Super XV Semi-Final previews.

So the Semi-Finals of the Super XV is coming up and arguably the best 4 teams will be on show this weekend.

The Stormers will be taking on the Sharks at Newlands in Capetown and the Chiefs will take on the Crusaders at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton.

Semi-Final 1:
The Chiefs vs the Crusaders promises to be a matchup of two teams who will both go guns blazing and it promises to be a try fest, both teams have played exciting and inventive rugby during the season, the Chiefs in my view has the better backline, the crusaders the better forward pack, howver it seems the Crusaders will be without Keiran Reid.

They met for the first time this season in Christchurch in week three and it was the Chiefs who started their season strongly with a strong away win against the seven time champions.

Final Score Crusaders 19 (6) Chiefs 24 (16)
Crusaders
Tries - R. Fruean
Pen - T. Bleyendaal 4
Con - T. Bleyendaal
Chiefs
Tries - L. Messam, A. Taumalolo
Pen - A. Cruden 4
Con - A. Cruden

HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO

Their second meeting was in Hamilton and with a controversial try by Andy Ellis the crusaders turned the table.

Final Score Chiefs 21 (16) Crusaders 28 (20)
Chiefs
Tries - B. Retallick, SB. Williams
Pen - A. Cruden 3
Con - A. Cruden 1
Crusaders
Tries - K. Read, L. Romano, A. Ellis
Pen - D. Carter 2
Con - D. Carter 2
Drop - D. Carter

HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO

CHIEFS TEAM.
1. Sona Taumalolo , 2. Mahonri Schwalger , 3. Ben Tameifuna , 4. Craig Clarke (c) , 5. Brodie Retallick , 6. Liam Messam , 7. Tanerau Latimer , 8. Kane Thompson , 9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow , 10. Aaron Cruden , 11. Asaeli Tikoirotuma , 12. Sonny Bill Williams , 13. Andrew Horrell , 14. Tim Nanai-Williams , 15. Robbie Robinson.
Replacelements : 16. Hika Elliot , 17. Ben Afeaki , 18. Michael Fitzgerald , 19. Sam Cane , 20. Brendon Leonard , 21. Jackson Willison , 22. Lelia Masaga

CRUSADERS TEAM
1. Wyatt Crockett , 2. Corey Flynn , 3. Ben Franks , 4. Luke Romano , 5. Samuel Whitelock , 6. George Whitelock , 7. Matt Todd , 8. Richie McCaw (c) , 9. Andy Ellis , 10. Dan Carter (vc) , 11. Zac Guildford , 12. Ryan Crotty , 13. Robbie Fruean , 14. Adam Whitelock , 15. Israel Dagg
Reserves : 16. Quentin MacDonald, 17. Owen Franks,18. Tom Donnelly ,19. Luke Whitelock ,20. Willi Heinz,21. Tom Taylor ,22. Sean Maitland

PREDICTION.
Crusaders’ experience to carry them through, Crusaders by 8.


Semi-Final 2:

It is unlikely that there can be more contrasting styles from two South frican franchises than the Stormers and the Sharks. The Stormers came throught the pool rounds with 15/16 wins based on the best defensive record in the competition and the Sharks as one of the leading try scoring teams, the Stormers based their game plan on defence and patience, the Sharks on going wide when the opportunity presented itself and with some sublime offloads and good execution scored some scintilating tries.

Theiir first meeting was at Newlands in round two and the Stormers came away with a solid if not spectacular win.

Final Score Stormers 15 (6) Sharks 12 (9)

Stormers
Pen - J Pietersen 3, P Grant 2

Sharks
Pen - P Lambie 4
Cards - R Skeate (60)

HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO NOT AVAILABLE.

They met the second time in week 14 and this time the Sharks turned the tables.

Final Score Sharks 25 (20) Stormers 20 (6).
Sharks
Tries - F. Michalak, K. Daniel, L. Mvovo
Pen - P. Lambie 2
Con - P. Lambie 2
Stormers
Tries - G. Aplon 2
Pen - P. Grant 2
Con - P. Grant 2

HIGHLIGHTS VIDEO

Sharks and Stormers teams not announced yet.

PREDICTION.
Stomers have been off the boil in the past few weeks, the Sharks on the other hand has been on fire, will the travel fatigue affect them this weekend? Will the Stormers defence continue to dictate terms?

Sharks by the narrowest of margins.

Come on the Sharks!!!! That is all!!

have one of the top two always made it through to the final.

I would love a Sharks v Chiefs final! As a neutral I'd be happy for anyone but the stormers to win it, but they just bore the Poopie out of me.

Anyone tell me what the controversy over the Ellis try was?

Small correction Biltong, the opening Crusaders vs Chiefs match was played in Napier not Christchurch, as the new stadium in Chch wasn't finished.

Yappy, Ellis was brought down in a great tacke by Kerr-Barlow just chort of the try line, then he was pushed across the line by the 1st arriving Crusaders player (Sam Whitelock I think from memory)

prop_lyd wrote:Come on the Sharks girls!!!! That is all!!

