Super Rugby

[rowan]

Surprising win for the Sunwolves over the Blues, moves them off the bottom of the table, and means they finish with a 2-13 record for the second year in a row. It also means the Rebels finish last, so might that sway the final decision on who to remove from the competition next year, even though there are already strong indications it will be the Force? Anyway, good result for a championship which has been all but devoid of upsets in 2017. Right now the Chiefs are leading ACT 21-10 in Hamilton, as the Aussies still look for a first win over the Kiwis this year. By my calculations this result will lead to a remath between the same two sides in the quarterfinals in Canberra next week.

[rowan]

FT Chiefs 28 Brumbies 10.

So zero wins for Aussie teams against Kiwi opposition in the regular season this year.

[rowan]

Underway in Wellington. Possibly the most crucial game of the round, as it may well determine who finishes top of the ladder - Canterbury or the Lions. For the Canes it doesn't mean quite so much, only the difference between visiting the Brumbies if they win, or the Stormers if they lose, by my calculations. That's why I'm tipping the Saders, and already they have a 0-7 lead.

Update: 0-12 Canterbury, fighting for that top-of-the-table finish.
Update: HT 7-12. Jordie gets one back for the Canes.
Update: 21-22 Canterbury. We have a game on our hands heading into the final 1/4!
Update: 28-22 Canes hit the lead. There will be some happy Lions fans right now, I suspect...

[canta_brian]

Watched this on a phone. Can someone who saw it on a bigger screen tell me if the saders really hung on in the tackle every time they made a line break? Also did the saders really not release the tackled player every time the canes made a line break?

[rowan]

Think I'll just stick to predicting tier 3 games in future. Those seem to be the only ones I get right! Anyway, forgot everything I wrote in my lass few posts because the Canes win today changes everything. Lions set for home advantage in the final now, and on the basis of today's results it might just be a repeat of last year's final. Anyway, Canes will now visit ACT in the Qfinals while the Chiefs will travel to Cape Town, if my calculations are correct. Lions should be at home to Otago, leaving the Sharks to play in Christchurch.

Wow, great win for the Force too. Surely they'll have to axe the Rebels...

[rowan]

Lions leading the Sharks early in Durban, 3-5, in a match which has added importance after the demise of the Saders earlier today. A Transvaal team playing at home throughout the play-offs might just be able to break the Kiwi stranglehold on this tournmanent, but if they blow it here, it'll be the second year they've done so at the final hurdle, and I'd imagine the outcome of the final would be the same. For the Sharks I don't think this match can effect their 8th place standing, can it? That appeared to be confirmed by results earlier in the day. They'll probably have to return to play the Lions in J'burg now...

Update: 10-13 Lions at the break. Down to the last half of the regular season, and top spot still in the balance...

Update: Lions up 10-24 with about 15 to play. This should earn them top spot and home advantage through the playoffs.

In fact, I'm officially making the Lions my second team from the point on, as the Jaguares are out. If the Canes can't win it, I hope the lads from J'burg do. It would be good for the competition for a non-Kiwi side to take it out, to be honest. But I still have to back my home-town first.

The Lions have never won the title, of course, and represent one of the largest urban centers involved. It's also quite a common phenomenon in tight competitions like this for a beaten finalist to bounce back and win the trophy the following year.

[rowan]

10-27 Lions win it.

So, looks like a rematch in the quarters, by my calculations:

Lions v Sharks
Saders v Otago
ACT v Canes
Stormers v Chiefs.

Am I right??

[rowan]

Indeed, it's just come up on the official Super Rugby site:

2017 Super Rugby Quarter-Final Line ups
Super Rugby Quarter-Final 1 : Lions v Sharks
Date : TBC : Friday 21 July/ Saturday 22 July
Venue : Johannesburg
Kick Off local: TBC
Super Rugby Quarter-Final 2 : Crusaders v Highlanders
Date : TBC : Friday 21 July/ Saturday 22 July
Venue : Christchurch
Kick Off local: TBC
Super Rugby Quarter-Final 3 :Stormers v Chiefs
Date : TBC : Friday 21 July/ Saturday 22 July
Venue : Cape Town
Kick Off local: TBC
Super Rugby Quarter-Final 4 : Brumbies v Hurricanes
Date : TBC : Friday 21 July/ Saturday 22 July
Venue : Canberra
Kick Off local: TBC


Read more: http://www.superxv.com/2017-super-rugby ... z4mvBcggVC

[rowan]

1st semi looks certain to be the Lions at home to the Canes. 2nd is not so easy to pick, but good chance it'll be Saders at home to the Chiefs.

