[2019 Super Rugby] Round 1 (15 & 16 February 2019)

[petite]

That’s a huge call on the deliberate/not deliberate knock on. I thought the rule was about no genuine intention to catch the ball causing a knock on?

didn't get that either. it was intentional knock on imo. I

 

[mdaclarke]

Bulls and Sharks both impressive

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Really? Just finished watching the replay from Bulls vs Stormers and the only thing that impressed me was how bad the Stormers were. Pollard was superb, but that's not really that rare.
This could be a very, very long season for the Stormers.

Of course it's ridiculously early to tell, but if we extrapolate the games so far, it's as if the difference between the best and the worst has shrunk a lot vs previous seasons.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

We dropped the ball 3 times a split second before scoring. 3 bloody times. That is 15/21 points we gave away.
And we are too predictable. We should open a bit more every now and then.

It s not that we made a million mistakes, but we made silly mistakes in key moments.
Too angry right now.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Jaguares mauled by the Lions, predictably. Third try also from a defensive scrum. Worrying for the Lions because they again are showing limitations in scoring from open play (and not every side will have such a week pack). Worrying for the Jaguares and Argentina as it is hard to see how they can improve their packs performance between now and the RWC.

Also, Sunwolves have barely a native Japanese guy in their lineup it seems; which is pretty depressing. I know Joseph is basically going to keep the national team together as much as possible this year for preparation, but surely competing in Super Rugby under his head coaching would have been the ideal preparation? Even if he only had the international players play home matches or something, to minimise travel.

 

[SomeOke]

Sharks looked good, but to be fair it was only the Sunwolves, a very clinical performance with some promise of a bit of flair hidden there as well. Need to see more but it's a strong start.

Stormers were worse than poor, some truly woeful defense, a malfunctioning line-out and basically no momentum going forward as well as getting handily beaten in the kicking battle. The only upside was our scrum.

As for the Bulls I thought they looked great, Pollard controlled the game suberbly, Gelant had a few nice touches, Kriel looks to have carried forward his form from last year, Rosco was fantastic made the Stormers defense look very foolish indeed. Lood was a Behemoth in the line-out and Duane is such a good player he elevates the entire team, even Hanro looked good despite me ******** on him the other day.

Hopefully the Bulls can keep it up, and maintain some momentum away from home as well, based on week 1 should be looking to top the conference.

Stormers might be too far gone, but I'll try to remain optimistic.

I missed the Lions v Jags game - 23:40 is too late.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Not sure what game you saw Bruce, but i was clearly not the same game i watched.

Compare it to 2018 where every scrum we had vs the Lions was a penalty for them while we won all our own scrums. I expected much worse to be honest. We managed to get the ball from every scrum we thew in the ball to, and even got a penalty for us. Against the lions and considering our inexperienced props, that's a huge win in my book.

The Lions line out/maul thingie is monster that troubles all teams (except crusaders maybe) so i don't wanna be too harsh with my guys there. It's not that we are bad. It's that they are very good at it.

Regarding mauling, one of our line/mauls pushed their forwards over 30 meters before we dropped the ball over the line. Again, we made at least 3 very costly errors.

Third try also from a defensive scrum.

Not true. Was line/maul. Here is the game. Min 50 from the game (i.e. not the youtube timer).

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Sorry, poor English on my part perhaps. I didn't mean the third try sequentially, just 2x from maul, the third from Jaguares put in at a defensive 5m scrum. You are right that the Jaguares aren't the only side the Lions bossed with their pack last season but I do think the Lions won't score 3x forward orientated tries away from home against many sides this year (and I dont think they will finish top of the SA conference either).

I hope your perception will be more accurate than mine regarding your pack. I only saw snippets of the game (not concentrating on it) and highlights, so you are better placed to judge.

How did Bonilla do at 10? Is there hope there?

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Bonilla was v nervous imo, but did ok. He's got big shoes to fill, so i'm giving him a couple of games to get used to the team's/ competition's tempo.
Regarding the forwards, lets wait and have a look at the game against the bulls. I am quite confident our pack will be more than ok.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Oh what a weekend! Sharks and Bulls looked very impressive in their first outing, and seems like you can't read too much at what happens in the warm-up matches. And the Lions managed to get that elusive win in Argentina.

What does a Samoosa and the Stormers have in common?

 

[unrated]

Oh what a weekend! Sharks and Bulls looked very impressive in their first outing, and seems like you can't read too much at what happens in the warm-up matches. And the Lions managed to get that elusive win in Argentina.

What does a Samoosa and the Stormers have in common?

They have both been fried?
Samoosas can’t score tries, same with stormers ?

Edit: They both only have three points ! took me awhile

 

[TRF_heineken]

They have both been fried?
Samoosas can’t score tries, same with stormers ?

It's more of and Afrikaans joke - "Altwee het net 3 punte" - translated to both only have 3 points.

