Super XVIII 2016

sydthebeat

our lineout has been excellent, at least 4 steals, probably more

our scrum has been absymal though, and our maul defense terrible.

excellent penalty won by Ben i think!!! theres nothing he cant do

LuckyGent88

Massive defensive effort from highlanders. Brumbies just had no ideas in attack.

sydthebeat

jesus my nerves!!!!


we got very very very lucky there

bleg

I don't understand. If it was a deliberate knock (as the AR said) on then surely it's a penalty?

Also there were 2 scrums that should have been penalties towards the end and the ref asked the wrong question for the try. He should have asked "Any reason I cannot award the try?" Surely? No?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

https://twitter.com/sportbillysays/status/756425837348548608

sydthebeat

bleg wrote: »

He should have asked "Any reason I cannot award the try?" Surely? No?

he can only ask that if he has seen clear grounding, which he obviously didnt as he was on his ass.....

its tough on the brumbies as it was most likely over the line and 20 years ago it would have been a try no question.

however with Tv angles and TMOs, someone has to see clear grounding.... and no one did.

Yeah_Right

Good win by the Highlanders. Will it be all NZ teams in the semis?

Kinda wish that this qf was being played tomorrow. All 4 matches on one day, I could have just sat on the couch watching rugby.

bleg

sydthebeat wrote: »

he can only ask that if he has seen clear grounding, which he obviously didnt as he was on his ass.....

its tough on the brumbies as it was most likely over the line and 20 years ago it would have been a try no question.

however with Tv angles and TMOs, someone has to see clear grounding.... and no one did.

Fair enough. As a neutral though I feel pretty annoyed at that end game and the refs decisions.

icdg

Hurricanes 41-0 Sharks, seemingly the first ever whitewash in the Super Rugby playoffs.

Yeah_Right

bleg wrote: »

Fair enough. As a neutral though I feel pretty annoyed at that end game and the refs decisions.

What was wrong with the end of the game? And the refs decisions? I thought the ref was good.


This morning. The Hurricanes. Wow! Impressive.

LuckyGent88

Lions very fast out of the blocks here against the crusaders.

12-0 up and crusaders down to 14 through a yellow card.

Digifriendly

Hurricanes were outstanding in terrible conditions. Both half backs were world class. It will take a very good side to deny them the title.

LuckyGent88

Chiefs handing out a whooping to the stormers.
Cane with a possible concussion though.

So Chiefs, hurricanes, highlanders and lions in the semi finals

So it's hurricanes v Chiefs and lions against highlanders I think anyway.

That all New Zealand clash should be an epic

swiwi_

Despite SANZARs best efforts I think the 4 top teams across the season are in the semi-finals.

Stormers play a NZ side (ravaged by injury) for the first time this season and get handed their arse.

They have already agreed to fix the joke quarterfinal allocations for next season.

I don't reckon there should be a Super Rugby thread next season - just stick it in the general rugby discussion for the handful of posters who follow it.

Digifriendly

swiwi_ wrote: »

Despite SANZARs best efforts I think the 4 top teams across the season are in the semi-finals.

Stormers play a NZ side (ravaged by injury) for the first time this season and get handed their arse.

They have already agreed to fix the joke quarterfinal allocations for next season.

I don't reckon there should be a Super Rugby thread next season - just stick it in the general rugby discussion for the handful of posters who follow it.

This is page 41 of 2016 thread so not too bad. I would not drop it yet. I for one find it informative and interesting.

errlloyd

I read the thread, although I don't contribute much.

jaansu

I also read this thread but don't contribute at all. I'd miss it if it was amalgamated with the general rugby thread.

Go hurricanes!!!

pickarooney

I've not been able to watch any matches live but I follow the thread.

Canes 4 lijf!

Tim Robbins

pickarooney wrote: »

I've not been able to watch any matches live but I follow the thread.

Canes 4 lijf!

Is there a weekly program on that rounds up all the action from the Super XVIII?

RichieRich89

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Is there a weekly program on that rounds up all the action from the Super XVIII?

Yeah. On Sky. Or you could go on Super Rugby's facebook page, where there are 2 or 3 minute highlight videos of each game

Clegg

Matt O'Connor has been replaced by Nick Stiles as Queensland Red head coach.

Another coaching position he has bombed.

sydthebeat

Clegg wrote: »

Matt O'Connor has been replaced by Nick Stiles as Queensland Red head coach.

Another coaching position he has bombed.

well technically he was never head coach at the reds... he was co-head coach (with responsibility on attack) with Nick Stiles

and Stiles has been chosen ahead of him as the singular head coach for next season

Kiwi_knock

Clegg wrote: »

Matt O'Connor has been replaced by Nick Stiles as Queensland Red head coach.

