Aussie latest – Rebels back Brumbies bashers
2 Mar 2011
Keo.co.za brings you the latest news from Australia’s Super Rugby franchises.
Rebels back Brumbies bashers – The Rebels have retained the starting line-up who fronted the Brumbies last week for their clash against the Chiefs.
The only change comes on the bench, where Peter Betham comes in for Luke Rooney.
Rebels - 15 Mark Gerrard, 14 Lachlan Mitchell, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Julian Huxley, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Gareth Delve, 7 Michael Lipman, 6 Jarrod Saffy, 5 Kevin O’Neill, 4 Adam Byrnes, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Ged Robinson, 1 Nic Henderson.
Subs: 16 Heath Tessman, 17 Laurie Weeks, 18 Alister Campbell, 19 Tom Chamberlin, 20 Richard Kingi, 21 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 22 Peter Betham
Kafer backs player power - Former Brumbies flyhalf Rod Kafer has come out in strong support of the reported player revolt that saw the axing of coach Andy Friend.
The Brumbies have denied those reports and chief executive Andrew Fagan took responsibility for the decision on Tuesday. However, it is widely believed that Friend no longer had the support of the vast majority of the squad.
‘Players have a large role in everything because they’re the most valuable asset to the organisation,’ Kafer told the Sydney Morning Herald. ‘It’s natural, in fact, it should be encouraged. The Brumbies get tainted with this player-driven culture, but it’s probably no different if anything maybe a little bit worse than everywhere else.
‘What you need to remember in 15 years of professional rugby, there has only been one Australian team to win the title, that’s the ACT Brumbies. Perhaps it’s an opportunity for other organisations that if they wish to be successful, maybe they should look to their players a bit more. Maybe that’s the lesson.’
8 Comments
2 Mar 2011, 09:40 am
Yeah Kafe, and that is why the last time you won anything was at the time of the last player revolt.
2 Mar 2011, 09:53 am
Go Kafe
3 Mar 2011, 04:44 am
Kafer is wrong, Queensland has 2 Super titles. He should have been specific and said S12-S15′s. The Super 10′s kicked off in 1995 and Transvaal won in 1993 and the following two consecutive years 1994 & 1995 was won by Queensland. Trust an old Brumby to easily forget the early beginnings of our current Super format.
1993 S10
1996 S12
2006 S14
2011 S15
3 Mar 2011, 04:56 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-3:
Haha Rulz, never let facts spoil a good story! Besides, the sacking of Friend seems to have open the door for his old chum Larkham, why would he disagree with the process.
Lets see if he still supports it when it is his mate in the line of fire…
PS Probably eyeing a ‘consulting role’ for next year.
3 Mar 2011, 05:09 am
Rod Kafer is the ARU player’s representative… obviously he’d take their side…
As for the Rebels… only gets better with the inclusion of the ‘hottest’ young Wallaby prospect Peter Betham…
Still lacking a 10 on the bench…
3 Mar 2011, 05:17 am
@bryce_in_oz(bryce_in_oz)-5:
By the way, you must have been over the moon with the win! Congrats, sure mucked up my superbru…
3 Mar 2011, 05:34 am
@bryce_in_oz(bryce_in_oz)-5: From all reports young Betham ticks all the boxes.
Damn, still smiling after that win.
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-4: Yes it will be interesting to see if Larkham can transpose his playbook to the current Brumby rabble. Being on the field and steering the moves (play) is a lot easier than teaching the moves. If Larkham can teach half of what he himself could do… them Brumbies are going to come good.
3 Mar 2011, 09:09 am
@RugbyRulz(RugbyRulz)-3: They tend not to include the Super 10 tournaments as they were not a SANZAR tournament. When they refer to ‘Super Rugby’ it is only from ’96 onwards.
Not saying you’re wrong, just giving the reason they never include those.
@bryce_in_oz(bryce_in_oz)-5: In Kafe’s defence, another ex-player Adam Wallace-Harrison (now playing for the Reds) echoed similar sentiments on the player power there – that they are still the only Aus team to ever win Super Rugby (see above definition) so it can’t be all bad.
They just need a coach who can suit the environment (MacQueen and Eddie Jones thrived in it), and the quality in players to back it up – something they had been lacking until the last couple seasons.
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