Position Profile - Fly Half

Is it possible for there to be more change than we have had at 10 this season?  First it was announced that Joe Carlisle was leaving for Wasps.  Obviously expecting to get out from under the shadow of 1st choice fly-half Andy Goode, who a month or so later announced that he was also leaving at the end of the 2012/13 season and that his new pastures were also in Buckinghamshire!  Good(e) luck Joey!

Is it possible this was the double deal clincher?

So what is the role of a fly-half?

This is an extremely important position within the match day XV and arguably, regardless of who is named captain, the man that runs the match day tactics.  It is therefore extremely important that the #10 understands and implements the tactics derived by the coaching staff (something Richard Hill stated was not being done by Andy Goode).
Set piece movements are directed through and by the fly-half, passing, kicking, tackling and positional play are essential.  Open-side flankers like to eat 10's for breakfast and if you have a fly-half considered weak then they quickly become an attacking target for the opposition, with the "10 channel" becoming a favoured attacking direction.

What do you want in a fly-half?

In 2 words "Johnny Wilkinson" but more detailed - tactical awareness, passing ability, kicking ability from hand and place kicking, great vision, a certain level of physicality and strong leadership skills.

What have we had in the past?

Some would say it is a who's who of journeymen, former internationals and potential talent that never quite made it.

What do we have at #10 for 2013/14?

With 1st and 2nd choice 10's leaving, then head coach Richard Hill signed up the services of Ignacio Mieres and Paul Warwick.  Two less similar characters and players would be hard to find.

We have already looked at Paul Warwick in detail Paul Warwick #23 though I would not consider him a fly half.  As the title of my article on him suggests, I would see him as more of a specialist 23 than a first choice 10.

Lets not forget Danny Gray!

To be fair to Danny, he had time out last season and fell behind Joe for the supporting role as Warriors 10, but when he did come on the pitch he looked great!  His first proper start was away to Bath, when Andy Goode, having just announced he was leaving Sixways, fell ill as he warmed up for kick off.  Though the game ended in our tears, Danny played very well and in my opinion deserved more game time as the season drew to a close.

The major signing at 10 has been that of Ignacio Mieres, who will be reviewed in detail by AJ Bails in the coming days.  To be fair he is arriving at Sixways under a bit of a cloud.  An 'unknown' issue at his now former club Exeter has meant he missed the 2012/13 season, but hopefully he arrives having served his time and more importantly learning what you do not do in and around other team members!

The future of the 10 shirt

Something we have missed in recent years is competition at the academy level for fly half. We hear about the Ford brothers and Burns brothers and we are now starting to see the fruits of their age group battles at Tigers (Bath), Leeds (Sale) and Gloucester, but we have not really had that... until now. 

Last season our lack of young 10's was so apparent that on more than one occasion our Cavalier side fielded Dr. Who - it turns out he is a lad that lives near former head coach Richard Hill.

The 'real' Tom Baker

The lad did OK but it was quite embarrassing that a top flight rugby club had to resort to such a level to field a specialist fly half.

In Elliot Davies and Tiff Eden we have two very talented future 10's, both still teenagers and both on the books for the 2013/14 academy season.  I will be watching these guys closely to see how they progress!

Match Day - Quins

Match day is here again but today is super special.  Not only is it the last home game of the 2012/2013 Aviva Premiership season, it is the first game since the departure of Richard Hill.  Though this game is not being managed by Dean Ryan, there have been some changes in approach already.

The Team

1.   Mullan

2.   Shervington

3.   Murray

4.   Percival (c)

5.   Jones

6.   Best

7.   Kvesic

8.   Taulava

9.   Arr

10. Goode

11. Howard

12. Clarke

13. Grove

14. Drauniniu

15. Pennell

Replacements: Lutui, O'Donnell, Andress, Gillies, Abbott, Perry, Gray, Carlisle 

There are many aspects of this team that stand out, here are the important numbers

1 - Ben Howard's first Premiership Cap.  Although Ben tends to play as a full back, today will see him make his debut on the wing, in place of David Lemi.

