Waratahs-33 Crusaders-32

AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHIE

“You weren’t the tackler”, insisted Craig Joubert.

This was billed as the “Super Rugby Final”, and it most definitely was exactly that.  And while no one moment could ever define the match, one moment certainly decided it.

Of course Richie McCaw will have everyone in the greater Christchurch area and beyond fully behind him in questioning the call that led Craig Joubert, who whether deserved or not has a bit of a reputation as being a “homer” ref, to give Waratah out-half Bernard Foley the opportunity to clinch the first ever title for the Aussie franchise.

But for the rest of us, the decision was as sweet as sweet can be.  Too many times we have choked down the sour grapes fed to us by a seemingly infinite amount of breakdowns where McCaw has appeared to be invisible to officials. 

Now…was this particular call 100% correct?  Meh, I wouldn’t go that far.  But was the victory 100% deserved for the Waratahs?  You bet your bottom Aussie dollar it was.

Plus there’s the fact that the Crusaders themselves had benefitted from a decision here (namely the “try” by Nadolo” who although seemed in real time to have scored, by the replay he clearly had his foot on the line before touching down) and a non-decision there (namely a second penalty for an illegal foot in the ruck which IMO should have coaxed the yellow from Joubert’s pocket at a key time in the second half).

Of course there was a lot more to this contest than that one decision so best not harp on about it too much more.  In a scintillating 80 minutes these two great sides scored two tries each and landed eight kicks each.  What proved to be the difference in the end was the fact that the Tahs had one more kick worth three points than their opposition.

This Leinster & Ireland blogger had many ways to identify with the 2014 Waratahs going into the match…there was Michael Cheika at the helm, RDS-bound Kane Douglas starting at lock, and there’s even a link going back to 2003, the last time they defeated the Crusaders as the winning kick was provided by none other than Shaun Berne.

But then we saw the home side jump out to an early lead…and though it was by “only” 14 points, I couldn’t help but be reminded of that fateful day last November with so many All Blacks on the park, particularly last-gasp try scorer Ryan Crotty, though losing Dan Carter early won’t have helped their cause.

And the ironic thing about that early Tahs lead was that it was achieved with much success at both scrum and lineout, areas where every expert on matters Super Rugby thought they would struggle.  Still though, when the two sides went in at half time with the margin at just seven (and had even been cut to four at one point), it was clear the contest was far from over.

Then came the controversial Nadolo score shortly after the break and the scores were level.  Seeing the the lead evaporate in this fashion was visibly frustrating for both Cheika in the coaches’ box and the players on the field and suddenly the Tahs’ set-pieces began to revert to type, with lineouts going awry on their own throw and the Crusaders pack gaining the upper hand at scrum time.

Still though, the awesome Waratahs back line always seemed to have a try in them given the right circumstances, and showing up for his second 5-pointer on the night at the 62nd minute was man-of-the-match Adam Ashley-Cooper, as he celebrated in style after key contributions from Hooper, Phipps and Skelton along the way.

When Foley added the extra 2 to made it 30-26 to the home side, it seemed like they were going to be able to hold on but then poor discipline started to creep in and with the Crusaders refusing to give up Colin Slade added a couple of penalties to nick a small lead back before the dramatic McCaw decision right at the end.

But one thing I don’t mention about that final penalty was that despite being right in front, Foley still had to get it between the uprights and over the posts and according to the FoxSports commentary team it was right at the very limits of his range.  What incredible mental strength he showed to nail it.

I’m pretty sure Michael Cheika wasn’t too bothered about the one-point margin at the Stoop that put Leinster on the way to our 2009 triumph, and I very much doubt he has lost any sleep over the one-point margin from last Saturday.  The fact remains that he is the first coach to triumph in both hemispheres and this has to seriously bump up his value.

As for Kane Douglas, well the fact that the Tahs chose a long throw to him in their first attacking line-out showing the faith they have in him, and although he did cough up a sloppy penalty with a lineout jump later on he can definitely be proud of his overall contribution to this historic victory for New South Wales rugby and there is definitely a major role for him to play at Leinster.

Down in the southern hemisphere attention now turns towards the Rugby Championship and what a match there is to kick it off next week as Bledisloe Cup I takes place, once again in Sydney.  No doubt the All Blacks will have revenge on their minds but if ever there was a year when you’d fancy the Wallabies to put one over on their rivals, it’s this one.

Meanwhile back up here in the north we of course have the Irish ladies still to cheer on and with Leinster’s new European jersey launched today it’s a reminder that the new season is only around the corner.  Many thanks to Super Rugby for some exciting action over the past month or two but you probably don’t need me to tell you that I can’t wait to be back doing my more detailed writeups for the boys in blue slightly closer to home!  JLP

published August 5, 2014

Super Rugby Semifinals

Welcome to part four of our off-season series of match writeups from “down under” - we have been following the Waratahs in particular, but given that Super Rugby has reached its final four stage we’ll have a look at both semifinals this time around.

