RugbyRebels

jared_7 wrote:

rowan wrote:Close but no cigar for the Reds in Samoa today, with Aussies still looking for their first win against the Kiwis after 21 Trans-Tasman encounters in this year's Super Rugby competition.

Tickets ranging from $20-$250. $60 just to stand on a bank.

In a country where the minimum wage is $1.70 an hour.

They couldn't even half fill a stadium that only fits 8,000 people.

Another piece of Blues genius, although it shows the issue of having games in the islands.

Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu puts in his two-cents worth:

Former Samoan international Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu has labelled the Blues "ignorant and "arrogant" following their historic clash against the Reds in Apia.

The reality of the first Super Rugby to ever be held in Samoa fell flat on expectation with estimates suggesting the 8000-capacity stadium was well less than half full.

Opinion: Super Rugby's 'historic' night in Samoa was a giant ripoff
As it happened: Blues vs Reds
A second tier ticket to the match cost $150, the equivalent to a ticket to watch Manu Samoa take on the All Blacks in Auckland on June 16.

While the ticket prices have been criticised, Fuimaono-Sapolu said it was the Blues' half-baked approach to the match that led to the poor turnout.

"The Blues just showed up the day before which was seen as really insincere," Fuimaono-Sapolu told Andrew Gourdie and Jim Kayes on Sunday Sport on RadioLIVE.
Tana Umaga
Tana Umaga giving a team talk before kick-off (Getty)
"This occasion obviously wasn't to try and spread the game of Super Rugby and to go in and expand global rugby, it was obviously just here to make money and I think people saw that."

Last week, Blues chief Michael Redman told Jim Kayes the match "cost well north of half a million" to host in Samoa.

Cancelling their weekly media obligations owing to the Lions' arrival, Fuimaono-Sapolu said the Blues' work on the ground in Samoa also left a lot to be desired - particularly when compared with the Reds who arrived in the country a full five days before the game.

"They probably could have sold a lot more tickets had they done a bit of work like the Reds did," he said. "The Reds had an open training session, they also held a clinic and they also went and visited our only safe house for women and children, victims of sexual abuse and violent abuse.

"They went and did a lot around Samoa and were seen a lot in the community which is why most people wanted the Reds to win."

Buses not running and the match coinciding with a public holiday were also factors in the small crowd, Fuimaono-Sapolu added.
Failure to do basic Samoa research doomed historic Blues' Super Rugby clash: Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu
Above all, it were these fundamentals and not the cost of the tickets that doomed the match.

"They obviously had not done any research at all and just thought that 'Samoans love rugby and they'll accept any rubbish that we give them'. They gave us this completely ignorant, arrogant game without doing any research to what works and the market here.

"The thing is, we have that money, we paid more to watch the All Blacks, but you're not the All Blacks and you haven't done anything. The whole 'not even coming to Samoa to spend some money in our economy' thing - who are you, who do you think you are?

"It is really really arrogant and that came across."

The Blues declined the opportunity to respond to Fuimaono-Sapolu's comments.

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/201 ... apolu.html

More from the Observer: http://www.sobserver.ws/en/05_06_2017/e ... a-Park.htm

Lizard wrote:The Hurricanes were superb. The Lions will be pleased that they have them during the test series so they will be without their All Blacks. Jordie Barrett looks as much a freak as his older brother (who, by the way, needs to up his goal kicking game considerably).

Ngani Laumape looks interesting, too.

Yep, picked it back in March. Might as well give me a selector's badge now.

Suspected it all season; the Canes are not championship-winning material this year; not quite, anyway. Critical period of play was the Chiefs taking the lead straight after conceding a yellow card. Canes should have nailed it there but let it slip from their grasp instead.

Who do you think's going to have the last laugh here??

Two South African sides could be playing in the Guinness PRO12 as early as September, it has emerged.

The Cheetahs and Southern Kings are expected to be cut from the southern hemisphere’s Super Rugby competition next month.

And they are set to be handed a lifeline by PRO12 chiefs who have made no secret of their desire to expand their horizons.

With the carrot of increased broadcasting revenue, the PRO12 has already courted potential markets in North America and now the South African link-up appears to be looking more and more a reality - as early as the coming 2017-18 season, according to the BBC.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugb ... t-13261425

Kings' impressive form continues, and rumors are they may even escape the axe at the end of the season, though to be honest I'm not sure who else can go, aside from the Cheetahs. The other four teams - Stormers, Bulls, Lions & Sharks - represent the four pillars of South African provincial rugby. As mentioned before, I wonder at times whether SANZAAR wasn't just a little too hasty with its decision to cull 3 teams. Given time, it might have come together. Meanwhile, the Jags haven't shown any improvement on last season, regrettably, but that haven't exactly been a failure either and will do well to hang on to a mid-table standing.

