RugbyRebels

An intriguing battle. By now I'm sure that everyone knows that the way the draw was set up, the Stormers have not played any NZ teams this year.

But to whose advantage is this?

Will the Chiefs be more battle-hardened with their experience of playing the other top teams? Or will the Stormers be nice and fresh after their armchair ride through the SA division?

What I have seen of the Stormers hasn't exactly been inspirational, and I do feel that the Chiefs will definitely be far more battle-hardened by what has been a fairly tough season for them.

I suspect the semifinals may be as far as the Chiefs will get.

Also, Liam Messam has been ruled ineligible for the play-offs in a fairly bullshit move, because he's only played a couple of games for the Chiefs. He's apparently 2 short.

The Messam decision doesn't seem to advance the intent or spirit of the rule, but it's written quite clearly.

If you compare the Chiefs' and Stormers' respective records against common opponents, they are actually uncannily similar.

Just to flesh it out a bit, the Chiefs and Stormers had 9 opponents in common during the regular season (all 5 Aussie teams, Jags, Sharks, Kings and Lions). Only one result differed (Sharks beat the Stormers but lost to the Chiefs). Here’s the details:

Brumbies: Both won easily. Chiefs 48-23; Stormers 31-11
Force: Both won easily. Chiefs 53-10; Stormers 22-3
Jaguares: Both won narrowly. Chiefs 30-26; Stormers 13-8
Kings: Both won easily with almost exactly the same scores. Chiefs 58-24; Stormers 55-24
Lions: Both lost narrowly. Chiefs 32-36; Stormers 22-29
Rebels: Both won easily. Chiefs 36-15; Stormers 57-31
Reds: Both won easily. Chiefs 50-5; Stormers 40-22
Sharks: The only differing result, but both were close: Chiefs 24-22; Stormers 13-18
Warratahs: Both lost, but the Stormers got much closer. Chiefs 25-45; Stormers 30-32

Chiefs:
7 wins (5 winning BPs, conceded 1 losing BP), 2 losses (1 losing BP, conceded no winning BPs)
356 points, 206 against, PD 150
49 tries, 24 conceded, TD 25
34 competition points earned, 10 conceded, CPD 24

Stormers:
6 wins (3 winning BPs, conceded 1 losing BP), 3 losses (3 losing BPs, conceded no winning BPs)
283 points, 178 against, PD 105
31 tries, 20 conceded, TD 11
30 competition points earned, 13 conceded, CPD 17

The Stormers look to have the tighter defence, but the Chiefs score 2 more tries per game on average than the Stormers do.

Lizard wrote:An intriguing battle. By now I'm sure that everyone knows that the way the draw was set up, the Stormers have not played any NZ teams this year.

But to whose advantage is this?

Will the Chiefs be more battle-hardened with their experience of playing the other top teams? Or will the Stormers be nice and fresh after their armchair ride through the SA division?

I'd guess that the Stormers might not be used to the speed of the Chief's play but they might adjust quickly or be able to plan well enough to up their speed.

Eugene Wrayburn wrote:

Lizard wrote:An intriguing battle. By now I'm sure that everyone knows that the way the draw was set up, the Stormers have not played any NZ teams this year.

But to whose advantage is this?

Will the Chiefs be more battle-hardened with their experience of playing the other top teams? Or will the Stormers be nice and fresh after their armchair ride through the SA division?

I'd guess that the Stormers might not be used to the speed of the Chief's play but they might adjust quickly or be able to plan well enough to up their speed.

Half right, there.

60-21 to the Chiefs.

Little McKenzie's a delight to watch. All the skills, pace to burn and full of attacking intent. Would love to see him get at least a bench spot for the ABs.