3 - The number of points that separated the teams when we last played, November 2012 ending 22 - 19

4 - Warriors highest number of Conversions in a Premiership game.  Against Harlequins in 2004  Source: Offy Site

5 - Craig Gillies makes his return to the match day squad, at the expense of out of fitness, form and favour, Dean Schofield.  There are many other numbers than can be used for Gillies, not least; 288th game for Warriors, 203cm tall (6'8"), 12 times a replacement this season, the list goes on  

7 - Players that will not play again at Sixways as Warriors. Today we get to say goodbye to the likes of Kvesic, Goode and Lutui though there are a few more guys leaving that will not get the chance to say goodbye.

10 - We have selected three 10's today; Goode, Gray and Carlisle.  Though Carlisle, also playing his last home game game as a Warrior, will no doubt be covering 12.

100 - This signifies a massive achievement by Chris Pennell, as I reported in January 2013 the former captain who suffers from type 1 diabetes, is making his 100th Warriors appearance at the age of 26 (27 in a few days time)

Of the many guys leaving Sixways this season, there is one that will not be there today to say good-bye, Big Dave. 

 Tevita Taumoepeau the man mountain who has played 181 times for the club.Dave joined the club in 2005 from Bourgoin.  Dave made himself a playing legend with some incredible performances and for being such a gent of the pitch.  Unfortunately we have not seen him in a Warriors shirt since April 2012 when we played London Irish.  The giant props only try for Warriors came in March 2007 against Sale Sharks and unlike Aleki Lutui (also leaving this season, though yet t be announced by the club) I can find no statistics of him ever kicking a conversion.  The players and a few of the fans will be attending a goodbye party in Droitwich after the game today, to give the big man the send off he deserves.

Verdict:

The winner will be the team that wants it more.  A win for Quins would guarantee their playoff position for the season, which you would think would be a massive drive for the team, but is it as big as being able to show the new boss you should be playing?  Is it bigger than keeping a grip on 9th place?  Is it bigger than preventing one of our worst ever finishes?  I think not.  If the boys really want this today then we will take 4 points though I fully expect Quins to take LBP and for the last 5 minutes to be nerve wrecking! 

Worcester Warriors 16 - 13 Harlequins

Key Men:

Chris Jones and Ben Howard

Thank you Mr Hill and Good Luck Mr Ryan

With 29 caps for England, having got Bristol promoted into the Guinness Premiership in 2005, achieving 3^rd place in the GP, securing Heineken Cup rugby with Bristol, coaching at teams such as; Gloucester, Newport, Harlequins and being former Head Coach of England Students, it is easy to see why Richard Hill was selected as Head Coach at Worcester Warriors.

On the 27^th May the BBC reported “Richard Hill named Worcester Warriors head coach”, I remember the day well as I embarrassingly assumed it was ‘the other’ Richard Hill.

A 2 year contract was reported following his departure from French side Chalon-sur-Saone.  It was widely reported at the time that not only did Hill beat off competition from the likes of Jake White and Graham Rowntree he was also given the nod ahead of his now replacement Dean Ryan.

RH was brought into the club following the Warriors relegation from top-flight rugby and subsequent resignation of Mike Ruddock.  At the time of his appointment the fans views were mixed at best.  Taken from the COYW Forum, when the news was being leaked that Mr Hill may be the next DoR / Head Coach:

“Jeez I hope that's not what we end up with !” Wee Drahm

“When you look at all the names that have been mentioned as applying, this pairing would be the ultimate letdown.” Beav1s

and in response

“Just a tad” Powick Eastander

“oh well that will be the final nail.

The appointment of Richard Hill will finalise my decision to save my hard earned money for another 3 years,

If he lasts that long before the players run him out of town

JP” Faithful_City

When I say mixed, I mean negative.  I’ve not managed to find any pre-confirmation posts that were happy about his potential appointment, other than that from a Bristol fan.

27^th May 2010 the Official Website delightedly announced that Richard Hill was to be named Head Coach at Sixways, following an internal review instigated by Cecil Duckworth, supported by Ian Bell (Rugby Business Consultant) and Dean Richards.

It would appear he was selected primarily for his proven track record in winning the Championship and progressing (with Bristol) to Heineken Cup rugby.  Clearly setting the targets high from day one.

