Super Rugby Team of the Week - Round 10
As Eric Rush once said, “this is just one man’s opinion”. Please add your picks and your favourites in the feedback box below.
15 Kurtley Beale (Waratahs)
Good timing for Beale to put his hand up at fullback. He made a difference for the Waratahs as he read the game so well, put in some clever kicks, timed his runs into the line and was a rock at the back. Doesn’t have the height a lot of the other Wallaby options have but he is brave and skillful under the high ball.
14 Matt Faddes (Highlanders)
The old dog is surviving on his instincts at the moment. The knee is taped up like an Egyptian mummy. Last outing v Crusaders he scooped up one his trademark intercepts and was chased down and obviously stinging from a fortnight’s worth of ribbing from his team mates he made no mistake this week as the Blues gave away their second intercept try in two weeks.
13 Adam Ashley Cooper (Waratahs)
Seems to love the Sydney Cricket Ground as he last raised his head above the parapet when the Tahs surprised the Crusaders last month. Was a good foil to the power of Karmichael Hunt and a good old head to have around as his team fought back from a big halftime deficit.
12 Rahboni Warren Vosayaco (Sunwolves)
Had the potential to be the worst selection blunder since Mauro Bergamasco was selected at halfback for Italy.
But ‘maybe blunder’ turned into ‘certain blinder’ as the big loosie looked incredibly at home with some canny running lines and good distribution skills. The biggest factor was we didn’t hear a peep of Ngani Laumape with the ball in hand, he resorted to trying to show the selectors he has a kicking game like Nonu.
11 Semisi Masirewa (Sunwolves)
Both Ben Lam and Masirewa had good games in Tokyo but Masirewa has joined the cream of the left wing crop; those finishers like Rieko Ioane and Makazole Mapimpi who get the crowd on their feet whenever they get some ball in space. I am wondering if Fiji will come calling with this form? Would be great to see him at the Rugby World Cup.
10 Christian Lealiifano (Brumbies)
A lot of first fives were influential this week. Josh Ioane, Hayden Parker and Bernard Foley were all very good. I thought the Brumbies captain stood out because of his all-round game but also his handling of referee Nic Briant. The Brumbies got away with a lot at ruck time and should have had at least one more yellow card for their slowing down at the breakdown. How Rory Arnold escaped a penalty or yellow card in the 73rd minute where he cleverly impeded the Stormers from cleaning out which led to a relieving penalty for his own team heaven only knows. But where inexperienced captain Steven Kitshoff was consistently needling Briant, Lealiifano stayed very calm and it was almost like the ref took the Stormers claims for infringements with a pinch of salt.
9 TJ Perenara (Hurricanes)
Close choice from Tate McDermott (Reds) who must claim some credit for driving his unsung forwards around in their win versus the Sharks. TJ took a deep breath and masterfully got the Canes back into the game with a try when they were ten points down and made the correct decisions on attack to get his team over the line.
8 Elliot Dixon (Highlanders)
Almost the forgotten man of NZ rugby. He has been doing some reminding in the last two rounds. Lock Joe Wheeler alluded to his influence in a mid-week tv show; when Elliot steps up and shows his 2015 ‘angry hill-billy’ form the team are ready to follow.
7 Michael Hooper (Waratahs)
Got a victory in his 100th Waratahs match. The Tahs managed to defuse Will Genia and Quade Cooper’s influence in the second half, and Hooper was in most rucks trying to slow that quick ball down that the Rebels need to operate flat. Liam Wright is having an impressive campaign. His fitness in the last 10 minutes allowed him to defuse a couple of Sharks chances and get the Reds home.
6 Cyle Brink (Lions)
Brink made it look easy as he bossed the Chiefs in the collision zone and teamed up well with Kwagga Smith and Warren Whitely to add some real zing for the Lions. Tom Robinson (Blues) continues his eye-catching form.
5 Izaac Rodda (Reds)
The commentators barely called his name all night as he was like some coal miner hidden in the deepest recesses looking for rich veins of possession. Reds coach Brad Thorn would be very proud of him.
4 Rory Arnold (Brumbies)
As a foil to Rodda, Arnold delighted in having a hard-working loose trio and his partner Sam Carter doing all the donkey work in the Brumbies win over the Stormers. He showed his skill in first ten minutes with a lovely offload and an awesome charge down try to get his team 12 points up. Then some great action swimming through mauls and making himself a Retallick-like nuisance to see the Aussies home.
3 Carlu Sadie (Lions)
If it’s one position South Africa doesn’t struggle with it’s tighthead prop. Sadie, like Wilco Louw (Stormers) is as strong as an ox but belies his girth with some of the prettiest footwork and passing that would make a twinkle toed number 10 proud.
2 Malcolm Marx (Lions)
A nightmare week for the Lions as their coaching team disintegrated but Marx seemed to relish having senior players like Whitely and Kwagga return as he focused a lot better on his core game this week. Liam Coltman was destructive for the Highlanders and Asafo Aumua (Hurricanes) looked up for it off the bench this week.
1 Harry Hoopert (Reds)
First start of the season for the 20-year-old and he didn’t disappoint. Has shown some elusive running skills coming off the bench this season and he knuckled down at Kings Park and showed some real strength. He is listed at 111 kgs but there’s not much fat on this prime beef.
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt 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 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.
30 Go to comments