Super 14 round 1

[THE CHIROPRACTOR101]

id put ben blair there....he is very evasive and that cud make up for his long range passing..by him running alot more and hookin up his backs with shorter passes...his kicking game is very exceptional especially for a fullback

i always pictured him as a brent russel,jason robinson type ball carrier..very nippy and he needs more ball..that is if nick evans ever falls..id like to see him take the 10 jersey...i reckon he could add some much needed x factor that the highlanders lack

roy kinikinlau?...they shouldve went for hosea gear he is the next best winger in nz

[esoj]

it is good but other like the blues have an established back 3 and seem to have more skillful players. I think bruce plays 10 and perhaps bambry. blair could also slot in there fairly easily as they have cover for fullback.

go the blues

[All_Blacks_Hurricanes_Lions_Fan]

Originally posted by THE CHIROPRACTOR101@Feb 9 2006, 04:19 PM
roy kinikinlau?...they shouldve went for hosea gear he is the next best winger in nz

They couldnt of had Hosea Gear he is contracted to Wellington.

[All_Blacks_Hurricanes_Lions_Fan]

Stormers team:
Stormers: 15 Werner Greeff, 14 Jonghi Nokwe, 13 De Wet Barry (captain), 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Rayno Benjamin, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Bolla Conradie, 8 Adri Badenhorst, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Ross Skeate, 3 Eddie Andrews, 2 Hanyani Shimange, 1 JD Moller.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Attie Winter, 18 Henk Eksteen, 19 David Hendricks, 20 Neil de Kock, 21 Naas Olivier, 22 Justin Peach.

[The TRUTH]

Originally posted by All_Blacks_Hurricanes_Lions_Fan@Feb 9 2006, 08:03 PM
Stormers team:
Stormers: 15 Werner Greeff, 14 Jonghi Nokwe, 13 De Wet Barry (captain), 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Rayno Benjamin, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Bolla Conradie, 8 Adri Badenhorst, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Ross Skeate, 3 Eddie Andrews, 2 Hanyani Shimange, 1 JD Moller.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Attie Winter, 18 Henk Eksteen, 19 David Hendricks, 20 Neil de Kock, 21 Naas Olivier, 22 Justin Peach.

De Wet Barry

I will pay $5000 to the first person that spear tackles that c#nt

seriously



Tana?

[All_Blacks_Hurricanes_Lions_Fan]

The worst part is 99% of the time he gets away with it.

[THE CHIROPRACTOR101]

Originally posted by All_Blacks_Hurricanes_Lions_Fan+Feb 9 2006, 08:00 PM-->

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[All_Blacks_Hurricanes_Lions_Fan]

Roy is the lesser winger though, the top 2 wings for Wellington are Fa'atau and Gear with Kinikinilau in the reserves. I just hope he hits his potential while is is still in Wellington we have let some good wings go.

[Wally]

Originally posted by Dumbo@Feb 9 2006, 12:59 AM
Sorry Wally but the Kiwi's are looking good this year.
There's an extremely good division of quality players in all NZ teams, on paper all NZ teams are looking solid (maybe the Highlanders are the underdogs of all NZ sides but still they have Anton and Nick Evans and if you missed it Nick looked pretty solid in the Northern tour).

Australia has a new franchise, which I believe is going to shake up the Australian Union. Regardless of a forward pack consisting Nathan Sharpe and Brendan Cannon (do not underestimate these two guys - if you do you they'll win out). The Force has the next Australian Half back in Matt Henjak, and the Force is so far away from anywhere in Australia that they'll do what Western Aus does and do their own thing, ie other sportsman like Gillchrest and Langer).
I think that the biggest asset they have the at the moment though is John Mitchell (and I reckon if there's any Safa's reading remember Mitchell? he's the guy that brought the All Blacks over and put 50 Points on you - yes that guy. OK the World Cup was a bit of a screw up, but no Tana at 13... ).

I'm ranting... Australia has 2 teams in the competition thus far (due to pretty much everyone I talk to thinking that WA is poked before they even start - I predict that leave this to John Mitchell to fix).
NSW and Qld... what ever... the old ways are changing, Wobblies to start looking like a different team after the S14 has been closed. WARNING NH (Aussies are dogs - don't wake sleeping dogs).

And South Africa...
look forward to seeing the results of what they have to offer... thank god for the Southern Hemisphere, thank god for Rugby.

Oh and go the Chiefs!

Are you stoned? I asked how all five of your teams could be better than last year, not can I have a 500 word essay on why New Zealand is good at rugby.