 

[smartcooky]

That’s a huge call on the deliberate/not deliberate knock on. I thought the rule was about no genuine intention to catch the ball causing a knock on?

Hmmm

Law 11 Knock On or throw forward
3. A player must not intentionally knock the ball forward with hand or arm.
Sanction: Penalty.
4. It is not an intentional knock-on if, in the act of trying to catch the ball, the player knocks
on provided that there was a reasonable expectation that the player could gain
possession.​

Now in the referee audio, we hear him say that he didn't think the player was trying to catch it, but his intent was clearly to knock the ball backwards (which is not an infringement).

This is not what the law actually states. However, I have no problem with the referee having an empathic view of what the player is trying to do. If it is clear that the player was trying to knock the backwards (which it was - fingers in front of the ball) and he fails to do so, then I see no difference between that and a player attempting to catch the ball and failing to do so.

I would argue that is it almost impossible to fake trying to knock the ball backwards when you are really trying to knock it forwards - the hand action is in the opposite dirction, while it is relatively easy to fake trying to catch the ball when your real intent is to knock the ball forwards because the hand action is usually in the same direction.

 

[petite]

Bonilla was v nervous imo, but did ok. He's got big shoes to fill, so i'm giving him a couple of games to get used to the team's/ competition's tempo.
Regarding the forwards, lets wait and have a look at the game against the bulls. I am quite confident our pack will be more than ok.

agreed i was expecting a huge dominance from lions pack and it didnt happen. it was balanced and each pack had his domination time during the game.
its a pity how we lost this. we could have won! we where so close so many times. those silly mistakes in the final meters. the lions got lucky also (like that ball that kramer dropped inside de ingoal. and in the first halve that obstruction... but in other occasions it was the good lions defece that kept us from scoring.
bonilla had a poor game imo. he failed as playmaker he wasnt able to put the line to run. no depth just pasing the ball. you are right dow, he has to get used to the team and the responsability. his kicking game was ok. delguy and tucu (good to see him back and in shape) had good game. and the front rowers did ok despite their inexperience. lavanini had a good one too.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

noticeable lack of kiwi chat in here

 

[TRF_heineken]

noticeable lack of kiwi chat in here

I think everyone is still waking up and getting to grips that the season actually started. Give it time

 

[unrated]

Ive always found it weird how inactive the kiwi posters are especially for a so called rugby nation who has been experiencing their golden age in the last decade.

 

[Gena_ZA]

Took some time to digest this past weekends games:

Brumbies look tired in that second half, suspect fitness at the start of the new season
Chiefs blew it and Lander took it, good on them
Blues a different team, that is good on it's own, this weekend will tell just how much they improved
Stormers, jeez, from arguing on the bus to what jersey to use to delays in getting to the stadium to absolutely being demolished by the Bulls - that one hurt real bad, can they recover at all?
Canes lucky to win based on a missed kick
Sharks showed good structure, they are going to have a good season
Lions played as expected and won, Jags by no means out of it

 

[John Ovens]

I'm afraid Chiefs do have a few injuries, Solomona Alaimano is out and from what I've heard Wanui as well, and Sam Cane's out for ages. They also lost Big Karl to the Blues, they don't look that strong to me, in fact I'm struggling to figure their backline: 9. TTT/Weber 10. Dmac 11. Ete Nanai-Seturo 12. Alex Nakivell 13. Anton Lienert Brown 14. ??? 15. Shaun Stevenson

Doesn't exactly inspire fear and there is every chance Brodie will get rested as well.
Highlanders also have a few issues particularly at 10, but I fear the Chiefs may be the weakest they've been in some time.

Waratahs may have a slight chance as well, no Barret this coming weekend so they will likely be forced to play Debrazeni or Gardon-Bachop, but I do think the Hurricanes should probably win.

Sharks/Jags/Jags should put their opposition away. Stormers and Bulls a coin flip.

So, we went to Chiefs v Landers game incognito. So as not to be recognised as Saracens fans (you know - leading team in the English Premier) we wore the fezzes, the fan garb. Well, it worked a treat. Best disguise ever! Both of us managed to watch the game totally unhindered by conversation from Chiefs fans!

 

[mania]

canes were lucky

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

canes were lucky

Maybe they factored in a patented Foley choke into their gameplan? Foley has qualities but a goal kicker he ain't.

 

[smartcooky]

Ive always found it weird how inactive the kiwi posters are especially for a so called rugby nation who has been experiencing their golden age in the last decade.

60 million Poms, Scots, Paddies, Taffies
60 million Frenchies
40 million Saffas
20 million Aussies
5 million Kiwis

Also, TRF is actually a UK based forum. Lots and lots of rugby fans in NZ either simply don't know about TRF or are actually active on local forums such as thesilverfern, or other forums such as Planet Rugby.


I only found TRF back in the day purely by accident when I was in a discussion at rugbyrefs.com

 

[Hulk Hogan]

Maybe they factored in a patented Foley choke into their gameplan? Foley has qualities but a goal kicker he ain't.

