KEY POINTS:
What Lote Tuqiri did to Sam Norton-Knight at the end of the Waratahs-Force match spoke volumes about where his head is at right now.
I would have been a bit cross too, had I seen a young fella tap to himself and run when the game could have
been won with a kick.
These things can be blown out of proportion but pushing your team-mates about on the field is not a good look.
Before anyone leaps to write to me pointing out all my trangressions over the years (and I was no angel, as many of you are aware), I did at least try to restrict it to the opposition.
When a youngster like Norton-Knight makes a mistake like that, you take it into the dressing room and inform the young man that he should never, ever, not in 1000 years do that again.
Your team-mates are your workmates - the people you depend on. So you tend not to humiliate them publicly by pushing them in the back, making it seem as though they shoulder the blame for the loss.
For the past six weeks or more, Tuqiri has been hawking himself around rugby and league, trying to see what dollars he can get for himself. That, and his reaction to Norton-Knight, made it seem to me he isn't much of a team man.
Norton-Knight wasn't the reason the Waratahs didn't win. That match was pretty horrible to watch and was symptomatic of the Australian game.
The Force were poor. They went through phase after phase but just didn't seem to have the ability to do anything. Their basic drills were poor and lack of go-forward meant they were still running across the field.
The Waratahs weren't much better. They began strongly and seemed to have more talent but, in the end, both sides seemed like they were playing "force back", just kicking the ball to each other. They were content to wait for a mistake and the penalties, which made for a miserable spectacle.
For my money, the Australians should not have a fourth franchise. They just don't have the depth of talent and having four has spread their resources too thin. The Force were in danger at one stage of being down to only one lineout jumper, while the Waratahs are short of quality loose forwards. All their franchises lack quality props.
That and some international beatings recently have left the Australians short of confidence. I fancy the Brumbies to do okay but not the Waratahs, Reds or Force.
There has also been much over-hyping of youngsters such as Berrick Barnes and Waratahs No 10 Kurtley Beale, hailed as the next Mark Ella.
Well, he might be from the same ethnic background but that's about where it stops. Ella was a genius; Beale has a long, long way to go. Watching him on Friday, he took the ball deep and then sidestepped twice even before he got to the first tackler and the advantage line.
No, Australian rugby is not in a good place right now - and neither is Lote Tuqiri.
