2015 Super Rugby Season

The place for all things Super Rugby.  

Here we can discuss the latest team news, results, upcoming fixtures, referees performances, crowd behaviour, the cheerleaders....

George & Canelion: I've converted your Round 3 and Round 6 threads into the "super" Super Rugby Thread. A few others included in there too.

Check the links below for fixtures, results and the table.

2014 Table

2014 Results
 

   

You cursed them!   

Yeah I agree. The Crusaders will most likely finish strongly in the conference. Just one of those matches where the Blues got on a point scoring roll for a while and racked up some points. The Crusaders blew a few chances to get closer in the end. Where was Benji? Is he injured?

Maybe we need a weekly Super XV Thread. Kia, do you mind if we convert this one into the Week 3 one?

The Rebels are playing some thrilling rugby against the Cheetahs. Scott Higginbotham has just scored in the corner in the 81st minute to make it 35-14. A little surprised at that scoreline... I tipped the Cheetahs but maybe they were right last night on Rugby HQ when they said that the Rebels have a decent and stable core even with Drew Mitchell and Kurtley Beale out of the mix.

Go for it mate. I picked the Waratahs as well so I've cursed you on that one as well probably!

Don't worry... I picked them as well.

Thanks mate. I'll rename your title and list the matches somewhere up above.

There's some very good, young players in that Blues side. Pretty sure Tevita Li was still at school last year.

Kirwan tapping into the pool of talent that Auckland has but hasn't taken advantage off

Rebels look like a pretty good outfit and their title of 'new boys' should be discarded. I feel a play off position is well in their grasp.

Interested to see how the Lions fare after their amazing start too.

Sorry Kia, gotta disagree. The Blues attack will light this superxv up this year. Yes they have pack problems but my thinking is we are back to open play being the dominant force in todays game. I don't think the Saders have enough on atack to rip those matches at the death thats needed these days. Not being able to protect a 17-3 lead says something...you can't take the blues for granted. Obviously sides will try to shut them down but I think we are going to be in for many second half Blues efforts as we have seen in their first two games. Theyre finishing stronger.

And in Li, Halai, Moala, Piatau, Saili...whew...what a backline...

Taylorman, What did you think of Simon Hickey? Last night was his first game of Super rugby, a couple of months ago we had a thread over on the Interantional section on up and coming players in our different countries. I predicted Hickey to be the All black first five at the world cup in 2019, I still hold that opinion.

We got to see how he goes in SA though.

Seemed weird to see Jamie Mackintosh playing for Chiefs. And with no hair, to boot.
Why did he move north?

If anyone is watching the Waratahs-Reds match, that Folau lad is putting on a bit of a show. Good player, that one.

The Waratahs have got the Reds on toast at the moment.

Pleased to see that last try called back for a forward pass, though. I think a couple of passes by the Waratahs have looked the wrong side of flat during this game.

As I'm typing, Folau has just picked up a yellow card for intentionally throwing the ball into touch. He swept it away with his hand while covering back as a Reds play was bearing down. You have to suspect he didn't have sufficient rugby union instincts to know that was wrong.

The result is a Reds try just at the end of the first half.

Great running back. The combo with Beale is exciting to watch too.

Agree. Seems to make the Waratah's team much better. More go-forwards. More confidence.

aucklandlaurie wrote:
Taylorman, What did you think of Simon Hickey? Last night was his first game of Super rugby, a couple of months ago we had a thread over on the Interantional section on up and coming players in our different countries. I predicted Hickey to be the All black first five at the world cup in 2019, I still hold that opinion.

We got to see how he goes in SA though.

To be honest hardly noticed him last year. Did very well and strange he wasnt mentioned or involved I anything up until now. I thought it was another JK out of the blue shot but he looks the goods. I still think Noakes will have a say with more gametime. Hes coming of injury so needs time to gain confidence.

Blues are now very spoilt in the backs with serious power out wide. And is there room for Nonu and Marshall? South Africa could be good for them with the fast tracks. Kaino needs to add some grit to the pack which is going to be our archilles, especially at the start of matches as weve seen so far. Dont know if I can take these 15-20 starts were giving so far.

