Cross making his point, forcefully - NZ view
By MARC HINTON - RugbyHeaven | Tuesday, 25 March 2008
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FLYIN' RYAN: Force centre Ryan Cross made a menace of himself against the Highlanders at the weekend, again highlighting his Wallaby aspirations.
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Memo John O'Neill: Next time you're counting the pennies, how about seeing if you can throw a few the way of Ryan Cross. The kid can play a bit and in case you haven't been watching he's been Australia's form back of the first six weeks of the Super 14.
That was the gist of a stern message sent out by Western Force coach John Mitchell after his men completed their fourth victory of the season in Queenstown over the Easter weekend, outlasting the hapless Highlanders 36-28, largely on the back of another inspired performance from the former Sydney Rooster league star in midfield.
Mitchell is a big believer that Australia's newest rugby frontier doesn't get a fair suck of the sav by the Sydney-based Australian Rugby Union. And he may very well have a point.
Cross has apparently yet to be re-signed by the national union, a situation Mitchell made more than clear he wants to see resolved.
"He's going good," was Mitchell's succinct evaluation of the woolly-haired No 13 who made such a mess of the ‘Landers defence in Queenstown. Then again should we have been at all surprised that a Cross would rise so symbolically at Easter?
Continued Mitchell: "His first year (2007) was an adaptation, this year he's very comfortable with rugby union. Let's hope the ARU recognise that.
"The difference between the New Zealand and Australian rugby unions is player contracting is in the competition window. There's a lot of deliberation by them over where he's at in the game. I guess they've spent money on other players, with Mortlock out, but the guy's a quality footballer, very special within our group. And he's a good person, a quiet person for that matter, but he does work hard at his game."
There's no doubt that playmaker Matt Giteau has been the key figure in the Force's emergence as a genuine semifinal contender this campaign. Though to that you could also add skipper Nathan Sharpe, an indefatigable figure for the West Australians who once again played himself to a standstill at the weekend.
But when it has come to penetration and sparking the attack wide of the ruck, Cross has been the most likely Force player this year.
His ability to breach defensive lines has been outstanding and he's also showing that he's more than able, once through, to link with his outside runners.
The Force, after a fourth road win at the weekend, are now ideally placed to kick on and make the semifinals in just their third year of existence – a state of affairs that would surely embarrass the perennially under-achieving NSW Waratahs into some major changes.
But Mitchell wasn't looking beyond Friday night's visit to Perth by the Stormers.
"We've got a really short turnaround now and we're going to have to not just accept that it will be a right coming back home. It's going to require a lot of work. Our game is certainly not where we'd like it to be, even though we've got the results."
With Cross firing, Giteau running the game splendidly,. Sharpe firing up a more-than-competitive pack and the hard work already done, the Force now control their own destiny.
With five of their final seven matches at home, they need only do the business in Perth and then surely their claims cannot be ignored by anyone in Australian rugby.
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