Five of the best: The top five performers from round nine of Super Rugby Aotearoa
It came a week earlier than most would have liked, but the Crusaders have emerged from round nine of Super Rugby Aotearoa as inaugural champions of the Kiwi domestic league.
Needing just a win to get past a visiting Highlanders side full of intent, Scott Robertson’s men were put under the pump for the majority of the contest before a yellow card to Sio Tomkinson and a pair of George Bridge tries swung the momentum drastically.
The 32-22 result leaves the Blues and Hurricanes out of contention to budge the Crusaders out of top spot, making this week’s highly-anticipated Blues vs Crusaders re-match at Eden Park effectively a dead rubber.
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, will travel to Dunedin to take on the Highlanders after condemning the Chiefs to a winless campaign on Saturday.
Their 31-18 victory at Sky Stadium in Wellington means the Chiefs have lost all eight of their games for the season, putting an end to a horror run of results in Warren Gatland’s maiden year with his hometown franchise.
With all that in mind, here are the five best performers from the weekend gone by.
Shannon Frizell (Highlanders)
Bruising, confrontational and utterly destructive on either side of the ball.
That’s one way you could describe Shannon Frizell, who has been playing like a man possessed for the Highlanders this year.
That hot run of form didn’t diminish against the Crusaders either – just ask first-five Richie Mo’unga.
The star first-five felt the full brunt of Frizell’s powerhouse ability on attack, used as nothing more than a hit shield en route to the loose forward’s opening minute try before being ploughed over the top of during a charging run later in the second half.
The Highlanders tried their hardest but couldn't quite get the job done against a champion Crusaders outfit. Here's how the southerners rated ??https://t.co/TMdPcVfOIV
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 9, 2020
Finishing the match with 46 running metres, three defenders beaten, two clean breaks and a whopping 15 tackles from 16 attempts, there’s little more for the nine-test All Black to prove to Ian Foster with one round to go in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Much hype has been centred around Hoskins Sotutu as a potential starter for the national side, but don’t rule out Frizell from partnering Sam Cane and Ardie Savea from the No. 6 jersey in the loose forward mix.
Dillon Hunt (Highlanders)
Often going unnoticed or unheralded for the sheer amount of defensive work he has done throughout the tournament, Dillon Hunt certainly caught the eye with a standout performance against the Crusaders in Christchurch.
Normally flourishing in the defensive aspect of the game, where he shines as a top tackler and constant turnover threat, the one-test All Blacks openside flanker proved his worth with ball in hand on multiple occasions at Orangetheory Stadium.
There were no theatrics from Scott Robertson on Sunday, despite the Crusaders being crowned #SuperRugbyAotearoa champions.https://t.co/5AbVrZRfcW
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 9, 2020
Running with the ball eight times, Hunt made 50 metres – the most of any Highlanders forward – after beating three defenders and making a clean break.
His imminent presence around the ball proved threatening all game for the Crusaders, but he didn’t abandon his defensive duties either.
Hunt finished the match with 14 tackles – second only to Frizell – and managed to pinch two turnovers in an all-round display that highlighted his workmanlike ability that has been crucial for the Highlanders this season.
Richie Mo’unga (Crusaders)
It would be difficult to leave Richie Mo’unga out of the conversation when discussing who should win the Super Rugby Aotearoa Player of the Year award.
That’s how influential the 26-year-old playmaker has been for the Crusaders in their tilt for a fourth straight title, and he was again in the thick of things against the Highlanders.
He scored one try, assisted another, contributed a further 12 points off the boot and ran for 94 metres, making three clean breaks – one of which was key to George Bridge’s first try and another that should have been finished by Bryn Hall – in doing so.
Add to that his nine tackles from 11 attempts and turnover steal to boot, and the statistics sheet alone indicates how valuable a player Mo’unga is to both the Crusaders and New Zealand rugby.
That’s not even taking into account the intangibles, like his composure on the ball, ability to control the game and innate vision, and it’s a mix of all those factors that has led many nationwide to call for him to start at the All Blacks’ No. 10.
Peter Umaga-Jensen (Hurricanes)
Speaking of All Blacks selection, is it too late in Super Rugby Aotearoa for new bolter contenders to state their case for a national call-up?
That seems to be what young Hurricanes midfielder Peter Umaga-Jensen is doing at the moment, as he continued his good form that first skyrocketed against the Crusaders two weeks ago and carried it into Saturday’s clash with the Chiefs.
Within half an hour, the nephew of former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga had bagged a brace of tries, with his bulking 1.87m, 102kg frame difficult for the Chiefs to contain.