CRUSADERS-38 SHARKS-6          WARATAHS-26 BRUMBIES-8

OUT KICKED

I had been really looking forward to Saturday morning’s double header of Super Rugby semifinals…both promised to be closely-fought classics.

Sadly, I was to be disappointed, and I’d say the Brumbies and Sharks would be kicking themselves were it not for the fact that they would most definitely miss as it was failure when putting boot to ball that largely did for both of them.

Over in Christchurch, Jake White’s Sharks had done their travelling from Durban the previous Monday to make sure jet lag wasn’t an issue when they faced the Crusaders.  Only problem with that well-laid plan was that it assumed that their players would be able to execute the kicking-for-territory game that gotten them to this stage of the competition. 

Normally you’d put your house on Springboks like Francois Steyn and Patrick Lambie to have the level of accuracy needed for such a big occasion but between kicks from play straight into touch and penalties missing it altogether they more or less left the door swinging open and a team like the Crusaders doesn’t need inviting twice.  It was 10-0 by the end of the first quarter and the lead never looked in danger.

Normally if you were facing the Crusaders and you learned that the 7 and 10 jerseys were being worn by players other than Messrs McCaw & Carter you’d feel that was a good thing, but on this occasion they chose to play 6 and 12 respectively, and with Kieran Reid being his usual marauding self at 8 and the power of Nadolo on the wing they were always well poised to take advantage of the Sharks’ mistakes.

Not long after this one ended all attention was on Sydney where a fierce Australian rivalry was to be played out.  Again the final score made it look easy but unlike the first semifinal that wasn’t really the case.

Many times last season Leinster were slated after victories, even by our own fans, because the offensive performance wasn’t quite what was expected.  That could be said for this match as well because although the Brumbies gave it everything they had, the Waratahs defence was strong enough to hold them out for practically the entire 80 minutes…the one blemish being an impressive Henry Speight finish in the corner.

Most impressive on the defensive side of things for me was scrum half Nick Phipps who at one stage made two tackles in one sequence of Brumby phases near the Tah try line, one at either corner!  Not far behind was inspirational openside Michael Hooper.  Meanwhile down the other end of the pitch despite having only 35% of the territory they found it much easier to turn possession into points throughout.

Despite the final margin of victory this was still something of a contest right up until the final ten minutes as the Tahs lead was only 8.  It could have been much less than that however if they could find from within their ranks a reliable goalkicker…Christian Leali’ifano wasn’t up to the task and what’s more the Brumbies knew it from the off, spurning kickable 3s early on which is something away teams rarely do in cup rugby.

One weakness in the Tahs structure seems to be at set-pieces, and no doubt this will be an area where Todd Blackadder’s Crusaders will be keen to exploit - I expect them to at least do everything they can to disrupt them on their own throw.  The Brumbies for their part got some purchase at the scrums but found themselves unable to capitalize on it.

Leinster-bound Kane Douglas had a quiet outing and was replaced in the second half by Will Skelton, who immediately made his presence felt with a suspect high challenge on Brumby 9 Nic White - I reckon ref Jaco Peyper kept his card in his pocket on account of the difference in sizes but a binning would have been understandable as well as very helpful to the visitors at that point.

But having scored tries early in both periods, Michael Cheika’s Tahs were well able to hold on comfortably and the icing on the cake was provided by outhalf Foley who gave excellent support to a piledriving run from Skelton who laid on a perfect long range offload to leave his 10 in for the score.

So there were a couple of decent scores in the two semifinals but neither ended up anywhere close to the gripping contests they promised to be.  We are left with an equally promising final as the Tahs seek their first ever championship when they host the Crusaders next Saturday morning Irish time.  Hopefully both will bring their A games and it will provide a spectacle to match the occasion.

There was other rugby this weekendjust gonme , like in Cardiff where the Welsh regions’ love-in with the Premiership continued as they joined the annual pre-season sevens competition.  I enjoy this event each season and in some ways I was jealous to seeing our Celtic cousins get a piece of the action.  For those keeping score the Blues and Dragons qualified for the finals tournament.

I appreciate the IRFU don’t do men’s sevens and they have their reasons but I still say I’d love to see a round-robin tournament for the provinces become a regular feature of preseason one day, even if it’s “just” involving the academy players.

Of course there has also been the Commonwealth Games….meh.  I hear there was some exciting rugby and the attendances in Glasgow were record-breaking but for some reason I wasn’t inspired to watch, which is saying something for me,given that I’d normally watch two flies chasing an egg up a wall.

