The 2015 Investec Super Rugby season continued with three games involving New Zealand sides. (The Highlanders, The Force and Waratahs each observed a BYE round)
SUPER RUGBY ROUND 8 – NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
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Match : The Hurricanes v The Stormers
Venue : Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington
Score : 25-20
This home game had two distinct factors added to it. Firstly, being halfway through the season The Hurricanes find themselves in the fortunate position of being unbeaten in Super Rugby. Strange ground (in recent times anyway) for this side, it was nearing their best ever sequence of winning matches and placed them at the forefront of the nations sports pages after Round 7; now that the Cricket World Cup had ended. Would this esteemed position wilt their performance? Could they continue to play enterprising rugby and would they carry on their ‘winning streak’ and retain this momentum that has thrust them into realms seldom seen in Wellington rugby? The answer was Yes, with a strong first half and a hard fought second where the visitors very nearly ‘spoiled the party’.
Secondly, this match celebrated a record 150th Super Rugby match for Hurricane Ma’a Nonu. An enigmatic figure in Hurricane history, he then moved up to Auckland then Dunedin, and back to Auckland for a season before returning for 2015. He resolved to rebuild his relationship with players and fans, and 150 games has a limited number of peers for him: Corey Flynn, Nathan Sharp and Keven Mealamu only. Over this season many commented that Nonu was nearing his best years, and that fact had truly shown in his mature play in rounds proceeding this match. His tackling is now almost always regulation (a change from years past) he is now more disciplined, self-assured and commands respect from players, referees and not least, most Super Rugby fans. That honour was deserved credit for his career indeed, and he proudly lead players onto the field of battle in front of a healthy festive crowd.
Being played on Good Friday, the crowd had come to be entertained by these two sides. The ‘Canes had Beauden Barrett, Julian Savea and Ben Franks back in their starting 15 which would ensure the entertainment, while Stormers captain Duane Vermeulen was also returning from rest and rotation; a similar policy being used by NZ and South African unions. Both sides came to play and it had all the elements for being an example of fine open rugby but as normal, scrums were a pitched-battle with no quarter given. Stormers player Siya Kolisi taken off early for a concussion test, replaced by Michael Rhodes and the ball was retained wisely by the home side to prevent set moves and lineouts. Possession is pivotal and keeping the ball in play is crucial when you are faced with a team that can upset your jumpers, as The Stormers can. That factor will be examined in post-game analysis I’m sure [Hurricanes losing 3 lineout throws] especially as the visitors gained their second wind late in the match playing to their strengths.
Shared penalties after 15 minutes had paused the excitement levels inside the Caketin, intrusions into Stormers territory thwarted by good defense and pessimistic offside play – that indiscretion lead to Barrett’s 2nd penalty. With Kolisi returned, the scrums were heated and Motu Matu’u has stepped up well to replace Dane Coles, out for a month with a troubling elbow ligament injury, so it was good to see his progress. If the game continued at this pace, The Stormers set piece would have devalued The Hurricanes strengths, but this winning side received a fortunate call when Conrad Smith grasped at an intercept [knock-down probably] and the resulting kick down field lead-up to another magical ‘Canes try. Such fortuitous calls change matches; at 13-3 the home team decided to roll the dice and play their natural game, it worked to regain their lost advantage from first quarter.
Nehe Miner-Skudder is impressive: with 6 defenders in total beaten and 109 metres gained over the match, such terrific stats for an individual would be note worthy, especially one in their debut Super Rugby season. Tonight’s first try-scorer from a tidy cross-field kick, it was Milner-Skudder who again featured minutes later when he evaded some ineffectual Stormers tackles to put Savea in at the corner for his 5th try of the season. Savea is now leading all try scorers at this point and is in fine form. The backline as a whole are one of the more lethal attacking teams this season. Confidence began to show in the home side with turnover ball on their own 22 that saw a series off fantastic offloads leading to a fast improving Brad Shields setting up Barrett for the try of the season [quite possibly] but it sent The Stormers into the sheds with heads hung low and had the crowd dancing in the aisles. World Cup, what World Cup when you can see quality trys like that.
You might think that the run-of-play would have continued after the whistle re-start, but importantly The Stormers went ‘back to basics’. They had the more dominant scrum and by using the big men effectively in the second half, employing a short passing game that starved the Hurricanes of any turn-over opportunities, this side showed that they had learnt from the previous weeks loss to The Highlanders. They soon made retention of the ball key to the next 40 minutes. One poor movement from The Hurricanes close to their own line was an early chink, clearly infringing badly from a scrum and suffering the wrath of the referee’s call in awarding yet another penalty-try after 9 minutes of play (How many is that now in Super Rugby 2015?) That factor might be an example for others to follow against the ‘Canes play; squeezing the width that they enjoy, a stronger Stormers side now pushed hard against the pace of the game and methodically aimed at regaining lost ground within their high territorial control.