Don't be surprised to hear calls for Peter Umaga-Jensen to earn a surprise call-up to the All Blacks squad in the wake of the Hurricanes' #SuperRugbyAotearoa clash with the Chiefs. #HURvCHI https://t.co/UiZguPgqfA
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 8, 2020
In scoring his second, Umaga-Jensen showed he isn’t just a one-trick pony, as it was his pace, vision and distribution that put Wes Goosen into space down the sideline, while it was his follow up play to support his wing that earned him the try.
With Ngani Laumape likely to be out for quite some time with his broken forearm, could Umaga-Jensen be a wildcard replacement for his franchise teammate in Foster’s 35-man squad?
Josh Ioane (Highlanders)
One man who did a world of wonder to advancing his All Blacks selection prospects over the weekend was Josh Ioane, who earned his second straight start for the Highlanders since a lengthy injury lay-off.
His performance against the Crusaders showed no signs of rustiness, though, as he emulated his opposite Mo’unga in the way he played.
Ioane found gaps that few others would have been able to identify, let alone exploit, but that’s exactly what the one-test All Blacks playmaker did to devastating effect.
Born in Auckland but playing for Otago, Josh Ioane has opened up about how he feels playing for the South Island in the upcoming North vs South clash.https://t.co/GO0RqCLcUq
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 5, 2020
Whether it was his vision, footwork or passing skill set, the 25-year-old ran the Crusaders amuck, registering 89 running metres, three clean breaks, nine defenders beaten, two offloads and seven points from the boot.
The potential he wields is undeniable, and one would think he’s shown enough of it to win a re-call back into Foster’s squad after missing last year’s World Cup, but Ioane will have one more game in Highlanders colours to state his case against the Hurricanes next week.
Comments on RugbyPass
Ireland Reign Supreme? Really? Of the 6 nations two (Wales and Italy) were not contenders for the title. No credit to Ireland for beating them. A further nation (France) was off the boil. So it was really more like a 3N tournament. Of the two remaining Irish opponents, one (England) is in rebuild but still managed to beat Ireland. The other (Scotland) was an Irish win, but hardly a beating. It was pretty close, despite being an Irish home game. Ireland were excellent early last year, but this year they struggled to win a 6N tournament that should have been unusually easy for them to win. They were not dominant against the better teams, and they certainly don’t Reign Supreme. Let’s hope they reinvigorate their attack before the SA trip.
3 Go to commentsThanks Nick, and totally correct. Definately too many teams which is unfortunately an effect of the 21st century hubris that began after our 2nd World Cup win. Honestly we weren't like that before then. If NZ beat us in a Rugby League or cricket series (which has occasionally happened) they don't all of a sudden think they are our equal or even better than us. Unfortunately for Australia, we got carried away with ourselves and wanted to jump from 4th biggest football code to biggest…in 5 minutes. More teams, more matches against the All Blacks (so we could beat them even more). Bring it on. It’s been all down hill since then. Assuming Melbourne are gone, there are very good reasons to keep the remaining 4 in SR, or so it would seem. The Force?…wronged previously, and have $s. Surely not. The Brumbies?….easily the best performed. Surely not. The Waratahs?….most players (50%) and most followers. Surely not. The Reds?….easily the best current team, and nearly as many players and followers as the Waratahs. Surely not. I’d argue that based on how strong the combined Reds n Rebs would be and how strong a combined team of all of the other Oz SR teams would be, we have players for 2 teams…..which would be good. Good enough for a propper SR competition…or maybe good enough for Japan….if they’ll have us. Existing SR teams?….keep them and have them play a second tier…or maybe NZ's NRC….if they'll have us. This is biting the bullet. We have the cattle
1 Go to commentsbest news and very helpful
4 Go to commentsA year ago Ireland and France looked impressive. In this 6N neither looked special. Both have lost good players, but more importantly teams have figured out how to shut them down. In particular the Irish loss to a rebuilding England and the home game struggle against a brave Scotland did nothing to prove that the Irish RWC result was undeserved. If the Scots can shut down the Irish attack, then SA can do so with interest. Rassie will have watched that game with confidence. Farrell is smart, and the Irish team is talented, so we should expect a more creative game plan in SA. But if all they bring is what they showed against Scotland then Ireland is going to struggle against the Boks. It was a fun 6N tournament, but the win for Ireland was as much about weak competition as about Irish brilliance. It was mostly due to France being off the boil, Wales and Italy not being contenders, and Scotland being a home game. England are looking much better, but “much better” should not be enough to topple a team that is supposed by some to be The Best in the World. I hope that Ireland can bump it up a notch or two for the Bok tour. A year ago they were fantastic to watch. It would be great to see that again.
24 Go to commentsLooking forward to the Wallabies being competitive again. No doubt that Joe can get them back on track.
1 Go to commentsThanks, Nick, not only for this fine article, but for all the others during 6N 2024. I really enjoyed this 2024 tournament, and felt it was one of the best for many years. That final match in Lyons was really good. England were certainly unlucky when that speculative hack by Ramos lead to a French try. It could just so easily have landed in English hand.s, and they score at the other end. I did think though that the French played some great rugby, and some of their driving play in the forwards was just fearsome. I watched Meafou with interest, and he has a good start to his career. It is interesting to compare him with Will Skelton. Lot of similarities, though so far Meafou has not shown any offloading threat. All credit to Borthwick for being prepared to change, and what great result, even if that last game was lost at the death. I feel they are a real chance to cause the AB’s problems this winter/summer. Finally a comment on Ireland. I thought their last game was their worst, and they did not look like the world’s No 2 side at all. What really worries me is that the loss to England was, in my view, down to poor decision making by the coaching group, and ofc Andy Farrell wears that. It was a big mistake to move JGP away from scrum half. Murray should have been the one to go to the wing. And the “finishers” should have been on the field earlier. And this is the second time this has happened. The RWC Qf against the AB’s, and not getting Crowley onto the field was a huge mistake. Finally, finally, watching Italy play was a joy. How wonderful that they are no longer the punchbag of the 6 N.
44 Go to commentsGreat story. Rugby needs new investment in teams like Brussels another pro league in Europe would be great.
1 Go to commentsAlso, looking at the data from last year, it seemed like by far the two biggest predictors of success were (1) kicking more than your opponents, and (2) having a higher rate of line-out wins than your opponents. I haven’t gone through the stats this year with a fine tooth comb, but the increase in kicks per game and the increase in tries from lineouts would suggest that these two metrics are only getting more important. England’s move away from a kick-heavy game to win against Ireland was seen by some as evidence that running rugby is on the rise. Alternatively it could be taken as evidence that if one team kicks more, and the other team wins more lineouts (as England did) a match is bound to be close to a draw.
3 Go to commentsI have been finding it odd that points per 22 entry has become such a talked about stat, given that your points per entry can be driven down by having more entries. These data would seem to confirm that it isn’t a useful metric, or at any rate is less useful than total entries.
3 Go to commentsI think the last two games England have played is some of their best rugby they have played under Borthwick. There has been a lot more attacking instinct and as a reward have created some well worked tries. Ollie Lawrence is a good foil at 12 as he offers the hard direct lines whilst the rest of the backs can play open. As much as it pains me to say but I do hope England keep playing this way. On a side note my favourite try of the weekend was Lorenzo Pani’s for the nice loop play that put him away and his finish was excellent. Thanks as always Nick.
44 Go to commentsMost exciting player on the planet right now, worth the price of a ticket.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith and Ireland live rent free in Safa’s heads. Their comments only triggers because its true. If the Boks had dismantled a 14 man AB’s, then there would be more respect. But they didnt, in fact quite the opposite, the 14 man NZ were clearly better. And the Bok have always been ordinary between RWC’s, thats why their supporters are now ‘only RWC’s matter’. They know thats BS. Its BS to both AB’s and Bok’s due to their history. But now its all the Safas have. Now we’ll hear excuses when they lose “oh we didnt have all our players available, the ABs/France/Eng/Irel were at full strength”, forgetting for a minute that its because of their own dumb policy. Oh well, makes a change from blaming ‘cheating refs’.
24 Go to commentsNo Nick, they did not, in fact, justify any ‘probables’ label. At no time did they seriously compete for the championship. Ireland led from start to finish and in the end, as a result of glaring referee errors, were never under serious pressure to lose their crown.
44 Go to commentsMoney for him, and his family, has been the sole motivator since he signed for Queensland aged 17. Why else sign for Melbourne. Tupou is poorly advised. If he’d stayed and developed in NZ he would have had a long Test career. If Leinster offer him a few more coins than he’s currently earning, he’s goneburger.
4 Go to commentsFinn. No one would say Ford had played well up until the last game. One standout performance in 5 is hardly in form . It should be a given that a 10 will control play . Not in Fords case be praised for suddenly doing so. Where was he against Scotland ,Italy. The pundits were saying how far away from play he was standing and one even said that the Ireland game was his last chance saloon to perform . Not exactly top form catching anyones eye. If he can play like this game after game then great. Keep him in . But after 90 odd caps we all know he just doesnt keep it going . By all means keep him there but the issue is that Borthwick will persist even when he plays poorly. Which is more often than not. Thats why i am concerned that Smith ,despite fab form , cannot get a game at his preferred spot. Can you imagine Ford at full back .
5 Go to commentsI do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
7 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
6 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
44 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
7 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
4 Go to comments