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Super Rugby takes: Brumbies deserve more respect, Highlanders should raid Hurricanes
The ANZAC round featured a host of trans-Tasman fixtures for fans to get their teeth into, with the Crusaders smashing the Rebels, the Brumbies knocking off the Canes, and the Blues pipping the Reds.
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The Fijian Drua got up over Moana Pasifika in their derby, while the Highlanders played out a dour game against the Western Force.
After ten rounds of Super Rugby Pacific, the top four is yet to be decided while many teams are fighting for their seasons.
Brumbies deserve more respect after knocking off the top dog
Australia’s top side knocked off the undefeated Hurricanes at home in Canberra, a place where the Canes season has ended the last two seasons in the quarter-finals.
Despite sitting third on the ladder, the Brumbies don’t get enough respect as a serious contender for the Super Rugby Pacific title. At 7-2 they are just one loss behind the Blues and Hurricanes and could very well move up the ladder down the stretch.
They’ve uncovered wonderkid No.8 Charlie Cale, an explosive big man that seems destined to be a better version of Pierre Spies. Second five Tamati Tua is an unheralded gem and showed that yesterday against the Hurricanes.
If the Brumbies get homefield advantage, they are very much a serious title chance in 2024. They were walloped by the Blues at Eden Park a couple weeks ago, but it’s clear that playing at GIO Stadium makes a big difference.
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Reds are the nearly men of Super Rugby
The Queensland Reds are much better than their 4-5 record suggests and were left disappointed after another heart-breaking 41-34 loss to the Blues which continues the theme of the season.
In Super round they blew a golden chance to beat the Hurricanes with the game tied 33-all at the end of regulation. They had to swallow the Canes stealing it with a try to prop Pasilio Tosi. They deserved more than an overtime loss for that performance.
Returning home they shocked the Chiefs with a strong performance at set-piece that dismantled the Chiefs’ scrum in the second half.
Add in last night’s Blues’ heartbreak with Sam Nock’s 82nd minute game-winner and this Reds side should’ve knocked off New Zealand’s top three sides.
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Suliasi Vunivalu’s criminal put-down blunder ended up hurting in the final wash. The Reds’ winger had pulled in the catch from an acrobatic leap and broke through two defenders to score. An easy dive would have done it, but a one-hand put down went pearshaped and he knocked the ball on.
Highlanders next recruiting spree
The Highlanders have rightly invested in an academy system which looks like it will pay dividends over the coming years. Young players like hooker Jack Taylor are breaking into the top squad, but it’s clear the Highlanders need more quality in the short-term.
They should look no further than the Hurricanes who are spoiled for riches right now, and have Ardie Savea returning home next season. T
The Highlanders should go after Braydon Iose with the carrot of the starting No.8 role, young blindside TK Howden, while at the Crusaders they should try lure promising lock Jamie Hannah to bolster the pack.
One-time All Black Peter Umaga-Jensen and ex-Sevens rep Salesi Rayasi don’t get enough starting time at the Hurricanes and certainly would add more firepower to the Highlanders backline. If Thomas returns from injury and lines up next to Peter, the Highlanders might get the best of both.
With Beauden Barrett returning to the Blues next year, Zarn Sullivan could be pried away to partner Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens as a 10-15 partnership.
Casting an eye offshore, there are many potential New Zealand-eligible players, lock Warner Dearns has indicated his interested, Otere Black is playing second tier level rugby in Japan. Tali Ioasa was the best schoolboy No.12 in New Zealand last year, and is on the Kobe Steelers roster as a development player.
The Highlanders have to stay active on the market to try and bring in more stars.
The ANZAC Day solution
This weekend’s action was filled with trans-Tasman clashes and at least three of them delivered with competitive fixtures, but the public holiday on Thursday was left to the NRL. They had three bumper fixtures that featured large crowds and electric atmosphere.
A Bledisloe Cup clash on ANZAC Day has been floated as a solution to the empty annual holiday, but an All Blacks-Wallabies test seems very unlikely so early in the season.
But there is another solution. An ANZAC XV made from New Zealand and Australian players is set to play the British & Irish Lions next year. There is no reason why they couldn’t get together and play an ANZAC Day clash.
The opponent could be a Barbarian-style Pasifika XV, made up of Drua, Moana and Pasifika-heritage players in Super Rugby who want to play. It would effectively be a Super Rugby All Stars fixture that would bring some action to the public holiday.
The exhibition match could be played on ANZAC Day and players could back-up on the weekend, if they were willing and up to it. NRL players have backed up in a similar fashion from Origin fixtures.