Fixed that for you, Prop, no charge

yappysnap wrote:I would love a Sharks v Chiefs final! As a neutral I'd be happy for anyone but the stormers to win it, but they just bore the Poopie out of me.

Anyone tell me what the controversy over the Ellis try was?

2nd movement was clear to everyone except the TMO, and even if you didn't get him on that, then not releasing in the tackle would have been the default.

Interesting to see that the Chiefs have gone for Latimer over Cane, slightly surprised by that one. I think Clarke is the key to the Chiefs pack - if he goes well, so do they all. The front row battle should be a classic - some brutal encounters there

Kiwireddevil wrote:Small correction Biltong, the opening Crusaders vs Chiefs match was played in Napier not Christchurch, as the new stadium in Chch wasn't finished.

Yappy, Ellis was brought down in a great tacke by Kerr-Barlow just chort of the try line, then he was pushed across the line by the 1st arriving Crusaders player (Sam Whitelock I think from memory)

Biltong was the reason the highlights of the first sharks stormers match isn't available because there's no film or there were no highlights?...

Seriously though. That Reds win can't be underestimated. That was huge for an away knockout match and to have put them away that easily says a lot.

I think Sharks will do the stormers who when looking at their results could have lost any of 7-8 matches. The fact that they managed to hang on every time also speaks volumes for the stormers. But I also think theyve come to a dead end. They're carrying injuries, they're predictable and they're ready to fold. Big time I believe.

Agree with you re Saders but I'm weary of what the chiefs in their quiet buildup have been working on. Chiefs will want to prove they should have finished top of the table and may keep their two home games.

hehe, no tries, but no video either Taylorman.

Great preview Biltong.

A Saders v Stormers final would be a bit of a dirge. A Sharks v Chiefs final would produce the best rugby by a country mile.

As a neutral (i.e. since the Highlanders and Reds aren't there), I would love to see the Chiefs take it.

Well obviously I would like a South Africans team to win, or do I?

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

prop_lyd wrote:Come on the Sharks girls!!!! That is all!!

Fixed that for you, Prop, no charge

Classy entertainers aren't they?!

Difficult to pick this one form book says Home wins ,BUT since these are Local Derbies.Away wins are just as likely,Reds had a dreadful run of injuries just mades the wild Card.Not the same team without Quade Cooper even at home frankly would have fancied Crusaders and Bulls chances last Saturday too.
Sharks have the bigger armoury,BUT The Stormers have only lost 3 times.
I hope the Sharks win because that means a Nz home final.
Chiefs have been practicing hard ,have the SBW factor plus Crudon/Kerr Barlow at SH.Lately Kerr Barlow has developed the habit of taking two steps before passing not good.Luke Cane is benched in favour o f Latimer in my opinion Matt Todd is the equal or better than either.It must be said overall Crusaders have the edge Forward,not so sure that Chiefs have the better backs.More exciting maybe but BETTER debatable.Both sides won away to each other but significantly neither McCaw or Carter were present indeed they didn`t start until late April.Crusaders at full strength may have done enough to top the NZ conference and book a Home Semi instead of the Chiefs.Crusaders just me thinks.

Yeah its close that's for sure Alan. Depends on how chiefs come back from those annoying two losses vs canes and saders. Its the rennie/ smith and kerr-barlow, cruden, sbw influences on this match that holds the key for the chiefs.
They hold underdog status and they'll be quietly happy with that.

Very tough one to pick and a very exciting match coming up. Both will of course want the sharks to win.

With Home advantage not sure the Chiefs are underdogs,But Crusaders except at altitude do tend to win Semi`s.Read is a big loss but the way the Crusaders
back row went would`nt change it anyway.It would not look out of place in Black ,as to a Stormers v Crusaders breing a dirge.Crusaders on attack in full flight would put the fear of God up most International sides.They`d beat them too !!!

crusaders havnt really been the true crusaders all year. Oddly enough though. They are now well prepared to take on the two best defensive sides in the comp in the chiefs and stormers if they have too. They probably have the best tight five and certainly the best drilled, as well as a pretty sharp back row. They're ticking all the right boxes up up front and the backs are doing their bit.

Its really there's to lose and that's just what our man smith will be working on. He must revel coaching from the position of underdog.

Given my prediction of a Reds victory was hopelessly c#$% I'm not putting much faith in my predictions this week. Stormers to beat a tired Sharks outfit on the back of great defence (Hope the Sharks go well next year, some of their attacking play was great). Crusaders to win a narrow game against the Chiefs.

