Super Rugby 2024
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@sparky I don't think the Crusader's looked a class above everyone else, I was actually surprised they were able to grind it out for another title. But that's just what they do.
I thought for the most part the Chiefs were the team that looked a class above everyone else and probably should have finished the job but that's footy. (que bad memories of the Canes doing the same thing in 2015)
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Super Rugby team of the courtesy of Rugby Pass.
15 Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens (Highlanders)
In a round where all the New Zealand fullbacks starred, the Highlanders No 15 topped them all with a special performance to inspire his side to a win with two tries in his club debut. The former Blues outside back was a handful for Moana Pasifika every time he touched the ball with a knack of breaking first-up tackles and gaining extra metres. Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens was electric in round one but a real test awaits in week two with a grudge match with his old club the Blues in Super round, but for now, he can enjoy the hype after a brilliant showing.
14 Corey Toole (Brumbies)
Although he started on the left wing against the Rebels, it was hard to leave out the former Aussie 7s rep after his two try performance in Melbourne. Toole blazed the turf with untouchable speed twice in the opening twenty minutes, his first try was a piece of impressive skill with a chip and chase down a tight corridor. Whether Toole has the frame for higher honours with the Wallabies is unknown, but what is not debate is that his raw pace would be a real asset in space. He isn’t the type of winger that the Wallabies tend to look at, but neither was Mack Hansen and look how that turned out.
13 Josh Flook (Reds)
It was a quiet opening week for centres across Super Rugby Pacific in terms of attacking production as wingers and fullbacks stole the headlines. Queensland’s centre Flook put in a big defensive shift against the Waratahs making 10 tackles and shutting down the Tahs midfield pair. Izaia Perese was limited to just four running metres on five carries while inside centre Joey Walton made 24 metres on six carries, while neither had any line breaks. Despite only having four carries himself, the Reds centre had a key line break and try assist for flanker McReight which sealed the game.
12 Hunter Paisami (Reds)
The Reds’ bruising midfielder stepped up with a solid outing in Brisbane in the 40-22 win over the Waratahs. He scored the opening try with a powerful carry close to the line, carrying a few defenders over with him. He managed to stop Wallaby centre Izaia Perese dead in his tracks twice with two big hits that set the tone early for the Reds. He was a workhorse in the Reds’ attack, taking 17 carries and was integral to the set-piece launch used in tandem with No 8 Harry Wilson to bring some punch through the middle.
11 Caleb Clarke (Blues)
The All Black wing carried his pre-season form into round one as the Blues cruised to a 34-10 win over the Fijian Drua. He was typically strong with ball-in-hand with two line breaks, a try, eight defenders beaten and 92 running metres. All three of the Blues outside backs starred, with Mark Telea and Zarn Sullivan putting in solid performances along side Clarke.
10 Noah Lolesio (Brumbies)
The returning Wallaby flyhalf came with a point to prove against the Rebels and Carter Gordon. After a stint in France with Toulon, Lolesio played with confidence in a superior Brumbies side. His best play of the night was a switch play down the short side from a lineout maul. Rebels prop Sam Talakai was left isolated guarding the channel and Lolesio beat him around the outside before drawing the last man and finding winger Toole with a touch pass for a try. He kicked well early, landing his first four attempts at goal as the Brumbies racked up a 20-3 lead after 46 mins.
9 Folau Fakatava (Highlanders)
The Highlanders halfback put in a class performance that showed why he will be a serious contender for the All Blacks job. His long pass had zip and the service was fast as the home side utilised the dry conditions to score a couple of early tries. Provided the platform for the Highlanders attack and set-up a try for prop Saula Ma’u with a short ball. Produced a contender for pass of the season with a behind-the-back ball on the team try effort for Sam Gilbert.
8 Charlie Cale (Brumbies)
A toss up between Hoskins Sotutu of the Blues and Charlie Cale of the Brumbies. With just four Super caps to his name ahead of Friday’s opener, Cale gets the nod for his late double in Melbourne. Capitalising on a Rebels turnover, the No 8 raced away down the right-hand touchline before putting boot to ball for a foot race. Amazingly, the ball stayed in the field of play and Cale was able to launch for the touch down with his big right mitt. His second was a regulation walk-over. Around the park Cale added 14 carries and 14 tackles in an industrious performance.
7 Fraser McReight (Reds)
The Reds’ openside was fantastic against the Waratahs with an all-round performance in all facets of the game. He topped the carry count with 18 and the Reds’ tackle count with 11. He scored the final Reds’ try with a hard-working line outside centre Josh Flook to extend the lead to 40-22, but it was his two key turnovers that won the game by snuffing out two Waratahs’ possessions inside the Reds’ 22 in the last 10 minutes. He held up outside back Harry Wilson before forcing a holding on penalty and a two-man effort on Dylan Pietsch forced a collapsed maul.
6 Miracle Faiilagi (Moana)
The blindside flanker is becoming one of the best players on Moana Pasifika. In a losing side he provided explosive ball carrying on the edge, threatening a handful of times and breaking through once on 11 carries. Stepping in at halfback he had a try assist playing his fellow loose forward Jacob Norris into the gap with a nicely weighted cutout pass. He added eight tackles and was Moana Pasifika’s top lineout target with four takes.
5 Scott Barrett (Crusaders)
The All Black lock produced his usual standard of play to nearly pull off a comeback for the ages in Hamilton. Barrett’s influence on the game was sparked by running a hard line to crash over for the first try of the second half and lift the Crusaders into the contest. He was in the thick of it around the ruck and helped forced a couple of steals. Finished with seven carries, 13 tackles, and four lineout takes.
4 Caleb Delaney (Hurricanes)
The Hurricanes lock had a tackle turnover in combination with Peter Lakai early to snuff out a Force attack on the edge of the 22. The towering lock was a reliable lineout jumper feeding Viljoen with plenty of clean ball straight off the top. Showed some nice tip balls when he carried. Scored a sneaky try through the ruck late in the first half.
3 Reuben O’Neill (Chiefs)
It’s not often you see a tighthead prop breaking free from halfway but it was O’Neill who got the Chiefs started against the Crusaders on Friday night with a big break. After not being held, he got up for a second crack and showed some ball playing skill with a show and go on the fullback. The Chiefs scrum held up well against a strong Crusaders front row, they completed 100 per cent of
2 Asafo Aumua (Hurricanes)
The powerful hooker had a typical display in Perth with physicality in defence, completing eight tackles, 10 carries, while winning turnovers. Produced a two-man sandwich with Jordie Barrett for a tackle turnover and snatched an overthrown throw for another. Aumua was a force in defence, chopping runners and punishing bodies. The lineout operated at 93 per cent and the scrum was dominant. Aumua added a try from close range with too much power for the Force. Had a lost pill inside the Force 22 in the first half but it didn’t end up costing the side.
1 Xavier Numia (Hurricanes)
The Hurricanes scrum was dominant despite conceding a free kick on the first one. They drew a penalty on nearly every scrummage, with the power too much to handle. Numia offered pressure at the breakdown, competing a few times and carried hard on attack. A solid performance from the loosehead in a dominant display by the Hurricanes’ pack.
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@Bovidae apart from the Blues isn't it? Yeah it's bullshit, it's not totally a fair competition as it's still skewed towards the Australian teams.
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@Bovidae said in Super Rugby 2024:
The NZ teams including MP are being shafted with the Super Round as none of the Aust teams are losing a home game.
It's a shit idea made shitter by having it in a city that doesn't care.
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@Canes4life said in Super Rugby 2024:
10 Noah Lolesio (Brumbies)
The returning Wallaby flyhalf came with a point to prove against the Rebels and Carter Gordon. After a stint in France with Toulon, Lolesio played with confidence in a superior Brumbies side. His best play of the night was a switch play down the short side from a lineout maul. Rebels prop Sam Talakai was left isolated guarding the channel and Lolesio beat him around the outside before drawing the last man and finding winger Toole with a touch pass for a try. He kicked well early, landing his first four attempts at goal as the Brumbies racked up a 20-3 lead after 46 mins.
9 Folau Fakatava (Highlanders)
The Highlanders halfback put in a class performance that showed why he will be a serious contender for the All Blacks job. His long pass had zip and the service was fast as the home side utilised the dry conditions to score a couple of early tries. Provided the platform for the Highlanders attack and set-up a try for prop Saula Ma’u with a short ball. Produced a contender for pass of the season with a behind-the-back ball on the team try effort for Sam Gilbert.
LOL. Both of them were less than passably average against two donkey teams.
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@Bovidae said in Super Rugby 2024:
The NZ teams including MP are being shafted with the Super Round as none of the Aust teams are losing a home game.
what? how are the other aussies teams not losing a home game? i dont consider playing in CHCH or Auckland a home game...far from it...hell i think id prefer to play in melbourne than either of them
@Canes4life said in Super Rugby 2024:
9 Folau Fakatava (Highlanders)
The Highlanders halfback put in a class performance that showed why he will be a serious contender for the All Blacks job. His long pass had zip and the service was fast as the home side utilised the dry conditions to score a couple of early tries. Provided the platform for the Highlanders attack and set-up a try for prop Saula Ma’u with a short ball. Produced a contender for pass of the season with a behind-the-back ball on the team try effort for Sam Gilbert.
thats a concern, he had some really good moments but his bread and butter stuff was passable, very slow to play the ball on several occasions
if im really mean....he was only in a position to make that behind the ball pass because he coudlnt keep up with Withy when he made the break, he should have been right on his shoulder and been put under the posts
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@antipodean I thought Vijoen was the best kiwi halfback over the weekend if I had to pick any and he's green as they come.
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@Kiwiwomble said in Super Rugby 2024:
thats a concern, he had some really good moments but his bread and butter stuff was passable, very slow to play the ball on several occasions
if im really mean....he was only in a position to make that behind the ball pass because he coudlnt keep up with Withy when he made the break, he should have been right on his shoulder and been put under the posts
My worry is Fakatava's game won't improve and he'll continue to have the same weaknesses in his game.
Hopefully regular game time this season sees his game progress.
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@KiwiMurph i hope you're right, will also be interesting if he can just be good enough to get into the AB camp regularly if training with the best lifts him too
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The "home teams" are the Highlanders, Rebels, MP, Crusaders, Chiefs and Hurricanes. All but the Rebels are giving up hosting a game. I'm sure they receive a fee for doing so, but the fairest system would be to have an equal number of NZ and Aust teams losing a home game.
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@Bovidae who were the home teams last year? If they were mostly Aus teams then I guess it's fair enough. Just as long as it stays consistent.
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Jordi Vijoen shares a pretty cool connection with AB great Aaron Smith. Looks like he's got plenty of similar attributes to Smith, especially his pass.
Jordi Viljoen: Son of Springbok has All Blacks connection
Hurricanes newcomer Jordi Viljoen reckons he's learnt a fair bit from former All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith.
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@Canes4life said in Super Rugby 2024:
@Bovidae who were the home teams last year? If they were mostly Aus teams then I guess it's fair enough. Just as long as it stays consistent.
'Home' teams listed first
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The interesting thought around Fakatava is this will be the first campaign where he has been the first choice and not injured. Even with Hawke's Bay he regularly had to share the nine jersey. We should have a good read on the guy and where he is at near the end of the season. Make or break season for him
