Ruthless Deans dents Brett's ABs chances

By DUNCAN JOHNSTONE - RugbyHeaven | Thursday, 22 May 2008

Robbie Deans has brought a dramatic dose of reality to Stephen Brett's claims for an All Blacks jersey.

Dean's decision to dump Brett to the bench for Saturday night's sudden death semifinal showdown with the Hurricanes is a blow to Brett's test aspirations.

It's also a clear indication that the defensive question marks that plague the talented Brett are very real.

Deans has decided that Tim Bateman is a safer option against the raw power of Ma'a Nonu than Brett.

In terms of the bigger picture, it's advantage Nonu even before the whistle blows to kick-off this New Zealand derby that is undoubtedly an All Blacks trial.

There is no doubt that Brett is one of the most talented young footballers going around in the New Zealand game at the moment.

His tactical kicking is astute though his goal kicking is a little less so. His distribution is sweet and his reading of situations nearly always spot-on. His running game is almost unmatched and his versatility in being able to switch between No 10 and second five-eighths makes him a real asset.

But his defence - for the Crusaders and Canterbury - has always had a suspect look to it.

Second five isn't a place for frailty in test rugby while the new laws have added greater defensive responsibilities to the first five's game. The five-metre rule at scrum time makes that an increasingly attractive attacking channel.

Now it seems Deans has decided that Brett's defence is too risky to start a match of this importance.

So where does that leave him in terms of the All Blacks then?

The national selectors make no secret of the fact that these are the sort of games where they look to finalise their options.

If you have a toss-up situation between two players then the performance in a Super 14 semifinal is an ideal barometer to make the final call.

It's hard to judge a player sitting on the bench.

But there are few better judges of character and ability than Deans.

This will have been a tough decision for him because Brett has been central to the Crusaders' success this year.

He looked to be getting to grips with the No 12 jersey when he was operating in tandem with Dan Carter through the first five weeks of the championship. They were a sweet combination as teams tried to find their way around the new rules before Brett injured a shoulder against the Cheetahs.

When Carter was ruled out with a major ankle problem, Brett eventually stepped back in from his own rehab to keep things ticking over at No 10.

But with the Crusaders spluttering a bit over the past few rounds and then looking downright shabby in last week's upset loss to the Highlanders where Brett was back in the midfield, the master coach has decided it's time to make some tough calls.

There's no room for Brett in his starting XV just as there is no room for a sentimental decision on Reuben Thorne who is also dropped to the bench as the Crusaders look for the right loose forwards mix to compete against an area of strength for the Hurricanes.

Thorne is no longer an option for the All Blacks but Brett certainly is as the New Zealand selectors start looking at their long term alternatives to the likes of Nick Evans and possibly Carter at first five.

But right now they have a more immediate hole to fill at second five-eighths with recent regulars Aaron Mauger, Luke McAlister and Sam Tuitupou having departed the scene.

Many critics were looking at Brett as an answer there.

But Deans, about to take over as Wallabies coach, may have already answered that with this latest selection choice.

Unless, of course, the conspiracy theorists suggest Deans is selling the All Blacks a dummy!

I would rubbish that. Deans is too much of a realist. These are the sort of games that the Crusaders thrive on, the sort of challenges they have seen off in claiming six titles.

This is a time for the ruthless attitude that has been the hallmark of Deans and his teams.

With a seventh title beckoning there is too much at stake right now and that's why the red and blacks have made their midfield mix of Bateman and Casey Laulala to confront Nonu and Conrad Smith.

When push comes to shove in a week or so will the All Blacks selectors think the same way when they name their first squad of the year?

Does Graham Henry follow Deans' lead or does he have faith in Brett's all round game? Is Brett a better first five than a second five or is he lost in between?

Right now it seems that if Brett is to get a spot at all it might be in a bench role at best.

Pummelling Palu and co.

Posted in Super 14 by Ryan Vrede www.keo.co.za

Nullifying the Waratahs’ loose trio will be vital if the Sharks hope to progress to the Super 14 final.

Eighthman Wycliff Palu, in particular, has sprung to prominence in the latter part of the Waratahs’ campaign. Last year the Australian press sounded a warning to the rest of the world about Palu’s ability. They spoke of his power with ball in hand and the pace to complement that power. They lauded his ability to link with the backline and marvelled at his handling skills. Let’s not forget his supposed brilliant anticipation and ability to read the game.

Palu failed to match his hype in 2007. However, those qualities are evident in 2008. He has been a key figure in the Waratahs’ resurgence after an ordinary start and he was outstanding in their 25-10 victory over the Sharks in Round 11 of the tournament - scoring two tries. The first came after he put a massive hit on AJ Venter which dislodged the ball. The Waratahs scooped up the pill and ran at an unset defence before Palu rounded off the move he begun by bulldozing over two defenders.

