[EOYT] Canada vs. Namibia. 07/11/14

[iINDOMINUSxx]

another miss from braid :|

 

[LittleGuy]

Well that was a barely adequate performance I'd put it mildly and my Bru pick of Canada by 10 now looks generous. First off positives....defence was generally solid, Namibian attacking threats were few and far between(though Botha being hurt didn't help them) McRorie stood out at SH again and his goal kicking went well. Lineout went better in the 2nd half, and there wasn't any **** show of comical bizarro errors that have been wrung through Canadian games in the last 18 months. Now that's out of the way....

Negatives....Scrum went poorly, counter-rucking was non-existent. Play in 1st half was too narrow. Outside backs didn't see enough ball. Canada frankly seemed lazy at times and game managment was sketchy. Too many unforced errors, lineout in 1st half sucked, no defence applied to Namibian mauls....Crowley's job is in trouble I have to think. Canada needs some improvement now, never before has a Canadian win so much feel like a loss.


Quick player ratings.....

1. Buydens - 4, Scrum went poorly, did OK in the loose which salvages him this grade.
2. Barkwill - 5, Better than last week, found his groove in the 2nd half too late.
3. Marshall - 5.5, Ditto for Buydens basically, just a lot better in the loose
4. Hotson - 5, Anonymous as usual, guess that isn't a bad day for today's game.
5. Sinclair - 6.5, Worked hard, was probably Canada's best player in the forwards today which says it all.
6. Gilmour - 3.5, Made a pile of handling errors, counter rucking was atrocious.
7. Dala - 4.5, Had the try but was mediocre aside from that, needs to be back to his impact sub role.
8. Moonlight - 4, Torrid time at the back of the scrum, did OK defensively.
9. McRorie - 7.5, MOTM, effective goal kicking, and distribution.
10. Braid - 4, Better 2nd half getting it out wide, but two missed kicks that could have put this game to bed drags him down.
11. Duke - 5, Worked hard, but passing was awful.
12. Hearn - 6, Did well when called upon which was tragically too little.
13. Trainor - 4, Anonymous for large stretches and played poorly when called upon.
14. Wilson-Ross - 6, Get's a bit of a pass considering the circumstances and did OK out there. No Hassler though.
15. DTH - 6, Attacking threat at times, but was out of position and it showed, not the answer back here. Crowley getting cute leaving Pritch out of the side completely.

16. Carpenter - 4, Actually a downgrade to Barkwill when he came on.
17. Wooldridge - N/A
18. Ilnicki - N/A
19. Buekeboom - 5, Nothing added, nothing lost by his appearance.
20. Blevins - N/A
21. White - 4.5, Frenetic and tried too hard to impress in his limited appearance.
22. Parfrey-N/A
23. Don't even know who was here? Phelan? Was Pritch here and unused?

Edit: Also some credit to Namibia, they worked hard in the set pieces and never gave up. They disrupted at the breakdown and gave themselves a chance to win. Kudos to them and good luck to them in the rest of their tour.

 

[jonny24]

Final score? Game was blocked at work :/

 

[LittleGuy]

17-13 for Canada, Namibia had a late try which made the dying moments very nervewracking.

Canada.

Try: Dala
Conversion: McRorie 0(1)
Penalties: McRorie 4(4) Braid 0(2)

Namibia

Try: Burger
Conversion: Kotze 1(1)
Penalties: Kotze 2(3)

 

[Beerfalo]

We need more pro players. Almost all our 7s and domestic guys looked like a mess out there. We especially need Back Row and Backs to be playing and training at the professional level. Relying on the 7s program and CRC is detrimental to our 15s game. The Locks were the only guys, outside McRorie, who didn't make me want to pull my hair out. Funny enough they are all pro players. Ya Buekeboom and Hotson didn't stand out but that's not a bad thing today. Sinclair definitely earned the start next week IMO though maybe he should boot Gilmour from the Flank. Crowley has to be on thin ice with Rugby Canada. I don't know who could replace him but the team is getting worse and worse since it qualified for the World Cup and coaching/preparation has to be a big part of it. Something NEEDS to change with our players and coaches because they aren't getting it done. I'd make the lot of them, coaches included, do suicide runs on Monday if I was in-charge. If Canada plays anywhere near what they have as of late they will be completely embarrassed and demolished by the Samoans. We need our starters back next week.

