Brumbies loss was 'poetic justice'

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Clyde Rathbone has made the extraordinary claim that the Brumbies should not have won the Super Rugby title because they played negative rugby. Source:News Limited

CLYDE Rathbone has made the extraordinary claim that the Brumbies should not have won the Super Rugby title because they played negative rugby throughout the year, but laid the blame squarely on the game's lawmakers.

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In a stunningly forthright interview following the 27-22 grand final loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton, the respected winger said the Brumbies got "poetic justice" for not playing an entertaining brand.

Rathbone singled out northern hemisphere influence on the game's rules as forcing coaches like the Brumbies' Jake White to deploy dull gameplans in order to win big matches.

"I think it was almost poetic justice in the sense the Chiefs won this game, having played the most football in the last 15 minutes," Rathbone said.

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"There is almost something wrong with rugby if you can win a final not having played much football.

"I think we need to get to the place where to win a championship, you've got to play football. The Chiefs did that, I'm not sure the Brumbies got that right from an attacking perspective.

"You can get into the final, you can choke teams out in games, to the point you can potentially win a championship doing that, and I don't think that's healthy for the game on a whole, particularly for Super Rugby.

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"We're in the entertainment industry, we've got to score tries. I'm not sure the balance is right there."

The Chiefs were simply brilliant in the final, attacking from all areas of the field in a brave display on such a stage, but they have consistently used that style in the past two seasons to win back-to-back crowns.

Under White, the Brumbies have had great success with a far more conservative approach, judiciously kicking from their half for territory and generally only spreading the ball deep inside their opponent's half.

"I think Jake is coaching in a way that gets you wins, I don't see it as a coaching flaw, if anything smart coaches are coaching in a way that positions their team to succeed," Rathbone said.

"I think it's more a case of where the rules are, and where the interpretations are, allowing teams to play in that way.

"We need to force teams into playing more."

While the IRB no longer has a northern hemisphere majority on its board, the north still wields massive influence while the game is still played under rules developed when the ruling body was run by them.

Asked what he would change to improve the game, Rathbone replied: "It's not one rule, it's a whole spectrum of things.

"I don't have the solution, I think the solution is to get the best minds in the game around a table and work out a way – and to do that I feel you've got to have the southern hemisphere at the table.

"I feel like the officiating of the games, the lawmaking of the games, is predominantly done by northern hemisphere teams, the IRB is disproportionately weighted with input from those countries.

"From an outside back's perspective, I'd love to see a more open free-flowing game."

Rathbone was a member of the Brumbies' breathtaking 2004 championship-winning campaign when the side flaunted the best attack in Super Rugby under the guidance of Stephen Larkham -  now the team's attack coach.

Last Saturday, Rathbone made one memorable run that nearly led to a try, but was otherwise anonymous.

"As a winger I got two touches in attack, it's just a war of attrition," he said.

"You're pinning teams with field position, little one per centers, if you're a rugby purist or traditionalist you probably don't mind.

"I think going forward rugby's got to be more than that to more people, we need to fill crowds.

"I think back to 04 when we won the championship, it was on the back of our attacking game.

"This season most our achievements were on the back of our defensive game.

"From an attack perspective, I see that as where our most obvious area of improvement is.

"We've got some outstanding attacking players, I don't think we've got the best out of them in the big games.

"We've played a Test match style of football where we strangle teams into making errors, and feeding off those."

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