2012 fixtures released

[TRF_stormer2010]

http://www.superxv.com/fixtures/

Breakdown:


AUS conference:

Brumbies: 13th in 2011
byes: weeks 2 & 12
miss: Crusaders & Stormers

Force: 12th in 2011
byes: weeks 9 & 15
miss: Highlanders & Bulls

Rebels: 2011 wooden spoon
byes: weeks 1 & 10
miss: Chiefs & Sharks

Reds: 2011 champions
byes: weeks 8 & 15
miss: Hurricanes & Cheetahs

Waratahs: 5th in 2011
byes: weeks 7 & 19
miss: Blues & Lions


NZ conference:

Blues: 4rth in 2011
byes: weeks 6 & 19
miss: Waratahs & Cheetahs

Chiefs: 11th in 2011
byes: weeks 5 & 13
miss: Rebels & Stormers

Crusaders: 3rd in 2011
byes: weeks 4 & 14
miss: Brumbies & Sharks

Highlanders: 8th in 2011
byes: weeks 8 & 21
miss: Force & Lions

Hurricanes: 9th in 2011
byes: weeks 8 & 20
miss: Reds & Bulls


SA conference

Bulls: 7th in 2011
byes: weeks 4 & 10
miss: Force & Hurricanes

Cheetahs: 11th in 2011
byes: weeks 9 & 15
miss: Reds & Blues

Lions: 14th in 2011
byes: weeks 4 & 9
miss: Waratahs & Highlanders

Sharks: 6th in 2011
byes: weeks 10 & 19
miss: Rebels & Crusaders

Stormers: 2nd in 2011
byes: weeks 3 & 11
miss: Brumbies & Chiefs


Weeks 16, 17 & 18 are byes for all franchizes to create a window for the June internationals.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Cheetahs, Hurricanes and Brumbies very lucky to be missing a combination of Crusaders/Reds/Stormers/Blues IMO.

Highlanders the most unlucky IMO; missing both Force and Lions and having to play the other NZ teams twice

 

[Seaton]

Yaaass, Sharks miss the Crusaders!!!

Booooo, Sharks miss the Rebels...

Rebels get the bye in week 1, shame

 

[sinthia]

Japan's captain tell France that they will have a fight on their hands.

The ICC Cricket World Cup is the membership of One Day International cricket.

<a href="http://rugby-world-cup.boylesports.com/">rugby-world-cup</>

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Anyway

I'm pretty happy with draw for the Stormers. Obviously not having the first week bye again is good LOL. Brumbies and Chiefs are two teams we could beat TBH (probably the 3rd team of each franchise) but it could have been worse.

Our tour and rest structures I like; week 3 and 11 are early-ish to have a rest but then weeks 16 -18 are off as well (at least for the non-Bokke players). Our tour; Highlanders, Crusader, Reds and Force is gonna be tough but we should look to win the two games against the 'Landers and Force at least and not playing the Crusaders in CT is always a bonus LOL.

If we can continue our dominance over the other SA teams (yes, we owned you to, Sharkies) then we should be up there for the play-offs again. I'm just concerned about our lack of signings (at least ITO developing depth).

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

The first thing I noticed was that the teams missing out is not just groups of 3.

Last year for instance, the Sharks, Reds and Highlanders didn't play each other.

This year, the Sharks miss out on the Crusaders, Crusaders miss out on Brumbies, Brumbies miss out on Stormers and so on, and so on. This makes it a lot more entertaining. What is also a big improvement is the fact that it's not systematically a South African side starting with a bye.

I am really looking forward to the new season, only sad thing is that we start with a match against the Bulls in Pretoria

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Yeah, it's a slight improvement over last year. Would still prefer to play everyone once and skip the playing franchise members twice part. That's what the CC and ITM are for.

Another interesting 1st is the test window towards the end. Will this mean SH test teams will face NH opposition without even a week together? Or will national coaches get those test players beforehand and force the S15 teams to play 1 or 2 matches without their test players? Will be interesting, the 2nd option could well see the likelyhood of having a team like the Lions (0 test players as it stands) beat the Sharks who could lose some test players before the test window.

