Super Rugby News
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But there was a price to pay for Chris Boyd's defending champions who improved to 28 points, and third in the tight Kiwi conference, with their sixth victory from seven matches this season.
Lock Michael Fatialofa picked up a serious knee injury early in the contest, and Boyd admitted afterwards he was resigned to his regular second-row starter facing an extended period on the sidelines.
"It doesn't look good," Boyd said. "We'll have to wait and see what the medical staff come up with, but he's pretty sore. It's either a kneecap or ligament − either way it doesn't look great.
"We've already got Sam Lousi dinged in that space, and James Blackwell to come back. We're getting a little thin but we're still OK."
Vaea Fifita's return off the bench on Saturday night from an ankle injury sustained at the Brisbane Tens is timely, and the talented utility forward shapes as the logical cover in Fatialofa's likely absence.
Boyd also confirmed he wasn't anticipating All Black hooker Dane Coles returning from his calf injury this week to face the Brumbies in their short-turnaround clash against the Brumbies in Napier on Friday.
(...)
"Colesy may be back for the Brumbies but I probably doubt it." -
Four-week suspension for Timani
The SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee has accepted a guilty plea from Timani for contravening Law 10.4(m) Any other acts which are contrary to good sportsmanship, after he was cited during the Super Rugby match. Timani has been suspended from all forms of the game for four weeks, up to and including Saturday 13 May 2017."With respect to sanction the Foul Play Review Committee deemed the act of foul play, which involved an intentional, but glancing, strike to an opponent's head by the Player's leg, merited a mid range entry point of eight weeks. However, taking into account mitigating factors including the Player's excellent Judicial record, his on-field apology to the opposing player, his remorse and his early guilty plea, the Foul Play Review Committee reduced the suspension to 4 weeks."
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@Stargazer said in Super Rugby News:
his on-field apology to the opposing player, his remorse
Didn't look that way to me... he seemed to think even the yellow was unfair because the other guy started it.
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Liam Squire re-signs with the Highlanders and NZR for 2 more years:
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@Stargazer said in Super Rugby News:
Liam Squire re-signs with the Highlanders and NZR for 2 more years:
That's a great re-signing. Looks a very useful impact bench option for nz. It would be in his interests to show he is a starting 6 option rather than an 8 who can cover 6.
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Sam Whitelock has re-signed with NZR and the Crusaders for 3 more years (through to 2020)!
Great news, another one off the market!
http://crusaders.co.nz/news/1084-major-deal-sees-whitelock-commit-through-to-2020
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Whitelock was more forthcoming on why he had shunned overseas offers to remain in Christchurch; although he didn't go into specifics, it had earlier been reported big-spending French club Toulon had him in their sights.
Given one of his brothers, Adam, has been playing for French club Bayonne, and another, George, had a brief stint in Japan, Whitelock didn't have to go far to get some home truths.
"It was good to bounce some ideas off (them) - the positives or negatives, whether it be on or off the field. As brothers you don't really mince your words."
Given he has won two World Cups and played 84 tests, the 28 year old would surely have been offered multi-million dollar deals to live overseas for a few years.
That's not to say NZ Rugby hasn't done the same, but given they are often the first to admit they have no hope of matching the cash being tossed about by the French clubs it seems safe to assume Whitelock didn't stay just for the coin.
He and wife Hannah recently celebrated the arrival of their first child, is happy at the Crusaders and wants to reinforce why he is an All Blacks great by playing 100 tests.
If he stays fit and his form doesn't wane, it seems likely that milestone will be achieved next season.
There are some strings attached to this deal. Like Ben Smith, who recently re-committed to NZ Rugby until 2020, Whitelock can also pull the pin after the 2019 World Cup.
He also acknowledged he has a clause in his contract to take a break from work, but wouldn't divulge specific details of whether it would allow him to break from Super or test rugby.
"I have a couple of weeks there I can use. I am not sure if, or when, I will use that. As long as I am feeling nice and healthy and playing well, we will see what happens."
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@Stargazer That's interesting given how often NH viewers ask where the crowds are in Super Rugby.
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@antipodean said in Super Rugby News:
@Stargazer That's interesting given how often NH viewers ask where the crowds are in Super Rugby.
