Super Rugby

[zer0]

Jaguares are playing well, but the ref is having a bit of a mare, to put it politely.

[rowan]

& that's the final score, folks. Jags 22 Reds 8, Jaguares are 4-1 near the top of the table right now and looking good for a spot in the playoffs (as I predicted), though there's a long way to go, of course, and most of their away games yet to play.

Meanwhile, Aussie woes continue . . .

[rowan]

Correction to my earlier post. Rebels also winless (like the Sunwolves):

[Mikey Brown]

So how long before Jordie Barrett is an AB? Has he got massive holes in his game? Looks ridiculous from the Super Rugby wrap-up things.

[rowan]

Just pick the whole family. Can't go wrong . . .

[rowan]

Second try is one of the best I've seen

[Mr Mwenda]

That was some dancing!

[zer0]

So how long before Jordie Barrett is an AB? Has he got massive holes in his game? Looks ridiculous from the Super Rugby wrap-up things.

He's not as fast as Beauden, so there's that I guess.

[Len]

So how long before Jordie Barrett is an AB? Has he got massive holes in his game? Looks ridiculous from the Super Rugby wrap-up things.

I reckon EOYT or next year. I'd be surprised if we saw him for the Lions tour. Hes not as rapido as Beauden but his passing and offloading game is pretty chain.

[rowan]

It's going to be really interesting to see how the international season pans out. If Super Rugby is any gauge at all we should be expecting vast improvement from the Boks this year, while the Aussies are shaping up to be a laughing stock in their place. Argentina going from strength to strength, meanwhile, and some of those guys involved with both the Pumas and Jaguares must've played more games alongside each other than just about any other group of players in recent history. That's a huge advantage.

[rowan]

Looks like it's the Force and Kings they want out, but the Saffas won't budge on the latter, which could well save the former:

Cape Town - The Western Force's time in Super Rugby is set come to an end, according to a report in Australian media on Monday.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the Force will be the Australian franchise to be cut from the competition - as part of a proposed SANZAAR move to reduce the number of teams from 18 to 15.

As a result the majority of contracted Force players, aside from senior Wallabies in Dane Haylett-Petty and Adam Coleman, will be automatically moved to new franchises by the ARU, according to the report.

Where the move to cut three teams from the competition is stalling comes down to the wait for a decision by South Africa over axing two of their six sides from Super Rugby.

A key SANZAAR meeting is scheduled for April 6, and while there is a general agreement that Super Rugby must be slimmed down to 15 sides, a current stumbling block is reportedly the South African government's backing to keep the Southern Kings involved in the competition, despite low crowds and poor performances on the field.

The Eastern Cape region boasts a strong heritage of black rugby representation and the Kings’ participation of the event is seen as a necessity.

Should South Africa decide it cannot cut two teams then the competition could remain with 18 sides in 2018.

Since entering the competition 11 years ago the Force's highest finish came in 2007, when they ended seventh.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/SuperRug ... y-20170327

[rowan]

It's going to be really interesting to see how the international season pans out. If Super Rugby is any gauge at all we should be expecting vast improvement from the Boks this year, while the Aussies are shaping up to be a laughing stock in their place. Argentina going from strength to strength, meanwhile, and some of those guys involved with both the Pumas and Jaguares must've played more games alongside each other than just about any other group of players in recent history. That's a huge advantage.

Argentina also seems to be benefiting from the fact visiting teams are often underestimating them and rest top players for the South American trip. Surely they'd have woken up to that after the Lions basically threw away home advantage in last year's grand final by losing to the Jags in BA - but evidently not so . . .

[Lizard]

Surprise, su-fucking-prise; its South African politics standing in the way of Super Rugby reform.

[rowan]

Or more specifically the gate-crashing Kings. Their inclusion was unwelcome to begin with but they played the race card with constant references to their 'strong heritage of black players' but the teams they've trotted out have been just as white-dominated as any other. Besides, it's a franchise system. Nothing to stop their players signing for other teams. They don't need a locally based team to strive for. That's nonsense in the pro era.

[rowan]

Force deny they're on the chopping block . . .

Sydney - The Western Force on Tuesday dismissed concerns they face the axe from the troubled Super Rugby competition after a report suggested they will be scrapped in a revamped format.

Organisers SANZAAR are grappling with a way forward for the confusing 18-team, five-nation southern hemisphere championship and announced some three weeks ago that a shake-up was imminent.

Since then it has been mute on the issue.

In the absence of any decisions, speculation has been rife that it will be trimmed back to 15 clubs, with South Africa losing two of its six teams and Australia cutting one of five.

