Super Rugby Round 14 – New Zealand Conference Overview

The 2015 Investec Super Rugby season continues with three games involving New Zealand sides (The Crusaders, Force and Stormers all observe a BYE round)

Building well into the final stages of Super Rugby, the stakes are getting high for teams outside the Top 6 – Waratahs, Lions, Crusaders [Bye] and The Rebels. All teams are within a fighting chance of, or are themselves able to influence their future standings. Matches that we have been eagerly awaiting included: Reds v Rebels, Waratahs v Sharks, Lions v Brumbies and Cheetahs play The Highlanders. Many games’ results will determine finals placings in a months time, and that excitement is one element that could well be missed in 2016.

For NZ sides, the talk this week was of The Crusaders and their form (and lack of key injuries before a flight to Sydney) of The Highlanders recalling a key player in John Hardie (and learning from past mistakes) of The Chiefs suffering two late withdrawls to their starting side up against The Hurricanes. But that NZ conference leading side were just as glad to have James Marshall fit for selection. They also had Julian Savea back to face Hosea Gear in a note worthy encounter and in being now 10 points ahead of their nearest rivals, all eyes were on this top of the table clash.

Attention on the field was intense, but for The Blues it was all too much ‘off field’ and focused on Sir John Kirwan’s role and involved administrators, appointments and that despised phrase “the process”. Last Word On Sports are glad a rugby result on-field has put that rightly on page two.

SUPER RUGBY ROUND 14 – NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

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Match : The Blues v The Bulls
Venue : Eden Park, Auckland
Score : 23-18

Besides the distraction, injuries have taken a decent toll on The Blues’s season. Jerome Kaino – finger; Charles Piutau – knee; Luke Braid – Concussion; Bryn Hall – ankle; Patrick Tuitupolu – knee; Daniel Bowden – ankle. And add to that their stumbling performances and a continual interruption to their gameplan, then its understandable that they find themselves in this predicament. So would The Bulls be able to take advantage?

To add to their difficulties, it rained. Now Eden Park is a vast expanse of a ground, so in these testing conditions only a sparse crowd came to show their support and those empty stadium seats were all too obvious. Just a handful of Bulls fans were on hand as the game should now better suit the visitors (we believed) They play better in these conditions and have superior discipline; no Yellow or Red cards for the entire season to date. They know that penalties determine matches like this, something the Blues side are not so well practiced at. A key element was, who could dominate the breakdown but importantly stay out of range of their in-form kickers for this match – Ihaia West and Handre Pollard respectively.

By kick-off, a steady drizzle had set in and handling would be tested but to each sides credit, they showed good control. The Bulls used their superior maul to drive into the bluezone, and with a try imminent we might have seen early weakness until a credible Blues defense put in place some terrific cover tackling to snuff out the threat, and they each drew strength from that effort. Walking away with 6 points, it was against the run of play when long-legged Lolagi Visinia recovered a poor clearance by Pollard and danced his way over to score a lovely solo try.

It did not hold out a pretty well drilled Bulls side though, so when they made good territory up field Pollard went to the line and offloaded for Jan Serfontein to score the first of his pair of tries. And again, fans felt like it might have been a fait accompli until this embattled side demonstrated some backbone that any leading sides would envy. By early in the second half, in fact hey began to win the contest on defense and attack, which was at the exact same moment when Keven Mealamu entered the fray and yet another injury hit the side.

Steven Luatua had been thrust into the leadership role, as well as the number eight position, so when he went down with an untimely shoulder injury [dislocation] we all took a collective breath – would this under-fire side be able to withstand the heat?  The answer was known when they turned around the advantage and ran towards The Bulls with vigor. Like an underdog, this home side turned the tide and even though Francis Sailai ‘bombed’ a clear try scoring opportunity, he did his best to repay when an angled run gave George Moala the quick chance to recycle ball and score from close range.