[The TRUTH]

Originally posted by Wally+Feb 9 2006, 08:55 PM-->

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[All_Blacks_Hurricanes_Lions_Fan]

The Cats team:
Cats: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Wylie Human, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wayne Julies, 11 Jorrie Muller, 10 Tiaan Snyman, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Wikus van Heerden (captain), 6 Cobus Grobbelaar, 5 Jannes Labuschagne, 4 Trevor Hall, 3 Marius Hurter, 2 Lukas van Biljon, 1 Pietman van Niekerk.
Replacements: 16 Delarey du Preez, 17 Lawrence Sephaka, 18 KleinJan Tromp, 19 Willem Stoltz, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Doppies la Grange, 22 Grant Esterhuizen
Anyone have the Cheetahs team?

[Dumbo]

Snapped, I was actually

[THE CHIROPRACTOR101]

i get it..but im not stoned

[loratadine]

whats ben blair like?

[THE CHIROPRACTOR101]

was a future allblack....like an allblack who got constantly picked for the abs..until an injury in 02 northern tour and since he came back from that his never played his best since..hes either injured,benched or when he is playing hes constantly sucking...drops high balls,misses tackles just really hasnt been the same since his injury

i remember him before that and he was an awesome player straight out of the age grade rep team...he was one of the more exciting canttab players back then

hes nippy like robinson on attack...not as quick or sharp but elusive enough to make breaks..hes kinda like nick evans without the passing game and the gigantic aussie rules boot..(altho he can hold his own in the kicking department)..

i like him as a player..he cudve been a real allblack prospect..he still is but hes gotta prove it more...

[loratadine]

cant wait for the s14 now

[lewseys got it covered]

got my fantasy team sorted!

[All_Blacks_Hurricanes_Lions_Fan]

I dont think anyone in NZ,AUS or SA can wait.

[aussie1st]

Heres a good preview with all the teams for any fantasy rugby players.

http://www.rugby365.com/LATEST_NEWS/story_48927.shtml

[esoj]

yep rugby 365 very useful site especially for sa teams and players.

7 hours till kick off and the start of the super 14. I'm getting more and more excited with each hour that passes.

go the blues

[loratadine]

its not only the south that sppreciates this tournament - as a welshmen is really appreciate good rugby when i see it.

[Dumbo]

I'm leaving work early, at this stage 6 hours to go.

Go the Hurricanes.

[The TRUTH]

Canes blow the Blues away

Friday February 10 2006
Five-try second half rout
The Hurricanes, scoring five tries in the second half, came back from being 16-3 down at the break to beat the Blues 37-19 in the opening match of the inaugural Super 14 competition at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday.




Tana Umaga on the run

It wasn't the wind's fault. The bit of a breeze had nothing to do with the dramatic change of fortunes in the second half when the Blues changed from leading by 13 points and looking like winners to losing by 15 and looking really well beaten as the Hurricanes blew them away.

At home the hospitable Blues got no points while giving the Hurricanes five.

There were lots of firsts, mainly because the match itself was a first - the first Super 14 match. Bryce Lawrence blew the first Super 14 whistle and Tasesa Lavea kicked off to start the new competition. Rodney So'oialo caught the first kick-off and from inside their 22 the Hurricanes started running.

They enjoyed the majority of possession in the first half but the Blues, with the breeze behind them, enjoyed the majority of territory as again and again they pushed the Hurricanes back, partly with rush-defence, partly with the boot where Lavea and Isa Nacewa played to the corners, and partly through their own errors, and their most erroneous player was veteran Tana Umaga. His knock-on led to the first scrum of Super 14.

When Lavea kicked out, the Hurricanes had the first line-out of Super 14. When Luke McAlister held on in a tackle by Umaga, he conceded the first penalty of Super 14, and when Jimmy Gopperth held on, McAlister goaled to score the first points of Super 14. When Angus Macdonald tackled and held So'oialo, Gopperth made it 3-all.

The Blues had heads up and were confident about counter-attacking.

Ali Williams caught the ball in a line-out and the Blues mauled it down the field on their left. They released the ball and Lavea sliced in a diagonal till Ben Atiga came in straight on him. Stumbling past three would-be tacklers, Atiga drove over for a try near the padding. McAlister converted and after 29 minutes the Blues led 10-3.

Williams knocked the kick-off backwards - into the arms of Chris Masoe who charged ahead. Jerry Collins carried it on and the Hurricanes were blowing hot. Umaga broke but when he tried a delicate grubber, the movement broke down.

Two penalties by McAlister, one for off-side and the second soon afterwards for a maul infringement, took the Blues to 16-3 at half-time, and looking full value for their lead.

They did not look like retaining the lead in the second half as the visitors outscored them 34-3 ... 34-3!

It started four minutes into the half from an odd bit of scrumming. On the attack, the Hurricanes fed the scrum, but the Blues wheeled it to have a scrum of their own. The Hurricanes wheeled that to get a put in to themselves. From that scrum on their left they went wide right with Manu Nonu in from the left to feed young fullback Isaia Toeava who flipped inside to Lome Fa'atau who burst over to score the Hurricanes' first try of Super 14. 16-8.

