super rugby places acording to inside rugby

[The big Kangaroo]

acording to inside rugby

1Crusaders
2tahs
3bulls
4stormers
5reds
6brumbies
7force
8chiefs
9sharks
10blues
11canes
12cheetahs
13lions
14rebels
15highlanders

i think its pretty good exept for i think the reds will win or atleast top 4

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Can we make this a prediction thread? This would be my prediction:

1. Crusaders
By far the most consistent team over the years
2. Sharks
A very good squad this year with amazing talent, experience and variety. Completely adapted to the running game
3. Bulls
All depends on Fourie du Preez. They suffered some personal problems with Roux (arrested), Basson and Ralapelle (both probably suspended for a long time)
4. Reds
Always a fast running team. With Genia and Cooper an amazing half-back duo.
5. Stormers
Last season was amazing for the Capies. I don't think they can do it again though.
6. Brumbies
7. Blues
8. Waratahs
9. Chiefs
10.Western Force
11.Lions
With the quality injection of Kockott, Jantjies, Mapoe and maybe some other cards up their sleeve I think 2011 will be the year they bounce back. Not going for the top of the log, but at least doing better than the 13 losses in 2010
12.Hurricanes
13.Highlanders
14.Cheetahs
The Cheetahs have lost Mapoe, JL Potgieter and Bosman and quality-wise not much came to Bloem. Jongi Nokwe should eventually stand up and who the world he is a good winger. Apart from the 2 flanker, Smith and Brussow, I don't see a lot of World Class potential in the Free State side
15.Rebels


The other teams I don't know well enough to give a decent explanation but with lists like these it's just a feeling you have about the finishing

 

[nickdnz]

I have to laugh at where people put the Hurricanes, especially considering they have made it to 2 semifinals in the last three years. I'll go with -

1. Crusaders
2. Bulls
3. Stormers
4. Hurricanes
5. Blues
6. Reds
7. Chiefs
8. Waratahs
9. Stormers
10. Brumbies
11. Highlanders
12. Rebels
13. Cheetahs
14. Western Force
15. Lions

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

I have to laugh at where people put the Hurricanes, especially considering they have made it to 2 semifinals in the last three years. I'll go with -

1. Crusaders
2. Bulls
3. Stormers
4. Hurricanes
5. Blues
6. Reds
7. Chiefs
8. Waratahs
9. Stormers
10. Brumbies
11. Highlanders
12. Rebels
13. Cheetahs
14. Western Force
15. Lions

I have to laugh when nick decides to leave out the Sharks in favor of a second Stormers team

 

[Amobokoboko]

1. Crusaders
2. Bulls
3. Stormers
4. Hurricanes
5. Blues
6. Chiefs
7. Reds
8. Waratahs
9. Stormers
10. Brumbies
11. Highlanders
12. Western Force
13. Cheetahs
14. Rebels
15. Lions

A healthy view on things.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

1 Crusaders - too much depth and consistancy not to make the finals and with added spice in the backline (Carter, SBW, Dagg) they ought to be pushing top spot
2-4 Stormers - very even between the top 3 SA sides
2-4 Sharks - see above
2-4 Bulls - see above; nothing in it
5 Waratahs - best Aus side and will push hard
6 Reds - will get lots of points but not a team to win tight games
7 Hurricanes - able but don't have the forwards to go the distance much like the Reds
8 Chiefs - good but the others are better
9 Brumbies - see above
10 Blues - too hot and cold to push for tops although they have the talent
11 Cheetahs - great forward pack and thats it; lost too much in the back
12 Force - lots of guts but not enough depth and lacking in some areas
13 Highlanders - good effort but not enough results
14 Lions - will win 2 games this year
15 Rebels - will find the step up difficult

 

[bobbilycious]

I have to laugh at where people put the Hurricanes, especially considering they have made it to 2 semifinals in the last three years. I'll go with -

1. Crusaders
2. Bulls
3. Stormers
4. Hurricanes
5. Blues
6. Reds
7. Chiefs
8. Waratahs
9. Stormers
10. Brumbies
11. Highlanders
12. Rebels
13. Cheetahs
14. Western Force
15. Lions

Their forward pack isn't really looking that good and they lack real depth which should be even more important this year. I would be quite surprised if they weren't 3rd or 4th out of the NZ franchises.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

1. Crusaders
2. Bulls
3. Stormers
4. Hurricanes
5. Blues
6. Chiefs
7. Reds
8. Waratahs
9. Stormers
10. Brumbies
11. Highlanders
12. Western Force
13. Cheetahs
14. Rebels
15. Lions

A healthy view on things.