I hope you're right to a great extent Tman. That is one hell of a backline and they'll be a treat to watch if they are allowed to let loose. They seem to be the inverse of the Crusaders who have lost firepower in Fruean and lack that power in the backs. They will rely on front foot ball created by their backs and the speed of the back three.

I just fear in SA teams will see the weaknesses of the Blues and shut down their strengths. Hope I'm proved wrong.

Highlanders look useful taking the Chiefs down to the wire. Rebels looked handy. NSW look like they can finally deliver the goods again with a thrashing of the Reds. Hurricanes just fall short in Cape Town.

Some interesting rugby to come where results will iron out the anomalies. Looks like for the moment Chiefs, NSW and maybe Sharks or Stormers heading their conferences.

I recognise some of the Baby Boks playing for the Bulls, and I think they're still eligible for U20 duty.

Bulls lost many players last season, so they do have a very young team

There seems to be new players in the SA Super 15 teams each season... I'm assuming Bulls lost players to France? I recognised that big lump Jacques Du Plessis. Always good to see the U20s make it to the professional level.

Bulls looked almost like a youth team with one good old crusty custodian taking the kinders under his wing.

Matfield, though old in body seems to have had a sufficient calming effect on the Bulls, such that they regained composure against the Lions

Cheetahs are looking very rusty, there previous wins thus far have not been very convincing, and now they lose to the Rebels (Who are not, I'd have thought, the pick of the Aussie crop)

And what's up with the Crusaders? I haven't watched their games, but 0 from 2!!!

Crusaders are lacking firepower in their backs. Frueans gone to the Chiefs and Dagg and the rest are so so to poor. They missed a kicker vs the Chiefs- missed 7 shots at goal all up and vs the Blues surrendered a 17-3 lead to give away 32 unanswered points when the Blues backs cut loose.

Read didnt play the first and now McCaws out for 8 weeks with a broken thumb so lots of work to do. Chiefs are once again the frontrunners. Blues have the backs but are lacking up front so once again don't have that across the field consistency that sides like the Chiefs, Sharks and the Warratahs seem to be turning up with at this early stage.

Agree that the Saders look a bit limp in a backline. Take away Crotty and what have you got? I think that Slade is good, but doesn't have Dagg's razzle dazzle or the ability to pick a line and gas defenders. I am not being funny, but can someone tell me who Tom Taylor is?

Blues look like what we thought they'd be like - slightly underpowered pack, sparkling backline. The off-factor in their win from what I saw was their huge defensive performance.

Chiefs are definitely the team to beat - no obvious weaknessess and in Cruden possibly the best 10 in the world at the moment.

Yes Crudens at a level of consistency unmatched by anyone at the mo, doing it all, even slotting sideline match winning goals. The hype in Oz is all about the Warratahs and Folau and that was proved well and truly.

Agree George re the Blues defence- bar the tries the saders scored! but that and their open play attack could be what offsets the losses theyll have up front. If the Blues win this year you can bet there will be some scintillating rugby such is the ground they need to make up.

Benji will probably be consigned to the back of the field as he wont get the front foot ball he'll need to warm into the 10 role. Blues can't afford the training time.

George Carlin wrote:Agree that the Saders look a bit limp in a backline. Take away Crotty and what have you got? I think that Slade is good, but doesn't have Dagg's razzle dazzle or the ability to pick a line and gas defenders. I am not being funny, but can someone tell me who Tom Taylor is?

Blues look like what we thought they'd be like - slightly underpowered pack, sparkling backline. The off-factor in their win from what I saw was their huge defensive performance.

Chiefs are definitely the team to beat - no obvious weaknessess and in Cruden possibly the best 10 in the world at the moment.

This is unfair! NZ has had enough 'best no. 10's in the world'. They should jolly well learn to share. Gosh!