[rowan]

Final standings, btw:

[rowan]

& the Lions clinched top spot without facing a single Kiwi side !!

[morepork]

Lions are set up for at least a semi. I hope the Chiefs do the damage. I hope the NZ franchises collect bitch tax off the rest.

Apart from the Bloos, of course.

[canta_brian]

Anyone know which quarters go to which Semi's? Assuming they and the stormers win,the lions could face their first nz team in the final?

This competition is fubar.

[rowan]

No, it's a simple 1 v 4, 2 v 3 regardless of winner, meaning the Lions v Sharks winner meets the ACT v Canes winner in the first semi. So I'd say that's where they'll meet the first Kiwi team.

[rowan]

Hopefully augurs well for the weekend:

[zer0]

Should do. I mean the Hurricanes have scored 48 more tries than the Brumbies over the regular season FFS.

[rowan]

Against any other team I'd like to see the Aussies succeed, just not against the Canes!

[rowan]

Support for a Pacific Islands Super Rugby franchise seems to be gaining momentum. This from the Observer:

Samoa pushes for Super rugby inclusion during P.M’s New Zealand visit

Cabinet has approved the report on the Prime Minister’s trip to New Zealand on 16 June 2017. The trip included meetings with the Rugby New Zealand; the Manukau Institute of Technology and the launching of the Manu Samoa Old Boys Association.

The meeting with the New Zealand Rugby Union was attended by New Zealand’s Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Cherry Brownlie and former Minister Murray Mcully.

Representatives of the organisation for the South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby unions (SANZAR) were also present as well as representatives of the Fijian and Tongan Rugby Unions.

The meeting focused on the inclusion of a combined Pacific Team in the Super Rugby tournament.

The meeting by the Prime Minister and the Manukau Institute of Technology focused on reviewing and initiating networks with the Government of Samoa through education.

The Prime Minister also launched the Manu Samoa Old Boys Association (M.S.O.B.A). Members of this association will assist with the selection of rugby players for the Manu Samoa. The Prime Minister also challenged the M.S.O.B.A to network with former All Blacks who are Samoans to reaffirm opportunities for Samoan players in the team.



http://sobserver.ws/en/21_07_2017/local ... ABINET.htm

[rowan]

Yet another reason the Sunwolves' inclusion is absurd:

The on-field temperature in Tokyo reportedly topped 44C.

The heat is going on Sanzaar to heed the lessons from the Blues' regular season finale played in Tokyo in temperatures that nudged over the 40 degrees Celsius mark.

Tana Umaga's Blues suffered a meltdown in Tokyo last Saturday when they all but evaporated in the soaring summer temperatures in Tokyo, seeing a 21-7 lead turn into a horror 48-21 defeat at the hands of the Sunwolves who scored the last 41 points of the match.

The Blues were not keen to use the heat as an excuse after the match against the South African Super Rugby conference cellar-dwellers and refused to discuss the issue on their arrival back in New Zealand.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/supe ... um=twitter

[rowan]

Saders with the 17-0 win. It's all going to script so far, and that's actually been one of the major problems with Super Rugby this year - mind-numbing predictability.

[rowan]

Well, it wasn't an upset but it was certainly a thriller as the Lions needed a late penalty to edge the Sharks 23-21 and set up a re-match of last year's final. Frankly, I think the Canes will take these guys, even in J'burg, to set up a final with the Saders.

[morepork]

Stormers and Chiefs giving a lesson in hospital passing at the moment. Very loose.

[morepork]

Chiefs passing is shocking.

[rowan]

Are the Saders at home if it's them and the Canes in the final? It's always the higher-ranked team from the regular season, right?

[morepork]

Chch regardless of who.