RugbyRebels

Looks like there won't be an upset in Hamilton either, despite a second half resurgence from the Tahs. Kiwis go 22-0 against the Aussies this year and the montony of a tournament almost entirely devoid of surprises continues.

cashead wrote:This fucking Crusaders team. Holy shit, they just stole one from the Highlanders.

I came

But did you see?

Rebels rubbish.

zer0 wrote:But did you see?

I see the Blues sitting at the bottom of the conference, mother fucker.

Makes me so happy I might have a pokey bum wank.

This is why you don't want to be wandering aimlessly around Chch the night of a game.

You may get violated.

Len wrote:I see the Blues sitting at the bottom of the conference, mother fucker.

Makes me so happy I might have a pokey bum wank.

A nice phrenology graph. This is what the ARU needs right now.

This is ridiculous that some teams have played 2 more than others.

jared_7 wrote:

rowan wrote:Close but no cigar for the Reds in Samoa today, with Aussies still looking for their first win against the Kiwis after 21 Trans-Tasman encounters in this year's Super Rugby competition.

Tickets ranging from $20-$250. $60 just to stand on a bank.

In a country where the minimum wage is $1.70 an hour.

They couldn't even half fill a stadium that only fits 8,000 people.

Another piece of Blues genius, although it shows the issue of having games in the islands.

Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu puts in his two-cents worth:

Former Samoan international Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu has labelled the Blues "ignorant and "arrogant" following their historic clash against the Reds in Apia.

The reality of the first Super Rugby to ever be held in Samoa fell flat on expectation with estimates suggesting the 8000-capacity stadium was well less than half full.

Opinion: Super Rugby's 'historic' night in Samoa was a giant ripoff
As it happened: Blues vs Reds
A second tier ticket to the match cost $150, the equivalent to a ticket to watch Manu Samoa take on the All Blacks in Auckland on June 16.

While the ticket prices have been criticised, Fuimaono-Sapolu said it was the Blues' half-baked approach to the match that led to the poor turnout.

"The Blues just showed up the day before which was seen as really insincere," Fuimaono-Sapolu told Andrew Gourdie and Jim Kayes on Sunday Sport on RadioLIVE.
Tana Umaga
Tana Umaga giving a team talk before kick-off (Getty)
"This occasion obviously wasn't to try and spread the game of Super Rugby and to go in and expand global rugby, it was obviously just here to make money and I think people saw that."

Last week, Blues chief Michael Redman told Jim Kayes the match "cost well north of half a million" to host in Samoa.

Cancelling their weekly media obligations owing to the Lions' arrival, Fuimaono-Sapolu said the Blues' work on the ground in Samoa also left a lot to be desired - particularly when compared with the Reds who arrived in the country a full five days before the game.

"They probably could have sold a lot more tickets had they done a bit of work like the Reds did," he said. "The Reds had an open training session, they also held a clinic and they also went and visited our only safe house for women and children, victims of sexual abuse and violent abuse.

"They went and did a lot around Samoa and were seen a lot in the community which is why most people wanted the Reds to win."

Buses not running and the match coinciding with a public holiday were also factors in the small crowd, Fuimaono-Sapolu added.
Failure to do basic Samoa research doomed historic Blues' Super Rugby clash: Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu
Above all, it were these fundamentals and not the cost of the tickets that doomed the match.

"They obviously had not done any research at all and just thought that 'Samoans love rugby and they'll accept any rubbish that we give them'. They gave us this completely ignorant, arrogant game without doing any research to what works and the market here.

"The thing is, we have that money, we paid more to watch the All Blacks, but you're not the All Blacks and you haven't done anything. The whole 'not even coming to Samoa to spend some money in our economy' thing - who are you, who do you think you are?

"It is really really arrogant and that came across."

The Blues declined the opportunity to respond to Fuimaono-Sapolu's comments.

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/201 ... apolu.html

More from the Observer: http://www.sobserver.ws/en/05_06_2017/e ... a-Park.htm

Lizard wrote:The Hurricanes were superb. The Lions will be pleased that they have them during the test series so they will be without their All Blacks. Jordie Barrett looks as much a freak as his older brother (who, by the way, needs to up his goal kicking game considerably).

Ngani Laumape looks interesting, too.

Yep, picked it back in March. Might as well give me a selector's badge now.

Suspected it all season; the Canes are not championship-winning material this year; not quite, anyway. Critical period of play was the Chiefs taking the lead straight after conceding a yellow card. Canes should have nailed it there but let it slip from their grasp instead.

Who do you think's going to have the last laugh here??

Two South African sides could be playing in the Guinness PRO12 as early as September, it has emerged.

The Cheetahs and Southern Kings are expected to be cut from the southern hemisphere’s Super Rugby competition next month.

And they are set to be handed a lifeline by PRO12 chiefs who have made no secret of their desire to expand their horizons.

With the carrot of increased broadcasting revenue, the PRO12 has already courted potential markets in North America and now the South African link-up appears to be looking more and more a reality - as early as the coming 2017-18 season, according to the BBC.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugb ... t-13261425

Kings' impressive form continues, and rumors are they may even escape the axe at the end of the season, though to be honest I'm not sure who else can go, aside from the Cheetahs. The other four teams - Stormers, Bulls, Lions & Sharks - represent the four pillars of South African provincial rugby. As mentioned before, I wonder at times whether SANZAAR wasn't just a little too hasty with its decision to cull 3 teams. Given time, it might have come together. Meanwhile, the Jags haven't shown any improvement on last season, regrettably, but that haven't exactly been a failure either and will do well to hang on to a mid-table standing.

Lions beat Sunpoodles 94-7 today, while Stormers pipped the Cheetahs 40-34:

Wow, Jags with a 3-25 lead on the Tahs in Sydney late in the first half!!

Terrible end to the half for the South Americans, however, conceding a converted try and losing two players to the bin! They'll need to sort themselves out in the break if they want to hang onto this lead.

10-25 HT

NSW right back in it now. 17-25 early second half.

24-25 half an hour to play . . .

Update: Wow, Jags with their first points of the half but NSW stay in touch with a penalty. 27-32 3/4 mark. It's anyone's game...

Jaguares finishing as they began. 27 - 40 with 15 mins to go! This could just about be the biggest surprise of the entire season, if they hang on. I know the Tahs are below them, but the South Americans have just lost a string of relatively easy games at home and I wasn't expecting them to pick up a win on the road today...

Tahs attacking in the last couple of minutes but time's running out for them and the visitors defense is sound. All but over now...

Jags win on the road! Much needed after their recent slump!

NSW 27 Jaguares 40

Kings sensational season continues, as well, as a last minute penalty gives them a 30-31 win over the Bulls in Pretoria - just minutes after the home-team appeared to have clinched a miraculous comeback win with a late converted try!!

Stormers predictably thump Sunpoodles 52-15