Hopefully the lineup looks something like this:
1) Hubert Buydens
2) Aaron Carpenter
3) Jason Marshall
4) Jamie Cudmore
5) Jebb Sinclair
6) Richard Thorpe(why not give him a go)
7) John Moonlight
8) Tyler Ardron
9) Gordie McRorie
10) Connor Braid(do we even have a choice)
11) Taylor Paris
12) Ciaran Hearn
13) DTH van der Merwe
14) Jeff Hassler
15) James Pritchard

Reserves: Tiedemann, Barkwill, Ilnicki, Hotson, Dala, White, Duke and Trainor

 

[LittleGuy]

We need more pro players. Almost all our 7s and domestic guys looked like a mess out there. We especially need Back Row and Backs to be playing and training at the professional level. Relying on the 7s program and CRC is detrimental to our 15s game. The Locks were the only guys, outside McRorie, who didn't make me want to pull my hair out. Funny enough they are all pro players. Ya Buekeboom and Hotson didn't stand out but that's not a bad thing today. Sinclair definitely earned the start next week IMO though maybe he should boot Gilmour from the Flank. Crowley has to be on thin ice with Rugby Canada. I don't know who could replace him but the team is getting worse and worse since it qualified for the World Cup and coaching/preparation has to be a big part of it. Something NEEDS to change with our players and coaches because they aren't getting it done. I'd make the lot of them, coaches included, do suicide runs on Monday if I was in-charge. If Canada plays anywhere near what they have as of late they will be completely embarrassed and demolished by the Samoans. We need our starters back next week.

Hopefully the lineup looks something like this:
1) Hubert Buydens
2) Aaron Carpenter
3) Jason Marshall
4) Jamie Cudmore
5) Jebb Sinclair
6) Richard Thorpe(why not give him a go)
7) John Moonlight
8) Tyler Ardron
9) Gordie McRorie
10) Connor Braid(do we even have a choice)
11) Taylor Paris
12) Ciaran Hearn
13) DTH van der Merwe
14) Jeff Hassler
15) James Pritchard

Reserves: Tiedemann, Barkwill, Ilnicki, Hotson, Dala, White, Duke and Trainor

Amen to especially this, but the entire post as a whole. Very few of the domestic guys stood out today and the one's that did are really guys that should be impact subs or spot starters. Maybe Crowley was watching 2003 RWC highlights and thought Namibia were a joke side? Well they aren't they have an OK forward pack and decent FH, if Botha hadn't of gotten hurt maybe it's him running on the outside lane at the end and the African side gets the winning try.

I think what worried me most today was a seeming lack of urgency from Canada, and some plain old laziness at stretches. Questionable slections as well, where is Phil Mackenzie? Listed as hurt by us but trotting out for Sale this weekend, ditto for Thorpe he must have been an improvement over Moonlight. Pritchard could have been on the bench and probably would have hit one of the two missed Braid attempts to give us breathing room. I'm not expecting Cudmore till Friday but a few of the other pro's were oddly missing.

Just tweeted Bryan Kelly, thanking him for the stream and asking what attendance was...apparently the ARC crowds were a lot stronger, maybe a 1,000 at most it seems. Hopefully that will be it for the Colwyn Bay thing at least for a very long time, think it's now 6 tests in 3 years which is clear oversaturation.

https://twitter.com/RugbyCanada_BK/status/530836252829188096

 

[psychic duck]

Good point about the 7's. Perhaps a little disruptive to have quite that quantity switching to a completely different code, Hassler, Paris, Pritchard's absences all didn't help in that regard. I think Crowley needs to start trying to nail down his first side, he's overdoing it on the rotation and experiments this year. Cudmore coming back is a must for the Samoa game, and I would move Sinclair back to his natural position in the back row. Really the depth has disappointed big time in these two games.

