Super Rugby Team of the Week - Round 16
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.
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.
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!
Comments on RugbyPass
Dagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
4 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
37 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to comments