With respect Taylorman what is a true Crusaders side,before the season started Chris Jack and Brad Thorn plus SBW had moved elsewhere.Dan Carter and Ritchie McCaw did`nt play until late april ,early may.Zac Guildford was suspended
Maitland,Dagg,Crottyand Read have missed several games.Bleyendahl and Taylor plus other ITM players were filling in the gaps in the early games.They had a lot of very close games at the start of the season they won thanks to Taylors goal kicking or lost by a couple of points.In the circumstances they performed very well The Crusaders haven ever been about stars but about playing for each other.A record over the years of only missing the semi stage 3 times,7 wins out of 10 finals says it all.Down the years players like Scott Hamilton and Casey LuaLua picked up the odd cap but were good for the Crusaders.Players like Stephen Brett and Colin Slade would have been regular starters for other franchises had they moved sooner.They had the best 9 in Nz Rugby last year backing up Ellis the Samoan International 9 what a loss.Matt Berquist had been around the franchises but was a safe pair of hands playing instead of DC.Another player lost the Crusaders have a habit of either making or breaking players. Men like Ellis,Crotty,Adam Whitelock,Sam Whitelock,people described as journeymen.YES but solid professionals do all the basics well no flashy back of the hand passes for them no wayward geniuses.That create mayhem one minute and disaster the next 15 good honest men playing as a team is better than 15 primmadonas who don`t want to share the limelite.Look at there record over the years and tell me i`m wrong.

Good shout with Hamilton emack. Another i can think of was Ralph for the crusaders. There's many more obviously. But those guys were solid. I recall there was something funny with Ralph, maybe it was in the ABs jersey though?

Chiefs to smoke the crusaders (yeah right, I wish)

EBOP wrote:Good shout with Hamilton emack. Another i can think of was Ralph for the crusaders. There's many more obviously. But those guys were solid. I recall there was something funny with Ralph, maybe it was in the ABs jersey though?

Chiefs to smoke the crusaders (yeah right, I wish)

Geez kia there's a whole bunch of new names. The odd thing about Ralph ebop is he's from auckland and couldn't get going there.
Tonight I think is about the preparation the chiefs have done in the off week. They must get their foundations more solid...lineout and scrum time to be able to use the kb, cruden, sbw to the max. Even when they failed terribly up front they still managed to have a good shot until the ellis try.
Smith is now the smartest man in world rugby so will have analysed this to bits so I think we are going to see something special and perhaps a bit different, mixed with some very punishing defence.
Can't wait.

Don't even know who to support in this one. Think I'll pump for the chiefs and put some faith in the rennie smith coaching duo to have ensured the break didnt go to waste and get ther pack right.

The 8-12 positions are key if they get a fair amount of posession and good ball and I think SBW is in a good space at the moment. He knows NZ rugby has been good to him and the fans oddly enough have understood his moving motives.

Kerr barlow is key. I expect him to step up and provide a pain around the breakdown for the saders.

Then its up to the backs to cut loose around cruden and co. Here's hoping.

I am picking the Chiefs today, I want them to win.

Geez did you see Ian Jones interviewing Cruden there?

He is more than a head taller than him.

yeah cruden is very short, and slight. Helps him get around quicker and he's gotno fear taking the ball to the line. Strange mix but that's his strength. Duel with carter will be interesting. He just might get rattled for once.

Kerr Barlow must do his in your face stff to ellis today.

Yep. He sure does. Cmmmmooooonnnnn Chieeeeeefssss!!!!

Good start. Plenty of hussle. Chiefs looking to strangle them early.

Chiefs looks fired.

Thats the worst penalty I've ever seen conceded in a lineout from the Chiefs prop there.

Yeah this was always going to be a hard fought one.chiefs have to watch the discipline. Bit of stress out there.

Morning/evening boys,
Looks like a pretty up tempo match so far. rather bad miss with the kick. No real return for all Chiefs' possession.

The nonsense 'propelled' TMO calls come back to haunt the Crusaders!

evening doc. How's that for natural justice. Another possible shunt try...

Crockett suckers Joubert!

Woohooo! Cmon chiefs!

Great try from Messam, superb harrying from the Chiefs strait from the kick off

C'mon Chiefs!

natural justice. I like the expression. I liked the commentators remarks about a push over try. Seemed legit to mee.

That second try was just due to pressure, pressure, pressure. Chiefs are able to play thier own game. All the pressure and all the ball. Wow.

"You can't dive over a ruck" - even when the ball is out?

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Crockett suckers Joubert!

Yeah he does tend to get away with stuff.

That try belonged to robbie robinson

Chiefs have done their homework. And its the type of pressure the chiefs have been applying all year so its not going to go away easily or soon. Saders are in trouble.

What a kick chase!

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:C'mon Chiefs!

Shiefs=Crusaders, eh mate?

What's that call?

Crotty in with a score right at the end of the half - well worked

Don't get what happened on that kick chase to turn the ball back to Crusdaers. That was a 10 to 14 point turnaround.

Gah, the NZ Herald text commentary is about 5 minutes behind you lot

C'mon 'saders!

doctor_grey wrote:Don't get what happened on that kick chase to turn the ball back to Crusdaers. That was a 10 to 14 point turnaround.

According to the NZ Herald Horrell was in front of Cruden when he kicked.

Doc, at the time of the last kick there were a player in front of the kicker.

Just, but he was infront.

doctor_grey wrote:Don't get what happened on that kick chase to turn the ball back to Crusdaers. That was a 10 to 14 point turnaround.

In front of the kicker twice, but they missed the first one - offside = penalty, furry muff