 

[LittleGuy]

Good point about the 7's. Perhaps a little disruptive to have quite that quantity switching to a completely different code, Hassler, Paris, Pritchard's absences all didn't help in that regard. I think Crowley needs to start trying to nail down his first side, he's overdoing it on the rotation and experiments this year. Cudmore coming back is a must for the Samoa game, and I would move Sinclair back to his natural position in the back row. Really the depth has disappointed big time in these two games.

2014 has almost felt like 2008 in this regard, that year it made sense as he was taking over for the scraps left in the Suggit era and a World Cup was three plus years away, but with Canada's limited test schedule a year out from the 2015 event we really need to start settling on something now, with 2nd choice players clearly defined as well so we aren't running people out who are totally out of their positions.

 

[psychic duck]

2014 has almost felt like 2008 in this regard, that year it made sense as he was taking over for the scraps left in the Suggit era and a World Cup was three plus years away, but with Canada's limited test schedule a year out from the 2015 event we really need to start settling on something now, with 2nd choice players clearly defined as well so we aren't running people out who are totally out of their positions.

DTH seems to wear a different number on his back from 13/11/14/15 every single game, similar for 2 or 3 others (Braid must have played nearly everywhere but scrum half). When you only have limited time to prepare, might be worth making the players roles and positions more clearly defined to help them fit in quicker and know the drills and system, rather than have to adapt each week. I don't know why DTH played 15 this week, I doubt that will be his spot in the long term or even next week possibly, so why not just put him at 13 (where he will more likely be) and build round that.

 

[Beerfalo]

I admit a back row of Sinclair, Thorpe(if he shows up) and Ardron(if he's healthy) would be better than the trio of Gilmour, Moonlight and Dala was. That would leave the starting 2nd row as Cudmore(we need him badly) and Hotson which isn't a bad pairing though there's a clear gap in talent between the two. Buekeboom and Moonlight would be the most likely options for the bench.

And I agree that DTH should be the starting 13. With Hassler and Paris on the wings we need DTH in the centers more anyways. With Pritchard and a hopefully healthy Evans then DTH shouldn't have to move back to Fullback again. I'd rather send Hearn to Fullback next time if needed and leave DTH in the centers.

 

[psychic duck]

I admit a back row of Sinclair, Thorpe(if he shows up) and Ardron(if he's healthy) would be better than the trio of Gilmour, Moonlight and Dala was. That would leave the starting 2nd row as Cudmore(we need him badly) and Hotson which isn't a bad pairing though there's a clear gap in talent between the two. Buekeboom and Moonlight would be the most likely options for the bench.

Ardron should be back for at least 1 of the next 2 matches I've heard. Cudmore is vital mostly as Canada's other locks are pretty lightweight. Pierce looked like had potential, and could offer some extra height to help the hookers at lineout, but he's not done anything of note in France.

 

[rusty_lock]

I'm not really sure what to say about that. There is really nothing positive to be taken away from that.

Things we learned

Negatives

1. Our scrum is still dodgy.
2. Braid at fly half is unreasonable as he simply has no recent game time there.
3. Our focus on the 7's program, while showing great improvement on the 7's circuit, is not helping our 15's program at all.
4. DTH should never be selected at fullback again.
5. The gap between our domestic players and real professionals is greater than anyone is really willing to admit.
6. Decision making is bizarre. One minute were kicking tactically from centre the next minute were trying run out from inside our 22.

