Best Front Row for the Super 15

[The_Wol]

Who do you think will have the best front row for the super 15?

Obviously the Crusaders have a very good front row, with Ben Franks, Cory Flynn and Owen Franks, the only problem with them is, Ben Franks can be a little firey and if he gets sent off or substituted their scrum suffers (Or maybe it's Owen...) The Reds should have a good scrum again and I am looking forward to seeing it against the Crusaders as that will show whether or not Ben Daley, Saia Faingaa and James Slipper are up to the rigors of international Rugby and the World Cup.
The Sharks scrum is a bit of a wild card, when it's good it's good, when it's not their day it's down right terrible.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I wouldn't say the Sharks front row is the best in the competition but it is definitely top3. Having 4 Springboks (Mtawarira, B. and J. du Plessis, Smit) to choose from it definitely beats the 4 other SA franchises when it comes to the front row

 

[Dizzy]

man the entire Crusaders team is exciting.. imagine their starting fifteen.

1 B. Franks
2 Flynn
3 O. Franks
4 Thorn
5 S. Whitelock
6 L. Whitelock
7 McCaw
8 Read

9 Ellis
10Carter
11 Guildford
12 SBW
13 Fruean
14 Sweeney
15 Dagg

Very impressive. you could say that is the All Blacks line up.

 

[The_Wol]

Except this is a topic about Front rows so who cares about their 2nd rate team

 

[d1e1m]

Except this is a topic about Front rows so who cares about their 2nd rate team

Hah, your skill at understatement is very high indeed.

The Saders, while they do have a strong scrum, they don't have a dominant scrum. And yes, Owen Franks does have a tendency to get sent of, sometimes unjustly, but when that happens they just shift Ben over to Tight and bring on Crockett, who is a destructive scrummager. You rarely seen opposing scrums dominate the Franks all the way up to Test level, while Owen has in such a short time come to be regarded in the top 5 tightheads in the world and you'd have to think him being only 24 or so, he's only going to get better.

If one were to think in terms of simple work in the scrums, the Crusaders are in the top 3 but not the best, which I would have to go with either the Bulls or Sharks because they have dominant packs with the highlanders not too far behind. When you consider how often you find Cantab props out wide contributing to plays, they're some of the best offensive forwards out there.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Nah, Corey Flynn is the worst hooker of the NZ teams and is a weak link. Front row is probably the one place where the Crusaders don't have a top 2/3 combonation in the tournament.

Sharks are up there as well as the Blues with Afoa, Woodcock and Mealamu. Of the Aus teams it is the Waratahs for me. Those are the 3 best front row line-ups IMO. That said you can't disregard the effort from the rest of the pack at the scrum.

Most underrated being the Cheetahs front row. Look for Coenie Oosthuizen, Adriaan Strauss and WP Nel to be carrying the ball with power and puting the pressure on at scrum time.

 

[ranger]

Who do you think will have the best front row for the super 15?

Obviously the Crusaders have a very good front row, with Ben Franks, Cory Flynn and Owen Franks, the only problem with them is, Ben Franks can be a little firey and if he gets sent off or substituted their scrum suffers (Or maybe it's Owen...) The Reds should have a good scrum again and I am looking forward to seeing it against the Crusaders as that will show whether or not Ben Daley, Saia Faingaa and James Slipper are up to the rigors of international Rugby and the World Cup.
The Sharks scrum is a bit of a wild card, when it's good it's good, when it's not their day it's down right terrible.

I don't think its a huge issue really.. Owen Franks is the firey one but he generally channels that into productive aggressive tackles and rucking. If he gets himself suspended for any number of games they have Wyatt Crockett to come in. Hes a young former All Black, hes talented enough to warrant a starting spot at most of the other franchises. The Crusader scrum will still be very competitive if hes swapped in.

The Blues also have a pretty handy front 3. Woodcock, Mealamu and Afoa were all All Blacks this year (Mealamu was a beast), with Angus Ta'avao and Charlie Faumuina backing up. They are two very impressive young players.

Nah, Corey Flynn is the worst hooker of the NZ teams and is a weak link. Front row is probably the one place where the Crusaders don't have a top 2/3 combonation in the tournament.