With good leadership from Vermeulen, Schalk Burger and lock Manuel Carizza, it gave the visitors an extra edge and pleasingly they scored a well manufactured try after a long series of phase play. A scarcity from this normally forward-driven side, it built-up the stress levels in ‘Canes players minds, and when games are this tight the flow of the game can be the difference. Ideally, The Hurricanes wanted to ‘play out time’ and use their experience, so while a penalty in the 75th minute was the final scoring-play of the game, in the end it was managed by a competent 2015 Hurricanes team. A very near victory for the visitors though, and poured cold water on the celebrations for Nonu and his team mates. They looked alarmed at times, not as composed as in weeks earlier and while substitutions can be effective, some were counter-productive. Chris Boyd will need to re-examine the impact those players had and if Aaron Smith can play 80 minutes for the All Blacks, can’t Perenara be backed for the whole match too? Boyd will look closely at his sides kicking game, as they need to better implement a strategy of keeping the ball in play for the whole match (if possible of course) The played to the strengths of others, allowing dangerous set moves that made the game a tightly won match. They will learn a lot from those situations you’d feel.
Unbeaten still, The Hurricanes coach was quoted in the NZ Herald as saying “There’s not many teams around that have the physicality and the direct running of their pack,” Boyd said. “They were pretty brutal in the second half and did it really well.” He would be concerned by some aspects of the game, and overall The Stormers played their game far too late – if they had brought that same intensity 20 minutes earlier, then fans in Cape Town would still be partying now. For them, three matches in NZ have resulted in 11 tries against, no victories on the board and a solitary bonus point. Their defense will need to be corrected to allow any chance of gaining on their forwards fine efforts. Backline invention is lacking for the team from the Cape and if the team had raised their continuity, strung more moves together for a longer period, then it might have been a different story. But they did chance their arm and full credit to this 2015 side for their effort but the points go to a fantastic Hurricanes franchise, who are no longer the ‘bunnys’ of Super Rugby.
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Match : The Chiefs V The Blues
Venue : Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Score : 23-16
Another match with more back-story than simply just another game in Super Rugby Round 8. It was the “battle of the Bombays” (the divide between Auckland and Waikato) of ‘bigger brother’ playing the smaller one [Waikato in that geographical context] and for some, it would again define a coaches and a franchises ability to recover their season. On the result alone, it was definitely a Battle. It was pulsating rugby that was concluded finally with a winning try between the posts. Not quite storybook, but they’ll be happy in the ‘Tron.
Overall, neither side got a clear advantage over the other, with no more than 10 points separating them at any one time. It was in fact quite even at times. A good example of the defensive type game we see on occasion today, there were no runaway tries to flying wingers here, no long fluid movements like the Hurricanes had produced. Probably not the game for the replay package on an Easter Sunday evening sports roundup, it was a grinding match with no quarter given and a salute to defense and good organisation.
Before the game had kicked-off, fans had to face bad news on two fronts – Sonny Bill Williams was a late withdrawal from the run-on squad – replaced by Anton Lienert Brown. That, along with the injured Nanai-Williams and Charlie Ngatai would upset most fans, as much as the Chiefs development squad being soundly by their Blues neighbours in the curtain raiser. That is an indication that the Auckland based franchise does hold some potential, no doubt about that. It is just converting this potential into points on the board for the premier side that matters most to their earnest supporters. They entered the match with a lot of words and messages from coaching staffs and administration. Maybe that is all a big distraction, but they would need to concentrate firstly on the 15 men that Dave Rennie had put in front of them. A two-time Super Rugby Championship team, their superior winning record of 8 successive victories over ‘big brother’ should have been motivation enough.
The first half was another stuttering effort, with few highlights in the opening quarter. Evenly matched, mistakes by both and stop-start passages leading players around but not being well directed. Dan Bowden was given another chance to start at pivot but he would have a new midfield combination outside him consisting of Pita Ahki inserted at 13, George Moala shifting into second-five. It likely negated any continuity, but when has that been a problem for The Blues. They played nervously with little penetration, had less invention and while you can have all the drills in the coaches playbook, you need to make consistent decisions to have any impact. The plan might have been to face-up to The Chiefs, but that unit is strictly trained and each forward knows his role. None better than Brodie Retallick who had returned from injury and looks as comfortable as ever burrowing into rucks with a determination not seen in many. That was the difference for the first 25 minutes until a single mistake from The Blues involving their lineout cost them on their own line.
