Super Rugby Semi Finals: Things you need to know

Two massive games take place tonight in Super Rugby, with the winners to face off next weekend in the final. Firstly the Crusaders welcome the Chiefs to Christchurch, then later on the Hurricanes roll into Johannesburg to take on the Lions.

Here’s a few things that could play a part in the results tonight:

• The Crusaders and Chiefs literally hate one another. There’s rivalries, then there’s this. Chiefs coach Dave Rennie was asked this week if a ‘hatred’ existed between the two sides, and was remarkably honest in saying that this perception was ‘pretty accurate’. He went on to say “In the end, they’ve won so many titles and I guess we wanted to really stand up to them six years ago. There have been some titanic clashes – they’re always physical, all the Kiwi games are.” This echoed the admissions of former Chief and co host of The Short Ball Mils Muliaina, who said this week that the hatred stems from ‘the Blues not being good enough to have a rivalry with anymore’. Ouch.

Listen here:

• The Hurricanes don’t mind playing at Ellis Park at all. The last time they were there, the Super Rugby champs racked up a half century against the team they’d eventually beat in the final. The Canes ran in eight tries that day in Johannesburg, and pose a much greater attacking threat than the team the Lions beat last week, the Sharks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Tz3krSs5E&t=1s

• Charlie Ngatai is back. The highly rated midfielder returns to the number 12 jersey for the Chiefs, after yet another long lay off with injury. A strong performance here could see Ngatai figure in the All Blacks‘ plans for the rest of the season, and his line-breaking ability could cause some real problems for the Crusaders tonight. If he does, it’ll take a lot of pressure off Damian McKenzie, who seems to have been at the heart of everything the Chiefs do this season.
• This is the first time the Lions will play a New Zealand team this year. Much has been made about the 2017 draw and how the Lions have managed to avoid the tough NZ conference till now. They will be relying on the usual combination of travel fatigue and altitude, plus the ability to kick goals from virtually anywhere in front of their own 40 metre line. However, at least one Canes player has figured out the benefits of the kick-friendly altitude as well, so maybe TJ Perenara might find himself getting handed the tee at some stage.

@Tj_Perenara stepping up.
#LessssGoooo pic.twitter.com/zCi5nNrbjM

— Beauden Barrett (@beaudenbarrett) July 25, 2017