Super Rugby 2024

formerly known as Sam wrote:Mainly because Moana Pasifika was artificially created and then dropped into Auckland. If they were playing games around the islands they'd get better crowds.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Mainly because Moana Pasifika was artificially created and then dropped into Auckland. If they were playing games around the islands they'd get better crowds.

Collapse2005 wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Mainly because Moana Pasifika was artificially created and then dropped into Auckland. If they were playing games around the islands they'd get better crowds.

Seems a bit dodgy that a PI team would be based in NZ. All players racking up the five year residency requirement while playing super rugby for a PI side. Hmm.

carpet baboon wrote:Have the crusaders lost a lot of players?

Rugby Fan wrote:Western Force have just gone 30-15 up against the Crusaders with under six minutes left.

Can't recall a champion side imploding quite so quickly. The assumption has always been that the Crusdaders will make the Super Rugby play-offs despite a poor start but there must be some doubts creeping in now.

EDIT: The Force score on the stroke of full-time, and made it 37-15. The Crusaders are at the foot of the table.

Rugby Fan wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:Have the crusaders lost a lot of players?

Richie Mo’unga, Sam Whitelock, Leicester Fainga’anuku, Jack Goodhue and Sione Havili Talitui all left.

It's still a good squad but they've had injuries (Halfpenny will hardly feature)

Codie Taylor
Brodie McAlister
George Bell
Ioane Moananu
Joe Moody
Finlay Brewis
George Bower
Tamaiti Williams
Fletcher Newell
Scott Barrett (capt)
Quinten Strange
Tahlor Cahill
Zach Gallagher
Jamie Hannah
Ethan Blackadder
Cullen Grace
Tom Christie
Christian Lio-Willie
Corey Kellow
Dominic Gardiner
Noah Hotham
Mitchell Drummond
Willi Heinz
Fergus Burke
Taha Kemara
Rivez Reihana
David Havili
Dallas McLeod
Levi Aumua
Ryan Crotty
Jone Rova
Will Jordan
Sevu Reece
Macca Springer
Manasa Mataele
Chay Fihaki
Leigh Halfpenny
Heremaia Murray

A red and black season of misery has officially hit rock bottom. In a remarkable fall from grace, the reigning champion Crusaders occupy the wooden-spoon position after their embarrassing 37-15 defeat to the Force in Perth on Saturday night.

Now with one lousy win from eight games to their name, their second loss in Australia in as many weeks ensured they were leapfrogged by the previously last-placed Force, a team littered with journeymen.

In a season stacked with lame performances, this one takes the cake as the worst of all.

Poor discipline, bad defensive reads, a faltering lineout, loose carries, questionable decision-making, an overly lateral attack, an ongoing inability to exit their half efficiently - the list goes on.

And, perhaps most telling of all when it comes to gauging where the Crusaders’ heads are at, they coughed up two rolling maul tries to the Force.

Yes, remember when rumbling over the chalk via a lineout drive against the Crusaders was considered so difficult teams didn’t even bother trying it?

At the other end of the field, for what felt like the umpteenth time this year, the Crusaders made a meal of a lineout 5m from the line, the area of the field they once punished teams with brutal and ruthless efficiency...

...Dead last but still only six points outside the top-eight, the Crusaders remain alive.

But it’s increasingly difficult to imagine them featuring in the playoffs after their latest stinker, even with Scott Barrett and David Havili due back from injury.

What’s clear is their body language said a lot when things went wrong in Perth.

bsando wrote:I’m sad for their fans but to be honest the Rebels should have gone a lot a sooner. Rugby Australia made the wrong call by originally dropping the force. 

Anyway, onwards and upwards! There’s a World Cup and lions tour coming their way so Union is far from dead. There needs to be growth in the domestic game though, any kind of growth would be good. I think a bit of pragmatism is required after several lost decades.

Welshmushroom wrote:From articles I read in Australia the real big threat to them is actually the NRL.  Basically they can't afford to keep the young talent playing Union.  NRL are hovering a lot of the promising talent up leaving Union to have to work with youngsters that are not their best talents.  

Regarding Super rugby I think they are in real trouble now.  The population simply isnt there to get the big TV deals and now the SA have left there is even less viewership coming from other parts of the world.  

Tonga and Samoa are poor expansion options simply because of their populations alone.  Fiji is big enough but all 3 areas suffer from the fact they are not wealthy nations.  Australia I think are losing the NRL battle, which in my view only really leaves Japan as they do have a massive audience they could get some big TV revenues out of.  

The World Club cup thing is a total gamble as well because if Europe doesnt take it seriously then I doubt they will be able to gain big revenues out of it.  Maybe if they do it could help shore up some of the finances as a interim until they actually can work a financially sound plan for super rugby.

Rugby Fan wrote:The Rebels have an important game tomorrow against the Fijian Drua.

The Drua need to win to secure the final play-off spot. If they lose, they can be overtaken by the Crusaders, who are currently beating Moana Pasifika.

Hard to know if Rebels players will bust a gut, or look to save their bodies.