This Friday however I will be moving heaven and earth to be near a telly for the Irish women’s team’s awkward 4pm kickoff time in their opening match at the Women’s Rugby World Cup.  As I harped on last week they looked in great nick against the Welsh and this match against the USA is the one they really need to win so best of luck to coach Phillip Doyle, captain Fiona Coughlan and all the girls in green.

We’ll be following the World Cup closely here at HoR as well as the Super Rugby final…when all that is over we’ll be taking a bit of a break from the daily coverage before gearing up for the 2014/15 season with a few tweaks to our set-up which will be unveiled in due course.  Exciting times ahead all round!  We do hope you’ll enjoy it all with us.  JLP

Reds-3 Waratahs-34

Welcome to part 3 of our off-season series of match writeups where we follow the remainder of the 2014 Super Rugby campaign focusing on the NSW Waratahs, paying particular attention to lock Kane Douglas before he heads to Dublin to join his new Leinster team-mates.

CHEIKS AND BALANCE

Even though it ended with a trophy, Leinster’s 2013/14 campaign was littered with what I call “ugly” victories, ie ones where you can say that if they reproduced that same form on another day, the result would probably have gone against them.

Off the top of my head I can think of five such wins, against Castres, Connacht,  Glasgow, Ulster and Edinburgh, and no doubt there were many more.  Thankfully we saved our best for last and there wasn’t anything ugly about our display in the final which led to us retaining our Pro12 crown.

But although the scoreline in this final Waratahs outing of the regular season was a lot closer to the Pro12 decider than it was to the other matches I link to above, believe it or not I still reckon it was something of an “ugly” win for Michael Cheika’s men which will give him plenty to think about over the next two weeks as he prepares for the semifinals.

As far as the final standings in Super Rugby were concerned, this match didn’t really matter.  The Tahs had first place on the overall ladder well wrapped up and as for the Reds, this has been a campaign to forget for their loyal fans.

But if you know anything about the history of contests with an oval ball between the states of Queensland and New South Wales, you’ll understand that this was an easy match to get pumped up for whatever the consequences.

Unfortunately for the Suncorp crowd, everything about this match highlighted how one team was very much on the up while the other was headed in the opposite direction.  Lady luck was only shining towards one team.

First, there was the injury count.  Already missing nailed on starters like Quade Cooper, Will Genia and Neil Shipperly, they were deprived two more backs in the first 16 minutes as both their starting 10 Ben Lucas and 12 Ben Tapuai were forced off.

Meanwhile on the Tahs side, although Isreal Folau was unable to start and his replacement Jono Lance went off before halftime, Cheika saw his gamble of a 6/2 forwards/backs bench split pay off over the 80 minutes.

And even Lance wasn’t to leave the field without adding his name to the scoresheet; his dot down after some patient phases and a good line break & offload by Kurtley Beale cancelled out an early Reds pen and put his side in the lead for good. 

Even the bounce of the ball was going against the home side.  Tahs scrum half Nick Phipps was a pest on the opponent’s feed and when he legally got his foot to a ball just popped out of a scrum, it sat up perfectly for the Tahs and before long it was Beale this time getting the score.  14-3 to the Tahs and the first quarter not even done.

But while Cheika’s men excelled in broken play and can only get better when the likes of Folau return, it has to be pointed out that in set pieces they were decidedly average on the day. 

From the scoring of that second try all the way to the 55th minute a stronger squad, or even a full strength Reds one for that matter, would have easily clawed their way back into this contest with all the possession they had, not to mention an extra man as Kepu saw yellow on 28 minutes.

On account of the scoreline Reds skipper Horwill kept spurning kickable penalties and opting for the corner when they had the extra man and partly due to a lack of talent and partly due to solid D by the visitors, they were unable to capitalise.

Then in the second half again it was Beale heavily involved as he both started and finished the move which led to try number 3.  His kick forward was retrieved by Adam Ashley-Cooper who looked well offside but the ref let the play run on and when the TMO had a look it, turns out he was behind the kicker and here was even more back luck for the Reds.

Truth was the home side couldn’t buy a score for the remainder of this one and the final insult to all their injuries was the bonus point try which deservedly went to Nick Phipps having been put through by sub winger Naiyaravoro.

As for Leinster-bound Kane Douglas, well he put in a solid 50-minute shift this week, and once more he convinced me that he is well capable of filling at least a decent chunk of the void left by Leo Cullen in the Leinster pack, though the Tahs’ struggles at the lineout will be a serious concern for everyone involved (not entirely his fault by a long stretch it has to be said).

So records tumbling all over the place in this Super Rugby regular season for the Tahs, but perhaps in some ways it’s a good thing for them to have areas to work on for the coming two weeks, it’s a good way for Cheika to keep them focused.

In some ways the Tahs seems to remind me of Germany at the soccer World Cup.  Though they have many quality players, there isn’t one on which they rely more than most and should one get injured, there would appear to be someone well able to step in and do a job in their place.    And we all know how that went for the Germans!

