Super rugby week 2

First topic message reminder :

Just a thread for those of us following the game down under:

The story so far (http://www.superxv.com/):
The Australian conference started last week:
Rebel bt Force
Brumbies bt Reds

The games this weekend are
Highlanders vs Chiefs
Rebels vs Brumbies
Bulls vs Stormers
Hurricanes vs Blues
Reds vs Waratahs
Cheetahs vs Sharks
Kings vs Force

Over night saw victories to the Chiefs, Brumbies and Bulls. I saw part of the NZ derby game and loved it. High intensity, skill levels, pace and was a lot closer than the score suggests. There was a enough to suggest that the chiefs could go all the way, even without SBW and Kahui. Sam Cane, Anscombe and Tim Nainai looked great, as did the hooker from last years under 20 team (who's name I forget). Highlanders were without Brad Thorne and Andrew Hore and played well. Gear looked good as other players.

Haven't seen anything of the blues game, but sounds like Styen kicked them to victory. I only saw highlights from the Brumbies game (Mogg looks like he has the goods at full back) and I see that Beale is injured. I'm interested on anyones thoughts on these games.

That was unbelieveable play. stunning.

Well the 6N got off to a good, positive start but it's been a bit downhill since then. Maybe that has a lot to do with conditions. The first week of the 6N was played in benign conditions and I think teams have realised that when you play the game at pace and look to offload, you cause problems for the opposition defence.

We saw many teams with some attacking intent this round. To me it'll be intriguing to watch those teams come up against the likes of the Bulls or Stormers who pride themselves on their power up front and suffocating defence. I'm sure Meyer will be watching with interest because in the 4N he leaned towards the more attacking approach but the Autumn series saw a return to the familiar percentage rugby, which we all know can be brutally effective for SA. With all or most of the injured players back and the Super XV to see which players are in form and which styles are the most effective, Meyer will be better suited to make an informed choice. We'd all like to see the Blues and Stormers pack combined with the attacking mindset of the Cheetahs or Sharks backs (the Kings I haven't seen yet but they sounded as though they impressed) but somehow I have a hunch Meyer will want to plump again for the percentages. I hope not as though SA can beat the ABs playing like the Bulls or Stormers, I think statistically they would improve their chances if they added a bit of Cheetahs zest to the equation. Not all-out attack but a bit of variety.

I agree Taylorman that the NZ conference looks as strong as it should be. The Crusaders haven't played yet but it'll be interesting to see their new players because with Matiland gone and Guildford out, I think they've lost a lot of attacking impetus and SBW's absence is still felt. I think they might resort to a more pragmatic Robbie Deans approach and that will be another interesting match up this weekend with a youthful rejuvenated Blues side who will probably look to attack Canterbury out wide.

So I'm not a fan of this tournament's format and I think the conference system is deeply flawed and yet I fully expect those matches to provide the real fireworks again this year. Some of those conference games last year were absolute gems and the international rivalry didn't seem nearly as much hotly contested as the home derbies. Maybe I'm still reeling from the Barcelona Real Madrid clasico last night even though I go to the Atletico games.

Hard to believe Tim Nanai-Williams and Nick Williams, the barnstorming tank of Ulster, are brothers... Nick must have eaten everything at the table at home.

Also big props to Tim for playing after not sleeping the night before and being severely dehydrated from the vomiting bug! He was up all night puking according to the post match interview!

Agree Kia. Its going to be difficult for Meyer to continue to watch the other conferences and determine where SA has advantage. The sxv can be misleading in that respect. Fact is test sides just wont get the same amount of space once the D's get tighter.

Blackadders said the Saders are looking to play a more expansive game this year yet I agree his strengths look to be in the forwards with the departure of key backs, for the first time in a while a bit of a stale look to them.Ellis, DC, Crotty, Fruean, Dagg, Whitelock and Taylor look solid but just dont bring anything new to the table in the same way as the other franchises do.

JK's been talking this match up for some time now so for us long suffering Blues fans its going to be a big one.

Ben Smith I thought was impressive as were the Highlanders until the Chiefs wore them down. The Tim NW run around Smith was classy though as was his run in try- sheer pace to create his own space on both occasions. Not the sort of player the ABs go for but sure is classy.

Well at the end of this year with no SBW, Smith, Kahui, Ranger there are some opportunities for AB positions in the midfield so who knows what Tim may do .

None of those are currents anyway Ngan...Smith? C? wheres he going?

There's talk of him taking a sabbatical after the 4 nations ie not going on the Northern tour. And Nonu without his Smith is not brilliant.

Finished round 2. Thought the Cheetahs v Sharks game was great. I love watching the cheetahs play. Shame Ashley Johnston left for Wasps, he fit in so well to their style of play and scored some great tries last year. Bring on round 3 I say! Looking forward to the Crusaders v Blues. Would love to see the kings get another win but I think they may struggle against quality teams.