Positives

1. Mcrorie can kick
2. I had a good lunch from the Ming and Sing chinese express




I thought the referees handling of the breakdown was terrible. He allowed Namibia to lie all over the ball or lie on the wrong side of the ruck not rolling away all through the match. I'm not making excuses here, we were awful, but that didn't help.

 

[canadafan]

For me, the greatest problem is in our backline, our forwards are giving a platform to win games, perhaps, not a solid one, but they are providing one. Our backline just has no cohesion, they are all playing like individuals. Now, I am willing to wait until we have our real first choice backline together for a few games, but it isn't looking good. Hell, Marshall made more line breaks then our entire backline.

Positives:

Dala was again good.
Tightfive did show some muscle, except at the scrum, which was at best even.
Braid was not a disaster at FH, some hope their.
McRorie is great
I saw some glimmer of hope with our centre pairing, but would prefer to see DTH there. Still like the idea of a Trainor - DTH combination, but I could live with a Hearn-DTH one.

Negatives:
Moonlight needs a lot of work at 8, hopefully Ardron or Thorpe can go there next week.
TBH, I think they played a solid forward group today, and held their own.
Backline really needs some time together to gel, they are running to individually and too much like 7s, not enough support running and offloads.

 

[rusty_lock]

For me, the greatest problem is in our backline, our forwards are giving a platform to win games, perhaps, not a solid one, but they are providing one. Our backline just has no cohesion, they are all playing like individuals. Now, I am willing to wait until we have our real first choice backline together for a few games, but it isn't looking good. Hell, Marshall made more line breaks then our entire backline.

Positives:

Dala was again good.
Tightfive did show some muscle, except at the scrum, which was at best even.
Braid was not a disaster at FH, some hope their.
McRorie is great
I saw some glimmer of hope with our centre pairing, but would prefer to see DTH there. Still like the idea of a Trainor - DTH combination, but I could live with a Hearn-DTH one.

Negatives:
Moonlight needs a lot of work at 8, hopefully Ardron or Thorpe can go there next week.
TBH, I think they played a solid forward group today, and held their own.
Backline really needs some time together to gel, they are running to individually and too much like 7s, not enough support running and offloads.

I definitely agree with you about the backline. It seemed everytime that ball went wide whoever was on the end of the chain died for lack of support. As far as the forwards were concerned, I thought there were individuals who did ok but as a unit I thought there were challenges. Sinclair was the best of the bunch in my mind. He was consistently making a nuisance of himself at the break down. In loose play that was the best I had ever seen Marshall in all his years with Canada. I wasn't as sold on Dala, I thought he had moments where he was great and others where he wasn't.

 

[rusty_lock]

Just tweeted Bryan Kelly, thanking him for the stream and asking what attendance was...apparently the ARC crowds were a lot stronger, maybe a 1,000 at most it seems. Hopefully that will be it for the Colwyn Bay thing at least for a very long time, think it's now 6 tests in 3 years which is clear oversaturation.

https://twitter.com/RugbyCanada_BK/status/530836252829188096

Definitely serious props to Bryan Kelly for the stream. It was way better than I expected and his commentary was actually pretty good.

 

[rusty_lock]

Well that was a barely adequate performance I'd put it mildly and my Bru pick of Canada by 10 now looks generous. First off positives....defence was generally solid, Namibian attacking threats were few and far between(though Botha being hurt didn't help them) McRorie stood out at SH again and his goal kicking went well. Lineout went better in the 2nd half, and there wasn't any **** show of comical bizarro errors that have been wrung through Canadian games in the last 18 months. Now that's out of the way....

Negatives....Scrum went poorly, counter-rucking was non-existent. Play in 1st half was too narrow. Outside backs didn't see enough ball. Canada frankly seemed lazy at times and game managment was sketchy. Too many unforced errors, lineout in 1st half sucked, no defence applied to Namibian mauls....Crowley's job is in trouble I have to think. Canada needs some improvement now, never before has a Canadian win so much feel like a loss.