Please enlighten me as to Foley's qualities? boring and one dimensional? incredibly easy to predict? God give me Quade on a bad day over Foley.

 

[mania]

Ive always found it weird how inactive the kiwi posters are especially for a so called rugby nation who has been experiencing their golden age in the last decade.

i've heard this on a lot of forums and the only thing i can think of is that when i'm out coaching/supporting local rugby in the weekends (and training nights) there a sh!tloads of volunteers out there as well. keep in mind that these volunteers are keeping our grassroots (NZ's secret weapon) alive and thriving in their personal time. unfortunately tho, by the time its friday/saturday night im rugby'd out and i imagine the army of grassroots volunteers are also.
also my kids that i coach cant be bothered watching rugby. they'd rather play it or do something else that doesn't require them sitting still in front of the TV

 

[mania]

Please enlighten me as to Foley's qualities? boring and one dimensional? incredibly easy to predict? God give me Quade on a bad day over Foley.

you can build a plan of attack around foley. he's reliable at being foley.
quade imo is a bit less predictable, which is cool in that it makes him unpredictable to the oppn but unfortunately to his team maters as well. time will tell and i hope quade gels with the rebels.

foley's not the only kicker that has howlers. beudy has been known to fluff a test or two.

 

[Hulk Hogan]

you can build a plan of attack around foley. he's reliable at being foley.
quade imo is a bit less predictable, which is cool in that it makes him unpredictable to the oppn but unfortunately to his team maters as well. time will tell and i hope quade gels with the rebels.

foley's not the only kicker that has howlers. beudy has been known to fluff a test or two.

That's the biggest problem with Foley, he's reliable to just be him, which is so predictable that he gets picked off by Props, his cutout passing ability is average at best, while Quade is so unpredictable his team mates can also get confused it's better than having an attack that splutters out the moment the ball leaves Foley's hands and the 12 gets clapped by the opposition. The Wallabies have suffered through bland attack and predictability, it's time for Aus Rugby to take some chances and risks, I hope Quade's form continues and he gets selected this year. The Reds needed him last year and it showed because we had Boring Foley 2.0 at 10 last year in Hamish Stewart.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

you can build a plan of attack around foley. he's reliable at being foley.
quade imo is a bit less predictable, which is cool in that it makes him unpredictable to the oppn but unfortunately to his team maters as well. time will tell and i hope quade gels with the rebels.

foley's not the only kicker that has howlers. beudy has been known to fluff a test or two.

Pretty much agree with that. Foley is an accurate passer (for basic passes), okay at tackling and can execute set plays quite well. I think the Wallabies struggles creatively is a lot to do with their failure to get a good centre partnership going due to Kerevi surprisingly failing to make the step up. I wouldn't lay most of the blame for that at Foley's door, although I have no idea what level of say he has in attacking structure once you are 5+ phases in.

 

[mania]

Pretty much agree with that. Foley is an accurate passer (for basic passes), okay at tackling and can execute set plays quite well. I think the Wallabies struggles creatively is a lot to do with their failure to get a good centre partnership going due to Kerevi surprisingly failing to make the step up. I wouldn't lay most of the blame for that at Foley's door, although I have no idea what level of say he has in attacking structure once you are 5+ phases in.

agree. in a nutshell its not foleys fault that the WBs suk

 

[mania]

That's the biggest problem with Foley, he's reliable to just be him, which is so predictable that he gets picked off by Props, his cutout passing ability is average at best, while Quade is so unpredictable his team mates can also get confused it's better than having an attack that splutters out the moment the ball leaves Foley's hands and the 12 gets clapped by the opposition. The Wallabies have suffered through bland attack and predictability, it's time for Aus Rugby to take some chances and risks, I hope Quade's form continues and he gets selected this year. The Reds needed him last year and it showed because we had Boring Foley 2.0 at 10 last year in Hamish Stewart.

its not foleys fault the WBs backline is below average. thats a combination of all of them. i dont think quade will make a bit of difference. sure he'll bring some pluses to his attack but you need to keep in mind is the rest of his game he brings. my biggest concern is when quade panics. then nothing is gonna function. at least foley when he panics his team is supposed to knuckle down and do the basics better. "doing the basics better" isnt in quades game.
and anyway its the WBs forward pack that will make or break the WBs. backs dont come into it until the forwards front up

 

[Carlito]

Ive always found it weird how inactive the kiwi posters are especially for a so called rugby nation who has been experiencing their golden age in the last decade.

There's plenty of other rugby forums around ... did you think that they would all congregate here LMAO..?
In fairness I did read a book about the war the other day call "The Silent Division"... a term coined to describe the NZers considered an elite force back then.....they did'nt talk much but they got things done..

btw i had a mate here this year bazwaz that was banned for life for posting team lists for pro 14 here on a so called rugby site.. lists that were benefitng those on here playing Pro 14 fantasy...so begs the question