So they have a week off as their semifinal opponents are decided next weekend…if things go to home form, it could well be the Brumbies who visit in the semifinal, but the Chiefs could well have something to say about that!  Some interesting rugby ahead.

We’ll be keeping an eye on that first round of the playoffs but with the Tahs off we’re hoping to be able to provide a match report of Ireland’s warm-up game for the Women’s World Cup against Wales at Malahide RFC next Sunday.

In the meantime, with not even any soccer to fill the hole of missing Leinster rugby, I may have to trawl through some championship-winning DVDs to get my fix.  I could do a lot worse. JLP

Waratahs-44 Highlanders-16

Welcome to Part 2 in our off-season series of match writeups where we have “adopted” the NSW Waratahs to both keep an eye on Leinster signing Kane Douglas and support Michael Cheika in his bid to become the first coach to win provincial titles in both hemispheres.

[Note - we here at HoR are fully aware that every pun on the word “Tah” has probably been done in the Australian press at this stage but as far as we are concerned all of them are “fair dinkum” on this side of the planet!]

TAH VERY MUCH

We’re all meant to be very excited about the new & improved Rugby Champions Cup here in Europe, but apart from the reduction in qualifiers, the reality is that the tournament is pretty much exactly the same as it was before.

So the fact remains that even if you win all of your pool matches by a considerable margin playing amazing free-flowing rugby to secure a number one seed in knockout stages, not only does that only guarantee you just one further home fixture, you have to wait over two months for it to come around, hoping against hope your best players don’t fall to Six Nations injury in the meantime.

Now I’m not suggesting that Super Rugby is perfect by any stretch, but let’s just say its format makes things a lot easier for Michael Cheika and his Waratahs now than they were for him when he coached Leinster to our first Heineken Cup triumph in 2009.

Nor am I suggesting that their playoff matches themselves will be easy…you can never say that when the seven-time champion Crusaders are still in the mix…but what I am saying is that this has been a record-breaking campaign for the Tahs and they have clinched first place on the overall “ladder” with a game to spare, so they are rightly rewarded by at least knowing all their playoff action will be in Sydney.

And what a show they put on in their final regular-season for that same Sydney crowd.  These Highlanders may not have had as many recognisable international names in their lineup as their hosts but don’t let the scoreline fool you - they were no slouches on the day and even with this loss are still in strong contention for the finals themselves.

Michael Cheika’s task from here on in may not be simple to do but it is definitely simple to define…he needs to keep them focused on the prize between now and their home semifinal in three weeks’ time because if they can replicate this kind of form I doubt anyone can stop them.

The best way I can writeup this match is to go through the starting lineup man for man just in case I leave anyone out…

15 ISRAEL FOLAU - I tend to be sceptical about rugby league converts but this guy has to be an exception.  As he showed in the Lions series last season he has taken to this code like a duck to water and is almost always at the heart of anything good offensively the Tahs do.  Ran a perfect support line for their second try at the start of the second half which in many ways killed the contest.

14 ALOFA ALOFA - Quality winger who can not only finish but also supplied a sublime offload for Kepu on the way to try number 3.  He’s on his way to La Rochelle in the Top 14 next season and that can only be good for the newly-promoted outfit.

13 - ADAM ASHLEY-COOPER - Amazingly AAC has never played in the Super Rugby playoffs before; it is long overdue.  Of course you can’t mention this guy without including a link to his famous Superman double-tackle against the Boks.

12 - KURTLEY BEALE - His career has had its drawbacks, and he may still have some defensive issues but he has definitely found himself where he belongs in the Tahs 12 jersey going by what I have seen over the past couple of weeks.

11 - ROB HORNE - Supplied the finish to what was an amazing team try that went the length of the field.  Much like Leinster wingers, the Tahs’ 11 & 14s are expected to do a lot more than just sit out wide and wait for a chance to come to them.

10 - BERNARD FOLEY - Who says it has to be November to rock a porn stache?  This guy has gone from impressing against the Lions in a midweek match last year to being the top Wallaby 10 making even Ewen McKenzie go “Quade who”?  Lost count of the times he broke the line in this match and for a 10 to lead the side in metres gained with 145 says it all really.

9 - NICK PHIPPS - Foley would probably be the first to tell you that his own success owes a lot to the contributions of Phipps and the 9 earned himself a try of his own when despite a neat set move off the scrum with Kepu he still had work to do to get it over the line and he managed it with ease to earn the Tahs a try bonus.

1 - BENN ROBINSON - Cult loosehead and a deadly finisher from 5 yards out, in other words, very much in the Cian Healy mould.

2 - TATAFU POLOTA-NAU - Kept his front row focused as they demolished the ‘Landers scrum when it mattered in the second half.

