2012 Super 15 Thread

[Jono]

Wales lose another close one. They will be disappointed to leave without a win, but they did shoot themselves in the foot a couple of times throughout the series. The Wallabies blew a lot of chances and that is concerning. The changes made didn't stand up. Beale looks a bit out of touch, which isn't surprising. A month of Super rugby will hopefully see him good for the RC. I'm glad to see the Wallabies played the last few minutes sensibly and wound it down.

Oh, someone needs to teach Horne how to pass to his outside man as he nearly blew an easy try by trying to go himself instead of drawing, passing and giving his outside man a simple try. I continue not to be a Horne fan, but he is probably just a stand in until O'Connor or Mitchell come back and AAC shifts back to outside.

One thing that annoys me is that Aussie fans continue to boo penalties and field goals. It only happened once in the last game, but I still find it irksome. Does that happen anywhere else, do NZ fans do it?

 

[NCC1701]

^ Yep, us Kiwis are just as guilty when it comes to opposition penalties, I'd say the same with drop goals but apart from the World Cup semi final I can't remember when anyone scored one against the All Blacks. In fact, watch a replay from last weekend and you'll see just what you were asking for!

As anyone who has an interest in rugby already knows, the ABs curb-stomped any suggestion Ireland were going to win a match this test series, winning 60-0 which I'm told is the biggest defeat Ireland have suffered ever. Aaron Cruden had a nice cameo before being sidelined, which lead to an early Beauden Barrett substitution. Nice to see SBW is as good in the national team as he is with the Chiefs, Hosea Gear got an awesome try, and it sure was nice to see Israel Dagg slot a conversion and a try. Barrett still seems to be suffering kicking blues but you can't ask for everything! I only wonder what it will do to the Chiefs having their flyhalf potentially sidelined for the lead up to the playoffs, not sure who they have to cover Cruden's position, apart from giving Steven Donald a call, maybe?

The only complaint of this match would be: why are our fly-halves made out of glass? It really seems to be our Archilles Heel these days!

 

[Jono]

^ It isn't just for the other team, Aussie fans boo the Wallabies when they do it, which is the part I find the most annoying.

 

[Orac Zen]

Too many Australian rugby "fans" have been brainwashed by the dickheads in the media into believing that tries are the only acceptable means of accumulating points. These dopes want us to not only win every single game we play; we must score dozens of tries and dazzle everyone while we're at it. (That applies to the provincial sides as well, of course.) Merely winning simply isn't sufficient; it must be "entertaining" as well or it doesn't count (or something; I don't pretend to understand such stupidity). We supposedly have this grand tradition of "running rugby", which was all very well in the amateur era but isn't so easy to put into practice in the professional era. Throw in the fact that you have to have the forward firepower to give the backs room to move, and decent backs to take advantage of that, and...yeah. We don't have the talent we used to have and other countries have far more depth. These fools need to stop living in the past and accept that we just aren't as good as they think we ought to be, and what worked in one era - or for Queensland last year, since that's apparently the benchmark to which Australian rugby must now aspire - isn't going to cut it at 21st century Test level.

Even more comically, the same media dickheads who tell us "running rugby" is the only way to play are the same dickheads who whine when we don't have a kicker who can slot them from anywhere.

Or to put it more concisely, it would be nice if people thought for themselves instead of believing everything they read.


I was at work yesterday and thus didn't see the game, but I recorded it and will work my way through. I'm not overly impressed with what I've watched so far; we seem to have gone backwards in some crucial areas over the course of the series.

Feel terribly sorry for Ireland. Geez.

 

[NCC1701]

Booing your own team when they're trying to score points is a new one, outside of Barbarians matches and Apartheid-era Springboks I've never even heard of it in rugby! Who knows, maybe even Australians are preparing to be disappointed with the Wallabies' performance at this year's Rugby Championship already

Good news for the Chiefs for Friday, Aaron Cruden is cleared to play and SBW's cousin Tim Nanai-Williams will also rejoin the team after a long injury break. Should be an awesome game, the Highlanders are always a tough nut to crack in Dunedin

 

[NCC1701]

And so it was, the Chiefs remained in the lead to finish 27-21 tonight. And we got an SBW boxing match as a bonus lol. I see the Rebels had a not so nice night against the Reds as I really expected, going down 32-17. Which means the Brumbies have to win to keep the Reds from topping the Australian conference this weekend. I'd like to see the Hurricanes hold their own against the Crusaders but I just can't see it happening somehow. And have I mentioned I really don't like to see Queensland on top of the Australian conference yet?

 

[Jono]

Brumbies keep their 5 point advantage over the Reds with a in the end tight win over the Force. The Brumbies scored 4 tries in the 1st half and really eased off in the 2nd. It was a lot like their earlier win against the Rebels where they went into half time with a sizable lead and didn't continue to put the other side to the sword. This time the Force took their chances where the Rebels didn't, which made the outcome a bit dicey towards the end. Thankfully the Brumbies held on and keep their noses in front for the run to the finals.

 

[NCC1701]

Good to see with two rounds remaining the Chiefs have already won the NZ conference with the Hurricanes defeating the Crusaders in Christchurch 23-22 last night. The Stormers top the SA table, and the same with the Brumbies for Australia. Nice to see someone other than the Crusaders, Reds and Bulls up there this year!

 

[Jono]

^ Funny thing is until last year the idea of the Reds near the top would have garnered laughter!

 

[Jono]

Brumbies have a very nervous win 19 - 15 against NSW. Not the bonus point win that would see them safe for the finals, but more important was the win. Also one of the few super win in Sydney for the Brumbies.

