They are moving across the Trans-Tasman Sea division and from the opposite end of the age scale to a professional rugby career. Angus Bell and Wayne Franks teamed up at Leachhard Oval, one in the blue of the Waratah sky, the other in the Canary Yellow of the Hurricanes, when it seemed that their career paths would set them apart.
Franks has been there and has done so, winning the World Cup twice with the All Blacks, and reaching the top of the provincial game in the Southern Hemisphere in ten seasons with the Crusaders between 2009 and 2019. It is no coincidence that those 10 years represent the top of New Zealand’s dominance in the international game.
Franks was controversially dropped from New Zealand’s 2019 World Cup squad and his shoes were not adequately filled by those who followed in his footsteps. In the semi-final against England in Yokohama, the All Blacks lacked experience and leadership at the time when they were most needed.
Since then, Wayne Franks has spent more time at the injury table with the difficult Achilles tendon than at the Northampton Saints in England. But now he is back in Wellington and wants to make a statement before the tournament in France.
“I am trying to stay grounded and not too far ahead of myself, but I am sure I want to play Super Rugby this year.
“I don’t think I’ve been so excited about playing again in a long time. Especially in the last year and a half which I have done through injury.
“If I can get back on the field and play to my potential, it will be the biggest achievement of my career. I can’t wait.
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Frank will be 35 years old at the 2023 World Cup, but the Crusaders’ halfback Brian Hall overcame his shock by seeing him trot out in a yellow jersey, enough to see his potential value in red-black in recent years. Aotearoa rugby pod:
“It simply came to our notice then [to play for the All Blacks again].
“I was lucky to play a lot of rugby with him when he was in the Crusaders, and if you’re talking about one in the center, get close to Wayne Franks and see what it feels like to be a professional rugby player. Players
“He even came back from Achilles [injury] To be honest, he was a rugby player and was not surprised at how professional he was. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets all black again because we know how strong he is in the set piece.
“There’s nothing that will surpass Ovi with his mentality, and so it was nice to see him back on the field – stop being in the yellow jersey.”
At the other end of the spectrum is Angus Bell, still only 21 years old but already in his third season of professional rugby in New South Wales and has 16 wallaby caps under his belt. For a prop, it’s like leaving a development nest on your chin before any digging, perhaps before your voice breaks.
Despite his greenhorn status, Bell’s statistics on ball carrying and defense have consistently topped the charts at home, and the 2022 season has seen a marked improvement in his set-piece work. Saturday’s match at an exciting Leichard Oval was no exception, with Sydney locals filling the mountain’s natural amphitheater with sounding effects.
New South Wales varatas dominated the ball possession (over 90% after the first 25 minutes) and confidently pushed to a 15-point lead, trailing five penalties, and scoring two ‘try’ goals (a later unapproved review). From. In the process, Angus Bell Tyrell smashed the aspirations of all blacks in Lomax, while Asafo Aumuar smashed the scram credentials, Hooker chose to start with him.
In the first two scrams, seventh and 11thM Sets the first half minute tone:
How did the young bull of New South Wales gain the image of dominance to the satisfaction of the referee? The front row of the whole Waratah is working to strengthen the normal rotation of the scrum around the loose head, and Bell’s first step is to take a big step to his left to assist in that process.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and current Springbok scram-master France Malharbe, after last week’s recent podcast, has ‘explained’ the mechanics to our own Harry Jones:
A straight-aged three-on-three contest is subtly converted into three to three angles, with ‘one’ pushing out the opponent’s right shoulder and finally resisting with nothing but thin air. If the tight-head prope cannot always be directly in front of the loose-head, the angle of the drive will force its hooker (Aumua in two instances) to pop out, and this in turn will trigger a decision. Judge.
Angus Bell’s positive results always begin with his success in forcing scrum height above hip level:
Whenever Bell can push that ‘pitched roof’ to the top of the scrum, his opponent gets into trouble. In this example, Tyrell Lomax has to throw her right leg back and it leaves her body in a long, weak, over-stretched line. He can no longer control his right shoulder, the front row rises, Bell leads unopposed, and Rahboni Warren-Voyasako scores.