3 - SEKOPE KEPU - Forced 3 turnovers, scored try number 3 and provided the final offload for try number 5.  Oh, and the whole “dominant scrum” thing I mentioned above.  Not a bad return for a tighthead!

4 - JACQUES POTGEITER - Just 3 test caps for this Springbok, and given the return of Victor to the arena I’d be surprised if he got much more given he’s 28, but make no mistake he can put himself about and was a powerful presence in this match, including being the grateful recipient of the Kepu offload I mentioned above.

5 - KANE DOUGLAS - Came off at half time with a knock that obviously I’m hoping isn’t too serious.  Kind of fluffed a good attacking position at one point but his overall contribution in the one and a half matches I’ve focused on in the past couple of weeks has been more than good enough for me to know he’ll fit right in at the RDS.

6 - STEPHEN HOILES - Had big boots to fill after club captain Dave Dennis was ruled out for the season but was part of a hungry Tahs back row, though to be fair both sides were strong in this area and at some stages the counter-rucking was as intense as I’ve ever seen it.

7 - MICHAEL HOOPER - Given the intensity I mention above you won’t be surprised that this guy was involved.  Lets his emotions get the better of him sometimes but that’s the kind of passion you want in a 7.  Reckon he could be key to the Wallabies’ hopes in this year’s Bledisloe & Rugby Championship.

8 - WYCLIFF PALU - Involved in moves off the base of the scrum for two tries and made all his tackles.

REPLACEMENTS - Will Skelton is possibly one of the reasons Kane Douglas feels he can seek his fortune in the northern hemisphere, big future ahead for the lad.  Also as if the starting back three wasn’t quality enough for the Tahs, they also have a massive Fijian called Taqele Naiyaravoro who provided a very 7s-like finish at the hooter to provide the icing on the cake for what was a good old-fashioned thrashing of a decent provincial side.

I may have picked the Tahs to focus on because I wanted to run the rule over a particular player coming to Leinster, but after seeing these last two matches they really do look like a team you can get behind…full of quality players, getting solid contributions from 1 to 23, and now they have their playoffs guaranteed at home, they really seem to have a shot at their first title.

Put it this way…securing top spot in the regular season (or as the Aussies call it, the “Minor Premiership”) won’t be near enough to satisfy Michael Cheika at this stage.  He has one more match before the finals next week against the 2011 Champions the Reds in Brisbane - it’s quite likely he’ll take a leaf out of the IRFU’s player protection handbook to make sure his squad is ready.

As for who his side will face, well that’s definitely up for debate.  Don’t rule out them facing these Highlanders again, but their final match is away to the Crusaders who are themselves chasing the bye into the semifinals.  As for Hurricanes although now sit in 5th place, they have played their full set of matches so they need to rely on results elsewhere.

Tie of the round next weekend has to be the Brumbies against the Force - winners probably get a home playoff, losers get to call it a season.  Meanwhile in South Africa it has been a disappointing campaign for everyone except the Sharks who could do with an easy final match in Cape Town, though I doubt the Stormers will be very obliging somehow.

But like I said, they’ll all have their work cut out to catch these Tahs.  It will certainly be fun to watch them try. JLP

Position	Team	Points
1	Waratahs	53
2	Crusaders	46
3	Sharks	46
4	Highlanders	42
5	Hurricanes	41
6	Brumbies	40
7	Force	40
8	Chiefs	40
9	Blues	36
10	Bulls	33
11	Stormers	32
12	Reds	28
13	Lions	26
14	Cheetahs	24
15	Rebels	21

 

Final series of matches

 

Fri Jul 11

Blues v Chiefs

Brumbies v Force

Bulls v Rebels

 

Sat Jul 12

Crusaders v Highlanders

Reds v Waratahs

Lions v Cheetahs

Stormers v Sharks

Waratahs-39 Brumbies-8

TAHS AT THE TOP

Just to set out the stall for these “match writeups” over the coming weeks - I can’t claim to know enough about Super Rugby to be able to give them nearly as close coverage as I do Leinster & Ireland throughout the season.

So if you’re a big fan of the competition and want some expert analysis on this particular match you’ve probably come to the wrong place…what I plan to do instead is give a northern hemisphere fan’s perspective on what I have seen, of course paying particular attention to players like Kane Douglas and Ruaridh Murphy who will be joining Irish provinces next season.

In fact those weren’t the only Irish connections you could make for this fixture…with this rivalry arguably the nearest the Aussies have to Leinster v Munster, there were none other than Michael Chieka and Laurie Fisher in opposing coaching booths.

Still…while I obviously can’t show as much dedication to the Waratahs as the potentially treasonous chap in the lead photo, I am more than happy to follow them through to the end of their 2014 Super Rugby campaign and I have to say I was mostly impressed with their display on Saturday and they certainly seem to have what it takes to go all the way and give coach Cheika a very unique double.