Sydney's Daily Telegraph stated on Tuesday that Western Force, which was founded in 2005, would be chopped rather than the Brumbies or Melbourne Rebels. The Waratahs and Reds are widely considered safe.

But Force chief executive Mark Sinderberry rejected this.

"The reports that are coming out of Sydney at the moment are totally false," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"Two-and-a-half weeks ago we had a telephone link up with the Australian Rugby Union and at that time made very clear that there was a number of factors to be considered and there hadn't been any decisions made and we've had no further correspondence since then."

Sinderberry was adamant Western Force was not facing the axe.

"It's not a case of whether they should or not, at all. They will survive," he said.

Australian Rugby Union chief Bill Pulver said no decisions had been taken.

"At this point, there has been no determination on the future competition format or the teams involved in the competition," he said in a statement.

"We also wish to confirm for the public record that no decision has been taken on the removal of one of Australia's Super Rugby teams."

The competition currently straddles 17 time zones and four continents, resulting in complaints of lopsided contests, taxing travel times and a fragmented conference system seen as too confusing for fans.

Problems intensified in 2016, when Super Rugby expanded from 15 teams to 18 with the introduction of Japan's Sunwolves, Argentina's Jaguares and South Africa's Southern Kings.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/SuperRug ... e-20170328

[rowan]

I'll say it again - just let each of the 3 founding nations choose their own 5 participants and leave them to it. That's the only fair way for this to proceed.

The Rugby Union Players' Association has launched a petition to save Australian rugby's national footprint, warning of "permanent damage" to the game if a Super Rugby team is cut.

As the axe hovers over one of Australia's three smallest professional teams - the Force, Rebels or Brumbies - the players' union is trying to trigger a groundswell of public support to head off any such move.

The petition, entitled "Stronger As Five", warns that agreeing to cut an Australian team as part of a wider Super Rugby shakeup will "signal a retreat" in the competitive Australian sporting market place and also places responsibility for any decision - expected as early as next week - squarely at the feet of the Australian Rugby Union.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/supe ... ugby-teams

[rowan]

Former Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU) president Cheeky Watson has been arrested on charges of fraud or corruption according to South African media reports.

Meanwhile, Otago blitz Rebels 51-12 to kick-off the weekend's Super Rugby action . . .

[rowan]

Was the Chiefs - Bulls clash the first NZ - SA encounter so far this season? Looks like the Kiwis are still on top, unsurprisingly, but the Lions, Sharks and Stormers might prove quite a challenge in their home games. I don't think it's going to be any cake-walk for the Kiwis this year, that's for sure.

[zer0]

Was the Chiefs - Bulls clash the first NZ - SA encounter so far this season? Looks like the Kiwis are still on top, unsurprisingly, but the Lions, Sharks and Stormers might prove quite a challenge in their home games. I don't think it's going to be any cake-walk for the Kiwis this year, that's for sure.

No, the Blues dispatched the Bulls last round with a half of decent rugby. So the score is 2-0 to NZ for now. All the NZ teams still have to go to SA though, so it will obviously change. The Chiefs are the first to go, IIRC.

[rowan]

Cheers. Nice win by the Canes. They probably looked sharper than the Chiefs today...

[rowan]

Far too many one-sided games. Not good for attendances.

[rowan]

At least the Lions v Sharks was a thriller, as you'd expect. & so far the only one of the round, with just the Saders v Tahs match to come tomorrow. Last week only produced one or two nail-biters as well, as did the weekend before. Meanwhile the majority of the fixtures over the past few weeks have resulted in one-side games, at least half of them being separated by a two converted try margin or more at the final whistle. A couple of teams need to go, and they should start at the bottom, obviously.

[Parsifal]

17,500 or so at Suncorp last night for that humdinger with the Hurricanes who, for the most part, looked outstanding again. I reckon a fair percentage of those in attendance were Canes supporters.

Once more, the surface was bloody awful. While Suncorp was once voted the best pitch in the competition twice in a row – the latter award coming mere weeks after it and half of the city was covered in floodwater in early 2011 – it simply hasn’t been good enough since. Brisbane has copped plenty of rain these last few days but, if anything, the surface looked dry and sandy beneath the surface.

The ref was similarly sub-standard at times.

Top try from Higginbotham although, from where I was, I couldn't tell whether the flip out the back was forward or not.

[rowan]

Saders are all over the Tahs early 2nd half. Another fairly one-sided encounter so far.

No sooner written than the Tahs score two tries Game on!!

False alarm. 22-41 it finished. NZ teams march on . . .

[Len]

Crusaders 7/7

Australian rugby lol