Even big France could not contain Bell himself when he achieved his ideal power position in the set-piece of the 2021 Rugby Championship:
Within just half an hour of play, Lomax was ‘gone’ and disappeared from the competition, both mentally and physically, on both sides of the feed:
Again, the top-told-story ‘pitched roof’ could only predict disaster for an over-stretched tighthead prop.
The winds of change began to blow in the early 34’sM Minutes of the first half, with one of his grizzled predecessors in a black jersey with an unprecedented tactical replacement of a current All Black prop. Wayne Franks’ influence off the bench was immediate:
As soon as Franks felt the pressure, he pushed his chest to the ground. Instead of getting taller and taller like Lomax, he goes inside and makes himself a small target.
In short, Angus Bell is facing the problem of expanding his international career and moving towards the center of the spotlight – as it will undoubtedly. He can handle large ones (both Bell and Lomax are over 6’4 in height); The fight begins with smaller, more compact tight heads who are able to scrum at lower altitudes and keep Bell away from his power position.
Oli Jagar broke the scrum in the game between Waratah and the Crusaders and won three penalties, and at 6’1 the Franks referee was able to refresh the same picture:
The top of the scrum points upwards and downwards, the long back of Angus Bell describes a curve and allows the officer to bail out with a ‘hinging’ penalty against the slack-head prop. Hurricanes won the Scrum penalty with Wayne Franks on the field and won the rest of the match at 3 for 22 points.
The bell-out was the course of action chosen by English referee Luke Pierce in a rugby championship match that Bell began against the dubious Malharb:
The young Australian has won two of the three penalties, although he is clearly not far behind. This is France Malharbe (like Wayne Franks and Oli Jagar in recent weeks) who are actively lowering the height of the scrum and therefore it is at risk of collapsing.
This raises an important issue in law, the interpretation of which will be important for coaches like Dave Rainey, as Angus Bell will be the main stream of their planning for the future.
19.10 (a) The front rows take a crouch position if they have not already done so. Their head and shoulders are no less than their buttocks, a position that is maintained for the duration of the scrum..
If the tight-headed prop forces his chest to move closer to the deck during the engagement process, isn’t he the one who is moving his head and shoulders below the level of the buttocks? If so, why is the referee pulling the trigger on his opponent? Question, question.
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Summary
“There is a tide about men. Which, in the flood, leads to fate. “These are the words of Brutus to Shakespeare’s Cassius. Julius Caesar. At the Leichhardt Oval on Saturday, the tide of subject matter in the opponent’s two props rugby career is rising for both different reasons.
Angus Bell is the huge young hope of the Propping Brotherhood in Australian rugby. He is improving through the game and has every chance of becoming the number one # 1 in the world before the start of the World Cup in France.
Despite having a 108-cap career with the All Blacks between 2009 and 2019, Wayne Franks has been an invisible man for the past three years. As was done during Frank’s time. A sick-starred, hit-and-hit spell in Northampton, UK, just confirmed the impression.
Fully fit for the first time in three years, Wayne Franks returns with revenge – not on his favorite red-black, but on their deadly enemy, the Hurricanes Canary Yellow. To use his own world, he is ready to give the top level rugby one last shot, and he can’t wait.
With no clear alternative for New Zealand in the tight end, he might return to the World Cup reckoning, and hand it over to other old hands like Dan Coles, just for the ride.
Can ‘Wow’ resist the impressions of old father time and hold him for a long time to enjoy one last hurray? Can Goose confuse the bias of confirmation that whispers that he is a little too tall for international scramble?
The saboteurs will tell you that they can’t make it. Don’t trust them for a second. France could move towards 2023 from the opposite end of the Franks and Bell carrier spectrum, but both young and old have the will to disprove skeptics. It’s just a matter of time.