I find the comments on the Crusaders backline rather surprising they have always had solid rather than star backs.Before SBW there was Crotty after SBW there was Crotty.Adam Whitelock is solid ditto Fruen ,at some point Guildford is likely to return.With a near AllBlack pack there likely to win plenty of possession.

I wouldn't describe Izzy as solid. Nor indeed Dan the man. Fruean can be a handful but he needs good service from the inside. Maitland is proving in Scotland that he's no mug. That said, the Crusaders have always been a pragmatic side. They have a good pack so their set piece is solid and they just do the basics well. A good defence is just as important as a good attack and only the Stormers outdo the Crusaders in that or at least when they were winning the trophies.

But take out a few players and add injuries to others and this Crusaders has a makeshift look about it. So too does the Blues backline but it is a youthful makeshift line and youthful exuberance can go a long way in a short time. The Crusaders are still without a genuine home stadium so I think they could struggle in this very tight NZ conference system. They'll probably be still just as competitive with the international travelling teams but Jade or LP was a real fortress and Addington is just a stable. When you have to top the table these factors are important so I can see them there or thereabouts but not at the top. Hurts to say that as a born and bred Cantab but that's what the head is.

Mind you, Richie McCaw is still a rugby god. No sabbatical will change that.

Gotta say that HighlandersvChiefs game was mental, I loved every single moment of it.

Some fricking crazy skills on show there.

Kia agreed Dagg is outstanding get DC fit and he`s THE best they really goofed over the Western Samoan SH .HE is arguably now the worlds best and should be wearing BLACK.

yappysnap wrote:Gotta say that HighlandersvChiefs game was mental, I loved every single moment of it.

Some fricking crazy skills on show there.

Have to agree Yappy. Ive watched that one of all of them 3 or 4 times since and it doesnt get much more high octane than that. Pretty loose stuff but geez it was quick.

Kia I'm a little concerned with the Saders this year particularly under Blackadder who for me is just too laid back. His last 4 sides should have won at least one title and this years side isnt as good as those, other than the same players have more experience.

But Blackadders not brought anything new. This year he says it'll be more expansive but what does that really mean with this side.
The energy will be all with the Blues tonight and the Saders wont have done well with sitting last week out- no one needs a bye first round.
Dunno, just not good signs...McCaw's watching Letterman, Dagg on the wing for Taylor? Whats that about?

Might be speaking too early and in 9 hours JK's boys might have got a lesson from the masters but somehow I cant see that happening.

For me the Chiefs are still the benchmark and the way they got back and throttled the Highlanders- who seem to have that end of game/ season trouble again- away says theyre not one hit wonders. They've got one serious side there- from 1-15.

5 tries to nil over the Saders?
aaaahh.the memories...

Ah the nightmares. Steve Cleeve, Shayne Philpott.

Can't say the result comes as a surprise. How on earth the organisers came up with a bye in the first real round is beyond me but that's not the cause of the defeat.

Good to see the Blues turn around last year's nightmare season and though I would never wish defeat on a coach to oust them, I hope Blackadder hears the alarm bells ringing and know the Crusaders are in for a long season if they don't pull finger.

Rangers thriving under this setup he was into everything. Dagg tried things but just kept meeting walls. Cant say it feels like the old days yet but its getting there. Had Daggs try been given things may have been different but mainly I'm just happy for the very long suffering Blues fans who now have something to look forward to every week. With the chiefs a slight power shift to the north?? and the ABs may look very different in a year or two.

Can't deny the influence the two departing AB coaches in Smith and Henry who both as co-pilots look to have brought huge gains in their sides in both attack and defence, many more ticks on the page than before either arrived.

Early days but having done his overseas coaching a successful sxv would put JK up there on the AB shortlist of coaches. As I say... early days...count chickens stuff...

Blackadder needs to find some energy from somewhere, the staleness at this time of the season definitely an alarm bell as you say Kia.

I am probably a little biased but that wasnt a bad performance by the Blues forwards last night, That Crusaders pack had only one player (Matt Todd) who hadnt played for the All Blacks. Also I cant recall the last time that Ali Williams played two 80 minute games of rugby.

aucklandlaurie wrote:
I am probably a little biased but that wasnt a bad performance by the Blues forwards last night, That Crusaders pack had only one player (Matt Todd) who hadnt played for the All Blacks. Also I cant recall the last time that Ali Williams played two 80 minute games of rugby.

Laurie...you are stepping carefully like me...

The feeling is that Auckland will once again be the powerhouse of world rugby.

i know its early days...but...!

Cheetahs were terrible, goosen was plain. gulf between the two.

I thought Auckland did look good the other day. Specifically, I liked their attacking on defence and their attacking the breakdown. Nice straight ahead running, too. But I also think they kept Crusaders in the match and were one referee's decision from having given up their big lead.