Lions beat Sunpoodles 94-7 today, while Stormers pipped the Cheetahs 40-34:

Wow, Jags with a 3-25 lead on the Tahs in Sydney late in the first half!!

Terrible end to the half for the South Americans, however, conceding a converted try and losing two players to the bin! They'll need to sort themselves out in the break if they want to hang onto this lead.

10-25 HT

NSW right back in it now. 17-25 early second half.

24-25 half an hour to play . . .

Update: Wow, Jags with their first points of the half but NSW stay in touch with a penalty. 27-32 3/4 mark. It's anyone's game...

Jaguares finishing as they began. 27 - 40 with 15 mins to go! This could just about be the biggest surprise of the entire season, if they hang on. I know the Tahs are below them, but the South Americans have just lost a string of relatively easy games at home and I wasn't expecting them to pick up a win on the road today...

Tahs attacking in the last couple of minutes but time's running out for them and the visitors defense is sound. All but over now...

Jags win on the road! Much needed after their recent slump!

NSW 27 Jaguares 40

Kings sensational season continues, as well, as a last minute penalty gives them a 30-31 win over the Bulls in Pretoria - just minutes after the home-team appeared to have clinched a miraculous comeback win with a late converted try!!

Stormers predictably thump Sunpoodles 52-15

Final round & standings: Saders @ Canes is going to be huge

Date Teams Venue Kickoff time (AEDT/AEST)
Friday 14 July Highlanders v Reds Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin 17:35
Friday 14 July Rebels v Jaguares AAMI Park, Melbourne 19:45
Friday 14 July Kings v Cheetahs Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth 3:00
Saturday 15 July Sunwolves v Blues Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium, Tokyo 13:05
Saturday 15 July Chiefs v Brumbies FMG Stadium, Hamilton 15:15
Saturday 15 July Hurricanes v Crusaders Westpac Stadium, Wellington 17:35
Saturday 15 July Force v Waratahs nib Stadium, Perth 21:55
Sunday 16 July Sharks v Lions Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban 1:15
Sunday 16 July Bulls v Stormers Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 3:30

Crusaders (NZC1) 1 14 14 0 0 522 272 250 7 0 7 63
Lions (AF2) 2 14 13 1 0 563 258 305 9 0 9 61
Stormers (AF1) 3 14 9 5 0 449 403 46 3 0 3 39
Brumbies (AC1) 4 14 6 8 0 305 251 54 3 7 10 34
Hurricanes (WC) 5 14 11 3 0 565 250 315 9 1 10 54
Chiefs (WC) 6 14 11 2 1 405 282 123 6 1 7 53
Highlanders (WC) 7 14 10 4 0 448 291 157 4 2 6 46
Sharks (WC) 8 14 9 4 1 382 296 86 1 3 4 42
Blues 9 14 7 6 1 404 343 61 4 3 7 37
Jaguares 10 14 6 8 0 372 357 15 1 4 5 29
Southern Kings 11 14 6 8 0 371 449 -78 1 2 3 27
Force 12 14 5 9 0 273 393 -120 0 1 1 21
Reds 13 14 4 10 0 304 439 -135 1 4 5 21
Waratahs 14 14 4 10 0 385 482 -97 1 2 3 19
Bulls 15 14 4 10 0 306 418 -112 0 4 4 20
Cheetahs 16 14 3 11 0 374 531 -157 1 4 5 17
Rebels 17 14 1 12 1 207 537 -330 0 2 2 8
Sunwolves 18 14 1 12 0 267 650 -383 0 3 3 7
The Four Conference leaders occupy positions 1 to 4. The Wildcard (next best) teams occupy positions 5 to 8.

Read more: http://www.superxv.com/table/#ixzz4mQevmRTT

So a Canes win could effectively gift the Lions a home-final. Wouldn't that be ironic in light of last year's events at the business end of the competition?! But the Canes themselves cannot supplant the Saders at the top of the ladder, while a loss will only effect who their opponent is in the playoffs, if I'm not mistaken. Therefore Canterbury have a lot more to play for in Wellington. It also looks like the playoff contenders are already confirmed. Is that correct? Crusaders down to Sharks should all go through and are just jostling for positions now, while from the Blues on downward the season is effectively over, notwithstanding this weekend's final round of games.

