Super Rugby Team of the Week - Round 8
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 Curwin Bosch (Sharks) Bosch was like a scalpel as he repeatedly cut through the Lions defensive line on their way to a 42-5 dismantling of the 2018 runners-up, the Lions, in Durban. Two tries and some real wizardry on attack and then rounded the game off with some good kicks from the tee.
14 Reece Hodge (Rebels) Taking a bit of license here as Hodge played at fullback but with the lack of a stand out in the number 14 jersey we’ll bang him in there. Scored two of his 3 tries from flat in the line and also set up Quade Cooper for his.
13 Lukanyo Am (Sharks) Had a bit of a laugh at his expense last week saying his Mum might have awarded his ‘Man of the Match’ award but this week he was excellent on both sides of the ball. With Kriel and Am firing this is a position of strength for the Springboks.
12 Ma’a Nonu (Blues) This week we had some masterclasses from 12. Samu Kerevi has been a strong leader in a young Reds team this year and was influential in the win over the Stormers. Ryan Crotty was outstanding as he featured in the comeback in Christchurch, the Crusaders were 7-0 down to the Brumbies at halftime but really did change the impetus. Then Ma’a Nonu showed he is a genuine contender for a midfield position at the World Cup with a mature guiding hand over the Blues victory against the Waratahs. Both Crotty and Nonu displayed mastery, distributing to ball carriers in space. Crotty, Nonu, Laumape, Goodhue, ALB, SBW. 6 great players, only four required…
11 Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks) Last week I lamented that we don’t get to see Mapimpi in space very often and this week we saw what he can bring to a game with a bit of room and go-forward. He is very exciting to watch and hopefully the Sharks can continue to get him the pill!
10 Domingo Miotti (Jaguares) Ok so I had pencilled in Richie Mo’unga’s name here while watching the final game of the weekend, the Bulls v Jaguares and with 9 minutes to go the South Africans had a 10 point lead and looking as safe as they could without having Handre Pollard playing. In that last 9 minutes, young Domingo came off the bench, scored two tries and a tough conversion from the sideline and conducted play like a veteran. How easy is this Super Rugby? My mates are sick to death of me reminding them that one of the only countries that will field a team with over a thousand caps in RWC 2023 will be Argentina, and the only weakness they will have is at 10. Could this guy be the answer? Incredible start.
9 Bryn Hall (Crusaders) I think there’s still a load of Canterbury supporters who’d prefer Mitchell Drummond as starting 9 at the Crusaders but the import from North Harbour made a real difference in the last 35 mins against the Brumbies. Really concentrated on lifting the tempo, burrowing into rucks like a demented mole to retrieve the ball for another quick phase which eventually broke down the Aussies. Jordan Taufua was the other point of difference who came on around the same time. Will Genia had another blockbuster.
8 Dan du Preez (Sharks) Second week in a row. He has been immense this season and I am sure his performance underlined to the Lions that they desperately need Warren Whitely back in their line-up.
7 Ardie Savea (Hurricanes) Power and pace like no other loosie at the moment. Sam Cane has the experience but will really have to prove he hasn’t lost any of his strength and courage because Savea is dominating games.
6 Pablo Matera (Jaguares) Matera scored a try and alongside Tomas Lezana gobbled up metres for fun in the first half vs the Bulls. In the battle between AB blindside hopefuls Shannon Frizell and Vaea Fifita, it seemed as though Frizell had the points win but Fifita’s team won the game.
5 Scott Barrett (Crusaders) Definitely the form lock of the NZ conference and the form player of the Barrett family, quite an achievement! His consistency of work rate and accuracy is his best asset.
4 Tom Staniforth (Waratahs) A lot of people would say “the winners take the spoils, why wouldn’t you give this position to Patrick Tuipolotu?”. Well 20 minutes in at Eden Park, the Waratahs were wilting against the home team, down 17-0 and off limps Ned Hannigan. All of a sudden the Waratahs started winning collisions and Staniforth fronted up to the big Blues pack and said “we are here to win”. And boy were they close! If he could continue that form he is just the type of aggressive power player in the second row the Wallabies are missing.
3 Tyrel Lomax (Highlanders) narrowly pips Jermaine Ainsley (Rebels) for the tight head jersey. Solid scrum and some powerful play in the tackle area.
2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa (Reds) The hooker position for the Wallabies is the same as the All Black blindside spot. A pack of hungry youngsters with a real opportunity for a big prize. BPA stepped up to take on some big South Africans and has two more gigantic African packs to take on to state his case in the next fortnight. Anaru Rangi is also played well for the Rebels.
1 Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks) Second week in a row. The Sharks were hoping they could put on a performance for the Beast’s record breaking 157th Super rugby cap and the prop decided to get things going with 5 powerful ball carries in the first 5 minutes. That really put the Shark’s fin on the Lion’s throat and they didn’t let up.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 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.
27 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.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments