Rugby 2014 thread

[Orac Zen]

Busy with more important things today and thanks to TV card software fail I don't even have a recording to watch. Oh well, there's a replay tomorrow. In the meantime we won and hopefully all Tahs survived unscathed.


Edit: Some rough patches here and there - the lineout was rather dodgy at times, for one thing - but overall a decent effort against an opponent that looked to be out on their collective feet at times. Skelton is raw but there's so much potential there to work with; the draw-and-pass to put Folau away was made to look very simple and it was pretty to watch. One hopes the ARU manage to hang onto him. Palu had the best game I've seen from him in years and there were plenty of other good contributions across the board.

Whether or not it'll be good enough to get that large gaudy silver trophy back over this side of the ditch is quite debatable, of course, but it's something to work from.

 

[Jono]

Well, that went as I expected, though not as I hoped. You can't have the sort of injury toll the Brumbies have had in key positions and expect to topple a team at nearly full strength, in good form and at home.

With no recognised professional hooker the set piece was a mess. Kuridrani getting concussed early didn't help. I'd seen Iona play in the 10s comp last week and he looks handy, but filling in so early in such a crunch game was not ideal. Neither was him throwing an intercept pass for the Tahs second try.

Amazed the Brumbies kept the Tahs close until the 60th min when Walsh finally came through with his "final" warning (I'm sure he gave 3). The Brumbies leaked two tries in that period, though with the end result the Tahs had the game already sealed.

I really thought the Brumbies would be out of the run for the finals, but the Force have made it easier for them by losing to the Blues. Regardless of the results next week it means at least the sixth spot will be still in contention in the final round.

 

[Orac Zen]

I don't know how much store the Tahs can put in that victory given the Brumbies' ridiculous injury list, but then again I suppose you can only play whoever's in front of you and I'll take the win against opposition who've troubled us (to put it mildly) in the past. Perhaps a bit of our own back for some cheap shots, including one from an ex-Brumbies staffer which apparently fired up a few Tahs, Cheika included.

On a sour note, I really hope Dennis isn't facing a third knee reconstruction. We can probably cover for him but it isn't what a side wants at this stage of the season.

Edit: Dennis is indeed out for the season with an ACL rupture. Hopefully he can come back from this.

 

[NCC1701]

Missed all of the Highlanders-Chiefs match on Friday due to being on call, but the Landers finally get a win after losing the two games before the break, the wheels have well and truly come off the Chiefs bus this year, they will be lucky to make the playoffs at all at this stage. The Highlanders don't exactly have it easy either, with away matches to the Waratahs and Crusaders to finish off the regular season.

Also missed the first 20 minutes of the Hurricanes-Crusaders game, but what an arm wrestle that was! Nice to see the Saders lose both of the Canes matches this year, so Canes have bought themselves a lifeline to get into the playoffs, provided they win handily next week and have results fall their way the week after, as they have a bye in the final round.

Waratahs look well set to host the final this year, I could see them go all the way this year, and deservedly so in my opinion. One good thing about the Super 15 so far has been that there have been different winners than in the days of old, so I really wouldn't be upset to see either the Tahs or Sharks get the silverware this year, just keep the Crusaders from getting their dirty mitts on it, please

 

[NCC1701]

Crusaders won last night against a very spirited Blues side 20-13 in Christchurch, a late try by the Crusaders sealing the result. Sharks lost to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein 27-20, handing the Crusaders a home semi final spot should results fall their way next week, damnit.

 

[Orac Zen]

The Tahs have just secured top spot with a 44-16 win over the Highlanders. Sounds impressive enough but I've been burned too many times to feel even mildly optimistic that the talk will finally be turned into a result this time.

Here's hoping, though.

 

[Jono]

Going to be interesting next week. The top of the NZ conference is still open between the Crusaders and Highlanders, who will battle it out against each other next week. You have four teams fighting over two spots and one of those teams is the Hurricanes and they have the bye! They sit on fifth, but if the Chiefs win they will miss out on the finals because the other two team in the mix, Brumbies and Force, play each other and one of them will leapfrog the Canes.

It's even still possible for three Australian teams to make the finals! A draw between the Brumbies and Force couple with a non-bonus point loss by the Highlanders would make it possible. In fact in this scenario the Highlanders could go from challenging for NZ top spot to missing the finals if the Chiefs were to win. But there is also the chance the losing Australian side if they score bonus points could make the finals with the right mix of Chiefs and/or Highlanders stumbling at the end.

All that said, most likely outcome is 1 SA team, 2 Aust teams, and 3 NZ teams. I'd like to say that second side will be the Brumbies, but I need to see the team first. The more players that return the more hopeful I will be.

 

[Jono]

Brumbies won an entertaining match, 47 - 25 against the Force. Ten tries in the game, 7 to the Brumbies with Toomua getting a hattrick and 3 to the Force.

The Brumbies will now make the finals and just where and who they play will depend on what happens between the Crusaders and Hgihlanders. The hope is the Crusaders win so that the Brumbies get a home semi.

 

[Orac Zen]

So the Tahs won but it sounds as though the set pieces were less than stellar and Queensland were awful. This doesn't really bode well for the games ahead. The better sides won't be so charitable as to drop the ball every few minutes.

 

[NCC1701]

The Brumbies win the first qualifying final of the year 32-30, Chiefs made it easy for them in the first half by letting the Brumbies run riot, the Chiefs did well to make the score as close as it was, as at one point they were down 21-3. I'm hoping the Highlanders manage to topple the Sharks later on this morning, but I don't think they have it in them to do the impossible twice in one season and win in Durban again, meaning it will probably be Crusaders-Sharks and Waratahs-Brumbies next weekend, now there's an awesome back-to-back final combo!

 

[Jono]

Geez, the Brumbies like to give me heart problems in the finals. Against the Cheetah's last year it came down to a sideline conversion to see the Cheetah's push it into extra time in the 81st minute. Then against the Bulls they scored a try with about a minute to go to give them a lead. Now, they win by 2 against a surging Chiefs.

The yellow cards had the game in wild swings. First getting the Brumbies to a 14 point lead and then bringing the Chiefs back level with 2 tries scored in each 10 min period. Very exciting game with great attack by both sides.

Sharks won, so it will be Tahs vs Brumbies next week. Given the Tah's form I think that the Brumbies final run will end there. A few players looked to pick up injuries against the Chiefs, but whatever side takes the park next week I hope they will give the Tahs a good run.

 

[Orac Zen]

Should be...interesting this weekend. Some of the Brumbies and their associates will probably bring the boring, childish, chip-on-the-shoulder bullshit they seem to think is necessary whenever they play the Tahs. The Tahs are just as likely to fall in a screaming heap as they are to produce a performance worthy of the occasion.

Yeah, interesting seems like the right word.

Either way an Australian side will make the final and I'm pleased about that. A win would be nice this time around.


Edit: According to Jeff Wilson, though, it's apparently already in the bag for the Crusaders, who will defeat the Tahs wherever they have to play them. So the semis and final won't be necessary. There must be some sort of arrogance course some former sportspeople take to come up with this sort of drivel.

 

[Jono]

Must. Not. Take. Bait.

 

[Orac Zen]

What bait? Wilson's the idiot who seems to reckon the semis and final aren't necessary because the outcome's already been determined.

Unless you're talking about the childish parochialism thing. I stand by that without reserve. Even the Canberra "journalists" seem to carry that Everest-sized chip on their shoulders. It's pathetic and the sooner they all get the hell over it, the better.

 

[Jono]

It isn't a one way street. The Tahs and Sydney media are just as bad. Just look at how they went about things before the round 3 clash where the Sydney media and Tahs played up the "Dublin Incident". Then in the return clash it was all about a tweet from an ex-Brumbies staff member. Both sides want it to be as much about "us vs them" as they can get.

This time it's pretty quiet. Except for the Tahs not letting the Brumbies mascot on the sideline, but I can't remember ever seen an opposition mascot on the sideline. But any reason to hate those Tahs just a little bit more!

 

[Orac Zen]

Any pathetic reason.

There's a massive list of those both the Canberraites and the "Reds" have already, after all. What's one more?


Inter-state / territory parochialism really is up there near the top of the list of things I detest about this country. We really do need to grow out of that bullshit.

 

[Jono]

Brumbies out in a hefty defeat. Brumbies went for the sideline instead of penalties and it didn't pay off. They had enough possession in the right area to win or at least have a tighter score line, but they couldn't finish off the chances they had. They did better than I though they would a month ago when I was really ready for them to miss the finals altogether. Hopefully next year they'll be a might more consistent.

2014 is over for them, but the bulk of the team will be back in 2015. Mowen is off to France after a very good stint at the Brumbies. Murphy is also off and while he didn't play much he did do well coming in as a makeshift hooker in the last month of the comp. Then there's Fisher, off to coach Gloucester. Fisher is a big loss as he had a lot to do with bringing the Brumbies back to the top end of the pack.

Only concern is that Speight went off injured. Hopefully it isn't a season ending one given he is finally available to play for the Wallabies.

 

[Orac Zen]

Not at all unhappy with that result.

Not thrilled about (what sounds like) the dogfight nature of the game but it wasn't as though the Brumbies were going to roll over and give us the win. Very pleased we're there. Maybe this will be our year at long, long last. I won't hold my breath.

A sour note was the prick from the Canberra Times signing off RH's coverage with "Go Crusaders!" Such professionalism.

 

[NCC1701]

Crusaders smashed the Sharks 38-6 on Saturday night, not the result I was hoping for. As an Aucklander, that means my support now switches to the Waratahs, ABC and all - anyone but Canterbury - they will need to improve set piece tho, they showed what they had in the second half against the Brumbies, to be able to stop the Crusader machine winning their 8th title and first in six years they're gonna need to do that for the entire 80 minutes next weekend. I don't think defense needs any improvement after managing to hold out the Brumbies for the entire second half at least!

 

[Orac Zen]

At last.

At long, long, long last our suffering is over.

Hardly surprising that the Crusaders made it so difficult but I'm just stoked the Tahs have finally done it - mostly for themselves, but also to shove it up the handful of petty, parochial losers out there who'd rather see anyone else win for no real reason(s) whatsoever.

I'm a very happy Tah supporter today.