WE GO AGAIN
KEVIN MCCALLUM: Shrewd Venter puts one over on Jones as Italy ruck tactics scramble England at scrum
Brendan Venter is a smart coach, and he can sometimes be a smart aleck, writes Kevin McCallum
The quote of the past weekend came from a referee. Romain Poite, surrounded by England players remonstrating with him over Italy’s tactic of not engaging at the ruck and being able to loiter with intent in the English backline, looked at James Haskell and said simply: "I’m a referee, not a coach." This may have further confused the English players. Rugby referees have been coaching players for years. Few sporting officials talk to players more than in rugby, directing the offsides line with a pointed finger, leaning over and telling that naughty Richie McCaw to leave the ball alone, again, and giving them the hard glare when they come in at the side of the maul. Rugby players like to be coached. Eddie Jones likes to coach rugby players. He likes to shout at them. While they waited for a news conference after the Sharks had beaten the Jones-coached Reds 69-15 in Brisbane in 2007, hacks smiled as they heard Jones tell his players they were as "soft as sh***". They ended bottom of the ...
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