Super XV 2014 General Discussion Thread

irishbucsfan

He didn't learn that in Ireland anyway!

danthefan

Davei141 wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S0MK7IMzmg

Pretty nasty.

Thanks, doesn't look good alright.

Grimebox

Horwill thinks its a farce

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=854251617922019

He says "Judge both incidents or judge neither" referring to the possible headbutt before. What kind of logic is that?

matthew8

I honestly could not believe what he said after the match, after Steve Walsh had given his side so many very favourable calls.

Davei141

If i was to say what i thought of Horwill i would be banned.

matthew8

It's been an absolutely awful year for Horwill since the Lions. His form has fallen off a cliff and he might not even start for Australia.

Kiwi_knock

Not a great day for either the Force or the Brumbies, both losing games they should be winning if they want to be in the playoffs at the end of the season.

Opens it up for the Tahs to overtake the Force and close the gap with the Brumbies if they win against the Lions tomorrow. They should be aiming for a bonus point victory.

Also a dreadful day for the Reds ends with them at the bottom of the table. Big questions for them going forward now.

Jacovs

Good day for SA teams, was due one of those. Just the Lions tomorrow to seal the weekend.

danthefan

EOD has been found not guilty and the red card has been rescinded. Maybe the other guy involved stated there was no contact with his eyes or something?

LuckyGent88

danthefan wrote: »

EOD has been found not guilty and the red card has been rescinded. Maybe the other guy involved stated there was no contact with his eyes or something?

Looks like the evidence of higginbotham and his lack of reaction on the field to the alleged offence has allowed EOD to be found not guilty.

Good news for the reds. Needed some good news with cooper rules out for the season now.
Will be interesting to see if horwill will be reprimanded for his comments about the Steve Walsh now that the red card has been rescinded.

sydthebeat

danthefan wrote: »

EOD has been found not guilty and the red card has been rescinded. Maybe the other guy involved stated there was no contact with his eyes or something?

i though the distinction was "around the eye area"... which his gouge definitely was....

disgraceful that he got away with that

danthefan

sydthebeat wrote: »

i though the distinction was "around the eye area"... which his gouge definitely was....

disgraceful that he got away with that

Well it wasn't a gouge as it turns out.

If you scroll up and look at the still from the YouTube vid, Higginbotham's hand is in EOD's eye area as much as EOD is in Higginbotham's.

If SH says he wasn't gouged and has no damage done to his eyes at all then I think it's fair enough.

sydthebeat

we're getting into semantics here but....

SH has an open hand where his palm is on EODs mouth.
EOD on the other hand has his fingers formed as a claw and DEFINITELY makes a scrapping action across SHs face.

From a parental POV i know that that clip went viral as loads of young players have seen it. Everyones first reaction is "he should get banned for ages".

he fact he didnt do any damage should not be a factor.
neither should the receiving players comments as to damage done.

The incident should be determined independently.

to me, that incident is worse than quinlan on cullen.. its just blind luck that no damage was done.

danthefan

sydthebeat wrote: »

to me, that incident is worse than quinlan on cullen.. its just blind luck that no damage was done.

Could not possibly agree with that. I reckon we're not going to agree, full stop.

Swiwi.

sydthebeat and Swiwi. go head to head this Saturday! TBH, I wouldn't mind to much if the Highlanders won, they've been playing really well, and as a team.

Good luck syd!

Otherwise, it's last chance saloon for the Blues, and the Canes need to knock over the Chiefs.

In the other conferences, Force will want to hop back on the horse against the Lions, Bulls v Brumbies is important for both sides, and Tahs will want to despatch the Rebels and stay on track for a possible top finish in the Aussie conference.

But Highlanders v Crusaders is where it's at!

sydthebeat

First of two swiwi

Hopefully by the Time we meet you in July we'll have third spot tied up. After Saturday we've an away fixture against the terrible reds, So if we can get five points between those two I'll be delighted. Two points well be disappointing.
The canes have the chiefs twice in the run in, I can't see them getting anything more than 1 point in those games.

skippymac6

Canes will struggle this week if Barrett is out with th knock he picked up last week. Chiefs are rested too and I can see them winning by a score.

