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Super Rugby Team of the Week - Round 16

By Mike Rehu
Scott Barrett dots down fr the Crusaders. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

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 Solomon Alaimalo (Chiefs)

After seeing Alaimalo and Shaun Stevenson’s pacy performances on the rock hard Suva pitch as the Chiefs downed the Crusaders, the franchise must be thinking of ways they can harden up their soft Hamilton track. Alaimalo gave us a glimpse of the form he was in two years ago, he was irrepressible as he ran rings round the much-vaunted Crusader outsides. Tom Banks (Brumbies) and Semisi Masirewa (Sunwolves) were great value from the back as well.

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14 Cornal Hendricks (Bulls)

Up against Rieko Ioane, Hendricks delivered a strong performance in wet, miserable conditions. Classic wing’s try down the flank.

13 Lionel Mapoe (Lions)

When Mapoe goes for a gap, he gives it full commitment and more often than not gets the break. The Lions held a narrow lead over the Stormers after halftime but lively Lionel was instrumental in setting up a barrage of tries that set them free. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Waratahs) was back to his canny best.

12 Irae Simone (Brumbies)

At 193cm and 105kg you could expect Simone to be similar to the muscular style of Tevita Kuidrani outside him but this guy has some soft and silky skills. Made some very strong decisions when the Brumbies ventured wide, although they eventually put the Sunwolves away with their maul tries. Ngani Laumape (Hurricanes) had his best game in a while doing what he should do more of; running hard and straight.

11 Curtis Rona (Waratahs)

A slightly dodgy try-saving tackle aside, Rona has put in some very powerful shifts in the last couple of weeks. He has explosive power and surprises some defenders with his speed.

10 Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes)

The conductor had the Hurricanes orchestra in full song in Durban. Didn’t overplay his hand, shovelling it on to power runners Laumape and brother Jordie, and then when he decided to make a break he had less defenders concentrating on him. Place-kicking is looking smooth and even though we think of Barrett as a running 10, he is number 3 for kicks in play for the tournament; he usually gets the best of any aerial ping-pong battles.

9 Felipe Ezcurra (Jagaures)

Got his second start for the season and looked very collected under pressure and scored a good halfback’s try. With the recent whining from some Aussie pundits about the Jaguares being an Argentine national team, the real positive in being involved in Super rugby has been to blood players like Ezcurra, who may be ranked 4th nationally behind Cubelli, Bertranou and Landajo but is on his way up.

8 Kwagga Smith (Lions)

This guy knows his way to the try-line, that’s for sure. Hat-trick heaven. Had a great battle with Jaco Coetzee and even though the Stormer had some great runs in the standard number fashion, Smith adds so much to his team by taking strong options at the right time, be it turnovers, linking or tries. Dan de Preez (Sharks) was strong again and Pita Gus Sowakula (Chiefs) threw his body around and out-played the All Blacks captain who was coming back from a two week rest.

7 Ardie Savea (Hurricanes)

Ardie and Kwagga might have been chiselled from the same rock. Some might question the legality of Savea’s turnover technique, the way he dives into the grounded ball carrier in the initial movement but he can certainly stay on his feet once he suctions himself over the ball. Referee Nic Berry didn’t have any qualms and that’s the main thing!

6 Sam Cane (Chiefs)

The race for the All Blacks 7 position is a frenzied one at the moment with both Savea and Cane out-doing the other on a weekly basis. With the question mark over a blindside to step up could we see Hansen experiment with these two? It would leave the AB line out seriously short of height that’s for sure. The great difference Cane has made beyond his skill and strength is the natural leadership he brings. Down 20 points to the Crusaders after as many minutes? Kudos to players like Cane, Weber and Lienert-Brown for dragging their team back. Hanro Liebenberg (Bulls) was energetic.

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5 Rob Simmons (Waratahs)

I used to see Simmons as a very one-dimensional player but in the last month or two you can see that he has worked on the way he can use his assets in the open-field. Some very good running angles and defensive play on top of the solid set piece work.

4 Scott Barrett (Crusaders)

Great timing to make a statement after Steve Hansen suggested Barrett could be the fix at six for the ABs. 11th minute, got the ball 50m out in traffic, thrust aside Alex Nankivell and outsprinted any cover for a fantastic touchdown. Critics who reckoned Barrett doesn’t have the mobility to be a test flanker were shut down in their tracks from that moment. In the tournament top 25 for tackles and line out steals; good signs for a potential blindside flanker.

3 Ofa Tu’ungafasi (Blues)

Big Ofa was at his forceful best against the Bulls, being very influential on the gainline. The Blues have the most successful scrum in the comp on their ball with much credit going to the tighthead prop. He got himself his third try of the tournament as well.

2 Samisoni Taukei’aho (Chiefs)

Second start of the season and just what the Chiefs needed in terms of a meat missile who got over the advantage line. Set piece was good too considering he was throwing to jumpers who were sometimes giving away 10cm to their opposites; accuracy was extremely important. Malcolm Marx (Lions) was monstrous as well and good stuff for Connal McInerney (Brumbies) with his hat trick; all three from line out mauls. Exciting in Canberra!

1 Dylan Smith (Lions)

The Northern Hemisphere has Kyle Sinkler and down south we have Dylan Smith; the centers in prop’s bodies. Smith doesn’t do the diva stuff like Sinkler thank goodness and his pod work in phase play is very classy. Solid enough scrummager for Super Rugby. Talking about props with skills, Atu Moli’s (Chiefs) looping 20m pass off his left hand in the lead up to Jesse Parete’s try was sublime!

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Jon 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

41 Go to comments
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