Comments on RugbyPass
well the favourites dont always win and let scott robertson chose his number 8
3 Go to commentsthats great for cam miller and the highlanders the crusaders have got problems within there systems that were proberly covered up astheywere winning when scott robertson was in charge
2 Go to commentsThe last time Plumtree coached the sharks they sucked the same when with the hurricanes now back with the shark Springboro. They still have no game plan
1 Go to commentsan impressive nail biting win for the Blues...but for mine the losing of the game sits with Isaia Walker-Leawere who fumbled balls from kick offs, broken play and then stripped of the ball by Sam Nock in the final minute…
3 Go to commentsAll of the Moderna law changes have been to slow the game down, playing into the hands of SA and the north. Incentivising boring, negative rugby. Brilliant changes. Speed up the game.
11 Go to commentsImagine you kick to the lineout, they give away a free kick, you have a great chance at a scrum, sorry sir you have to tap and go. Ridiculous
11 Go to commentsWhile I believe that the Crusaders do not deserve a spot in the playoffs, every single team would be worried to play them no matter where on the table they are. For example, they have the potential to knock out the Blues at Eden Park. They are the Springboks in Super Rugby in that they know exactly how to play knockout footy and have the pedigree and experience to do it. Something is just not quite right with that team this year. Fakatava is prone to to the odd brain explosion and can kick away good ball in bad positions. His work around the ruck and breakdown is a standout. Is he better than Finlay Christie? I’m not sure. TJ Perenara and Cortez Ratima should get two of the spots in the ABs squad. Aumua has so much potential but the midfield is quite well stocked with Jordie, ALB, Tupaea, and Ioane as well as Billy Proctor who is in top form. Aumua would be battling a spot with Tupaea and Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy do some Bok fans get so defensive when people have opinions on how the game should be played? Is it really necessary to take it as a personal attack on SA every time?
11 Go to commentsMost crazy rule is when attacking player has to release but defender does not. Stop the defender doing that by saying hands off. That way fender would not kill the ball. Madness and crazy
80 Go to commentsMinicamp rules include no-pads and no tackling.
1 Go to commentsToulouse has enough quality players so no headaches 😁 Choco is rarely a starting centre. Throughout this championship there have been far worse actions that were never called… too many rules, too many rule changes, too many inconsistencies, too many angry fans. I'm not surprised rugby does not attract new spectators, how could they understand 🤣
6 Go to commentsAh yes Andy with his “Goode” views. Oke might as well come out and say it, “I like seeing South African scrums depowered in order to give the rest of the world a chance”. Somehow he thinks World Rugby always knew about calling scrums from marks and it just so happened to coincide with Damien Willemse’s call that they decided to change the rules. Ah come on, if he can't see it then he needs prescription glasses. No ways, they are doing this for the betterment of Rugby. They want to clamp down on Rassie’s innovative skills than encouraging coaches to think outside of the box to try new things. What they can't count on is what Rassie will plan next. I almost get the impression that once Rassie retires World Rugby is going to be scrabbling around trying to find their identity. Currently set at ARP (Anti-Rassie Party). Although I don't really care in that regard because they always a RWC step behind.
11 Go to commentsWow ten years since they had a backing and more from the paying public I’d also mention that as a blues man and in walking distance to the garden I’d say that this team and Vern Cotter have got us dreaming beautiful thoughts and the merit is there from numbers 1 to 23 but we would like to think this is the new dna for the ABs and a pack weighing 940kg dry y not I hasten to add it seems patty has to stay fit cause he is the driver the main driver and they follow plus the pipe man H Plummer is conducting his own orchestra ….. Beethoven anybody
1 Go to commentsJuicy stuff well covered I’d go as far as to say that the referee was a key component in keeping it a tasty spectacle
3 Go to commentsCotter has added that steel that has been missing. Let's see if it will carry until the Finals… Come on the Blues ….
2 Go to commentsAndy Goode just loves to be controversial. Its boring. Let’s all stop reading.
11 Go to commentsYou have got to consider that if the situation was flipped and the French were held to a salary cap with no English equivalent, the English would laugh in their faces and tell them to get over it. As for Leinster (as a fan), the central contract system is a dream but is guilty of cutting out the other 3 provinces. At the end of the day, it comes across outside of the English border that the Premiership is drowning and trying to take everyone else with it rather than adapt. The English lose, the English want new rules. We've seen this repeat (and once it even led to the current Champions Cup) You make many good and informed points, but if the flip was on the other flop, it wouldn't be Rugby’s problem I suspect - it would be a French one.
18 Go to commentsSeems to have been a bright start but it tailed off. To win the big matches you have to get used to putting your foot on the throttle and your opponent’s necks in an 80 minutes performance which is what the All Blacks were renowned for. An example in the Women’s game is England v Ireland in the 6N match played at Twickenham in April. Watch on YouTube.
1 Go to commentsBobby has been a first grade bonehead since high school. Like a true Cape Tonian, his own reflection is more important than anything else.
1 Go to commentsNo comment on the textbook red card for Ramm that was just ignored? Amazing that
4 Go to comments