 

[Seaton]

Ah, our second bye is after the in-bound tours. Really helpful that, a real peach.
If not for that we will be providing 6-8 Boks to these tours, I would honestly prefer that we had the bye in week 1, at least we get to start off with 4 points :/

Btw, anyone know what the itinerary for 2012 is? For the In-bound and EOYT

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

If I am correct, I remember a statement saying that the teams missing out on 2 opponents was only due to the World Cup and that from 2012 onwards, the teams would play ALL 10 foreign franchises.

What changed?

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

If I am correct, I remember a statement saying that the teams missing out on 2 opponents was only due to the World Cup and that from 2012 onwards, the teams would play ALL 10 foreign franchises.

What changed?

Proably the fact everyone was allready *****ing the damn thing is too long even without 2 extra fixtures.

I wonder what the sponsors/tv rights guys think of it though..

 

[TNT88]

Thats a decent draw for the Force. Next year can only get better IMO.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Thats a decent draw for the Force. Next year can only get better IMO.

A decent enough draw. I thought the Force were very unlucky not to get a few more points last year.

With O'Connor gone maybe that's a good thing for the Force; can concentrate on puting in a team effort now.

 

[TNT88]

The off season recruiting has gone extremely well. I believe they are still looking for a marquee as well. O'Connor is definitely a loss, but this squad is on the rise with or without him.

 

[.me]

If I am correct, I remember a statement saying that the teams missing out on 2 opponents was only due to the World Cup and that from 2012 onwards, the teams would play ALL 10 foreign franchises.

What changed?

As far as I know, it has always been this way. Over the five years each team will play all the foreign teams at home twice and away twice. Before the start of Super Rugby (in 2010) they would have made the draw for all five years (that the broadcasting right have been made for) and the specific time and dates made and released yearly to put the top teams on at the best times.

As stormer2010 points out the broadcasters wouldn't be happy if they changed it.

 

[Shimon]

Man, Highlanders got a little hard done by.

I thought it would have been champions miss lowest ranking teams, don't see how the Reds miss two 2nd last teams combined with the fact they have the easiest conference.

 

[Amobokoboko]

It doesn't seem that bad for the Chiefs, they face the Sharks on my B-day. Fingers crossed it will pour down.

 

[187]

It doesn't really matter who the Hurricanes miss really because they're in a rebuilding phase as of next year. The better their opposition, the better it is for their younger players I guess. Who the hell is going to be in our backline?!
9. ???
10. Dan Kirkpatrick? Fark.
11. Hopefully Gear
12. Charlie Ngatai? Still way to green.
13. Conrad Smith
14. Alapati Leiua
15. Hopefully CJ.

Any injuries and we'll be up shits creek without a paddle.

 

[Seaton]

I'm sure I read an article saying Jane had already re-signed?

Sharks vs. Bulls opener for the SA conference in Pretoria, tasty.

 

[smartcooky]

If I am correct, I remember a statement saying that the teams missing out on 2 opponents was only due to the World Cup and that from 2012 onwards, the teams would play ALL 10 foreign franchises.

What changed?

Proably the fact everyone was allready *****ing the damn thing is too long even without 2 extra fixtures.

I wonder what the sponsors/tv rights guys think of it though..

Nothing changed. I tried to tell you guys this a few months ago.

The original Super Rugby plan was for ALL teams to play ALL the teams in the other Conferences once, and to play the teams in their own Conference twice, however, that ran into a snag when SARU refused to move the Currie Cup back to accommodate the additional games. SARU countered with a plan of their own; to start the competition in January, but the NZRU and ARU (as well as the players associations in both countries) objected because it would have pushed start of pre-season training back to Christmas. With EOYT commitments running to the first week of December, it would give the players involved in the All Blacks and Wallabies only three weeks off.

http://tvnz.co.nz/rugby-news/sanzar-conflict-threaten-super-15-2528733




Dropping one game in each conference on a 5-year rotation was the compromise they came to.

 

[The big Kangaroo]

Man, Highlanders got a little hard done by.

I thought it would have been champions miss lowest ranking teams, don't see how the Reds miss two 2nd last teams combined with the fact they have the easiest conference.

cause the reds played so well against other Aussie teams.......