Good night for ACT footy teams with the Raiders smashing the Storm as well, so I'm pretty pleased right now!

 

[NCC1701]

And the Chiefs had a shocker of a match against the Crusaders, topped off with SBW refusing to pass the ball to two unmarked players meters from the Crusaders tryline after the full time siren had gone off, losing the match 21-28. Hopefully Craig Clarke will make a return against the Hurricanes next week, both the lineout and scrum were appalling on Friday. To end on a positive note, nice to see Sona Taumalolo get a huge run in centre field to nearly the tryline before half time!

The only other match of note IMHO was the Sharks crushing the Bulls at home 32-10. Next week sure is going to be interesting!

 

[NCC1701]

And another horseshit try call goes against the Chiefs, this time after the siren, losing against the Hurricanes 28-25 in Wellington. Well done Canes, you didn't do enough to stay for the playoffs as I expect the Crusaders, Bulls and Sharks will win their matches, you did just enough to ensure the Stormers have home advantage for the semi-final and potentially the final. At this stage I expect the Crusaders to win the final, for the eigth time. Now all we need is the Brumbies to lose against the Blues and it'll be familiar territory for anyone who watched the 2011 season. Boring.

 

[Jono]

What was wrong with the try? For some reason my browser is crashing whenever I try to stream video so I haven't been able to see it.

 

[NCC1701]

^ It was totally unclear from any angle whether the ball had been grounded or not, if anything it looked like it was held up the last time any camera had a view of the ball. At this point of the season the video refs really shouldn't be getting adventurous with their calls, especially at full time.

Not that it really matters at this point, it will take a miracle for the Canes to make it into the finals anyway, all it does is move the Stormers into first place come finals time, which is what I was really hoping to avoid.

 

[Jono]

That was a woeful display by the Brumbies (and at home too) and they continue to show they are not a big game team. The Blues didn’t throw anything special; they played solid, aggressive rugby. The Brumbies were sloppy, slow and weak in defence. The flow of injuries for the Brumbies didn’t help, but that doesn’t excuse the lack of commitment in the tackle. If you didn’t know the table you would think the Blues were the ones going to secure their finals spot and the Brumbies were the season strugglers.

I’m going to declare their season over. The Tahs will get rolled by the Reds up at Suncorp and they’ll be the only Aussie team in the finals. I’ll be lying if I’m not disappointed with how this season will end, but I guess I have to take solace in the fact that the Brumbies had a decent season and they are at least showing that they are heading in the right direction.

Edit: Yep, Reds won fairly easily. Nothing much to report other than Quade Cooper high tackling Barnes out of the match. Hopefully, given that his tackle removed a player from further participation that he gets at least a 1 or 2 week ban. As for Barnes, you have to wonder how much longer he can keep playing given the number of head knocks he's taken. He had an extended period out last year because of it.

 

[Orac Zen]

Terribly disappointing season for Australian rugby.

The woes of the Force and Rebels were predictable enough (and unlikely to change any time soon, particularly given the latest rumour that Pocock will go to the Brumbies), but I expect few imagined the Brumbies would be in the frame - I know I didn't. Having a coach who doesn't pander to the player power / bloated egos that was for so long a feature of that side - and which ended up having such a damaging effect on Australian rugby overall - has probably had a lot to do with that. What a shame the dunces who run the Waratahs didn't have the imagination to secure a White-type figure. They've missed the boat yet again by retaining Foley for next year. Even allowing for the ludicrous injury toll the side endured, the Waratahs have gone backwards this year and while the musical coaches situation has been every bit as damaging for the Tahs as the player power thing was for the Brumbies, it seems clear things aren't working with Foley as head coach. As for the Reds, I honestly couldn't care less. Good for them for getting there again but unless they're wearing gold jumpers I don't give a damn what any of them do.

All told...yeah. Very disappointing season. Hopefully we can make a better fist of the (stupidly named) Rugby Championship.

 

[NCC1701]

The Blues really saved playing well until the wrong end of the season, I would have preferred they did that back when they still had a chance to get into the playoffs, all it did is move the Reds into third place at this stage. So for next week we have the Reds vs Sharks in Brisbane and the Crusaders vs Bulls in Christchuch. I'd say the results of those two matches will be pretty predictable unless Fuckface gets banned from playing for a week due to his high tackle on Barnes last night, the Sharks might have a slight chance then, although I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Jono]

Our disappoint with where our teams ended up aside it is also that time of the season where players play their last game. The two most notable Australian are Mortlock and Sharpe, both have been good servants to the Wallabies (though did Sharpe extend his contract to the end of the RC?) and for their various clubs. Also one of my favourite former Brumbies, Mark Gerrard, is heading back to Japan.

 

[Orac Zen]

Mortlock I honestly never saw the fuss over (very much a bash and barge type, IMO), but Sharpe has been a terrific servant of Australian rugby and deserved much, much better than what Deans has given him over the past few years. He'll be an enormous loss to the Force, which makes it even more imperative that they somehow hang onto Pocock.

Re my Waratah musical coaches remark above... I was reading Matthew Burke's column this morning, in which he commented that in his 13 year NSW career, the side had seven coaches. Seven. No wonder we never achieve anything, really.

 

[NCC1701]

Both Patrick Lambie and Frans Steyn are ruled out for the Sharks on Saturday night, so I'm fully expecting a Chiefs vs Reds semi-final now. Hopefully the Chiefs can step up their performance from the last several weeks, they've looked shaky since the test break, really.