Super XV 2014 General Discussion Thread

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

Stupid play from the Force 15. He backed into the guy coming across, he didn't just hold his line. Idiotic because Cummins was never being stopped from that range

LostArt

The Lions are woeful this half

Kiwi_knock

The Force need a bonus point from this match.

Ugo Monye spacecraft experience

Those Force halfbacks are absolutely woeful. The nine in particular

Kiwi_knock

Oh no Honey Badger

Kiwi_knock

What an ending to this game, Hodgson gets the bonus point try. Force go ahead of the Brumbies and into the playoff spots.

Kiwi_knock

Great weekend. Both the Brumbies and the Chiefs topped their conferences at the start of the weekend but now both of them sit outside the playoffs. Shows how tight it is.

CatFromHue

Swiwi. wrote: »

Once again the NH has declined a global season, so these lameduck NH tours downunder look set to to continue for the foreseeable future.

Well in fairness the idea for the Global season was to start the NH season later and have it also finish later. No changes for the Super 15 though.

So they were looking for 3 competitions (Rabo, Aviva, and Top 14) to change while the Super XV stayed the same. Not much of a compromise there now.

I do agree the arrangements for England's tour to NZ are rubbish, even some of the players have said similar publicly!

Swiwi.

CatFromHue wrote: »

Well in fairness the idea for the Global season was to start the NH season later and have it also finish later. No changes for the Super 15 though.

So they were looking for 3 competitions (Rabo, Aviva, and Top 14) to change while the Super XV stayed the same. Not much of a compromise there now.

I do agree the arrangements for England's tour to NZ are rubbish, even some of the players have said similar publicly!

I think it was to change by 1 or 2 weeks but still be consecutive. Whereas the SXV remains disjointed. TBH I don't mind the SXV having a break, but I hate the sub-strength NH sides trundling down South for another spanking.

CatFromHue

The England team is all over the place at the moment but equally it's not unheard of for the SANZAR teams to not travel North in November at full strength either.

errlloyd

Swiwi. wrote: »

I think it was to change by 1 or 2 weeks but still be consecutive. Whereas the SXV remains disjointed. TBH I don't mind the SXV having a break, but I hate the sub-strength NH sides trundling down South for another spanking.

I think the SH teams get plenty of top class matches a year. There are more in the championship and they do longer tours.

Swiwi.

CatFromHue wrote: »

The England team is all over the place at the moment but equally it's not unheard of for the SANZAR teams to not travel North in November at full strength either.

But still win...!

CatFromHue

Yeah they do and I've no problem with that but alot of the their reasons for sending weakened teams are the same for the NH going South.

Swiwi.

CatFromHue wrote: »

Yeah they do and I've no problem with that but alot of the their reasons for sending weakened teams are the same for the NH going South.

True I guess. Although I reckon it must be about a decade since NZ sent an understrength team up north, that was 2002 from memory.

As much as I hate losing to the English (rather have my nuts squeezed in a vice), a 1-1 result heading into a decider would make for a great series.

Ireland have always held up their end of the deal, in fairness, it has mainly been the French & English who have sent weakened sides.

Jacovs

I dont really post in the other rugby threads, so just going to ask here. How many players in the Heineken Cup Final are actually english/french?
Just reading an article that there are 13 guys in the 46 man squads with South African connections. Near 30% of the players.

Also, Stormers vs Cheetahs in 2 hours. Time for Stormers to get off the bottom and restore some pride.

matthew8

Jacovs wrote: »

I dont really post in the other rugby threads, so just going to ask here. How many players in the Heineken Cup Final are actually english/french?
Just reading an article that there are 13 guys in the 46 man squads with South African connections. Near 30% of the players.

Also, Stormers vs Cheetahs in 2 hours. Time for Stormers to get off the bottom and restore some pride.

Nearly all of Toulon's team is not French (only 3 French starters, 6 on the bench). Saracens team is mostly English (10 starters, 5 on bench) but this includes players like Matt Stevens, Mouritz Botha, Brad Barritt who originate in SA and the Vunipolas.

pickarooney

Who's going to be the starting 10 for NZ against England. Cipriani or Ford against Barrett could be worth a watch. Although I would laugh if NZ picked Anscombe just to troll Wales!

Any (extended) highlights of Crusaders/Highlanders available yet?

CatFromHue

I think Ford is out, he's gonna have surgery instead (this could turn out less painful than if he goes though :P )

Swiwi.

pickarooney wrote: »

Who's going to be the starting 10 for NZ against England. Cipriani or Ford against Barrett could be worth a watch. Although I would laugh if NZ picked Anscombe just to troll Wales!