Right from the kick-off the Hurricanes threatened, but Umaga knocked on.

At this stage the rain started. It came straight down, confirming that the wind was not really a factor but it may have caused some of the wonky handling in the half.

Down the left came the Hurricanes. Fa'atau gave to Toeava and he played inside to Umaga who powered over for a try in Keven Mealamu's tackle. That was enough for the iconic veteran and he took his rest. The change was significant for Nonu now moved to centre, with Shannon Paku coming in on the wing. From now on Nonu was brilliant.

Gopperth converted Umaga's try to make the score 16-15 with 23 minutes to play. Victory for the Hurricanes now looked inevitable.

They did not have to wait long for the lead. After replacement scrum-half Steve Devine had been rendered groggy in a Jerry Collins tackle, Nonu coming in straight ran over him. The maned centre then ran over Nacewa and surfed over for the try at the posts. This try and Umaga's were referred to the television match official who had an easy job of advising the try.

Gopperth converted. 22-16 with 20 minutes to play.

When Jason Eaton was penalised for an air tackle on Ali Williams in a line-out, McAlister bounced, slipped and still goaled. 22-16. Soon afterwards McAlister was off-target with a straight forward penalty attempt, and the Blues had lost their last chance to score in the half.

Eaton then became a hero. The Blues threw in at a line-out five metres from their line and tall Eaton stretched up and poached the throw. Nonu bashed as the Hurricanes went left and then Jerry Collins surged over for the bonus-point try. David Holwell, back after a sojourn in Ireland, came on for Gopperth. He missed the conversion. It did not matter as there was going to be only one winner - and the Hurricanes had the first bonus point in Super 14.

When Masoe put pressure on John Senio, the scrum-half, back on for a bleeding Devine, lost the ball backwards. Masoe picked it up, shucked off Lavea and sped down the field. He gave to Fa'atau for the tattooed wing's second try. Holwell converted. 34-19 with nine minutes to play.

Weepu grubbered down the right and Nacewa conceded a five-metre scrum. That was where the Hurricanes played out the match. After the siren had gone the Blues conceded a penalty for off-side and Holwell kicked the ball over. It was the only penalty the Blues had conceded in the half.

The whistle went, and the Hurricanes had won the first-ever Super 14 match.

Man the Match: Such was the one-sided nature of the second half that only Hurricanes were candidates and probably the most prominent amongst them were lively, strong flank Chris Masoe, effective, sturdy scrum-half Piri Weepu and our Man of the Match for the difference he made when he moved to centre - Manu Nonu.

The scorers:

For the Blues:
Try: Atiga
Con: McAlister
Pens: McAlister 3

For the Hurricanes:
Tries: Fa'atau 2, Umaga, Nonu, Collins
Cons: Gopperth 2, Holwell
Pens: Gopperth, Holwell

[The TRUTH]

Two-try blitz seals home team's fate
A two-try blitz midway through the second half set the Brumbies up for a convincing 25-10 win over newcomers the Western Force in their Super 14 match at the Subiaco Oval in Perth on Friday.


The Force failed to live up to all the pre-match hype and they held the Brumbies for almost 60 minutes - mostly due to the Brumbies own ineptness - but then the visitors scored in the 58th and 62nd minutes to turn a 10-8 deficit into a comfortable win.

The Super 14 is new this year, and the newest of the new is the Western Force. This was their first-ever match, and from the start there was nothing at all wrong with their organisation and commitment.

They were slightly more brittle than the Brumbies with the steady heads of Stirling Mortlock, Matt Giteau, Stephen Larkham and George Gregan. What they lacked in cool heads they made up for with fiery enthusiasm.

They ended their first 40 minutes behind 8-3, but the Brumbies were in that position thanks to an opportunistic try by Mark Chisholm and a missed penalty attempt by Scott Daruda - a longish kick but from straight in front. It had the distance, not the direction.

Daruda kicked off this historic match for the men in blue with the black motif that was part black swan, part wind. And there was an enthusiastic crowd of 37 037 to see that kick-off thanks to a great marketing exercise by enthusiastic Western Australia.

The match itself was a stop-start affair. There were 12 penalties in the first half - as against 13 in the whole match between the Blues and the Hurricanes - and the scrums were Wallaby messy.

The first three scrums produced four resets and two penalties. In the second half there were another nine penalties and in 11 scrums there were eight resets, two penalties and a free kick. That did not make for entertainment!

The referee found the tackles a problem. There were eight penalties at the tackle/ruck in the first half and eventually a yellow card for Julian Salvi - who became the first player to be sin-binned in Super 14.