Another coaching position he has bombed.

To be fair he was joint head coach with Stiles, with MOC responsible for the backs and Stiles for the forwards. Definitely agree that he messed it up though, the Reds basic skills were severely lacking. Not sure Stiles is the man to turn around the Reds, he has been heavily involved in their decline over the last few years.

Yeah_Right

swiwi_ wrote: »

I don't reckon there should be a Super Rugby thread next season - just stick it in the general rugby discussion for the handful of posters who follow it.

Swiwi; just because your Crusaders got humiliated by a team that's never made the playoffs before, doesn't mean we should scrap the thread. I know they're in a downward spiral without the Great One, DC and Blackadder retiring but you have to suck it up and deal with it. I'm a Blues fan and I keep tuning in. The good times will return.

Look at all these Canes supporters who stick with it despite the fact they're always the bridesmaid

swiwi_

Yeah_Right wrote: »

Swiwi; just because your Crusaders got humiliated by a team that's never made the playoffs before, doesn't mean we should scrap the thread. I know they're in a downward spiral without the Great One, DC and Blackadder retiring but you have to suck it up and deal with it. I'm a Blues fan and I keep tuning in. The good times will return.

Look at all these Canes supporters who stick with it despite the fact they're always the bridesmaid

*cough* At one stage the Lions were the Cats.

I leave you to google whether the Cats ever made the Super Rugby play-offs...

Yeah_Right

swiwi_ wrote: »

*cough* At one stage the Lions were the Cats.

I leave you to google whether the Cats ever made the Super Rugby play-offs...

I stand corrected. I see the Cats did make the semis a couple of times. And the Lions won the Super 10 in 1993!! I just seem to remember them always being crap.

I still say that you just want this thread gone next year because the Crusaders are on a downward slide and they'll be bottom of the NZ conference

swiwi_

Yeah_Right wrote: »

I stand corrected. I see the Cats did make the semis a couple of times. And the Lions won the Super 10 in 1993!! I just seem to remember them always being crap.

I still say that you just want this thread gone next year because the Crusaders are on a downward slide and they'll be bottom of the NZ conference

To be perfectly honest I'm less and less fussed about how the Crusaders in particular go. I just generally support the NZ teams, and follow the All Blacks the most. I was born in Hurricanes territory, lived most of my "formative" years in Crusaders territory, and went to Varsity in Highlanders territory...

The NZ sides have generally been good to excellent this season; unfortunately the same cannot be said of the other countries (the Lions the only exception), it has generally been a crap standard of rugby in 2016. I remember back in the day, you would have at least 2 quality SA and Australian sides to complement the 2 or 3 very decent NZ sides. The Jaguars were a complete disappointment.

I expect next season I will do the same as this season: only watch games involving NZ sides, and possibly even go as far as restricting my viewing to NZ derbies.

Super Rugby is currently untertaking a big review, and hopefully they get it right for 2018 or 2020 whenever they next make change.

As for the Blues, they had a pretty decent rebuild season, and have made some good signings and re-signings for next year, I expect them do even better.

Yeah_Right

I agree that the standard in general is disappointing. The Aussies and Saffers have too many teams for the number of quality players they have. The Aussies and the Japs are taking kiwi rejects to bolster their squads. I have no issue with that but they need more locals of a higher standard.

Interesting what the Stormers said after the weekend. The fact that the Chiefs were the first kiwi side they played all season meant they weren't ready for that standard. WTF!! You're a professional rugby team and you were surprised how good another side in the playoffs were?!?

I'm with you Swiwi on watching the NZ sides. I'll watch the other games if I've got nothing better to do but the kiwi teams get the priority. Cheering for the Highlanders the next couple of weeks but wouldn't mind if the Canes got their first title. The best 4 teams definitely made the semis and it's great that they all play an exciting brand of rugby.

Digifriendly

No way that the best placed Australian side should have got a home draw in the QFs playing against a team that accumulated more points in the league table than them. The Sanzar need to change their format to make the competition fairer. BTW I tend to watch NZ sides too above either Aus/Sa teams.

sydthebeat

Digifriendly wrote: »

No way that the best placed Australian side should have got a home draw in the QFs playing against a team that accumulated more points in the league table than them. The Sanzar need to change their format to make the competition fairer. BTW I tend to watch NZ sides too above either Aus/Sa teams.

im sure it was as a result of the expansion to allow the extra 3 teams in.

NZ probably were happy to forego any more than 1 play off home advantage for the benefit of getting 3 wildcard positions into the OZ/NZ league.

I think the semi final has provided the 4 best teams anyway, so 'fairness' seems to have won out.