It is essential that the Sharks stand firm in the collisions with the 120kg bruiser. They failed to do so in the their previous fixture and paid a heavy price.

But while keeping Palu anonymous will be central to their plans, the Sharks can ill-afford to channel their energy towards him alone. In Rocky Elsom and Phil Waugh, Palu has a supporting cast of the highest calibre.

Elsom was injured for the previous encounter, but has since returned with devastating effect. He adds grunt to the back row but integrates that with intelligence, making him a dangerous opponent.

If Palu was the hitman against the Sharks, Waugh engineered the murder with his relentless and highly effective breakdown contest. He turned over seven times in the second half alone, and slowed sufficient ball to ensure that the Sharks were never in the contest. An encore performance from the master pilferer and the Sharks will see an already difficult task become a near impossible one.

They’ve committed to being patient in their phase play, and that approach paid dividends against the Chiefs on Saturday. Their ball carriers were seldom isolated and as a result the Chiefs’ attempts to steal possession proved futile. They’ll need to replicate their efficiency in that facet of play in Sydney.

However, rugby is a study of cause and effect relationships. The Waratahs pack have made dramatic improvement to their set phase and general play this season, to the point where they have troubled some of the tournament’s finest heavies. The result has been that Palu and co have had the platform from which to attack.

Coaches and forwards routinely tell you that rugby matches are won and lost up front. Backs will disagree, but in this particular semi-final, even they will concede. The match will be won by the team whose defenders are willing to put in the ground gaining tackles on 100kg-plus men, the team whose primary ball carriers bust the gain line regularly and the team who have the ascendency at the set phases.

The backs will take the stage in the final quarter. But the match situation at that point will depend almost entirely on the effectiveness of the beef eaters. In this regard, Palu and co need to be non-factors.

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

By Marc Stein ESPN.com

NEW ORLEANS -- They watched Tim Duncan clank his last 10 shots. They squandered almost all of a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter. They didn't even shoot 40 percent from the floor.

You hear all that and you are bound to wonder how the San Antonio Spurs managed to win the first Game 7 on the road of the Duncan Era.

Then you remember: It's the Spurs, silly.

They're getting older, true, but the upside there is that advancing age might make them even more stubborn. Too stubborn to realize that they're getting older.

It's a theory that made as much sense as anything Monday night, when San Antonio kept grinding through every blip -- as usual -- while also hitting the Hornets with a devastating mix of smothering (and confusing) defense, killer threes sprinkled in among those many misses and copious doses of the savvy we were expecting from the defending champs in at least one of their three previous visits to New Orleans Arena.

In other words ...

The Spurs were the Spurs.

Finally.

It took until the final game and 16th day of this second-round series for the heartbroken locals to get their first glimpse of them, but the execution masters from the Alamo City duly arrived for this Game 7, snuffing out the Hornets and their storybook season with a 91-82 victory that sends San Antonio into a Western Conference finals showdown with old friends Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Phil Jackson.

It was a prototype performance from the Spurs' Uglyball manual, which almost guarantees that it will elicit many shrugs from folks out there who were smitten by the irresistible Chris Paul and hoping for something different: CP3 dueling Kobe for a spot in the NBA Finals, namely.

Not that the Spurs will take offense. They've come to expect a lack of appreciation for that trademark execution ... and it has to be noted that even they were shrugging.

The turnaround witnessed in Game 7 isn't nearly as blasé as the Spurs made it sound -- given how punchless they were in their three blowout losses here and how unreservedly dreadful they were in the three previous third quarters here -- but you scarcely saw a smile from a Spur when it was all over. There were few hugs or high fives or even joyful sighs of relief.

"We haven't done anything," Spurs forward Robert Horry explained. "What did we do? We didn't win a championship."

Added Tony Parker: "It's a great win, don't get me wrong. But I don't think we're going to celebrate because we're in the conference finals."

Perhaps not. Yet you could nonetheless argue that the victory -- virtually sealed by a huge late jumper from Parker after Jannero Pargo missed a potential game-tying triple from the corner -- was among the most significant in franchise history.

It has taken the Spurs farther than ever before in the chase for back-to-back titles. In each of its previous four attempts to repeat, Team Duncan didn't make it out of the second round.

The win also sealed the Spurs' first-ever comebacks from series deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 ... and put them in the NBA's Final Four opposite a team which actually presents fewer unfavorable matchups than the Hornets did.

Seriously.