Any (extended) highlights of Crusaders/Highlanders available yet?

This is the best I could find. Not that extensive, sorry.

Jacovs

Stormers only finding their groove now. Bit late with only 3 games left but least up to 11th now.

hahashake

Brumbies and Chiefs both out of the top 6, which earlier in the season was unthinkable.

Chiefs were embarrassed by the Canes but when you consider the quality of the Canes backline as well as a few of their forwards, it's not surprising that having a bad game against them would lead to a blowout.

I still think both the Chiefs and Brumbies will make the playoffs but neither team can afford to drop games from now on.

bazalicous

My starting All Blacks team for first test against England could have Barrett and TJ starting. They're amazing together at the 'Canes this year.

15.B Smith
14.C Jane
13.C Smith
12.M Nonu
11.Savea
10.Barrett
9.TJ Parenara
1.T Woodcock
2.D Coles
3.O Franks
4.B Retallick
5.S Whitelock
6.L Messam
7.R McCaw
8.K Read (Vito if Read unfit)


6 Hurricanes
4 Crusaders
2 Chiefs
2 Blues
1 Highlanders

Grimebox

Israel Dagg fallen out of favour?

bazalicous

I just think with Ben Smith in such form and 2 natural wingers in Jane and Savea that Dagg would be on the bench for now.

sydthebeat

bazalicous wrote: »

I just think with Ben Smith in such form and 2 natural wingers in Jane and Savea that Dagg would be on the bench for now.

could possibly see jane dropped for a trio of 15 dagg, smith and savea

pickarooney

Lorra Lorra Hurricanes there.

bazalicous

Nice change more hurricanes than crusaders for once!!

bazalicous

Shame Rene Ranger left NZ cos he is a perfect foil for Conrad in the All Black jersey, and ready to step in when Conrad retires maybe after RWC 2015

Swiwi.

The only thing I will say is that Aaron Smith is nailed on as the starting 9, so TJ is in a race with Kerr-Barlow for the bench. I suspect Smith & Savea will be on the wings, with Dagg at FB. Dagg has actually been in pretty good form recently. It would have been more interesting if Charles Piutau wasn't injured. In saying that, Smith at 15, and Jane at 14 is also fine by me. But the absolute no no is Dagg on the wing, he's not a winger and never will be.

Who starts in the front row, Kaino v Messam, and Barrett v Cruden are the other points of interest. I think Vito deserves to stay in the squad ahead of Luatua.

All revealed Sunday anyway.

Swiwi.

bazalicous wrote: »

Shame Rene Ranger left NZ cos he is a perfect foil for Conrad in the All Black jersey, and ready to step in when Conrad retires maybe after RWC 2015

Was never that enamored of Ranger. Guaranteed to make a knock-on or forward pass each game at a crucial moment. Fekitoa is much more the business to replace Smith.

Morf

bazalicous wrote: »

I just think with Ben Smith in such form and 2 natural wingers in Jane and Savea that Dagg would be on the bench for now.

Jane is a full-back originally though with the Canes.

Only with Andre Taylor coming through did he move a lot more to wing.

Swiwi.

John Kirwan is proving himself a poor selector. Not only did he reject Gareth Anscombe and Malekai Fekitoa, he now looks set to select Ihaia West at flyhalf...after he also rejected West at the start of the season. In fact the Blue chosen flyhalves Baden Kerr, Chris Noakes and Benji Marshall have seen SFA action at 10 this season, with Simon Hickey often getting the nod.

The game of the week is Tahs v Chiefs I reckon, but hopefully Saders can beat Force and Lions the Bulls. Highlanders should target 5 points against the hapless Reds, ditto the Canes v the Blues (but could be tricky enough), and the Brumbies v the Rebels. Sharks should take down the Stormers, but potential banana skin.

hahashake

Crazy how close the season is. Every game from now is a must win, even for the Sharks as they desperately want a home final.

I'm hoping with Cruden back starting the Chiefs will be a bit more stable. I hear Fruean is fit, whether he will start is yet to be seen but we need all the help we can get.

matthew8

The Blues loss to the Sharks was their first home one of the season, and in large part due to a dodgy Sharks try. Noakes is no great loss to the starting line up, 50:50 game in my eyes. Agree the Crusaders and Brumbies should get 5. Bulls should definitely beat the Lions. JDV is out so the Sharks should win against the Stormers, though it's hard to see them getting more than 4 points (however they only need 3 wins). The Reds are a fiasco at the moment but especially this year away wins are very hard to come by wherever you go, tough to predict a winner. I can't imagine the Highlanders making the playoffs, they'll be underdogs in their last 3 games. Other than that the playoff spots are impossible to predict. One spot might come down to Brumbies-Force on the final day. The other 2 might be between 3 NZ teams and the Bulls, who have a nice run in.