Through
Crusaders (NZC1) 1 14 14 0 0 522 272 250 7 0 7 63
Lions (AF2) 2 14 13 1 0 563 258 305 9 0 9 61
Stormers (AF1) 3 14 9 5 0 449 403 46 3 0 3 39
Brumbies (AC1) 4 14 6 8 0 305 251 54 3 7 10 34
Hurricanes (WC) 5 14 11 3 0 565 250 315 9 1 10 54
Chiefs (WC) 6 14 11 2 1 405 282 123 6 1 7 53
Highlanders (WC) 7 14 10 4 0 448 291 157 4 2 6 46
Sharks (WC) 8 14 9 4 1 382 296 86 1 3 4 42

Out
Blues 9 14 7 6 1 404 343 61 4 3 7 37
Jaguares 10 14 6 8 0 372 357 15 1 4 5 29
Southern Kings 11 14 6 8 0 371 449 -78 1 2 3 27
Force 12 14 5 9 0 273 393 -120 0 1 1 21
Reds 13 14 4 10 0 304 439 -135 1 4 5 21
Waratahs 14 14 4 10 0 385 482 -97 1 2 3 19
Bulls 15 14 4 10 0 306 418 -112 0 4 4 20
Cheetahs 16 14 3 11 0 374 531 -157 1 4 5 17
Rebels 17 14 1 12 1 207 537 -330 0 2 2 8
Sunwolves 18 14 1 12 0 267 650 -383 0 3 3 7

Anyway, I think we'll see the Saders, Chiefs, Lions & Stormers win this weekend, which would lead to the following playoffs:

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

What's interesting there is that the Chiefs reward, should they beat the Brumbies at home, would be a re-match in Canberra, despite the Brumbies' inferior record this year!! But overall I don't think this weekend is going to make much difference to the quarter-finals line-up. The 4 conference winners and remaining 4 quarter-finalists are already confirmed, as far as I can tell. But the final round could have a major impact on the semis and final permutations and who gets to play at home. Anyway, I'm fully expecting to see the Lions & 3 Kiwi teams in the semis, culminating in an 8th title for the Saders (probably over the Lions in the final). It could conceivably be 4 Kiwi teams in the semis, however, and what a bizarre scenario that would be

This weekend will also mark the last time we see the Force, Cheetahs and Kings involved in Super Rugby. Seems to me like they chose the wrong teams there.& I used to resent the latter's involvement as much as I continue to resent the Sunwolves,' but after this season I've changed my mind. Who knows what the Port Elizabeth-based franchise might have achieved had it been given more time? Obviously the Force & Cheetahs weren't going anywhere, but they held their own, and in the former case took professional rugby right across to Australia's West Coast where there is a fairly large and well-established local club rugby scene. Sad day for Super Rugby, IMHO.

Otago appear to be fulfilling the first stage of the prophecy as they rout the Reds in Dunedin to secure 7th spot, and a probable quarter-finals date with the Lions in J'burg. If I'm not mistaken, there hasn't been a solitary Australian victory over a Kiwi team this year, and it's odds on now that we won't see one in 2017. 33-10 headed into the final quarter...

Update: FT 40-17 and how's this for a bombed try - https://www.foxsports.com.au/video/rugb ... iwi!633098

The sooner they get rid of this stupid SR break, the better. I just struggle to give a damn. Doubly so after the fantastic Lions tour.

Yeh, they need to sort that out. Though for me it was more a case of the Super Rugby competition being so rudely interrupted by the Lions tour...

So the Jags end the season with their 7th win from 15 games to finish mid-table and just out of the play-offs frame. That's a significant improvement on their debut season, which is encouraging, if perhaps not quite as much as some of us expected from a squad largely resembling the national team. I think a new coach might be in order, to be honest. As for the Rebels, they are consigned to a bottom two finish now, which is a step backward for the Melbourne-based outfit, and the fact they now appear likely to continue in Super Rugby at the expense of the Force due to legal complications is yet further evidence of how badly SANZAAR has mismanaged this entire situation.

Cheetahs with the early 0-3 lead @ the Kings.

Update: HT 12-3. The Kings might just about have been the fairy-tale team of the tournament this year, were they not facing the axe.

Update: FT 20-21. Cheetahs snatch it as the Kings blow a late opportunity with a poor lineout throw.

So that's farewell to these two sides...

Action earlier today: