Super Rugby playing fields evens as teams shake off the rust
We’re two weeks into the Super Rugby season and already the competition looks as wide open as ever.
Of course, it’s only early stages so far and many teams are still struggling with integrating their international players back into the mix, but we’ve already seen signs that the 2019 competition could be one of the most competitive we’ve had in recent years.
At this stage of the competition, only four teams have maintained a 100% record: the Crusaders, Sharks, Highlanders and Rebels.
The Rebels, courtesy of an early bye, have only played one game this season and the Highlanders have had to come from behind in both their wins.
The Crusaders narrowly escaped in their opening match against the Blues (and had Blues replacement first five Harry Plummer been on target in the dying stages of the match, the outcome may not have been so favourable) and the Sharks have had the benefit of facing off against the Sunwolves, a team not known for their ability to knock off strong opponents.
A quick rundown of how the teams in all three conferences have performed in 2019 shows that, other than maybe a couple of typical picks, it’s difficult to determine which teams are likely to be pushing for playoff positions come the latter stages of the competition.
In New Zealand, the Crusaders remain cream of the crop and even at this early stage they would have to be comfortable favourites to take out the championship. They had a blip in week one but with many All Blacks still being slowly eased back into the squad, they’ll only get stronger. Their comprehensive dismantling of the Hurricanes was a sight to behold and few teams will fancy their chances against the red and black machine.
The Highlanders, although undefeated so far, have appeared to fall asleep during stretches of their matches and coach Aaron Mauger won’t be too impressed. They overcame a sending off against the Chiefs and responded well to a relatively late Reds onslaught but their All Blacks aren’t quite firing just yet. This is no surprise given their lack of pre-season action but they’ll have to find form soon or the Highlanders may struggle to maintain their Houdini act.
The same could very much be said for the Hurricanes, who also managed to win in the first-round thanks to some poor goalkicking from the Waratahs’ Bernard Foley. The Waratahs in Sydney is not an easy match up and the Hurricanes weren’t playing with many of their All Blacks, so the lack of form can be forgiven. More concerning is how easily they were torn to shreds by the Crusaders last weekend.
The Chiefs suffered a similar fate against the Brumbies in Canberra (though the last time a New Zealand team was eviscerated in ACT at the start of the season they went on to win the competition) and have already been hit hard by injuries. After throwing away the win against the Highlanders, the Chiefs will be desperate to bank five points against the Sunwolves this weekend – though even that may not be a given anymore, given how competitive the Sunwolves were against the Waratahs.
It’s hard to really gauge what we’ll see from the Blues in 2019. But for those missed penalties in round one they would have recorded their first win over a New Zealand team since their first game in 2016. The Sharks had no issues disposing over the Blues in South Africa over the weekend but the Durbanites are no slouches and will likely be South African’s biggest threat moving forwards this year. The matchup between the Blues and the Jaguares in Buenos Aires this weekend will be a great litmus test for both sides.
In Australia, things are looking considerably rosier than they did last year. The Rebels, fresh off a bye, will look to put the Highlanders to the sword this weekend with their star-studded backline. Their win over the Brumbies in the first round of the competition coupled with the Brumbies’ performance against the Chiefs implies that they could be Australia’s strongest team for 2019.
The Brumbies themselves could also do some damage to opposition this year. Like the Crusaders in the earlier game, the Brumbies ripped the Chiefs to pieces on Saturday night with some increasingly slick passing. Though the results didn’t always go the Brumbies’ way in 2018, stats tended to favour the team from Canberra. Perhaps 2019 will see them capitalise on their opportunities?
The Waratahs have probably been the biggest disappointment in Australia in the first two rounds. They should have come from behind to beat the Hurricanes in Sydney in round one and they were incredibly lucky to escape with a one-point win over the Sunwolves in round two. For a team laden with talent, the Waratahs should be pressing for a finals spot but they’ve lacked a clinical edge so far in 2019 and they could find themselves being eclipsed by the other Australian sides as the tournament progresses.
The Reds are still a team on the rebuild – but signs were good in Dunedin on Friday night. Much will be learned about the Queenslanders when they host the Crusaders tomorrow evening. Though they may not be as packed with talent as some of the other squads floating around the competition, the Reds have in Brad Thorn a hard-nosed, talismanic coach who won’t accept any less than the team’s best.
The Sunwolves have not had access to their Japanese stars (nor their head coach, Tony Brown) yet this year and have mainly been fielding expats. They were punished by the Sharks in round one (a few teams will likely suffer the same fate in 2019) then came agonisingly close to claiming only their second ever win against an Australian team when they lost to the Waratahs by the smallest of margins. Whether this a sign that the Waratahs are falling or the Sunwolves are rising is a reasonable question – the 31 points that the Sunwolves conceded on Saturday was 19 fewer than the least they’ve conceded against the Waratahs in the past. Still, although the Japanese team seems to have no issues scoring tries, their ability to defend has to remain in question.
In the South African conference, there’s one clear front runner. The Sharks have conceded only two tries in their two matches this season and notched up a bonus point in both games. Although their opposition, the Blues and the Sunwolves, are arguably the weakest teams in their respective conferences, it’s difficult to argue that any game is easy in this competition (at least in 2019) – two wins is two wins.
The other four teams in the South African conference are all sitting on one win and one loss – showing how tightly the conference will be contested this year. The Bulls started the season with a bar-setting display, trouncing the Stormers by almost 40 points in Pretoria. They then travelled to Argentina to take on the Jaguares and looked comparatively uninspired. Handre Pollard is one of the best first fives in the competition – it’s hard to pin a team’s chances on one player but his performance will play a huge role in the Bulls’ fortunes this year.
The Stormers, after their horror start, bounced back at home and toppled the more fancied Lions last weekend. Naturally, this competition is going to be impossible to win if you’re only capable of getting results at home, so this weekend’s match up against the Sharks in Durban will very telling. Will we see the Stormers side that capitulated away from home in round one, or was that merely a blip and will last week’s more composed side that stole the game in the closing seconds make a second appearance?
The Lions had their second game all but wrapped up when the Stormers struck after the final hooter at Newlands. The Lions’ performance was certainly not poor, but they failed to make the fatal blow when they had the chance. In comparison, in week one they strangled the life out of the Jaguares – something they will look to do again over the weekend when they play their first match at home, against the Bulls. The Lions will play four of their next five matches in Johannesburg (with the fifth away to the Sunwolves) and will be seriously aiming to bank wins in all those matches.
Everyone’s favourite second team, the Jaguares, have looked to build on their results from last year in 2019’s iteration of Super Rugby. The Argentines will be disappointed that they lost their first up home match against the Lions but bouncing back against the Bulls will alleviate some fears. Looking through the fixtures list there are some games that coaches will circle as ‘need to win’ matches – this weekend’s matchup against the Blues will be one of those fixtures for new coach Gonzalo Quesada.
Whilst not quite starting with a hiss and a roar, it’s clear even at this early stage of the competition that there are few obvious frontrunners in Super Rugby for 2019. After a few seasons of domination from the New Zealand teams, there are signs that the other conferences are kicking back into life – something which all fans of the game should be thankful for. Super Rugby is in need of a good shake up, but ultimately the best thing for the competition is an even, competitive playing field.
Wallabies star slapped with lengthy Super Rugby ban:
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments