The Hurricanes have unsurprisingly faced criticism following their loss on Sunday to the Brumbies in Canberra, with much of that blame levelled on pivot Jackson Garden-Bachop.
As is common when a team lacks direction and control, it’s the first five who inevitably draws the most fire and the Hurricanes certainly looked less than poised in the 42-25 defeat.
Despite taking the lead early in the second half thanks to a try by Salesi Rayasi, the Hurricanes couldn’t hold firm and conceded two of their own in the next 10 minutes. One more try at the end of the third quarter effectively ended the Hurricanes’ chances of scoring a second straight comeback victory in Australia, with the home side and visitors also trading scores in the last quarter of the match.
Overall, it was a less than impressive performance from the Wellingtonians, with most players throughout the side making their fair share of mistakes – including No 10 Garden-Bachop. The 27-year-old eventually left the match following the Brumbies’ fourth try and was replaced by youngster Aidan Morgan while last year’s big mover Ruben Love was nursing an injury in NZ.
There’s a very good chance all three players will be available for the Hurricanes’ upcoming match with the Fijian Drua on Sunday and coach Jason Holland will now have to make the call whether to persist with Garden-Bachop or look elsewhere for a guiding light at first receiver.
According to Super Rugby centurion Bryn Hall, however, it would be wrong to lump the blame of last weekend’s result on the shoulders of Garden-Bachop.
“As an inside back, in these kinds of games, if you want to win games, it does help to have an experienced 10,” halfback Hall said on the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod. “Jackson’s played a lot of games whether it be at Bunning NPC, he’s a former New Zealand Maori All Black, and he’s played in that position for that team for a long time with Beaudy [Barrett] leaving [at the end of the 2019 season].
“I guess cohesion and being able to have someone that you can trust, being able to build those combinations [is the most important thing]… They’ve got a great midfield pairing, whatever way they do … And you’ve got some great outside backs as well. I think it’s more so the importance of the people around [the No 10] and putting them in spots where they can flourish.
“If you decided to go with Aidan Morgan or Ruben Love at 10, it’s important the midfielders or your wingers, are [communicating with] your inside backs so that they can be able to execute and manage your game.
“As a 10, [the responsibility] doesn’t all fall on you. It depends on your forward pack being able to get you front-foot ball, winning collisions, being able to give you quick ball. And then you’ve also got to have the conversations and the actual words that are coming into you to be able to run the team and put our players in the right spot where you need them in game scenarios.”