“Brilliant patience from The Blues at this point” television commentator Ian Smith mentioned “they’d had very few opportunities of prolonged attack in the opposition twenty-two” and quite literally that was true, only 28% in the opening 40 mins, so this try was worth the wait and took them a long way towards an intangible victory. Now leading 23-18, it took all their energies to hold the out of sorts Bulls out, who will wake kicking themselves for their failed chances. They now face tougher sides on this roadtrip, and will rue the upset loss to The Blues.

For the home side, it is not their salvation. Any finals chances are well gone, so maybe some self-pride will be recovered by the players left standing. All too many injuries have robbed this side of its pure class, but sides under pressure go one of two ways. Well motivated sides can often do great things, so in facing the table topping Hurricanes next Saturday, it might be the making of some players like Melani Nanai and Brendon O’Connor. Quite probably for Wellington fans, they hope it is the same stumbling Auckland team who meet them on Saturday night at Eden Park. It should be a very good crowd, but we will wait with eagerness to report on ‘who turns up’ on the field and not in the media headlines.

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Match : The Hurricanes v The Chiefs
Venue : Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Score : 22-18

In all honesty, some are calling this a leg one out of a possible three game series. That’s if you include the plausible Super Rugby grand final being held in NZ if these two fine teams might be involved in. This challenge has been created by a little ‘enterprising’ scheduling of matches, where you wouldn’t normally have teams play games home and away series within a month of each other. Rounds 14 and 18 will see each side host the other, not seen in a 15 team competition that I can recall [excluding Soccer-Football] but the competition on the field is worthy of a replay. I strongly advise you to find the full match replay, because a highlights package/article cannot measure this games intensity or significance.

Triumph came the way of The Hurricanes, through their temerity and appetite for winning. Now 11 out of 12 games, that success seems to have gelled the team and a stronger performance in beating a fighting Chiefs team will be all to pleasing for their fans this week. Since The Waratahs loss, they have been preparing for the inevitable – but it hasn’t come, and they are now riding a wave of success and tonight’s two 40 minute halves were another step towards a peak that could become their franchises pinnacle.

Only separated by 4 points by the end, this match had tries from each team at the opening and closing of the first half. The visitors held the lead at halftime but were soon under attack. Ardie Savea finished a clean rolling maul movement after 45 minutes that had no illusion of crossed channels, and they were leading by 15-13. The pressure told and as all too common The Chiefs were vigorously penalised, with Liam Squire sent to the bin for a questionable tip-tackle – it might be the worst season possible for this team, in terms of discipline and with that advantage Nonu scored on his 5oth game in partnership with skipper Conrad Smith. A nice pair of hands [compared to many years ago] they now played in a superior mode.

Back to their full compliment (apart from injuries to their pack, including a sickening knee injury to Michael Allardice from a poor clean-out tackle) it was critical that they matched this ‘Canes side and when All Black Sam Cane managed to force himself over the line, it was vintage ‘Mooloo’ play. The key conversion went astray and it appeared we would have a breathtaking final five minutes.

While repeated sets near the home sides tryline resulted in good positioning for the visitors, after a seriously messy ruck Augustine Pulu crossed for a try but was recalled for the most dubious of calls that any Chiefs fan can remember. The TMO’s conclusion of a knock-on whilst in the midst of a ruck was an obvious error which made Dave Rennie see red and his post match interview singled out that incident as being the winning and losing of this magnificent match.

As Chris Boyd was quoted on 3 Sports Sunday news bulletin “It’s impossible to referee rugby perfectly. Its not possible because there is the Law, and then there is the Interpretation of the law, and the impact that it has on the game” so he might have been fractionally more polite in his digestion of the most controversial last-second call in Super Rugby since Richie McCaw in Sydney, last August.

It was a first class encounter, with forwards and backs showing skills of the highest quality and no inch was given right up to the final scrum when The Hurricanes forced a depleted Chiefs scrum mistake right on fulltime. Injuries to key players Conrad Smith and Ben Franks might be a headache for the team to dwell on, but they are the form Super Rugby side and will now look to determine their pathway into the finals. All Blacks ‘rest & rotation’ might well see Smith sit on the pine against the hapless Blues [possibly] but by the finals rounds Beauden Barrett should be fit and they could well be at near full strength.