Point is, I am not sold on them - yet.
But its great to see them playing Rugby again and not whatever that was last season.

Steve Walsh really feels he is a rugby player and not a ref. Dropped the elbow into Conrad Smith. Hope he gets cited!

19 all and the Bulls 'feel' they have momentum so elect the lineout from a dead cert penalty. 12 phases later they get penalised and the Force score a try at the other end.

doctor_grey wrote:I thought Auckland did look good the other day. Specifically, I liked their attacking on defence and their attacking the breakdown. Nice straight ahead running, too. But I also think they kept Crusaders in the match and were one referee's decision from having given up their big lead. Point is, I am not sold on them - yet.
But its great to see them playing Rugby again and not whatever that was last season.

Well it did also help that the Crusaders dropped or knocked on every crucial pass, The Blues lineout just isnt up to Standard, and the only light at the end of that tunnel is that Anthony Boric may well be on board in three weeks time. lets just hope Ali can last that long, I think he's played more rugby in the last two weeks than he has in the last two years.

What was up with the Crusaders, even when they were under their own posts the team didn't look bothered! My third season watching SR and I haven't ever seen them look so lazy.

Really impressed with the Blues, their not the finished article by a long shot and looked very loose at times but the more they play/win the better they'll get. Ranger was class, there were about 5 of him on the pitch at times.

On a side note I really like the Blues shirt, might have to get myself one.

Yappy
Dont you worry when it comes to the business end of this competition the Crusaders will be there they treat it as a marathon and not a sprint.

The hard things for the Blues is that to make the semis (might be getting a bit ahead of myself) is that you have to finish in the top two of the New Zealand conference, with teams like the Highlanders that have the likes of Brad Thorn, Andrew Hore and Tamati Ellison to come back, not discounting the Chiefs and Hurricanes it makes this a develishly hard comp.

The Blues players are very privileged because the coaching duo of Kirwan and Henry will take them further than themselves ever thought possible.

Thats true laurie. Its no coincidence that the Blues look the top side after 2 rounds. Even the Chiefs battled first half. Kirwan and GH are bringing mana back to the Blues and as we know the region is well known for producing players.

In saying that after watching the Chiefs again today Goosen had a pretty good game. I dont know why hes not with one of the top two sides and Im picking he'll be injured by the RC. He needs a better side.

There's a clip of Steve Walsh shoving Smith here http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=10868852

Not real smart Steve

Gotta say that looks 50/50 Pete. Walsh is turning as he knocks into Smith and the impact is slight to say the least.

Can't really tell if it's intentional or not and he does apologise afterward either way.

No he got a 4 week ban downgraded to 3 for his previous clean record yappy and I think it was justified. A ref should be spindly and frail and look like a gust of wind would blow him over. Steve Walsh fancies himself as a rugby pin up boy but is the only ref who wears that pink strip with pride. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Walsh is a very good ref, but when he does things like this (I thought he was carrying a very bad attitude right from the start of the game) suggests that he's back on the syrup.

Walsh has always made the impression that he has a bit of an attitude.

I beleive he sees himself the equal physically to these professional players, as Kia says, referees must look and act like Kaplan, small enough so Locks can jump over you when in full flight, soft spoken as not to get the ire up from a prop ready to take on 900kgs of pure muscle (Ok, there is likely to be some fat tissue as well), soft hands, not for catching the ball, but your touch must not be seen as abrasive or agressive in any way, players like Schalk Burger, Ali Willams et all can sense aggression by mere touch alone.

Walsh is playing with fire, whether he apologised afterwards is neither here nor there, it proves he has an attitude, players with short fuses won't take kindly to that, they might push back.

What is Walsh going to do when a player pushes back, Card him?

Walsh, for me, has always seemed to carry a chip on his shoulder. Almost always with an attitude. I never know what I am going to see: A good referee who controls a game? A referee who is overly picky and thin skinned with players (or sometimes whole teams)?, or a referee who sees himself as the star of the show?

In other words, an unstable guy. I don't ever like seeing he will referee a match I am watching.

Me neither. Anyone who gets silly tattoos at his age needs his head read. He's an emotional show pony.

I think that tattoo on his arm is for when he is out on the town. When he can't focus on those letters he knows it i time to go home.


Either that, or he measures his vision by focusing on those letters in order for him to know when it is time to quit.

Or...he's missing Mel...

Walsh hasnt got a game this weekend, but I believe that was scheduled a few weeks back.

If I remember rightly, at the beginning of last years Sxv, he had some dusty performances but came right at the back end of the season.

He's in Europe doing the Ireland vs France game.

Ah, now thats a pretty good reason. Cheers Capt Quick.

Jeez if he pushes Brian O'Driscoll over he wont get back into the Hemisphere alive.