishing in a game alone. A massive part of his game is his work rate off the ball, and there television will not show you how good he is because television only follows the ball.
Finishing in a game depends on the quality of ball you get, and I have to cast my mind back a really long time to remember when last the Stormers or WP back three received quality front foot attacking ball…
7 Feb 2011, 10:08 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-53: Fair enough. Same argument for John Smit I suppose.
7 Feb 2011, 10:08 am
@Dusky(Dusky)-51:
they have sold more jerseys so yes.
the stormers measure their success by jerseys sold and the takings in the bar under the railway stand.
who needs to win anythin when you have the best supporters in the world
innit?
7 Feb 2011, 10:08 am
@Dusky(Dusky)-51: Habana was already in decline when he joined WP. His last season at the Bulls was marked by his loss of pace (his only real asset). Suddenly he couldnt make those intercepts anymore, was getting beaten on the outside by players like Dusty Noble, Oupa Stefan, etc. He was/is more a marketing tool than anything else at the Stormers/WP. Think David Beckham.
7 Feb 2011, 10:14 am
Hey Cardinelli, why don’t you overreact a little? These were always billed as warm-up games, and at R30 or R40 a ticket it was cheaper than going to the movies. I’m also sure this ticket price just covered the cost of operating the stadium. I don’t know of anyone who is as disappointed as you clearly are, and you didn’t even pay for your bloody ticket. I know you feel you need a little rant to give your article meaning, but this kind of “outraged” journalism is not sustainable.
7 Feb 2011, 10:18 am
@Dusky(Dusky)-54:
That said, a player must perform on the field too, and that Habana is not doing.
7 Feb 2011, 10:19 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-52: He didn’t even have the balls to go through with the swallow dive. Dropping his knee before impact was such a lame cop-out. At least Philip Burger, c*ck that he is, invented the swallow-dive-action-roll to avoid Ashton’s wimpish finale.
7 Feb 2011, 10:19 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-57:
quite right.
its damging the planet.
does he not realise he is gambling with our children’s future?
that’s why I keep copies of all JC’s articles in the bathroom.
for recycling purposes.
7 Feb 2011, 10:21 am
@gunther(gunther)-60: Classic case of the sports hack who cried wolf. No one even notices any more.
7 Feb 2011, 10:24 am
As fast as Habana’s star is fading, Mvovo’s is getting brighter. Hopefully he will learn that he doesnt need to use his body as a battering ram and will use speed and guile more. His body will start showing a bit of wear and tear soon. He is good enough to do this. Honestly feel that Habana has lost pace, confidence and ability.
7 Feb 2011, 10:33 am
hananas confidence seems shot to pieces…
7 Feb 2011, 10:36 am
@Eish(Eish)-62:
I don’t think he has lost ability.
Three weeks with bulls should see him right, and some time with Sheryl Calder.
7 Feb 2011, 13:23 pm
What I learnt from the games:
15.) Conrad Jantjies is not close to being at his best. There isn’t a suitable replacement in sight.
14.) Maybe Gio should move to Fullback. At least he’ll get more ball.
13.) Jacque Fourie is still the best. I suggest Juan de Jongh move to right wing with Gio moving to the back.
12.) Jean de Villiers is still the best.
11.) Bryan Habana will come good.
10.) No surprise Elgar Watts showed some good touches, he played in a **** team last year and still shone. After Peter Grant though.
9.) Ricky takes 3 seconds…if you lucky 1.5 seconds to pass the ball. Unacceptable. I think Alistair must not be happy with his scrumhalf position.
The first team should look like:
15.) Gio Aplon
14.) Juan de Jongh
13.) Jacque Fourie
12.) Jean de Villiers
11.) Bryan Habana
10.) Peter Grant
9.) Dewald Duvenage ?
8.) Duane Vermeulen
7.) Francois Louw
6.) Schalk Burger
5.) Andries Bekker
4.) Adriaan Fondse
3.) CJ van der Linde
2.) Tiaan Liebenberg
1.) Wicus Blaauw
7 Feb 2011, 14:01 pm
I can’t believe what I’m hearing! The converted tri-series is the only thing the Cape franchise has won in the last decade, their cabinet would be bare without it!