We do tend to play games in larger venues in general which can look empty with those numbers in them. Some of the grounds in the UK are small but get packed out.
To give them their due though, the other weekend they got massive crowds to both Twickers AND Wembley on the same day (something like 50k and 60k) -
@Stargazer said in Super Rugby News:
Whitelock can also pull the pin after the 2019 World Cup.What when hes 31? He could be the next BBT we could be talking about him in 2027.
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Just a thought with regards to Super Rugby. Have you looked at your viewing patterns lately?
The Chiefs have just been to Africa, but to me they may has well have been on the moon. Except for the appearance of a score on my app, they completely disappeared from existence. It's the same pretty much every year (since i stopped being in pubs at the same time as the African games). I know from a rugby perspective Africa are essential, but i never watch games that are over there (even tests can be dicey unless i record).
What was the last all-aussie derby you watched? Or Aus v SA game in Aus? Do you care? Really?
Stargazer you watch everything, you are excluded from the above sample as a proven extreme
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@mariner4life
I always try and watch the canes live and I make some effort to watch some of the kiwi teams delayed, maybe 3 games a week on average. Back in the s12/14 days I would try and watch all kiwi games live but that was before technology allowed for a quick download or mysky. I do still watch highlights for the others but I think that is more for research for my fantasy rugby team. -
Is there any news on the 3 teams dropping out of Super rugby yet? I just can't believe how many people seem to be in favour of this. In my eyes the real problem with Super rugby is that too many players choose not to play it, and look for a Northern Hemisphere contract. I was hoping they might seek to bolster the weaker Super rugby teams with leading Pacific Islanders, Namibians, Americans, Japanese etc, and thereby increase the interest in super rugby in those places. But, they all head north. Perhaps a lot of the success of European rugby viewing numbers is that they import so many quality players from the Southern Hemisphere, and SANZAAR does nothing to stop this.
Please look at 3 conferences of 6 teams, and expansion into two divisions SANZAAR. I would love to see a more cosmopolitan competition to stimulate extra interest.
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@mariner4life My experience is very different. I watch every game in NZ, every game involving an NZ team in Oz and about 75% of Non NZ OZ games - Not always live.
As for SA games I pick the decent NZ games to watch and ignore the rest (again recording is my friend). Obviously always watch the Clan live.
I might be a bit obsessed though.
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@mariner4life I always watch the South Africa games, I like getting up on Sunday morning (the actual morning not middle of the night), sitting down with breakfast and watching the recording of the game. Will watch most of the Canes, Blues and Highlanders matches and occasional matches from all other teams.
As I've said before I prefer watching an NZ team v Oz and SA teams than watch two NZ teams go at it.
If I'm doing nothing I'll watch an Aussie derby .... If SA were in our timezone I'd watch more of them than I do.
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@mariner4life I watch all the Crusaders games, but games in SA and Perth are usually as replays. I usually watch whatever is playing at 7.30 pm on Friday/Saturday, though I may lose interest if it's one-sided, or I don't have things/people I'm particularly watching for. If there's a potentially interesting game in Oz at 9.30 pm I'll start watching and see how it develops - but, I'm likely to flag it at some point.
@Nepia has forgotten to mention that he watches every Crusaders game huddled in the foetal position chanting "please lose, please lose..." and that he has a small statue of Todd Blackadder pinned above his bed, about where Catholics have a Jesus, and each night he prays thankfully to Toddy for delivering him from more titles...
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@ARHS Haven't heard or seen anything yet that indicates that a decision has been made. The rumours have died down a little bit. I think this article about the Force sums up quite well what's going on at the moment:
- threat of legal action by Force and Rebels
- ARU and SARU still trying to work out which team(s) to drop (at least officially)
- lots of uncertainty for players and their families
- poaching by other clubs has already started, so the team that won't be dropped, might have a problem ...
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I will always watch the kiwi games if not at work, always sucks once DST hits over here and stops in NZ, 6:30am games are much easier to accommodate. If it's a kiwi team in SA then it can be a bit tougher if I'm playing that day.
Will have the Aussie, Aussie/SA games on in the background on a Friday morning if working from home, but not pay much notice.
SA, SA/Aussie games I'll watch on a Saturday arvo but wouldn't be fussed about missing (i.e. have to go do something else with the missus).