Sharks are up there as well as the Blues with Afoa, Woodcock and Mealamu. Of the Aus teams it is the Waratahs for me. Those are the 3 best front row line-ups IMO. That said you can't disregard the effort from the rest of the pack at the scrum.

Most underrated being the Cheetahs front row. Look for Coenie Oosthuizen, Adriaan Strauss and WP Nel to be carrying the ball with power and puting the pressure on at scrum time.

I think thats a bit far there.. He isn't a worldclass player, but he isn't a weak link either.
His big problem is that hes injury prone, if you watch him play he has both his arms heavily strapped and reinforced, thats because he has clean snapped both his arms in the past along with fractures to his ankle and a knee. When he is playing though hes a very mobile and aggressive hooker who fits in really well with the Franks brothers in terms of gameplan, all three hit rucks like their lives depend on it.

Aside from his onfield performance, he is one of the most experienced guys in NZ rugby. He has played 5 super rugby grandfinals and has won 3 of them (as well as a host of ANZC ***les), he went to the 2003 world cup and has even captained the JABs and Crusaders before. They use him as one of the main squad leaders (the fact that he has trained so hard to recover from all those injuries, aswell as not going overseas is testiment to his character).

His effect on the rest of the players is very valuable, you may single him out as a weak link but trust me the Crusaders are a much harder team to beat when old ******** like him, Thorn and McCaw are on the park.

 

[Gena_ZA]

Nah, Corey Flynn is the worst hooker of the NZ teams and is a weak link. Front row is probably the one place where the Crusaders don't have a top 2/3 combonation in the tournament.

Sharks are up there as well as the Blues with Afoa, Woodcock and Mealamu. Of the Aus teams it is the Waratahs for me. Those are the 3 best front row line-ups IMO. That said you can't disregard the effort from the rest of the pack at the scrum.

Most underrated being the Cheetahs front row. Look for Coenie Oosthuizen, Adriaan Strauss and WP Nel to be carrying the ball with power and puting the pressure on at scrum time.

I fully agree with you here, well said

 

[nickdnz]

It's sad how the Hurricanes have a tight five with a potential 5 All Blacks in Tialata, Hore, Schwalger, Eaton and Evans, and yet it's still only an average tight five.

 

[The_Wol]

Hah, your skill at understatement is very high indeed.

Support the shittest team in the comp for 8 years and see if yours are as good as mine

 

[ranger]

It's sad how the Hurricanes have a tight five with a potential 5 All Blacks in Tialata, Hore, Schwalger, Eaton and Evans, and yet it's still only an average tight five.

They were internationals but, not good internationals..
Evans has never shown anything sufficient to warrant a super 14 selection let alone an All Blacks spot, Schwalger was a left field decision who is more suited to playing prop for the Warriors than the Hurricanes, Eaton has only ever shown fleeting glimpses of international potential, but even then he has always played far too loose which is exactly what the Hurricanes dont need. Tialata speaks for himself (or rather twitters for himself)

That leaves Hore who is pretty handy. But he can't really boss opposition forward packs by himself, and truth be told his throwing isn't too flash.

If only the Hurricanes got the Taranaki boys together 1)Clint Newland 2)Andrew Hore 3)Carl Hayman 4)Paul ***o 5)Kane Barrett. No nonsense power right there.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

It's sad how the Hurricanes have a tight five with a potential 5 All Blacks in Tialata, Hore, Schwalger, Eaton and Evans, and yet it's still only an average tight five.

That's because NZ has amazing 1st choice selections in the pack (mostly Crusaders and a few Blues) but the quality falls sharp after that WRT the forwards. Backs is another matter altogether.

In SA we have the same problem reversed. Great depth in the forwards but none in the backs and we don't even have a world quality 15 and some of our players are off form (Habana, Morne Steyn). We really missed the likes of FdP and J Fourie as well during 2010.

 

[The_Wol]

I can only name 5 standout Australian front rowers.
Ben Daley
Benn Robinson
Tatafu Polota-nau
Ben Alexander (if on form)
Salesi Ma'afu.

 

[Seaton]

Who would the Blues first choice locks be?

Can't choose a best front-row (especially when one/two of the contenders doesn't even have a nailed down first choice front-row)

I would be more inclined to select a best tight-five, hence the original question

 

[Amobokoboko]

Who would the Blues first choice locks be?