I mean…what’s not to like about their lineup?  Izzy Folau, Kurley Beale, current Wallaby fly-half complete with porn stache Bernard Foley, and in the pack as well as Kane Douglas there’s Will Skelton, a name we are bound to be hearing very often in the near future as he has buckets of talent and impressed when the Lions played in Sydney 1 year ago.

Now, to be fair to the Brumbies, they have a horrendous injury list which deprived them of names they would certainly be relying on for a derby this late in the season…you can’t do without the likes of Stephen Moore, Pat McCabe, Matt Toomua & David Pocock and expect to compete.  Losing another centre early in this one as Kurindrani had to leave with suspected concussion can’t have helped either, though of course it was good to see the laws being correctly applied.

And not only were the big personalities missing but also they had a winger playing at centre, a centre playing at 10 and most crucially, Ulster-bound (and Dublin-born) prop Ruaridh Murphy playing at hooker.  Whether he just wasn’t good enough or the build-up got to him was hard to tell, but with several missed darts and a missed strike or two at scrum-time I doubt Messrs Best & Herring have much to worry about next season at Kingspan Stadium. (First time I’ve used that name in a reference.  Very weird!)

So the odds were heavily stacked in favour of the home side from the off and in what I must say was a very Leinster-like fashion, it took the Tahs a while to assert that dominance.  The Brumbies were doing all they could to thwart the home side’s front foot ball and it took 15 minutes for them to cross the line, with loosehead and Cian Healy-type cult hero Benn Robinson crashing over.

Then minutes later as the Brumbies tried to put it through the hands it was intercepted by winger Alofa Alofa who then said Aloha Aloha to his opposition as he sprinted more than half the length of the pitch to bring the score to 14-0.

But the injury problems were not all on one side and the Tahs lost their captain and key lineout-caller Dave Dennis to an ACL tear in the first half which sadly has ruled him out for the rest of the season…it seems veteran flanker Stephen Hoiles is favourite to replace him as skipper.

The Brumbies to their credit did what they could and were able to pull a try back before half time as a crossfield kick right into the corner of the try area was brilliantly caught and put down by Jesse Mogg at the expense of the man way ahead of him in the running for the Wallaby 15 jumper, Israel Folau.

But at the breakdown the visitors were finding it more and more difficult  to compete and as much as Steve Walsh tried to resist going to his pocket (at one stage telling an ironically-frowning Jordan Smiler “That was silly mate!”) he eventually had to give in and gave Smiler’s replacement Aleua a 10-minute rest as the game ticked into the final quarter.

From the resulting penalty Kane Douglas took one of many clean lineout catches and a superb maul brought them to the line where Foley sold a dummy when he didn’t even need to and sauntered over for try number three. 

The vital bonus point in the Tahs’ hunt for home finals advantage came on 68 minutes when Alofa Alofa got his second, this time thanks to superbly timed passes by Beale and Folau.

Like I said at the start I was paying particular attention to new Leinster signing Kane Douglas, to see how he’d get on in our neck of the woods.  I have to assume the Tahs will face much stiffer challenges before this campaign is over, but he most certainly looks the part…heavily involved in the lineouts, happy to get stuck in at the breakdown, and even when I wondered if he was tiring at the end of an 80-minute shift, up he pops over in the corner to ship the final pass for Palu to dot down as icing on the cake.

Let’s just say that going by this display, he’ll fit in just fine at the RDS.

So as you can see from the table, with this comfortable victory the Waratahs now top the overall Super Rugby “ladder” though to clinch 1st place and the home advantage that goes with it only victories over the Highlanders (also chasing playoffs) and the Reds (who have flopped this season though they won their last two) will do.

Although it wasn’t quite enough to fill the void left by the Leinster & Ireland off-season, this match was still an enjoyable one to focus on, particularly with the legendary Aussie commentary by the likes of Phil Kearns.

Stay tuned to HarpinOnRugby over the coming weeks and we’ll see if these Tahs can go one better than their teams of 2005 & 2008, both of whom fell to the Crusaders at the final hurdle.  JLP

Click here to see what the HoR Facebook page readers offered as captions for Steve Walsh & Alun Wyn-Jones

Position	Team	Pld	Points
1	Waratahs	14	48
2	Sharks	14	45
3	Crusaders	14	42
4	Highlanders	14	42
5	Hurricanes	15	41
6	Brumbies	15	40
7	Force	14	36
8	Blues	14	36
9	Chiefs	14	36
10	Bulls	14	33
11	Stormers	14	28
12	Reds	14	28
13	Lions	14	22
14	Rebels	14	21
15	Cheetahs	14	20

Decisions, decisions…

The Crusaders & Bulls were punished for poor game management, writes new HoR2 contributor Manus McMichael

I suppose we've all seen it before. The main playmakers of a fantastic team with a glorious record boasting hundreds of caps, falter at the decision making side of a huge game. This weekends Super Rugby semi-finals were a glaring example of players failing to make the correct red-zone calls and being punished with extreme prejudice by their opponents.