The following months were spattered with new signings and existing squad members signing on for the club.  In June 2010 Tomahawk, Crockett, Andy Williams, Ripol, Higgitt, Shervington and Arscott arrived at the club with Grove and Mullan signing new deals.  With the exception of Shervington, Grove and Mullan you could say that wasn’t the best start to Hill’s reign at Sixways.

The following season, in the RFU Championship, is well documented and I will not go into it in any detail.  Many games were convincingly won, records were broken and Sixways was buzzing with fans looking forward to Premiership rugby again.  The first major worry for the club was the Championship semi-final against Bedford, in which we almost failed at the first hurdle.  A very dramatic late win was needed to progress through to the finals, where we were crowned the eventual winners and secured promotion back to the top flight of English rugby.

Back in the Premiership, September 2011 saw, what is now probably the height of Hill’s Warriors career, newly promoted, already written off, Worcester Warriors record an opening day, home win, against Sale Sharks.  17-12 with what was described at the time as a forwards dominated victory, we were back in the big time, Hill had achieved objective one by getting us back in the Aviva Premiership and objective two, secure premiership rugby was surely in hand with a performance such as this!

It is easy to look back and see the telling signs, but even as far back as September 2011 the signs were there: "We lacked a bit of composure at the end when we needed to keep hold of the ball. We lost it and gave a couple of silly penalties with Alex Grove's yellow card. One or two things crept in and with the clock ticking down, but that is something to learn.” Richard Hill quoted on the official website.  Two years on and that exact same kind of play, silliness and indiscipline may just have cost him his job.

Fast forward to 1^st January 2012 and if you were as unlucky as me, you witness a cold wet Adams Park away win against Wasps.  I feel the only person that wants to forget that game more than me is Ezra Taylor, remember him?  The man with the shortest career in known history.  Wasps was the long awaited debut for Taylor in which, 2 minutes after kick off, he was fallen on, during a line out and did so much damage to his knee he only started full gym training again this year.  A terrible game, in terrible conditions and I seem to remember the 0-6 score line being reported as the lowest ever result in Premiership rugby.  Little did we know then that 15 months later we would still be waiting for our next league away win.  This most definitely has had a massive impact on the decision announced by the club this week, that Hill is out and Ryan is in.

For many the 2012/2013 season has been one to forget.  9^th place with two games remaining, no apparent sign of progress from last season and a host of big name, marquee players leaving the club under a cloud of player discontent. There are plenty of positives from this season, but the sheer fact that objective three has been so obviously missed can not be ignored. 

The Master Plan:

Objective 1 – Promotion – Achieved

Objective 2 – Secure Premiership Rugby – Achieved

Objective 3 – Achieve Heineken Cup Rugby Status – Failed

To achieve objective 3 we would need to end the season in 6^th position.  With two games remaining we are currently 17 points adrift of current placeholders Exeter.  This is not the position of a club about to embark on HC rugby in the 2013/2014 season.  More pressing is the fact Sale are only 2 points behind us and Irish only 3.  A loss this weekend against Quins could result in us dropping to 11^th place, again not a team meeting objective 3 and therefore the right time to make a change?

The club have made their move.  Dean Ryan, once beaten to the role at Sixways by his now predecessor, is our new Director of Rugby.  His role will commence once the 2012/2013 season ends.  The interim time will be managed by Corin Palmer and the current management team. 

Although the official news is bare and the press speculation is high, I think there is one thing for certain, we are in for a lot of changes again this summer. 

My expectation is that two out of the three coaches; Vickery, Larder and Redman will be told their services are no longer required.  New full time back room staff will be appointed and there is room for new playing faces to join us too, based in part on the fact that; Rob O'Donnell, Ceri Jones, Aleki Lutui, Neil Best, Ollie Frost & Shaun Perry are yet to publically confirm their future at Sixways.

If nothing else, there is one thing for certain, we will get more Sky coverage and the post match interviews and analysis will be top draw.

Thank you for all your effort Richard, I do not think many would doubt your commitment to Worcester Warriors and Welcome Dean Ryan, Good Luck!

Also published on COYW April 2013