Super Rugby 2024

[sparky]

The Hurricanes at the top, the Crusaders at the foot of the table. It probably won't last, but it's like I've died and gone to heaven or something.

[Machpants]

Well the current standings put Munster 'best club team in the world' scrape win against a no ABs Crusaders playing their first (second?) game of the season in a different light!

[mariner4life]

The Brumbies have had a soft draw so far and should fall down the table after playing the Reds, Blues and Canes in the next month

[Canes4life]

@Tim on current form they could also lose a couple of those aswell. Right now I'd pick the Landers to beat the Crusaders, especially at home. They've already lost to the Tahs and if the Force play like they did last night they won't be easy to beat in Perth. Interesting times indeed.

[Canes4life]

@sparky said in Super Rugby 2024:

Matt's right. And I'm sure Canterbury and Ta$man folk will be more than happy to cheer for the Hurricanes or the Highlanders when their own underachieving franchise gets mothballed.

Super rich coming from an Australian.

[frugby]

@Tim said in Super Rugby 2024:

Last year five wins was enough to be 8th on the table (Reds), but also saw the Force finish 10th. Six wins might be needed to make the playoffs.

The Crusaders' remaining matches are:

Chiefs (A)
Bye
Waratahs (A)
Force (A)
Rebels (H)
Reds (H)
Highlanders (A)
Brumbies (A)
Blues (H)
Moana Pasifika (H)

Beating Waratahs (A), Force (A), Rebels (H), Highlanders (A), and Moana Pasifika (H) would give them five wins, so they'd probably have to pick up another win.

Reckon they'll still sneak home, particularly with players coming back.

Assuming they lose to the Chiefs though, the margin of error is admittedly quite small. If they can beat the Tahs and the Force though, you wouldn't bet against them 5 or 6 in a row.

As funny as it is that they are 0-5, I'm still not convinced they are that bad. Chiefs & Canes games were a flip of a coin, and Fiji is a tough place to go to. The Tahs game in many ways was a bit of a freak one where everything went wrong.

Last night probably the first really poor performance I thought.

[Tim]

[Kiwiwomble]

@Canes4life said in Super Rugby 2024:

@sparky said in Super Rugby 2024:

Matt's right. And I'm sure Canterbury and Ta$man folk will be more than happy to cheer for the Hurricanes or the Highlanders when their own underachieving franchise gets mothballed.

Super rich coming from an Australian.

you might have missed the joke

[Yeetyaah]

@Canes4life said in Super Rugby 2024:

@sparky said in Super Rugby 2024:

Matt's right. And I'm sure Canterbury and Ta$man folk will be more than happy to cheer for the Hurricanes or the Highlanders when their own underachieving franchise gets mothballed.

Super rich coming from an Australian.

He's clearly being satirical.

[Kruse]

@Tim said in Super Rugby 2024:

Fuck me - that says a lot.
A team with a 0-5 start to the season - are favourites over any arsetralian team.

[mariner4life]

$18 for the Reds is ridiculous really. Losing to the Force really hurt them, because if they could have landed home finals they would be a tough nut to crack.

[Bones]

@Kruse said in Super Rugby 2024:

@Tim said in Super Rugby 2024:

Fuck me - that says a lot.
A team with a 0-5 start to the season - are favourites over any arsetralian team.

In what country though?

[Kruse]

@Bones As in - odds in NZ favor NZ teams?
Checking international sites - it's pretty much the same.
Pretty sad indictment on Oz teams, and an impressive reputation for the dockers.

[Bones]

@Kruse that is interesting. Odds don't necessarily reflect the actual likelihood though do they? Just the best way for the agency to make money. I have zero idea on sports betting though so likely wrong.

[Kruse]

@Bones Yeah - odds are pretty much just "how does the bookie maximise their chances of profit".

[Canes4life]

A few of the key stats to start the year make for interesting reading.

Tries:
Hurricanes: 26 (2nd)
Chiefs: 21 (3rd=)
Blues: 18 (6th)
Highlanders: 17 (7th equal)
Crusaders: 10 (12th)

Clean breaks
Hurricanes: 45 (1st)
Chiefs: 44 (2nd)
Blues: 33 (4th)
Crusaders: 22 (11th equal)
Highlanders: 22 (11th equal)

Carries
Blues: 715 (1st)
Hurricanes: 683 (2nd)
Highlanders: 587 (5th)
Chiefs: 568: (7th)
Crusaders 480 (12th)

Metres gained
Hurricanes: 2,952 (1st)
Blues: 2,845 (2nd)
Chiefs: 2,762 (3rd)
Highlanders: 2,216 (9th)
Crusaders: 1,714 (12th)

Defenders beaten
Hurricanes: 172 (1st)
Blues: 153 (2nd)
Highlanders: 143 (4th)
Chiefs: 136 (5th)
Crusaders: 84 (12th)

Tackles won %
Hurricanes: 88% (2nd)
Highlanders: 87.7% (3rd)
Chiefs: 87.5% (4th)
Blues: 84.4% (6th)
Crusaders: 83.8% (5th)

Lineouts won %
Blues: 90.5% (1st)
Hurricanes: 88.9% (2nd)
Chiefs: 86.9% (4th)
Highlanders: 84.9% (9th)
Crusaders: 71.6% (12th)

Scrum won %
Chiefs: 86% (2nd equal)
Crusaders: 86% (2nd equal)
Hurricanes: 83% (4th)
Highlanders: 71% (11th)
Blues: 68% (12th)

Rucks won %
Hurricanes 97% (1st equal)
Crusaders 97% (1st equal)
Blues 97% (1st equal)
Chiefs 97% (1st equal)
Highlanders 96% (5th equal)

Yellow cards
Crusaders: 5 (1st)
Blues: 3 (4th equal)
Highlanders: 3 (4th equal)
Chiefs: 2 (8th equal)
Hurricanes: 1 (12th)

[DaGrubster]

@Dan54

The way the Rebels are playing, I think they know they are dead men mauling!

[Bones]

@Canes4life I certainly wouldn't have picked that the highlanders are nigh on the worst in scrums and lose 3 in 10.

[Canes4life]

@Bones I thought the Canes would have been a bit better than 83% aswell. I feel like most teams would strive to be around that 90% mark but some of the rulings are inconsistent these days so it's hard to be perfect.

[Duluth]

From Mark Robinson

“Super Rugby certainly has been amazing. We’ve just had an update from Sky around broadcast numbers and, as an example, round 4 in comparison with last year was up 25%. So we’re sensing overall viewership is strong, and sentiment around the competition is positive