Ending the weekend now equal with The Highlanders (but with a better points differential) the losing side won’t necessarily be out of the competition. By no means, as The Chiefs are well known for picking themselves up and will likely have to do so again as they have some immediate injury issues, with locks Michael Fitzgerald and Allardice leaving the field, adding to their midfield injuries to Sonny Bill Williams and wing James Lowe.

The Chiefs like to rise above adversity, their character is undeniable but repeated setbacks like this do play on a teams composure. They lacked some of the steel once shown in Hamilton. ‘Under the pump’ its the percentages that count, as class cannot separate the will to win, but getting back-up from a loss so many times in 2015 means Rennie needs to work on the teams minds more than their bodies or skill-sets this week. Sitting delicately in 4th place, and believing that they can still look forward to a more victories in the short-term, for them The Bulls roar into Hamilton; who are hurting themselves, so its a ‘Gunfight at Waikato corral’ next Friday.

NOTE: Reg Goodes has been suspended for one week after his clean-out tackle on Michael Allardice was deemed excessive. The Hurricanes accepting the penalty, saying the player had no intention to injure the lock.

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Match : The Cheetahs v The Highlanders
Venue : Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
Score : 45-24

A match I got up to see at 5am live from South Africa that was an important match for both sides. The Cheetahs had won against The Stormers and they are deserving of respect. No longer the ‘bunnies’ or Wooden Spoon winners. In fact, some of their recent play is exciting for NZ rugby fans and the visitors would have to be weary of that sides ability.

Preparation is something this coaching group do well and this week the traveling Highlanders side needed to look at the sustainability of their attack and prolonged efforts in defense. That second matter had cost them dearly a week earlier, so for Super Rugby Round 13 this team would need to devise better strategies to repair ‘leaks’ in their game. No side can allow the opposition to know that they could score with ease, like The Lions did. After 60 minutes, they must stay alert and for this week there was an improvement, of sorts.

Going into this match, they made only two personnel changes saw John Hardie return in place of Elliot Dixon and a fresh Ryan Tongia coming in for a decidedly tired Waisake Naholo, who was off his game last week. They have a commendable record in Bloemfontein – 4 from 4 victories, their great early play showed that they had come with a mindset on scoring points and with Lima Sopoaga in the form of his career, he soon made a perfect cross-field kick for Tongia to score the first of his two debut tries.

Turning The Cheetahs offense into counter-attack, Tongia made a kick-chase look easy and it was point-a-minute when Aaron Smith finished off a sensational length of field try. Forwards playing like backs, it was great to watch and even when The Cheetahs returned the pressure, the Dunedin side were able to control the game and pushback all attempts on their line.

Playing in a free-flowing open style, by the end of the first half players were all keen to show this sides ability, Patrick Osbourne and Malakai Fekitoa both chasing a kick with the vigor of early season games. A bonus point gained before halftime, their stamina is at its peak and we hoped they could sustain this attacking style into the next 40 minutes.

With such a good lead, that question was answered quickly when they withstood some passionate Cheetahs play, the attacking enthusiasm saw Smith score a second try and dynamo loosie Gareth Evans again impressive with a good follow-up try. They seemed in control until a mixture of substitutions and heightened attack by the home team that shook open the defense. Several tries later, was it de ja vue  or could they plug the leaks?

At 24-38, they were running out of time and then Ben Smith did what he is so valued for. He calmly took the initiative, chipped for himself and scored to halt The Cheetahs progress. A true professional, his team mates take inspiration from his all round skills and his attitude is calming and assured. If they can retain the attacking focus, and settle their defensive errors when they change subs, they will be looking good strong going towards the final weeks.

The only hurdle now is the stop-off in Perth. A stumbling block for The Chiefs in 2014, the awaiting Force side will test the defense and they have a resolve that lasts for 80 minutes. You have to believe the advantage lays with the home side, but Jamie Joseph will surely keep his teams feet firmly planted on the ground. The 5th placed side still need to stay ahead of teams like The Waratahs and any stumble now will be pounced on. They must peak at the right time, and this next few weeks will show if they learnt from last season.

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