Can't choose a best front-row (especially when one/two of the contenders doesn't even have a nailed down first choice front-row)

I would be more inclined to select a best tight-five, hence the original question

Williams and Boric.

 

[Amobokoboko]

The Blues also have a strong frontrow with Mealamu and Woodcock

 

[Scrumit2]

It's sad how the Hurricanes have a tight five with a potential 5 All Blacks in Tialata, Hore, Schwalger, Eaton and Evans, and yet it's still only an average tight five.

This my friends is a true rugby fan. Being a front rower myself I think its funny how people rate front rows by how many Boks, ABs, and Wallies are in the front row. And if a player falls out of favor with selectors then he is no good i.e Tialata. This is why The Hurricanes have the best front row hands down. First they have played together the longest without a break like the Blues have with Woodcock being gone for a season. Hores injury hurt the FR a bit but not as bad as Woodcock leaving the country. A great row is greater than the sum of all its parts. And secondly the Hurricanes front row will be playing to get back into to the ABs so their hunger which was great before will be even stronger this year. The crusaders will be second and then the Sharks are way down the list. The Sharks got trashed by NZ and Oz teams because John S. is not a prop he is a hooker and his skills have dropped so much that he can no longer hide the fact that he is a hooker by trade. THe only time the Sharks looked dominate was against other SA teams who seemed to have lost the scrum before the match started because they were looking at the names on the line-up and how they were playing. I like the Reds FR but I'm worried about Daley and Faingaa trying to hard to show that they are world class and pressing in the scrums which will throw the whole scrum off. Slipper is a beast and thats why people will be saying "Who was Weeks?" by Round 3. And can't forget that fellow Sunnybanker Holmes is the reserve prop and Hansen played in the second hardest local comp (ITM) two years ago so the Reds have possiably the most exp. bench in the comp.

 

[FlukeArtist]

Tialata and Flynn are two players who are lucky to have been ABs in my opinion.

They have their moments, but they are often found wanting in their core duties.
Tialata is a totally overrated srcummager, and it is often his side that goes down (watch and tell me that i;m wrong)
And Flynn... the guy can't throw, his scrummaging is average, and his work round the park is totally over-rated. Lucky to be involved in such a winning team really

I reckon the Sharks and Blues have the best front rows in the comp

 

[ranger]

This my friends is a true rugby fan. Being a front rower myself I think its funny how people rate front rows by how many Boks, ABs, and Wallies are in the front row. And if a player falls out of favor with selectors then he is no good i.e Tialata. This is why The Hurricanes have the best front row hands down. First they have played together the longest without a break like the Blues have with Woodcock being gone for a season. Hores injury hurt the FR a bit but not as bad as Woodcock leaving the country. A great row is greater than the sum of all its parts. And secondly the Hurricanes front row will be playing to get back into to the ABs so their hunger which was great before will be even stronger this year. The crusaders will be second and then the Sharks are way down the list. The Sharks got trashed by NZ and Oz teams because John S. is not a prop he is a hooker and his skills have dropped so much that he can no longer hide the fact that he is a hooker by trade. THe only time the Sharks looked dominate was against other SA teams who seemed to have lost the scrum before the match started because they were looking at the names on the line-up and how they were playing. I like the Reds FR but I'm worried about Daley and Faingaa trying to hard to show that they are world class and pressing in the scrums which will throw the whole scrum off. Slipper is a beast and thats why people will be saying "Who was Weeks?" by Round 3. And can't forget that fellow Sunnybanker Holmes is the reserve prop and Hansen played in the second hardest local comp (ITM) two years ago so the Reds have possiably the most exp. bench in the comp.

Its a nice sentiment, but really, it doesn't matter how much rugby these guys play together. The Hurricanes tight 5 sucks, and it always has. I don't think these guys are no good because they fell out of favour with the selectors, its because they weren't really good enough to be selected in the first place.

Tialata looked like a guy with alot of potential, but he probably has the worse weight to power ratio in rugby. I beleive that good front row is often greater than the sum of its parts (the Crusaders) but with the Hurricanes its just not the case.

 

[The_Wol]

Tialata had a great game for the Barbarians, must of realized that he's crap and needs to pick up his game.