To be fair, I still think that Quade Cooper is the best passer of the ball in world rugby and Patrick Lambie will be a very good servant to the Boks for quite a while. Match the vision and urgency of Cooper with the game management and kicking of Lambie and what have you got? Er, Cruden.

In Scotland, we're all praying like hell that the new SQ 10 which my team Glasgow are rumoured to be signing is Robbie Robinson from the Chiefs. He is Scotland qualified thanks to his mum and will hopefully see the sense at this stage of his career in making like Sean Maitland did and coming over here in order to have a pop at international rugby.

Does anyone know anything about this hip injury that he's supposed to be carrying, though?

The Bulls and Stormers need new coaching staff, LUdeke and Coetzee has been there since 2008 and have stagnated in the way they read the modern game.

Jake White believes in structures but also a balanced play, so the Sharks should do well this season, Cheetahs were totally outplayed by the Rebels and I fear they are crashing down to earth hard.

Lions just doesn't have the talent or depth, they have already lost Lionel Mapoe and Derek Minnie.

Stormers arrive in Christchurch with severe flooding. Not sure if the game will go ahead in the stadium. Addington might be away from harm's way. My thoughts go out to the Chch whanau. Poor guys can't seem to catch a lucky break. Maybe adversity will galvanise the Crusaders team.

Is there a super rugby section on 606 as I wanted to ask some questions

You can ask them right here mate, we don't have a seperate section.

Alternatively you can open you own thread and fire away.

Ive been doing some research into sports leagues and especially into closed shop leagues and promotion systems. My question is does expansion in a closed league really dilute the quality in the long term or does expanding the league help to find new talent in markets that weren't served before and produce more players to the pool in the future. Any thoughts and ideas are appeciated.

I think there is a careful balance that needs to be maintained.

South Africa for example (if they were capable financially) could sustain 6 top teams with their player base, but it depends from nation to nation.

Australia for example has Rugby League and Union, which affects the number of teams they could sustain, currently they fill their stocks with quite a number of overseas players to fill their 5 super rugby franchises, which if they only had one code would not have been an issue.

I think the structures below that plays a big role in developing enough talent.

If you have a bottom to top approach to structures then I suppose you could work on a rule of thumb of let's say 1/6, in other words for every tier you develop you need 6 teams/clubs below that tier of well coached teams.

The question when I look at South zafrica is how many amateur clubs there is in an area represented by a Super Rugby Franchise and how many of those clubs are in fact taking their development seriously.

It is no use to have 20 clubs in an area and 18 of those clubs struggle to stay afloat or retaining players.

I suspect it is difficult to have a hard and fast rule on how many pro teams are too many.

Just my thoughts

Friday 7th March:

Hurricanes 21 v 29 Brumbies
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
19:35 local, 06:35 GMT, 17:35 EDT, 17:05 CDT, 14:35 WST
Highlights: http://www.superxv.com/video/hurricanes-v-brumbies-rd4-2014-super-rugby-video/hurricanes-v-brumbies-rd4-2014-super-rugby-video-video_489278905.html

Reds 43 v 33 Cheetahs
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
18:40 local, 08:40 GMT, 19:40 EDT, 19:10 CDT, 16:40 WST
Highlights: http://www.superxv.com/video/reds-vs-cheetahs-rd4-2014-super-rugby-video-highlights/reds-vs-cheetahs-rd4-2014-super-rugby-video-highlights-video_0c5cdb626.html


Saturday 8th March:

Crusaders 14 v 13 Stormers
Rugby League Park, Christchurch
19:35 local, 06:35 GMT, 17:35 EDT, 17:05 CDT, 14:35 WST
Highlights: http://www.superxv.com/video/crusaders-v-stormers-rd4-2014-super-rugby-video-highlights/crusaders-v-stormers-rd4-2014-super-rugby-video-highlights-video_2334cdd4a.html

Force 32 v Rebels 7
NIB Stadium, Perth
16:40 local, 08:40 GMT, 19:40 EDT, 19:10 CDT, 16:40 WST
Highlights: http://www.superxv.com/video/western-force-v-rebels-rd4-2014-super-rugby-video-highlights/western-force-v-rebels-rd4-2014-super-rugby-video-highlights-video_cc49fa88f.html

