Super Rugby News
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@taniwharugby 46 - 14
It will be interesting to find out whether the Rebels, and Aussie SR teams in general, have really improved since they pulled the Western Force. Only next week will we see the first game between a NZ team (Canes) and an Aussie team (Rebels), and that's in Melbourne. We have to wait until 14 April until an Aussie team plays on NZ soil (Highlanders v Brumbies). The Rebels' first game in NZ will be against the Blues on Saturday, 2 June. I wonder whether they've made the draw like this on purpose?
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FANS: Super rugby is too watered down, please drop two SR teams from the comp South Africa to shore up the quality in the remaining sides.
SARU: Cheetahs, Kings, go earn us money up north.
So what you are seeing is last year's (Dross) quality SR sides from SA in an otherwise more concentrated tournament.
/2c
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@stargazer said in Super Rugby News:
@taniwharugby 46 - 14
It will be interesting to find out whether the Rebels, and Aussie SR teams in general, have really improved since they pulled the Western Force. Only next week will we see the first game between a NZ team (Canes) and an Aussie team (Rebels), and that's in Melbourne. We have to wait until 14 April until an Aussie team plays on NZ soil (Highlanders v Brumbies). The Rebels' first game in NZ will be against the Blues on Saturday, 2 June. I wonder whether they've made the draw like this on purpose?
I think the Rebels will give the Hurricanes a run for their money next week. Phipps via Fox Sports this week was suggesting the draw is better this year with the Aussie teams not playing any NZ teams in the opening few weeks and allowing them to get their structures going before hitting a NZ side.
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@unite said in Super Rugby News:
@stargazer said in Super Rugby News:
@taniwharugby 46 - 14
It will be interesting to find out whether the Rebels, and Aussie SR teams in general, have really improved since they pulled the Western Force. Only next week will we see the first game between a NZ team (Canes) and an Aussie team (Rebels), and that's in Melbourne. We have to wait until 14 April until an Aussie team plays on NZ soil (Highlanders v Brumbies). The Rebels' first game in NZ will be against the Blues on Saturday, 2 June. I wonder whether they've made the draw like this on purpose?
I think the Rebels will give the Hurricanes a run for their money next week. Phipps via Fox Sports this week was suggesting the draw is better this year with the Aussie teams not playing any NZ teams in the opening few weeks and allowing them to get their structures going before hitting a NZ side.
Sound reasoning from Phipps, I'm sure that the NZ sides won't have exactly the same opportunity...
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Season over for the Blues - Scrafton out for the season with an ACL tear, and SBW out for six to eight weeks with a broken wrist.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12019579
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The time-frame for Williams will probably see him enter the All Blacks' three-test June series against France on minimal game-time.IMO, the ABs should just go with another 12 -13 combo. SBW wasn't great for the ABs last year, and hasn't impressed for the Blues so far this season.
Crotty-ALB
Crotty-Goodhue
If Crotty can't play, Laumape-ALB or Laumape-GoodhueFor the Blues, both injuries are definitely bad news. Time for TJ Faiane to step up, I guess.
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@stargazer or Rob Thomas time.
Faiane looks nothing special at Super level.
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@kiwimurph said in Super Rugby News:
@stargazer or Rob Thomas time.
Faiane looks nothing special at Super level.
I wouldn't give up on Faiane. He keeps getting paired up with Moala who doesn't fit his style of play. Also had to play with a deep standing Gatland against the Chiefs.
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They have also lost grafting lock Scott Scrafton for the remainder of the season with a serious knee injury, to both his ACL and LCL.
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This post is deleted!
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Interesting result: the Jaguares have beaten the Lions 49 - 35. Haven't seen the game, because Sky had the wrong kick-off time in their tv guide, but it really seems that the Lions are weaker than last year.
The Lions and the Jaguares are the Crusaders' next two opponents.
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@stargazer I picked the result, just not by that margin, in fact, the only margin I got close this week was the Crusaders - BUlls, I was 2 points out, rest have been way out.
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Conclusion after watching the game: the Lions indeed aren't as good as last year. Malcolm Marx is a great player and the Lions driving maul is still working reasonably well because of him (although the Jaguares also don't know how to defend against one); their scrum was okay; but they didn't know how to create opportunities other than a driving maul. If they get a penalty, they'll kick it into the corner for a line-out drive. That's basically their game; not much creativity. They look slow.
The Jaguares' discipline was good, so they weren't giving away easy points. They showed patience and that paid off. They created and took their opportunities. Their scrum isn't up to scratch though, and their defence is as leaky as that of the Lions.
