Super Rugby 2016 Season

First topic message reminder :

Here's a thread for stray observations on this season's matches.

The Blues just pulled off an exciting 33-31 win over the Highlanders, while the Brumbies are comfortably ahead of the Hurricanes at half time.

Despite dire thoughts the S18 has produced,some very good matches.
The new boys bar the Kings have some had good moments,Nz franchises
plus the Lions have been the pick to date.
Three NZ sides in the last four plus the Lions,in SF after very good QFs.
For me The Hurricanes match was all our yesterdays,violent storms at
the old Athletic park,placers for goal kicks,even a player"rabbiting"
for an attempted try.
Chiefs and Canes look likely to lose there Captains,Final prediction.
Lions v Chiefs at Ellis park,Lions win.

The penultimate week end of Super rugby is finally here.

Hurricanes play the Chiefs in Wellington and Lions host the Highlanders in Johannesburg.

Hurricanes season ticket holders get free quarter and semi and final tickets this year. Yeeehhaaa

Hurricanes-Chiefs is going to be a hell of a clash, hard to predict too.

I should probably mention the results when these teams met earlier in the round robin part of the comp:

Round 3: Highlanders 34...Lions 15.

Round 9: Chiefs 28...Hurricanes 27.

and if everything comes down to a Hurricanes / Lions final.

Round 10: Hurricanes 50...Lions 17.

Fantastic play by Beauden Barrett to create the first try for the Hurricanes in their semi-final against the Chiefs.

The Chiefs scrum half made a break but lost it forward when he was snagged. Barrett collected the loose ball and ran it back. He chipped the oncoming defenders, collected his kick and then hared towards the touchline on the diagonal. He was brought down just short but managed to flip the ball up to a player who had a free run to the line.

The commentators wondered whether any player in rugby is as influential right now as Barrett, and it's hard to think of anyone else.

Well, he did miss the conversion, so he's not perfect.

The try was a worldie. Real class from Barrett. He's currently outshining Cruden.

The ref I've never heard of and seems to have difficulty pinging the attacking team. Why isn't an international level ref taking charge of this one?

Barrett has just taken an intercept and scored under the posts.

The Chiefs had an easy penalty to lead 5-6 bit chose a scrum and got bundled into touch. Following that, they gave away a penalty, and now that intercept, and are down 15-3.

I can't think of many NH sides who would have chosen to scrum over an easy kick to take the lead in a knock-out match.

Loved the dummy from the base from TJP, the Chiefs are so used to him exploding from the base of the scrum and linking with the 8 they all went with him. Vito picks up dummies and then goes the other way and creams the poor winger who's defending on the try line.

Strange game. Chiefs have had plenty of chances but keep making bad choices and blowing it in the opposition 22. Couldn't even score with a man advantage.

25-9 to the Hurricanes.

Can't help feeling the whole game changed when the Chiefs turned down that penalty to go ahead and, minutes later, were 15-3 down.

Lions playing second 15 has backfired IF they win today,they travel
to NZ to meet the Hurricanes.
May still win but will have to do it at sea level and maybe in wetweather
mode.

The Chiefs couldn't live with the Hurricanes oppressive defence. It's similar to how Sarries have played in recent years. Turning defence unto a weapon that doesn't allow the opposition to settle into their game. Chiefs had territory and at one stage a man advantage but just lacked composure. Cruden and Cane may lose their starting AB shirts on the back of that performance as well.

Looking forward to the Lions game. Fielding the second fifteen hasn't worked in terms of round draw but we'll have to see if their players are looking fresher today. No Whiteley is a big loss as every time I've seen him play he's been epic.

formerly known as Sam wrote:The Chiefs couldn't live with the Hurricanes oppressive defence. It's similar to how Sarries have played in recent years. Turning defence unto a weapon that doesn't allow the opposition to settle into their game. Chiefs had territory and at one stage a man advantage but just lacked composure.

It's funny how the perception of time can be so different. Sometimes you feel the game isn't over, even when a team is behind by more than three scores, with only 10 minutes to go. With this game, it just seemed that the Chiefs were out of it well before that stage.

Rugby Fan wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:The Chiefs couldn't live with the Hurricanes oppressive defence. It's similar to how Sarries have played in recent years. Turning defence unto a weapon that doesn't allow the opposition to settle into their game. Chiefs had territory and at one stage a man advantage but just lacked composure.

It's funny how the perception of time can be so different. Sometimes you feel the game isn't over, even when a team is behind by more than three scores, with only 10 minutes to go. With this game, it just seemed that the Chiefs were out of it well before that stage.

Possession and territory are only useful if you can do something with it. I never felt that the Chiefs were ever likely to open up the Canes. I think the Chiefs should have looked at building three point scores as opposed for continuing to plug away chasing a the try. If you under pressure then drop goals and penalties all add up.

Every time the Hurricanes had the ball they were creating half breaks and stretching the Chiefs defence. Despite losing three key players to European clubs and Milner-Skudder to a season long injury they look better this season than last.

emack2 wrote:Lions playing second 15 has backfired IF they win today,they travel to NZ to meet the Hurricanes.

The Lions are looking good for the win at the moment.

How is this seen in the south? On the one hand, I suppose you can say Ackerman's strategy gave his team the resources to beat two NZ sides, when Lions players tired by travel might have suffered.

