Rugby 2017 Discussion

unchanged_lineup said:
Super Rugby folks, can you tell me anything about this lad?
"Delighted to announce that Brumbies back-row forward Jarrad Butler will join Connacht following the Super Rugby season"
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I don't know a massive amount about him. He was named Brumbies players player of the year in 2014, a year in which they made the semi finals. One stat i found on him that took my eye is in 2017 he has only missed 2 tackled while making 62 tackles. Yet to represent Australia at test level. That might have been different if he played for the Tahs.
 
Interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald about Super Rugby and if the competition has run its course. I hope it hasn't. Unlike many in Australia, i don't want to see a Trans Tasman comp but i do worry about the competition in its current format. They should never have gone from 15 to 18 teams two years ago. The competition was fine as it was two years ago.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/u...ys-last-roll-of-the-dice-20170712-gxa5gb.html
 
Sunwolves 48 Blues 21 and that's not a joke, not a typo either. And amazing result for the Japan based team. I had a photo taken with Tana Umaga 12 years ago, so I have a soft spot for him. I just hope this doesn't see him sacked.
 
Mitchell Nicholas said:
Interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald about Super Rugby and if the competition has run its course. I hope it hasn't. Unlike many in Australia, i don't want to see a Trans Tasman comp but i do worry about the competition in its current format. They should never have gone from 15 to 18 teams two years ago. The competition was fine as it was two years ago.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/u...ys-last-roll-of-the-dice-20170712-gxa5gb.html
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No competitive reasons for a Trans Tasman competition.

Sunwolves have won more games against NZ sides than all the Australian sides combined.
 
K2K said:


No competitive reasons for a Trans Tasman competition.

Sunwolves have won more games against NZ sides than all the Australian sides combined.
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A trans Tasman comp benefits New Zealand for timezone reasons but that's it. They'll learn nothing while beating Australian sides week in week out. Every week, i read a column from Tony Johnson and he's made the point a few times that NZ value the challenges associated with playing against South African sides to the extent that a Trans Tasman comp is a non starter for them while South Africa remain in Super Rugby. In Australia though, South Africa is seen as an inconvenience. The preference is for a Trans Tasman comp but NZ isn't interested and rightly so. The Rugby Union Players Association has urged SANZAAR to explore a Super 16 and for the door to remain open for a Trans Tasman comp. Good luck to them on both counts, hard to see them getting their way.
 
If Lions beat the Sharks in Durban, the Lions finish top and gain all the advantages that come with that - hosting rights for every finals match they play including the final should they qualify. Far from the end of the world for the Sharks if they get beaten too - play the Lions next week and thus avoid a trip to Christchurch.
 
Mitchell Nicholas said:
A trans Tasman comp benefits New Zealand for timezone reasons but that's it. They'll learn nothing while beating Australian sides week in week out. Every week, i read a column from Tony Johnson and he's made the point a few times that NZ value the challenges associated with playing against South African sides to the extent that a Trans Tasman comp is a non starter for them while South Africa remain in Super Rugby. In Australia though, South Africa is seen as an inconvenience. The preference is for a Trans Tasman comp but NZ isn't interested and rightly so. The Rugby Union Players Association has urged SANZAAR to explore a Super 16 and for the door to remain open for a Trans Tasman comp. Good luck to them on both counts, hard to see them getting their way.
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Australian rugby really need a to get its house in order first. It's their lack of domestic rugby that is problem.

A Transman competition will be bad for Southern Hemisphere rugby especially NZ and S.A.

I still think having two competitions is the way to go. Like the Champions cup and Challenger cup in Europe.
 
A few more questions from the rugby noob...

Why aren't drop kicks at goal attempted more often? Seems like a relatively easy way to score 3 points instead of crashing into defenders all the time in search of 5/7 points. I've only seen it once, in the 2015 final between NZ and Australia. Granted I've only watched 4 or 5 regular matches and a few rugby sevens matches. Oh, and there's several drop kicks in the movie Invictus based on the 1995 final :p

How come New Zealand are so dominant in rugby? Has it always been like this? They have a population smaller than Norway's ffs (4.6m vs 5m).

What's the next big thing to watch in rugby? I'm running out of matches to download/watch on Youtube. :)
 
whatwha said:
A few more questions from the rugby noob...

Why aren't drop kicks at goal attempted more often? Seems like a relatively easy way to score 3 points instead of crashing into defenders all the time in search of 5/7 points. I've only seen it once, in the 2015 final between NZ and Australia. Granted I've only watched 4 or 5 regular matches and a few rugby sevens matches. Oh, and there's several drop kicks in the movie Invictus based on the 1995 final :p

How come New Zealand are so dominant in rugby? Has it always been like this? They have a population smaller than Norway's ffs (4.6m vs 5m).

What's the next big thing to watch in rugby? I'm running out of matches to download/watch on Youtube. :)
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If your forwards are good enough to consistently get you in a good position for a drop goal, they are probably equally as adept at helping you to score tries. Also drop goals are not easy, more are missed than are successful. Unless if you are Janie de Beer that is.

Why are New Zealand so dominant in rugby? I think people from all the other major rugby nations have spent decades trying to answer that and are yet to come up with an answer.

Here are some of my favourite games.



 
Yeah, just to reiterate that drop goals are a ridiculously difficult skill - you hear how amazed the commentators are when he gets three in that video, never mind five!! You have to have forwards good enough to manoeuvre you into the correct part of the field and then protect you when you get there, a scrum-half to fire a great pass back further than the usual distance because you're standing "in the pocket", and then a good strike under immense pressure.