Quick player ratings.....

1. Buydens - 4, Scrum went poorly, did OK in the loose which salvages him this grade.
2. Barkwill - 5, Better than last week, found his groove in the 2nd half too late.
3. Marshall - 5.5, Ditto for Buydens basically, just a lot better in the loose
4. Hotson - 5, Anonymous as usual, guess that isn't a bad day for today's game.
5. Sinclair - 6.5, Worked hard, was probably Canada's best player in the forwards today which says it all.
6. Gilmour - 3.5, Made a pile of handling errors, counter rucking was atrocious.
7. Dala - 4.5, Had the try but was mediocre aside from that, needs to be back to his impact sub role.
8. Moonlight - 4, Torrid time at the back of the scrum, did OK defensively.
9. McRorie - 7.5, MOTM, effective goal kicking, and distribution.
10. Braid - 4, Better 2nd half getting it out wide, but two missed kicks that could have put this game to bed drags him down.
11. Duke - 5, Worked hard, but passing was awful.
12. Hearn - 6, Did well when called upon which was tragically too little.
13. Trainor - 4, Anonymous for large stretches and played poorly when called upon.
14. Wilson-Ross - 6, Get's a bit of a pass considering the circumstances and did OK out there. No Hassler though.
15. DTH - 6, Attacking threat at times, but was out of position and it showed, not the answer back here. Crowley getting cute leaving Pritch out of the side completely.

16. Carpenter - 4, Actually a downgrade to Barkwill when he came on.
17. Wooldridge - N/A
18. Ilnicki - N/A
19. Buekeboom - 5, Nothing added, nothing lost by his appearance.
20. Blevins - N/A
21. White - 4.5, Frenetic and tried too hard to impress in his limited appearance.
22. Parfrey-N/A
23. Don't even know who was here? Phelan? Was Pritch here and unused?

Edit: Also some credit to Namibia, they worked hard in the set pieces and never gave up. They disrupted at the breakdown and gave themselves a chance to win. Kudos to them and good luck to them in the rest of their tour.

Not to much argument here I would give Buydens a little more. I'm not sure the scumaging problems should be put at his feet. I think there is not a whole lot of power coming from Hotson and that really handicaps Buydens.

 

[rusty_lock]

On our flyhalf situation. It is utterly shocking that 3 years after the last world cup we have absolutely no idea who can play that position successfully even against a weak side like Namibia.

 

[canadafan]

Underwood, but too bad he can't stay healthy.

 

[rusty_lock]

Underwood, but too bad he can't stay healthy.

How many games has he actually started for Canada? Do we really know he is the answer? I'm sure not convinced.

 

[LittleGuy]

Definitely serious props to Bryan Kelly for the stream. It was way better than I expected and his commentary was actually pretty good.

Yeah BK was awesome today, maybe he's actually MOTM for this one! Stream worked well, I had almost no cut outs, agreed on his commentary, being a lone wolf up in the booth must have been difficult especially with some long Namibian last names. He conveyed the basics of what was going on quite well and didn't distract from the match. Camera work on the broadcast was pretty good too for a single camera type deal. Hopefully they'll move the live stream to the archive portion of youtube as the replays weren't available.

I have no idea where to go on Fly Half, can Monro get fit in 8-10 months? It looks like O'Leary is waiting on Ireland and doesn't want to jeopardize his spot at Connacht either by joining Canada. I thought Evans had a bit of potential but that experiment didn't seem to last and at club level he plays FB, kind of ditto for Braid who doesn't get much club time there. Jones has had one or two good games there but was fairly mediocre in others. Hirayama is a 7's player. Underwood is young and might become a solid FH but boy going into 2015 with him there isn't going to calm my nerves. Du Toit is even further behind in development, McRorie is better at SH. Even at CRC level, Piatek had some potential but went to play League when the Union side never called. Parfrey is better at other positions.