Super Rugby Power Rankings: This Can't Be the Bulls
The Blues hold their breath for a win against the Rebels and the Hurricanes come back with a vengeance in South Africa. Scotty Stevenson brings us the latest Super Rugby power rankings.
1. Chiefs
Rd 10: 24-22 v Sharks
Last week: 2 (up 1)
You have to hand it to the Chiefs – they have become adept at winning games by any means possible, and they were at it again this week against a Sharks team that just may be slowly responding to the spark of Garth April. The Chiefs may have started the season by piling on the points, but if the last two weeks have proved anything it’s that the Chiefs are harder to shake than a celebrity stalker.
2. Hurricanes
Rd 10: 50-17 v Lions
Last week: 4 (up 2)
To say the Hurricanes were angry after last week’s loss to the Chiefs is like saying Ted Cruz is just moderately crazy. This was a team desperate to unleash the beast against the Lions and they unleashed a beast, and a Bus, and a Cory Jane as well.
A seven-try effort at altitude against the Lions is a pretty good way to bounce back, and to see the Canes wings scoring four tries between them, and off very little ball, is the most pleasing thing for fans of backline brilliance. The 33 missed tackles is the only real blot in the copybook here.
3. Crusaders
Rd 10: BYE
Last week: 1 (down 2)
Bye weeks suck. I say get rid of bye weeks.
4. Highlanders
Rd 10: 23-10 v Brumbies
Last week: 7 (up 3)
You know the Highlanders hate your team when they take the game to Invercargill. It’s not that I have anything against Invercargill. In fact, I happen to love the place for its people, its blue cod and its Bluff Oysters, not to mention its strangely wide streets and lack of verandahs. Ah, but I am not the Brumbies, and I can guarantee you this: not one of the Brumbies wanted to be in Invercargill. The Highlanders were possessed on defence. Head-turning exorcist-level possessed.
5. Waratahs
Rd 10: 32-30 v Stormers
Last week: 6 (up 1)
Do not underestimate how big this victory was for the Waratahs. There have been times this season when the Waratahs’ play has been tougher to swallow than a tequila thick shake, but the big names are starting to do what big names should be doing – winning games. Israel Folau, Rob Horne, and Kurtley Beale all looked like genuine stars this week and Michael Hooper has found the perfect foil in Jed Holloway who is surely playing his way into international contention. Yes, the Leolin Zas (arguably the best name in the game) red card certainly helped, but give the Tahs some credit.
6. Bulls
Rd 10: 42-20 v Force
Last week: 8 (up 2)
Offloads! Ball movement! Offloads! Clean breaks all over the show! Who are these guys, and what have they done with the Bulls? Clinical play blended with miserly defence. I gotta tell you, the Bulls have come to play this season. Also, their scrum was shit, and they may want to fix that.
7. Stormers
Rd 10: 30-32 v Waratahs
Last week: 5 (down 2)
The Stormers will know better than to use the Leolin Zas red card as an excuse for losing this game. The Stormers had plenty of ball and an abundance of opportunities to put this match to bed but came up short courtesy of their now customary lack of genuine game-breaking ability. There is too much talent in that Stormers backline to have first five Jean Luc du Plessis top the run metres for the team.
8. Lions
Rd 10: 17-50 v Hurricanes
Last week: 3 (down 4)
There is nothing wrong with the Lions’ intent but for all the ball, and all the territory they enjoyed in this game, they need to be better than they were against the Hurricanes. Tackling at 80% or less is unacceptable at this level, and crucial turnovers (25 in the game) at key moments gave the Hurricanes enough scrounge ball to make the Lions pay dearly for every mistake. The Lions are guilty sometimes of trying to play too much rugby for too little return.
9. Blues
Rd 10: 36-30 v Rebels
Last week: 9 (N/C)
The Blues decided it is sometimes easier to play rugby without having the ball for the entire game, but may want to re-evaluate their approach here. Not scoring a point after the 53rd minute is probably not the ideal way to go about it. As always the Blues held their collective breath for pretty much the entire last quarter of the game, but they still got the goodies, and six tries is nothing to be sniffed at. If I’m a Blues fan I’m walking away pretty happy about this week. Who am I kidding? Blues fans will never be happy. Tana says he’s still looking for the killer instinct. He should get the team to practice finding parking in downtown Auckland.
10. Sharks
Rd 10: 22-24 v Chiefs
Last week: 11 (up 1)
On the plus side the Sharks scored more tries than the Chiefs. On the negative side, the Sharks lost. On balance, nothing much changes with the Sharks. This, though: Paul Jordaan is surely the best defensive centre in Super Rugby.
11. Rebels
Rd 10: 30-36 v Blues
Last week: 10 (down 1)
I’ll give the Rebels this: they are one of the most entertaining teams in Australia, and they’ll probably look back on this game and wonder what might have been had their pack muscled up a little bit better in the first half. Jack Debreczeni could probably make a few more line breaks if he wasn’t carrying around a silent ‘z’.
12. Brumbies
Rd 9: 10-23 v Highlanders
Last week: 12 (N/C)
Never before in the field of super rugby history has so much been done by so many for such few points.
13. Reds
Rd 10: 30-17 v Cheetahs
Last week: 16 (up 3)
I’m telling you there is something in this humidity argument. The Reds looked a million times better at home than they have for the last couple of weeks, during which they got pumped like a porn star’s pecker by two South African teams. If I were a betting man I would say Big Bad Brad Thorn walked into the gym during the week and death stared the entire team. Also, Samu Kerevi is the real deal.
14. Cheetahs
Rd 10: 17-30 v Reds
Last week: 13 (down 1)
Harder to read than a face full of botox, the Cheetahs really do play this game in the most unorthodox fashion known to man. I love to watch them just to try to figure out what they will do next. It’s like the Rugby equivalent of binge watching Lost.
15. Jaguares
Rd 10: 73-27 v Kings
Last week: 17 (up 2)
So let me get this straight: the Jaguares have spent the last four weeks getting beaten up on the road and then they go home and put seventy points on the Kings? Great, we officially have a French team in Super Rugby.
16. Sunwolves
Rd 10: BYE
Last week: 15 (down 1)
Can you imagine how much Sake went down this week? I’m going to say plenty. Who knows whether or not the Sunwolves can win another game this season. What we do know is the euphoria of last week’s maiden victory will have given this team one hell of a boost heading into the home stretch.
17. Force
Rd 10: 20-42 v Bulls
Last week: 14 (down 3)
No.
18. Kings
Rd 10: 27-73 v Jaguares
Last week: 18 (N/C)
I’m all for expansion. The sooner this franchise moves to the West Coast of the United States, the better.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 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
3 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 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 comments