As Morne Steyn turned down his opportunities to kick for goal and then backtracked on this decision with a failed drop kick, Dan Carter probably watched with his head in his hands, as it was somewhat similar for him in the corresponding fixture. In the first Semi-final, The Crusaders had the bit between their teeth, marching up the field for a crucial lineout in Chiefs territory. Any form of score would do - but the decision to have a drop at goal off the first phase of clean lineout ball has got to be criticised for its downright hastiness. Carter (arguably the best outhalf of his generation and many to come) did not realise right away that this had been a blunder of epic proportions, after all the Crusaders would get the ball back from the restart and could have another pop. Wrong.

The Chiefs punished the Crusaders for this mistake, as you must at the top level, as the Christchurch side should have to their Hamilton based opponents when Cruden kicked his restart out on the full and missed his shot at goal.

The Brumbies have already come out and said that the Bulls decisions helped them stay in, and ultimately, win the second Semi-final. Steyn turned down two run-of-the-mill shots that would have stretched the South African's lead and in all likelihood strangled the Australian Conference winners, restricting them to hoping for a try and eliminating the threat of Leali'ifano's boot in the middle of the park, which would have been a lot easier to defend. But, alas, it was not to be as the Brumbies scored a cracking try at the death.

If last Friday you were to pick two teams to make those painfully obvious mistakes out of the semi-finals, such experienced teams as the Crusaders and the Bulls would probably be your last choice, especially them both together. It's not often we see Steyn, Carter, Potgeiter and Read come up short in any department, and in fairness to the two captains, Potgeiter has accepted the burden of the criticism and Read was visibly disgusted with himself in the post-match interview.

As much as games come down to skill, preparation and executing a gameplan, it is hard to prepare for situations where the correct decision needs to be made within a split second or everyone goes home. The best players in the world fall short at this hurdle when the crunch is on very often. It's to do with a mindset that players need to be engrossed in, for example Craig Clarke for the Chiefs, who was wonderfully underhand in some of his play but he could not be faulted by anyone. It is these moments at the top level that win and lose championships, make heroes and villains of honest players.

Any campaign in professional rugby will only have one or two teams with this engrained in them, if even that. It is easily lost - as the beaten semi-finalists can attest to and it is very hard to gain. We'll only see about 10 great teams in our life time, such is the way. The Brumbies were so criminally let off I believe they have already taken a step above their station. One of those great teams though is the 2012/2013 Chiefs, and it is fully expected that they will beat their opponents in the final comfortably in the Waikato.

Manus McMichael (@The_Dange) : One-time Irish exile living on the border.

The Return of Super Rugby

Who are the remaining Super Rugby contenders? asks BallHandling Hooker…

click above to view BallHandling Hooker’s blog

Super Rugby returns this weekend, with the New Zealand and South Africans teams making up for the extra rounds that the Australians have had to accommodate some Northern Hemisphere visitors.

Super Rugby is a hugely entertaining competition, where pace and skill is emphasized. So far we've seen massive hits, scorching tries and baffling interviews.

In New Zealand, the Blues have massively improved on last season's dismal outing, but the Highlanders are faring even worse. The Cheetahs are entertaining anyone who watches them in South Africa, and with Willie le Roux and co on form, they are winning games in the process. The Kings are winning admirers for their brand of rugby in their first season, while the Brumbies are quietly going about their business at the top of the Australian conference.

With 3 rounds left before the playoffs, there is still a few things left to sort out. In Super Rugby, each of the top teams in each country qualifies for the playoffs, with the next 3 teams receiving wildcard entries based on match points. The top two teams in the tournament get a bye, with the 3rd champion of the 3rd country entering into quarter finals with the other wildcard teams.

Given that Australian teams only have one game left, I'll start there.

Australian Conference

Team (Overall)                                                                     Pts

1. Brumbies (1)                                                               59

2. Reds (4)                                                                     54

3. Waratahs (7)                                                               44

4. Rebels (12)                                                                 32

5. Force (13)                                                                 27  

The Brumbies have been by far the best team in Australia consistently this season. Led by new Wallaby caps Christian Leali'ifano and Ben Mowen, they play a smart game, while still playing an entertaining brand of rugby. Jake White is getting the most out of his players, as can be seen in their recent win over the aforementioned Northern visitors.

The only way they can be denied top spot in the Australia conference is if the Reds win with a bonus point at the Waratahs in 3 weeks, and they fail to get a losing bonus point at the Force. Neither of those scenarios appears likely.

