puff 638 Lost in the Loose

Lost in the loose?

Regarding New Zealand vs Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground;

The scrum was alright. Just.

The lineout was not as bad as we thought it was going to be.

The game may have been lost in the loose.

Mortlock drew and stepped around Mauger and McAlister. The second wave of defence, the loose forwards were not there.

Carter is stressed because he is exposed and does not have he protection that he once enjoyed from the loosies.

Rodney did not stand out. Masoe was not noticed. Ritchie got around but was he effective? Gerry seemed to do good work but it would be worth analysing properly. He seems to be trying to do what the Australian props did well. Hit the ball up to the advantage line or a bit further. But that is not his job.

And there is the rub-or some of it. The loosies are doing things that are better done by other players. Their own roles are not clearly understood least of all by themselves. Masoe looks more lost in each consecutive game.

Going back to the Hurricanes in the Super Fourteen the loosies involved never really came back from the reconditioning programme and I said so at the time on Kia Ora FM and elsewhere.

Peter Cleave