The result, an overlap try for in-form James Lowe and a smarter use of ball. They defended pretty well, but their lack of direction will be a concern for John Kirwan as this tactic of his lineout not engaging goes against the basics of rugby. If you try a ploy like that near your own goal line, it means your not valuing your own line. Use that move outside your 22, not that close to it. Decisions like that will cost them time-and-time again until they get things right at Blues HQ. Even on the previous week, The Chiefs themselves had ‘interpretation issues’. By the end of this torrid half, Blues players needed to show fans who had traveled down that really too care. This first half would not have been enjoyable to watch at pubs throughout Auckland.
Being down 10-3 was not a fair reflection on the dominance The Chiefs held, and maybe that was sensed in the coaches box as early substitutes were injected within 5 minutes of restart. What was pleasing for fans was the almost instant reward. All Black Patrick Tuipulotu brought some aggression that matched Retallick’s efforts. With him involved the set piece improved, heads came up and more players called for the ball. A scrum drive close to the line saw captain Jerome Kaino in unstoppable form and his team grew a foot or two. This improved effort brought many to their feet, as it meant we would have an enthralling match for the next 30 minutes. And that was good for the home side too, as they didn’t half look interested at times. Cruden had missed some easy kicks as is too usual, so viewers north of Pokeno were now sitting up and believing more. Could this encourage a ‘fight back’?
With changes made to both sides, the emphasis was on capitilizing any half-chances and that was exemplified by Michael Leitch’s work on and off the ball. He ‘busted them open’ to run a good 40 metres that eventually set-up Tom Marshalls remarkable try. Terrific use of the ball was how they would succeed, continuity at its best and a nice example of why this team are still due a place at the big boys table. It would have inspired the young backline and from then, it all but ended The Blues chances. Their ability to gather points is now questionable. Ihaia West coming on did little to improve their option taking. Building attacks is a key ingredient to converting chances, but their impatience almost always blew their opportunities. Charles Piutau was enterprising but they could not channel their combined efforts towards him or Frank Halai not nearly enough. To compound that, and thankfully for home fans Cruden landed a final penalty to make it 23-13 [5 from 7 attempts = 70% kicking] which put them out by ten points. For the visitors, with less chance of scoring a try, it rung true that their final option in the dying minutes was to take the 3 points on offer from a penalty. Collecting yet another losing bonus point – possibly little emotional reward after 7 losses in a row.
They competed, they were tireless, they may be a commendable side but were in the end less likely to score and would have felt deflated. All their side issues are foremost in their mind. They need to forget all of that, put all their cards on the table early for their [very first] Eden Park home match next week, up against a strong Brumbies side.
The Chiefs have class and have a better conversion rate. Overcoming big brother is now a habit for them (as winning is) They hit their marks; not perfect by any means, but they took the lead confidently and never looked like being overtaken. For this side, the Bye will bring other sides closer to them on the points table, so its a long run until June. They’ll need to pull up their sleeves and put in the hard yards. You would believe that they will look forward to that labour as it is a regular part of their game. Scoring bonus point try’s, now that is another matter. We suggest they practice that over the next fortnight Mr Rennie, and please get the place kicking up to a higher standard Aaron.
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Match : The Sharks v The Crusaders
Venue : Cell C Kings Park, Durban
Score : 10-52
With one of the strongest winning records away from home, for any conference, The Crusaders seem to carry a cloak of experience that they throw on in times when they require results. Of course they are as vulnerable away as any, with a poorer record in Australia being true but they enjoy the grounds in the republic. They mirror the Canterbury plains, hard and fast, so the cloak was readied as the challenge this week was a monumental one. For most visitors, it is a struggle to win at their home ground the “Shark Tank”. Sure it has a chilling ring to it, and can be deafening when the crowd gets in behind their heroes, but one team have done it before. More often than others its The Crusaders who stand-up to the challenge, and the home team weren’t at 100% strength either.
Without Bizmark du Plessis and Frans Steyn due to disciplinary actions, they would need Patrick Lambie and Odwa Ngundane to perform at their peak. Discipline should have been at the forefront on every players minds, yet it was another indiscretion that will be remembered by many, as well as the special white strip they ran out in. Foreign colours for home fans, it seemed The Crusaders were permitted to wear their cloak and it seemed to be a good omen.
Dan Carter had been summonsed home on Paternity duty, so in place Colin Slade limbered up at first-five. No major change to their kicking game, Slade can aim for position as well as DC can but he would utilize his own vision of how the midfield would be employed. Ryan Crotty and Kieron Fonotia complimented a powerful backline and the visitors had a right-wing attack who is their “go-to-guy”. A bonus point win was their objective, and passing to Nemani Nandolo is the preferred method of attack and as fortune goes, they found methods quickly in achieving that goal.