To tie it all together, the two drop goals are probably what I remember best from that 1999 semi-final. The ABs had dominated the first half and the two drop goals from Lamaison signalled that the impossible comeback might just happen. It all snowballed from there. Magic.

http://www.planetrugby.com/news/flashback-the-greatest-game-of-all-time/
 
I'd love to see the Lions take out the Super rugby title but the bleating about the format will put a dampener on an otherwise fantastic achievement. They were kicked out of Super Rugby this time in 2012, returned 12 months later and now they're three wins from the title.
 
Mitchell Nicholas said:
I'd love to see the Lions take out the Super rugby title but the bleating about the format will put a dampener on an otherwise fantastic achievement. They were kicked out of Super Rugby this time in 2012, returned 12 months later and now they're three wins from the title.
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Lions turnaround has been fantastic. They were a joke of a franchise, playing in front of empty stadiums each week, never expected to win, while the Bulls were the premium franchise winning domestic and international trophies. Now the situation is well and truly reversed.
 
Freedom Aluteni said:
Lions turnaround has been fantastic. They were a joke of a franchise, playing in front of empty stadiums each week, never expected to win, while the Bulls were the premium franchise winning domestic and international trophies. Now the situation is well and truly reversed.
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Plus, I love every the style they play. They're a very watchable team, well worth staying up early in the morning or recording their games. For the Bulls, if they can buy into the way John Mitchell will want them to play, there's light at the end of the tunnel. What do you know about Johan Ackerman's replacement Swys De Bruin?
 
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Mitchell Nicholas said:
Plus, I love every the style they play. They're a very watchable team, well worth staying up early in the morning or recording their games. For the Bulls, I think if they can buy into the way John Mitchell will want them to play, I think there's light at the end of the tunnel. What do you know about Johan Ackerman's replacement Swys De Bruin?
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Swys used to be head of the Sharks academy before joining the Lions. Has a good pedigree and shares the same rugby philosophies as Ackerman but scant experience as a head coach at the highest level. The big challenge for him will be hanging on to his key players. A few have already taken part time deals in Japan and more will be off to Europe soon I'm sure.
 
Mitchell Nicholas said:
Still find it baffling SANZAAR won't appoint neutral refs for finals games.
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It really is :wenger:, why court controversy when you can just swap Peyper (Canberra), Jackson (Christchurch), and Gardner (Cape Town) and have all matches covered in a sensible manner. Supporting the Highlanders, I'm definitely happy that we got Gardner. I'd be less excited if I supported the Chiefs or Brumbies.
 
Right, so i'm picking the Hurricanes to beat the Brumbies by 10-15, Crusaders to beat the Highlanders by 1-7, Lions to beat the Sharks by 20 or so and an upset with the Stormers to beat the Chiefs by 7.
 
Hurricanes 35 Brumbies 16 in a result that won't surprise anybody. Kiwi teams vs Aussie teams this year: 26 wins, 0 losses. Last year, 23 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw. Australia wants a Trans Tasman comp but nobody in Australia can complain if New Zealand doesn't appear keen for a Trans Tasman competition.
 
Mitchell Nicholas said:
How many teams would you say is too many for what is, to this point, still the Pro12?
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They've a few issues to work out with it. One of the key issues will be qualification for Champions Cup - not that I think it'll happen, but it'd be a bit embarrassing if the two new teams occupy the top spots for example, which are used for determining qualification. I think it's worth a go - the Pro 12 is not that old really and they might as well try this split conference idea for a season.
 
While the Brumbies were leading in the 1st half, I managed to get even odds on Hurricanes -3 :drool:. Sometimes you just got to love that bet365 computer.
 
Crusaders 17 Highlanders 0 in an wet weather rugby exhibition by the Crusaders. They'll host the winner of the Stormers vs Chiefs in a semi final next weekend. Due to inclement weather on the South Island the Highlanders only arrived in Christchurch at 1pm, 6 and a half hours before kick off. Not ideal but the Crusaders may well have won in any case.
 
Very tough on the Sharks. They should have had a penalty at the end but the ref swallowed his whistle.
 
Missed the controversy at the end. As i have a soft spot for the Lions, i'd claim that if they had kicked accurately, whatever controversy happened at the end wouldn't have mattered. If's and but's though are irrelevant, the game was close because the Lions played poorly. You can point to the missed kicks at goal but that still doesn't eradicate a very messy performance by the Lions against a team that forced them into mistakes you wouldn't expect from the Lions.

One thing is for certain, if the Lions play that badly and that inaccurately again, they can't expect to win. On the flip side though, the Hurricanes weren't great vs the Brumbies in Canberra and will need to improve too, which will make next weekends semi final all the more interesting. Winner will play the Crusaders, who will have too much for the Chiefs who did enough to beat a Stormers side that were far from the easy beats they were this time last year vs the Chiefs. The only question will surround the final being in Johannesburg or Christchurch.

Like the Brumbies in their quarter final, The Sharks fought hard but must now plan ahead for next season. Both the Brumbies and the Sharks are tough to play against but i don't believe they've got enough tries in them to win major matches. Brumbies attack hasn't been great under Larkham which is kind of ironic. The Sharks need to find ways not finish 8th on the overall ladder.
 
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This is the first Friday without a super rugby game to look forward to either Friday evening or Saturday morning Aussie time. Semi final Saturday features four sides well worth watching.
 
Crusaders 27 Chiefs 13 in a game where the Chiefs dominated possession and territory but couldn't make that dominance count on the scoreboard. Picking the Lions to beat the Hurricanes by a couple of points. Like the Lions, the Canes weren't great last week either so both must improve but i see the Lions doing just enough.
 
K2K said:
Lions come back from 22-3 to win 44-29 against the Canes.

Final in Johannesburg against the Crusaders.
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I had written them off at 22-3 and was of the view that not playing a New Zealand side had cost them in the long run. Game swung on that try right on half time - Hurricanes were cruising at that point. Next week's final is a toss of the coin for me.
 
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