I think the Chiefs should win this week, Waratahs haven't been great against quality opposition.

Swiwi.

matthew8 wrote: »

The Blues loss to the Sharks was their first home one of the season, and in large part due to a dodgy Sharks try. Noakes is no great loss to the starting line up, 50:50 game in my eyes. Agree the Crusaders and Brumbies should get 5. Bulls should definitely beat the Lions. JDV is out so the Sharks should win against the Stormers, though it's hard to see them getting more than 4 points (however they only need 3 wins). The Reds are a fiasco at the moment but especially this year away wins are very hard to come by wherever you go, tough to predict a winner. I can't imagine the Highlanders making the playoffs, they'll be underdogs in their last 3 games. Other than that the playoff spots are impossible to predict. One spot might come down to Brumbies-Force on the final day. The other 2 might be between 3 NZ teams and the Bulls, who have a nice run in.

I think the Chiefs should win this week, Waratahs haven't been great against quality opposition.

Doing some quick maths, with the exception of the Sharks who probably only need 1 more win to guarantee the playoffs, the teams on 12 games so far probably need to win 3 out of 4, and those with 13 games so far probably 3 out of 3 to be 100% safe. On that basis, Chiefs v Tahs and Crusaders v Force are crunch games this weekend, Tahs could probably afford a loss, but it is really going to go to the wire this season.

bazalicous

COME ON THE 'CANES!!

LuckyGent88

Hopefully the crusaders get a home win tonight. Haven't had many since iv attended!!!
Very cold evening in store for the Perth based players so I expect a big performance from the crusaders and to get the try bonus point.
Probably the last match I'll get to attend in Christchurch as I'm off to queenstown next week.
Hoping for an open attacking game, crusaders win and some classic stuff from the honey badger

Swiwi.

LuckyGent88 wrote: »

Hopefully the crusaders get a home win tonight. Haven't had many since iv attended!!!
Very cold evening in store for the Perth based players so I expect a big performance from the crusaders and to get the try bonus point.
Probably the last match I'll get to attend in Christchurch as I'm off to queenstown next week.
Hoping for an open attacking game, crusaders win and some classic stuff from the honey badger

Enjoy the match, some of us have to work...

Hope the Crusaders win to consolidate their spot at the head of the Kiwi conference, and also do their chasing NZ counterparts a favour in the race for the last 6.

I'm surprised to see Taylor at 13 and Crotty at 12, would have thought the inverse, glad Ellis is starting, and I see the rookie front row have retained their starting spots ahead of their AB counterparts, which is no less than they deserve after a good display last week.

If you'd be kind enough to post a few match snippets (with a focus on the Crusaders) I'd be obliged.

Kiwi_knock

Only turned on now. 13-0 to the Crusaders with 33 mins gone. Crusaders just had a try rightfully disallowed.

sydthebeat

Crusaders are experts at passing out of the tackle. ... they've made serious meters today from it. Nondlo been a strong runner again and constantly beats first and second tackle.

The force are being crashed in the scrum again. Conceding three pens so far.

Kiwi_knock

Crusaders will get the win, but I doubt they will get the bonus point. The Force will get nothing out of the game.

LuckyGent88

Kiwi_knock wrote: »

Crusaders will get the win, but I doubt they will get the bonus point. The Force will get nothing out of the game.

Force have brought nothing to the game really bar commitment in defence.
If the crusaders keep the tempo up and continue to grain ground by all the off loads I can see them sneaking the bonus point.
Loved the aggressiveness from read as captain. For that penalty in the 17th minute, he indicated slitting his throat ( guessing that meant going for the try instead of the easy penalty.

sydthebeat

Current score 0 - 16

Edit. Wrongly included a disallowed try

Kiwi_knock

The Force score. 16-7 now.

ScissorPaperRock

Poor stuff all round

Kiwi_knock

23-7. Force down to 14. Crusaders have 7 mins to score two tries to get the bonus point.

Kiwi_knock

Fantastic tackle from Cummins to deny McNicholl a try.

Kiwi_knock

Finishes 30-7. No bonus point which will be disappointing. Still a good bit to improve on.

errlloyd

Reds are doing well here.

Kiwi_knock

Reds got torn apart in the first 5 mins but have really come back into. And they get a try through Browning. 7-0.