There was a long hold-up in the match when replacement Josh Graham got his head on the wrong side in tackling Mark Gerrard and was knocked out, to be taken off on a stretcher but, apparently, without grievous damage.

But the crowd got on with their enthusiastic support, slapping their slapsticks into the night air and cheering everything their side did. None of the cheering was anything like that for the Force's try, the best try of the nights as several players handled to send Scott Fava, head bandaged like a wounded soldier, galloping over the line. More than the try, the first score of the second half, the conversion put the Force into the lead and hope surged in the far west of Australia.

Eventually missed tackles cost the Force as the legs simply could not carry the willing spirits to the ball-carrier often enough. Their own attacking, Fava's try and the last bit of play apart, was pedestrian, the best of it a charge and slip by Junior Pelesasa who seems in need of boots with studs.

The Force may just have been less of an attacking force because of a poor performance by scrum-half Matt Henjak, who was under much pressure and transferred the pressure to his back by taking steps before passing and being seemingly out of contact with his fly-half.

That said, the history of the moment and the enthusiasm of the Western Australians was probably the real feature of the nights at Subiaco Oval - that and the promise that the Force will not be embarrassed.

Just after Daruda had missed a penalty attempt, Mark Chisholm opened the scoring on 18 minutes with a bit of opportunism. Henjak was slow - four steps slow - getting the ball away. When he did the lock's big hand was in the way. The ball bounced up off his hand, Chisholm caught it and galloped 50 metres, passing fullback James Hilgendorf with a little dummy and acceleration, to score as Lachlan MacKay tried to scrabble at his broad shoulders.

When the Force were penalised Jeremy Paul tapped and gave to Mortlock who was close, and Adam Ashley-Cooper was close, but the force held out till Mortlock goaled a penalty for the wrongful use of hands at a tackle/ruck.

The Brumbies were penalised at a tackle and then marched 10 metres to give Daruda the chance to become the first Force player to score points.

That made the score 8-3 at half-time though the Brumbies could have been further ahead had they not squandered an overlap.

The Force's try was a splendid won as the passing went form Hilgendorf, now playing centre, to energetic Digby Ioane, to Matt Hodgson, to Matt Henjak. Henjak turned it inside to Fava to give the burly flank a straight run for the line and into the history books and the hearts of all Western Australians.

Daruda converted and the Force led 10-8.

George Smith made the try that got the Brumbies back into the lead. The Force were in their own territory and tried to run the ball away from a rickety scrum. Smith won the turnover and the Brumbies moved the ball right. They came back left and replacement Joel Wilson somersaulted the ball over the line for a try in the corner, which Mortlock converted. 15-10.

When the Brumbies put the ball into a scrum five metres from the Force goal-line, again on their left, they sped long passes right and Matt Giteau simply cut through for the try. Mortlock converted. 22-10.

Mortlock goaled a penalty for a tackle/ruck infringement. The Force were well shut out of a bonus point for being an honourable looser, but the Brumbies could also not get the fourth try for a bonus point.

Man of the Match: There was a massive game from Scott Fava for the Force and a typically effective game from George Smith who seems never to tire, not even to breathe. George Smith is our Man of the Match.

The scorers:

For the Western Force:
Try: Fava
Con: Daruda
Pen: Daruda

For the Brumbies:
Tries: Chisholm, Wilson, Giteau
Cons: Mortlock 2
Pens: Mortlock 2

Yellow card: Julian Salvi (Brumbies, 32)

[Wally]

Great atmosphere at Perth for the game, much better than that of the New Zealand match. The Truth, were you at Subiaco last night?

[esoj]

I don't know crowd looked good at eden park but off course the atmosphere dies down a bit when the home teams is getting smashed and not much ball. force game of course would have been better the force were in the game for almost the entire match

[Ripper]

Originally posted by Wally@Feb 11 2006, 11:49 AM
Great atmosphere at Perth for the game, much better than that of the New Zealand match. The Truth, were you at Subiaco last night?

Your an idiot.

And so is John Mitchell.

Force for da Spoon.

[Wally]

Originally posted by Ripper+Feb 11 2006, 04:09 PM-->

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[The TRUTH]

Originally posted by Wally@Feb 11 2006, 10:49 AM
Great atmosphere at Perth for the game, much better than that of the New Zealand match. The Truth, were you at Subiaco last night?

Yeah awesome atmosphere at the game

I really thought we had a chance when we scored that try(the place went mental) but the brumbies were just too good.

I never seen so many jerseys at a game of footy (even afl) ,whoever makes those is raking in the $$$

...and they have true fans...i mean everyone stayed around to give the players a stranding ovation and even when the game was gone no-one left the ground.

There was only 37-38,000 ppl there but the ground looked full.

[Mr. Laxative]

That's ten thousand more than what the brumbies can fit with a full crowd and temporary seating!