Brumbies have an uphill task beating the bulls who have won all their games bar the freak Chiefs draw at home this year. Again the Bulls will be rested and you'd have to think they could grind this one out.

Highlanders vs Saders should be very interesting. History is on the Saders side but the Highlanders will by buoyed no end by their win last week. Should be a cracker.

Swiwi.

sydthebeat wrote: »

First of two swiwi

Hopefully by the Time we meet you in July we'll have third spot tied up. After Saturday we've an away fixture against the terrible reds, So if we can get five points between those two I'll be delighted. Two points well be disappointing.
The canes have the chiefs twice in the run in, I can't see them getting anything more than 1 point in those games.

Time for the "real fan" test STB. Will you be setting the alarm clock for 6.30 Saturday morning

sydthebeat

Swiwi. wrote: »

Time for the "real fan" test STB. Will you be setting the alarm clock for 6.30 Saturday morning

ive my sons communion on saturday!!!! so id probably be up anyway :pac:

one thing im worried about is our fitness, we wilted drastically against the lions in the second half last week and the crusaders are ruthless.

hopefully home advantage will get us over the line...i see paddy power has only a 4 point spread in it to the saders.

GiftofGab

Apparently Aaron Cruden is back this weekend for the Chiefs.

sydthebeat

GiftofGab wrote: »

Apparently Aaron Cruden is back this weekend for the Chiefs.

if that turns out to be true.. then chiefs -1 against the canes is the bet of the weekend

Swiwi.

sydthebeat wrote: »

if that turns out to be true.. then chiefs -1 against the canes is the bet of the weekend

How I see this weekend. Crusaders probably to edge the Highlanders, but once again last Saturday the Crusaders backline made the Leinster efforts this season look positively dynamic. Blues will probably lose to Sharks, although they are a tougher nut to crack at Eden Park. Chiefs will probably take down the Canes, especially as Cruden is back and Barrett is gone, but Canes could still spring a surprise. I hope the Tahs beat the Bulls, gives the maximum chance 3 Kiwi teams can qualify.

Swiwi.

TNW has resigned with Chiefs until 2015. I'm happy but surprised. He's look destined never to play above SXV level I would have thought, but maybe he sees how things pan out.

GiftofGab

Swiwi. wrote: »

TNW has resigned with Chiefs until 2015. I'm happy but surprised. He's look destined never to play above SXV level I would have thought, but maybe he sees how things pan out.

Maybe no other offers came in for him and had no other options.

Could have been a good buy for Leinster.

Swiwi.

GiftofGab wrote: »

Maybe no other offers came in for him and had no other options.

Could have been a good buy for Leinster.

Maybe. But the press release reads as if he wanted to stay. He's still young, and with Rennie a good chance to be the next AB coach, he might have thought it's worth staying.

sydthebeat

There must have been 8 kicks in the blues sharks game in the first 1:30

Please don't be a sign of things to come.

Kiwi_knock

It seems like forward passes are allowed this season in Super Rugby, the latest in a long line of dubious decisions related to forward passes this year.

skippymac6

Good win for the Sharks. Looks like the road to the final will be going through Durban this year....

Kiwi_knock

It finishes Blues 23 -29 Sharks.

Big win for the Sharks, have to be firm favourites for the title. The playoff hopes are over for the Blues.

Kiwi_knock

Lovely try for the Tahs, great line by Horne. 8-0.

Kiwi_knock

16-9 to the Tahs at half time. Rebels will be down to 14 men for the first 10 mins of the second half, so there is a great chance for the Tahs to get 5 points.

Swiwi.

Kiwi_knock wrote: »

It finishes Blues 23 -29 Sharks.

Big win for the Sharks, have to be firm favourites for the title. The playoff hopes are over for the Blues.

How did Ihaia West play please Kiwi_knock?