Bulls 38 v Blues 22
Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
17:05 local, 15:05 GMT, 02:05 EDT +1d, 01:35 CDT +1d, 23:05 WST
Highlights: http://www.superxv.com/video/bulls-v-blues-rd4-2014-super-rugby-video-highlights/bulls-v-blues-rd4-2014-super-rugby-video-highlights-video_1cd41e9e7.html

Sharks 37 v Lions 23
Kings Park Stadium, Durban
19:10 local, 17:10 GMT, 04:10 EDT +1d, 03:40 CDT +1d, 01:10 WST +1d
Paul Jordaan try: http://www.superxv.com/video/jordaan-sharks-try-vs-lions-2014-super-rugby-video/jordaan-sharks-try-vs-lions-2014-super-rugby-video-video_1fc76c978.html (full highlights to follow)

The Chiefs, Highlanders and Tahs have the bye

Thought we'd set up a weekly live chat thread - alternatively we could have one long rolling one.
Let us know what you'd prefer.

The venue for the Crusaders-Stormers match is in doubt due to heavy rain and flooding.

Brumbies currently leading the Hurricanes 22-16 at Westpac.
Mogg, Coleman and Kuridrani have all scored the tries for the Brumbies whilst Perenara has gone over for the Canes.

Sad about Pocock's injury again but the Brumbies look very switched on.

Great try from McCaffrey who handled it twice. Some snappy passing as they worked it down the outside channel.

Typical... I tipped the Canes of course. I need my head read.
I thought the Canes would counter-attack a lot better and show more spirit but they seem shell-shocked.

29-16

Big Thommo crashes over in the corner now but Barrett misses the conversion.
Final score 29-21 as the clock ticks over 80:00. Bonus point missed by the Canes.

Didn't see the Canes-Brumbies. Was it a good match? I am surprised the Canes didn't pull it off. For the Brumbies, losing Pocock again is huge (in the bad way).

Is it true Smith may come back to them a fill in player?

Welly, there was talk of him coming back again according to John Eales on Rugby HQ last night.

Match wasn't that riveting Doc but the Brumbies simply looked hungrier at the breakdown and showed a bit more zip overall.

The Reds scored a 43-33 point win over the Cheetahs at Suncorp. They played much better than last week. Some magic balls from QC (also some dodgy borderline ones) but they played a fast paced game. The Cheetahs struck back a few times but could never quite keep up with the Reds. All players looked knackered by the end of it.

Heard something on the web soon after the injury news.

 Smith would add vast experpiance and I he plays like he did last season then he has still got it. 

 The reds are looking very dangerous again this year. As said Cooper looks to be in a happy place.

In a pragmatic world, Brumbies and Rebels would trade a playmaker for a 7 as too many 10/12s in Canberra and too many opensides in Melbourne. If it was a Lilo swap for Colby, it would even be a homecoming for each of them. Sadly never gonna happen though.

How is Beauden Barrett doing this season?

barret's going fine, he (in fact all the backs) could just do with a bit more support from his forwards.

Would anyone else agree that the Reds Cheetahs game would have to be one of the fastest games of rugby weve seen for a long time?

aucklandlaurie wrote:
Would anyone else agree that the Reds Cheetahs game would have to be one of the fastest games of rugby weve seen for a long time?

Totally. I felt buggered watching it. Brisbane is an energy sapping place this time of year... yet the Reds, especially, just kept up the intensity.

yes good game, especially the start. Reckon the Stormers might give the saders a go tonight. I think the Saders have lost some of their magic and are playing off past reputation.

Very poor defence by the Reds and especially the Cheetahs in that game.

I think that was a reflection of the pace/mileage of the game, there was one period in the first half where they had a 10minutes between scrums, every time the ball went into touch there was a quick throw in, the defenses just couldnt stay with the game, in fact the teams liked it when a try was scored cause that was their only chance to have a blow.