Both the Force and the Rebels have improved this season, and both are losing admirably. At this stage of the season, neither are threatening the playoffs. The Reds in 4th have the best chance to qualify, with only 3 other teams outside of the playoffs able to climb ahead of their tally of 54 points already. More of this later.

Likely scenario:

Brumbies beat Force with no bonus point thus finishing first in Australia with 63 points.

South African Conference

Team (Overall)                                                                   Pts

1. Bulls (3)                                                                      54

2. Cheetahs (5)                                                               46

3. Sharks (10)                                                                  38

4. Stormers (11)                                                              38

5. Kings (14)                                                                    24

The South Africa conference is a little unusual, as we have the prospect of the first ever relegation.

With the new entry of the Southern Kings, the last-placed South African team in this year's Super Rugby competition will play a two-legged tie against the Lions to determine who participates in next year's event.

The Kings have done fantastically well in their first competition, winning 3 more games than most people thought they would, and apart from 2 games, were a lot more competitive, than I, and anyone else, thought they would. Their remaining games are all in South Africa, which helps, but the most points they can get is 39, while both the Sharks and the Stormers have to have no match points from here on in three games.

Up at the top, the Cheetahs can still technically catch the Bulls, but the recent defeat to them before the break probably stopped that from happening. The Bulls have a favourable draw, having to play the 3 other South African teams, while the Cheetahs face the Stormers and the fellow playoff chasing Blues.

Likely scenario:

Bulls take 13 of 15 possible points from the next games to finish 1st in South Africa on 67 points.

Kings get at most 3 losing bonus points, and face the Lions in the relegation match.

New Zealand Conference

Team (Overall)                                                                   Pts

1. Chiefs (3)                                                                  56

2. Crusaders (5)                                                             46

3. Blues (10)                                                                  43

4. Hurricanes (11)                                                           39

5. Highlanders (14)                                                          22

At this stage, only the Highlanders, who have had a terrible season, have no chance of the playoff.

The Chiefs have a commanding ten point lead, and while both the Blues and the Crusaders can catch them, it's still unlikely. The Chiefs have the hardest run in out of the conference leaders, but have the biggest lead. They play both the Blues and the Crusaders and the Hurricanes who have still have an outside mathematical chance of qualification.

The Blues have been much improved, and with young guns Charles Piutau, Francis Saili and Steven Luatua making a big name for themselves.

Likely scenario:

I think the Chiefs will take 10 points from a possible 15 of their remaining games, finishing first in New Zealand with 66 points.

This leaves the conference leaders as; 1. Bulls (67), 2. Chiefs (66), 3. Brumbies (63), with the Brumbies facing one of the wildcards.

Wildcards:

Those still in contention (mathematically) are:

4. Reds (54)

5. Cheetahs (46)

6. Crusaders (46)

7. Waratahs (44)

8. Blues (43)

9. Hurricanes (39)

10. Sharks (38)

11. Stormers (38)

First, it shows a lot about the strength of the competition that with 3 rounds left, 11 teams are still mathematically in with a chance of qualifying, and that in 10th and 11th place are two of last year's semi-finalists.

Secondly, while the Hurricanes, the Stormers and the Sharks can still qualify, they need a lot of things to go their way, with the most either of them can achieve is 54 points, and I don't think that tally will be enough to qualify.

For this reason, I am also discounting the Waratahs, as the max they can finish with is 49.

This leaves 4 teams battling for 3 places, with the Reds, the Cheetahs, the Crusaders and the Blues. The Cheetahs are the only team in the competition that have a bye left, which means that they will finish with 50 points at least.

The way I see the season panning out is, the Crusaders, the Blues and the Cheetahs all win this weekend against the Highlanders, the Sharks and the Stormers respectively.

The following weekend is set for a titanic battle as the Blues face the Cheetahs in what initially appears to be a huge game, while the Crusaders face the Chiefs. I think the Crusaders will beat the Chiefs, who should be safe as 1st by this stage, while the Blues put more pressure on the Cheetahs with a narrow win. This leaves the Cheetahs with 55 points (after the bye), the Crusaders with 55, the Reds still with 54 and the Blues with 52. All to play for.

At this point, if the Reds lose to the Waratahs with a losing bonus point, the Cheetahs and the Crusaders would finish ahead of them based on the higher number of wins they have.

The final weekend sees the Blues play the Chiefs in a huge game, knowing that a win would guarantee them a place in the playoffs. This would be a huge achievement for a team that was all at seas last year, recording only 4 wins. Unfortunately I don't think they will have enough, and the teams will finish like this;

4. Crusaders (60)

5. Reds (58)

6. Cheetahs (55)

7. Blues (53)

This leaves:

(1) Bulls vs ((3) Brumbies vs Cheetahs (6))

(2) Chiefs vs ((4) Crusaders vs Reds (5))

My tip is for the Chiefs to retain their crown against a tough Brumbies side in a fantastic final.

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