Lions scrape past the reds

Given the lack of school games last week, our attention was on the overseas games. Obviously the quality of the play and the standard of refereeing are at another level and it was refreshing to watch a game sans any referee insults and manhandling.

Definitely the rugby fans in Colombo can take a leaf out of the book of the overseas counterparts who were at the venues, cheering their teams on and accepting the decisions of the referee, and the involvement of the two assistant referees with grace.

The British and Irish Lions played the Queensland Reds in what was billed as the unofficial fourth test match. The Reds were minus several of their players who had not been permitted to play in this game as they had been drafted into the Wallabies squad.

The true sense of the word team spirit was very much in evidence, as we saw Will Genia sporting the Water boy’s jersey running onto the field on every conceivable occasion barking our orders and egging the team on.

Quade Cooper had hoped that his performance would be sufficient to catch the eyes of Wallabies Coach Robbie Deans and book a final berth in the Wallabies training squad. Despite not having Genia by his side, he turned in a better all round performance, but alas that was not good enough.  Cooper is an iconic figure in Australia, and the roar that greeted him when he led the Reds onto the field was deafening. His omission has once again stirred up controversy. The former England and Lions Coach Sir Clive Woodward believes that Australia and Robbie Deans have made a major error omitting Quade Cooper from the Wallabies squad to face the Lions in the three-Test series for the Tom Richards Cup.

Cooper without doubt was the director of operations, with great attacking intentions, taking quick taps, and some wonderful long cut out passes that had the Lions on the back foot. However, in critical moments in defence he chose to man the last line of defence indicating his lack of confidence in taking the attackers head on.

That combined with some poor kicking form sealed the fact that he would now watch the test matches in the comfort of the grand stand as opposed to directing traffic sporting the No. 10 jersey.

The analysis of Sir Clive and the former Lions coach and the current Lions coach Warren Gatland, view Quade Cooper in a different context as that of Wallabies Coach Robbie Deans. In his column, Woodward said: “The decision to leave Quade Cooper out of the Australia squad beggars belief, it is an own goal that has handed the Lions a trump card and just emphasises again how modern coaching, aligned with this obsession with ‘team ethic’ has sidelined the more maverick characters.

“Sports psychologists love all this sort of stuff and I am sure there are people who have never played or coached rugby advising Deans that the team morale and ‘code of conduct’ is more important than anything. Gatland’s post-match comments tell us everything: ‘With Quade you get the full bag of tricks. You’ve got to watch him, the quick taps and stuff, he just plays with a different threat.’”

As one reflects on those words, it is easy to draw parallels in today’s corporate world. Many that hire people are to narrow in their thinking, sticking to the tried and test template, unwilling to take a gamble on a staff member who could turn things around at short notice, and those that are willing to pose a different threat to the competition.

Whilst the score line will indicate that the Lions prevailed over the Reds with more than a score, all those who witnessed the game will no doubt agree that the game was a lot closer. The man who made an impact from the Reds was winger Luke Morahan. He was sensational in the opening half of the game, but was unfortunate to be ruled out with an injury in the second half.

He will be remembered for his try-saving tackle on Lions winger Alex Cuthbert and an even better effort to knock the ball out of the grasp of Lions fly-half Owen Farrell and deny him a score. His try midway through the first half was simply champagne stuff and his intensity and class was only matched by the Lions winger George North.

In the test matches ahead North will definitely prove to be a handful and the Wallabies will have to be wary of the threat that he poses.