If the Lions take the title, then it's moot. A lost final, though, will raise questions about whether they might have trusted themselves to win when players were more stretched.

The home crowd for the Lions sounds quite intimidating, so it's quite an advantage to concede.

First time I have seen a relatively full crowd for a Lions match. Good to see.
Unfortunately, we can't judge if playing many of their seconds in that match backfired or not. We don't know how stretched or beat up their players were. It is amazing how even a week off can recharge the batteries after a long season.

All I do know is we should have a ripping final.

Agreed Doc it should be a hell of a final.

The Lions clearly looked to have more energy than the Highlanders today, maybe that break did help.

Lions will have to travel for the final though.. Big difference, i feel.

I hope they can get the win though. That would be epic.

VinceWLB wrote:Lions will have to travel for the final though.. Big difference, i feel.

I hope they can get the win though. That would be epic.

I hope they win, too. Would be a great story. I was in Jo'burg earlier this year, a week or two before the Super Rugby season started, and none of the locals I spoke with thought the Lions were anything but cannon fodder for the big boys.

Barrett and Savea exceptional. Will be interesting to see who Hansen goes for as starters in the Rugby Championship between them and Cruden and Cane.
Hadn't seen any Lions games until the game against the Highlanders, very impressed. Jaco Kriel for the Lions was superb. Great finish from the crossfield kick and an unbelievable try saving tackle. Any chance he will get a look in for the Rugby Championship?

Weather has completely ruined it for me, i wish this had been played in dry conditions in South Africa..

Well that was completely rubbish.

Bit tough there Vince.

Hurricanes won two tries to none.
Beauden Barrett is the most influential rugby player in the Southern Hemisphere.

More than 50 points would have been scored had it been played in South Africa, not sure who would have won but this sure would have been a much better spectacle.

Jaguares "tank" came back to bite the Lions right in the arse in the end..

I suppose if the game had been played in SA then the Hurricanes would have won by more.

You're certainly right about Barrett there Laurie. Out goes Carter and up steps Barrett, NZ have another one! And if BB fancies a rest then I guess the ABs will just have to rely on Cruden, meh.

Just read that the Canes did not concede a single try throughout the entire playoff stages. 

That is absolutely unbelievable. No other team has done that before. 

Another defensive masterclass tonight - the line speed is incredible.

That is some record.

Watched that preseason with the Hurricanes on Sky last night and wanted them to win after that.

Obviously I've seen it before enough times but I love Barrett's pace. Great work for his try. Jane took his try really well too.

I thought the major difference was that one fly half seemed to excel under the pressure and the other let the pressure get to him. Considering the weather conditions it was a good game though some of the tactical kicking was dodge.

RiscaGame wrote:That is some record.

Watched that preseason with the Hurricanes on Sky last night and wanted them to win after that.

Obviously I've seen it before enough times but I love Barrett's pace. Great work for his try. Jane took his try really well too.

Watched preseason with the Hurricanes to. Great stuff.
Good to watch.

Only saw a bit of the game today.

mikey_dragon wrote:You're certainly right about Barrett there Laurie. Out goes Carter and up steps Barrett, NZ have another one! And if BB fancies a rest then I guess the ABs will just have to rely on Cruden, meh.

Personally Mikey at the moment I would rate Lima Sapoaga ahead of Cruden.

Good game in the conditions,great defence both sides.
Lions have arguably been best team overall this year.
HAD the played first team v Jaguars may have had
home title.BUT if they`d travelled to Argentina with
level playing field.
May have lost at QF/SF stage travel factor is the killer
in these comps.

aucklandlaurie wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:You're certainly right about Barrett there Laurie. Out goes Carter and up steps Barrett, NZ have another one! And if BB fancies a rest then I guess the ABs will just have to rely on Cruden, meh.

Personally Mikey at the moment I would rate Lima Sapoaga ahead of Cruden.

I wouldn't know pal but I'll take your word for it. He must be a good option to have if he's better than Cruden. When you consider the five-eights that Crusaders have lost too the depth in these positions for NZ is frighteningly good.

Does Sapoaga play for Highlanders?

mikey_dragon wrote:

aucklandlaurie wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:You're certainly right about Barrett there Laurie. Out goes Carter and up steps Barrett, NZ have another one! And if BB fancies a rest then I guess the ABs will just have to rely on Cruden, meh.

Personally Mikey at the moment I would rate Lima Sapoaga ahead of Cruden.

I wouldn't know pal but I'll take your word for it. He must be a good option to have if he's better than Cruden. When you consider the five-eights that Crusaders have lost too the depth in these positions for NZ is frighteningly good.

Does Sapoaga play for Highlanders?

Yes he does, take a look at the video in the link below:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/80490090/Highlanders-first-five-Lima-Sopoaga-bamboozles-Hurricanes-with-audacious-chip-kick

As an afterthought just how many JWC players are written off because
they did not play for the winners[each time]
The Barrett clan following the Whitelocks in NZ,mark 2 Scott is a very
promising lock with the Crusaders.
Mark 3 revealed this year at 10/12 looks potentially to be better than
Beauden

What happened to Colin Slade? He was meant to be pretty good too wasn't he?

Oh and don't forget just how good that Hurricanes 9 is. He helps to make BB look so good.