Must say, I think I got my Blues season preview pretty spot on: issues at 10, and not enough quality in the 2nd row.

Sharks must be warm favourites for the comp now, given they are likely to be ranked #1, and with Durban hometown advantage.

Kiwi_knock

Hooper scores, 3rd try for Tahs. 24-12.

Kiwi_knock

Swiwi. wrote: »

How did Ihaia West play please Kiwi_knock?

Must say, I think I got my Blues season preview pretty spot on: issues at 10, and not enough quality in the 2nd row.

Sharks must be warm favourites for the comp now, given they are likely to be ranked #1, and with Durban hometown advantage.

He had an impact when he came on, some quick passes. He nearly threw an intercept with a no look pass but Steyn could not gather, but I was impressed by him as he speeded the Blues team up. The Blues looked good, they were unlucky that the Sharks just had a great defence.

matthew8

The Sharks should win at home to the Stormers but wins away to both the Cheetahs and Stormers are essential to finish first, and despite their league positions they are tough propositions at home. The Chiefs are only 9 points behind with 2 games in hand and will be favourites for every game for the rest of the season, and obviously more capable of picking up bonus points. Luckily for the Sharks though the tiebreaker is wins and they're ahead by 4 there.

Kiwi_knock

Folau slips when attempting to pass on the Rebels 5 metre line. Veainu scoops it up and runs the length of the pitch to score. 24-19 to the Tahs.

Kiwi_knock

Some lovely offloads by Phipps and Foley sees Beale go over to a chorus of boos. Bonus point try for the Tahs, 31-19 to the Tahs, and it should be game over with 15 mins left.

skippymac6

Phipps playing really well the last few weeks. Genia will start teh opening test against France but he won't be given much rope as White and Phipps are playing very well all season.

Kiwi_knock

Folau gets his 10th try of the season. One of Beale or Foley has to start for Australia.

Kiwi_knock

Another try for the Tahs. 41-19. An absolute thrashing.

Kiwi_knock

Finishes 41-19. Would have been a lot more if the Tahs had a kicker.

Swiwi.

Kiwi_knock wrote: »

Folau gets his 10th try of the season. One of Beale or Foley has to start for Australia.

'twill be Beale I reckon. In a tight game with AB/SA forward superiority, I don't see Foley being able to game manage sufficiently. Beale is some natural talent, though.

Kiwi_knock

Swiwi. wrote: »

'twill be Beale I reckon. In a tight game with AB/SA forward superiority, I don't see Foley being able to game manage sufficiently. Beale is some natural talent, though.

The big issue with Beale is his defence, for the Tahs he defends on the wing. Cooper had to defend from 10 last year, so I imagine the starting 10 this year will have to do the same.

Journeyman_1

Saw the 2nd half of Tahs, Rebels (finally finished college for a few months ). Pretty impressive from the Tahs, Phipps looked very good!

matthew8

Jacques-Louis Potgieter is one of the best kickers in the world right now. I've noticed a ridiculous depth in centres for South Africa right now between De Jongh, De Allende, JDV, Steyn, Engelbrecht, Serfontein, Jordaan and Sithole it's ludicrous depth, and I think Leinster would do well to sign any one of them.

Swiwi.

Not sure if anyone else up at this crack of dawn, but McNicholl has bottled 2 tries: dropped cold with open tryline, and then forward pass with tryline open.

Swiwi.

Crusaders utterly destroying the Highlanders so far, just ruthless. Only 7-0, thanks to McNichol, but this 10 minutes has been clinical otherwise.

LuckyGent88

Swiwi. wrote: »

Crusaders utterly destroying the Highlanders so far, just ruthless. Only 7-0, thanks to McNichol, but this 10 minutes has been clinical otherwise.

Hasn't really been great this year at all. Quality start from the crusaders

Swiwi.

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Hasn't really been great this year at all. Quality start from the crusaders

Sopoaga has also had a mare so far.

LuckyGent88

Haha Ritchie

Cracking game