Two opening tries took no more than 5 minutes to be instrumented. A possible bonus point was within grasp before some Sharks fans had collected their beer cups. Andy Ellis and Israel Dagg scored so quickly the crowd was startled into silence. Catching The Sharks napping you might say, if this was the strategy it had worked to perfection. 0-14 was challenged only with a solitary penalty score for Lambie by the 20 minute mark, as the stunned Sharks had trouble composing themselves. Of course we’ve seen the All Blacks come back from such positions, but it takes a special team to achieve this in Super Rugby competition. They would have needed to calm the game, steady their approach and go about regaining parity but The Crusaders had there own goals.
Namely 2 more tries, and they worked hard to counter whatever The Sharks could muster. They fed off their mistakes too, as Sharks fullback SP Marais fumbled a ball, Fonotia responded nearly instantly with the 3rd try. Set-up by a wonderful, flat pass from Slade, it was hectic stuff. Yes there was still structure to the game [at this point] until yet again, The Crusaders crossed their opponents line when Crotty benefited from an error ridden Sharks move. Sensationally it was 3-28 and it might have seemed insurmountable to most. It might have lead to open frustration from the home side, but what followed was indiscipline that will be closely examined back in Christchurch.
Prop Nepo Laulala and Fonotia were both shown yellow cards for shoulder charges very soon after each other, this penalty being a new trend in modern rugby not seen in years past. It must be to protect the opponents head, but it might be a little too encompassing for a ‘contact sport’. Down to just 13 players on the park, they were lucky to be facing such a disjointed Sharks outfit and not The Hurricanes or champion Waratahs unit. Less chance today that the home side could maximize their advantage, incredibly the next player to be carded was Nadolo for unsporting play. He kicked the ball downfield as a penalty was awarded and some might wonder if referee Stuart Berry could have been a little severe on Crusaders infractions [being 2 men down already, what was the point?]
Referees stamping their authority is not new, but it was clearly obvious what he should do when Sharks captain Jean Deysel created a heated confrontation after a ruck. Closer examination showed a malice-filled knee to flanker Matt Todd’s head just before the break, his punishment was a straight red card and would only add to coach Gary Gold’s complaints. The half thankfully ended soon after, time for both sides to collect their thoughts and The Sharks to consider their reaction to this onslaught. Now with 14 men for the remainder of the clash, decisions needed to be made and made quick.
Teams would normally begin to play tighter in those situations, with a reduction in their available resources. The Crusaders had to be wiser for the limited time it took for them to return to a full compliment, so it was astounding for those binned players to be shown loudly shouting in joy like cheerleaders as their team mates did the near impossible and scored with only 12 players on the field. From broken play, Slade chose to use space behind the line and he crossed for try number 5 and a punch to the heart of Sharks players. A man with an inner confidence in his position, he showed how Todd Blackadder has the team in the right head space. Once players had returned to the field the game continued in the same fashion for the visitors. A try to wing David Havili (number 6) and a specially soul-destroying clear run to the line from Matt Todd (number 7) It would have been very rewarding for all involved.
Attack was paramount for much of this game, no matter the number of players on the park. Go forward rather than waiting for the home side to resurrect their defensive systems and the final scoring movement was Tom Taylor’s length-of-the-field breakaway after another Sharks error: exemplary of one of the most comprehensive wins in recent seasons in South Africa. Ndungane did score a consolation try but it was great viewing for hardy ‘Saders fans who woke early. Shear bliss at six in the morning.To score of 50 plus points is superb reward for a solid Crusaders team taking their chances.
It sets up well for the New Zealand sides in Super Rugby. Four sides in the top 6 is terrific at this stage. The Chiefs and Hurricanes both have a bye now, The Crusaders head home for their ‘clash of the round’ against a handy Highlanders side. It’ll be a true “Mainland battle” for the ages and I can’t wait to see how The Crusaders follow-up on such a commanding win. Well deserved, although 3 yellow cards won’t be looked upon very well. Shoulder charges maybe on the endangered list in Crusaders rugby. If Sonny Bill has removed it from his arsenal, then maybe its time to ‘out-coach’ it from players. Three cards would have cost any other side on any other day. They were fortunate, and it might be their one “get out of Jail” card for 2015.
The Sharks will be more upset to see their earlier high position on the table reduced, as they fall outside the top 6. They will have plenty to work on, and will sure want to rethink their attitude to away uniforms. Removal of that cloak that these Crusaders have in their away travel bag. They might want to encourage the visitors experience some ‘missing baggage’ the next time The Crusaders visit the East Coast.
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