Talk of scrapping it is terrible, especially now since the Stormers have managed to retain the title.
In fact, I expect things to go the other way. Soon the Cape press will be telling us it is the best and most prestigious of all domestic competitions!!
7 Feb 2011, 14:27 pm
@Ratel Brussow(Morne Steyn is under-rated)-66: I wonder if the Sharks will play in the tri-series again next year. They have come last two years running, so surely they should be ‘relegated’ ?
Warm-up games are good, but to try and make it into a formal tournament smacks of desperation to me. A few people trying to get a slice of the rugby pie.
I mean a warm-up is just that – a few stretches and jogs up and down before you walk to the starting line for the sprint. To create a tournament from it is ludicrous. But as you say – at least it is something the Stormers can win.
They should have played it at Cape Town’s fancy new stadium, that way the stadium will at least have a use once a year.
7 Feb 2011, 14:32 pm
Some people mustn’t be naive, these warm up games were of course an over hyped event. Neo Africa is squeezing everything it can out of the practice runs, squeeze it mofos squeeze it, but we must take it for what it is…warm ups. To be honest when the real deal is on all games that count will be watched. I’m not reading too much into the practice run.
7 Feb 2011, 16:55 pm
@RugbyStudent(RugbyStudent)-65:
Jantjes celebrates now his 11th season, well past his sell date.
At his best he was never more than a sub standard back who made up the quota numbers.
The reason the Stormers don’t have a better than Jantjes is because fullbacks like Little Joe realised the position is pegged for a former ‘underprivileged’, so there is no contest.
8 Feb 2011, 09:46 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-53: Come on. Anybody who ever saw Habana play can tell you he always stands around, caring less than nothing about the rest of the play, only checking now and then to see if there is an intercept opportunity. His defense couldn’t be worse, and there is no communication with the inside-backs.
This year Basson will show you what Habana could have been if Brian didn’t think himself to be a demi-god.
8 Feb 2011, 11:05 am
@Bouts(Bouts)-70:
Really?
It is amazing how his stats show something completely different…
But I guess what you ‘perceive’ presents a much stronger case than what facts show.
And its Bryan, not Brian.
8 Feb 2011, 12:00 pm
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-71: Stats….hmmmm….
Perception can create havoc in a players career. Similar to when Butch James was cited continuously in the media and on blogs like this one as a yellow card magnet, yet, stats show that Schalk Burger, Bakkies Botha, Marius Joubert and De Wet Barry (at the time) were by far the kings of the card enforced 10 minute rest.
Same as Luke Watson. Stats suggested he was at least as good as Richie McCaw, yet his self absorbed attitude got in the way of him reaching anything close to the status of the Kiwi skipper.
Interesting things stats – completely ignore (as you mentioned previously), a players impact of just being on the field.
I could mention some other stats as well, like the fact that Adi Jacobs lead the meters gained by any South African center by a country mile while everyone was punting Jacque Fourie. Or that his defensive stats are nowhere close to as poor as many would like to believe.
Or that Derick Hougaard was by far the best defensive flyhalf in the country for some time, and for a flyhalf supporting an apparent ten man game, his attacking stats weren’t half bad either.
Or that Ettienne Botha was (by stats) the crown prince of attacking inside centers.
Perception – can ruin a player. Habs better sort himself out, or perception could ruin him as well.
8 Feb 2011, 12:04 pm
@Dusky(Dusky)-72:
Or that Ashley Johnson outplayed Duane Vermeulen by far in the CC last year yet no-one called for his inclusion (because the Bloem media is not that influential) in the Bok team…
Perceptions…
8 Feb 2011, 16:39 pm
This is another article of Blah Blah Blah.
Friendlies are there to test structures, shake off rustyness and gain match fitness and match sharpness.
The result is meaningless , just because this is a friendly competition and not a once off friendly match, shouldn’t mean that its all of a sudden a competitive competition with something to win.
It’s simply an oppurtunity for the die-hard fans to see some action ahead of the competition.
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