Nice... Just like Nick

 

[Shaggy]

I have to laugh when nick decides to leave out the Sharks in favor of a second Stormers team

... Anything is possible with the new draw/format ... even the Sharks being assimilated by the Borg ... ar ur ... the Stormers I mean

 

[The_Wol]

1 Crusaders - too much depth and consistancy not to make the finals and with added spice in the backline (Carter, SBW, Dagg) they ought to be pushing top spot
6 Reds - will get lots of points but not a team to win tight games

I take it you didn't watch the Reds vs Stormers or Reds vs Bulls games this year then

1. Bulls
2. Crusaders
3. Reds
4. Hurricanes
5. Sharks
6. Brumbies
7. Chiefs
8. Stormers
9. Blues
10. Waratahs
11. Lions
12. Force
13. Highlanders
14. Cheetahs
15. Rebels

And I didn't put the Reds at number one :O

 

[Darwin]

Don't know how anyone could think the Highlanders are going to get last this season (I'm referring to the prediction by Inside Rugby) - we have had some pretty terrible squads over recent year and haven't managed to finish last, so I certainly can't see it happening with the semi-competitive squad we have assembled this year..

My predictions (though I'm not aware of the player movement between the South African squads, so my placement of them is based largely on last years teams, rather than this season teams......):

1. Crusaders (I think they will win it this year. The addition of SBW and Dagg, and the vast improvement Fruean has shown over the last 6 months will mean they have an incredibly potent backline, to complement there powerful forward pack)
2. Bulls
3. Stormers
4. Blues (I think they will step up this year - they have almost a completely All Black forward pack, and a incredibly dangerous backline (the likes of Mathewson, Toeava, Stowers, Ranger, Payne, Rococoko). If they can put it all together they could be devastating, however much I think will depend on how their first-five performs (either Brett of MacAlister..)
5. Reds (Probably the most exciting team on paper..)
6. Waratahs
7. Hurricanes (No convinced about them to be honest - a lot will depend on how Cruden plays, and how they survive the first few months of the season without Weepu.)
8. Sharks (Could be much higher if they play like they did in the later parts of last season..)
9. Brumbies
10. Highlanders (Probably 2-3 spots too high to be honest, but for the first time in a number of years I'm quite looking forward to watching the Highlanders play. Even if they don't win a huge number of games I expect they will play some exciting rugby at times, and look to build a team that could be very competitive in 2-3 years time.)
11. Chiefs (Could do a lot better, even make the top 6, if they can stay injury free. However staying injury free is always a big ask for the Chiefs...)
12. Force
13. Cheetahs
14. Rebels (squad doesn't really impress me)
15. Lions (unless they get a number of good players in I think they will struggle again)

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Am I the only person here who rates the Waratahs higher than the Reds? I know its superrugby but its not 7s yet, surely?

I feel that looking at the comments in general:
- Stormers are getting a too much respect (which I like but we will have it all to do to repeat last year's performances).
- Reds are being overhyped as well and this time round they won't catch anyone off guard.
- Sharks are being underestimated.

My 2 cents.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

.. as for the Lions; they won't go any higher than 13th but don't be surprised if they take a few scalps along the way this time round.

 

[nickdnz]

Nice... Just like Nick

:lol:

Ahhh, 9 is supposed to be Sharks


1. John Schwalger (was arguably the form prop of the ITM Cup.
2. Andrew Hore (All Black Hooker)
3. Neemia Tialata (All Black Tub-O-****, but had a good game for the Barbarians who beat SA)
4. Jason Eaton (Possible WC All Black)
5. Jeremy Thrush (Wellington's Captain for the end of the season)
6. Victor Vito (Will be an AB in the RWC)
7. Karl Lowe (Best ITM Cup Flanker, will be late entry)
8. Rodney So'oialo (A bit past it, but Faifile Levave is very capable).
9. Tyson Keats (Solid)
10. Aaron Cruden (IRB Junior Player of 2009/If he's great, Hurricanes could win the entire thing. If he's average, we'll finish mid table)
11. Hosea Gear (Arguably Best Winger in the world)
12. Ma'a Nonu (Arguable best 12 in the world)
13. Conrad Smith (Arguably the best Center in the world)
14. Julian Savea (IRB Junior Player of the Year 2010)
15. Cory Jane (Arguably best outside back in the world)

With the Canes backline, I find it hard to think people are counting them in the same standard as the Lions, Highlanders, Western Force, Cheetahs and Rebels...

The forward pack as individuals is one of the better packs in the competition, with 6/8 being All Blacks at some point. What has been the Canes biggest problem is the fact that they play such an expansive and at times, stupid game, that the forwards just can't keep up, and get isolated, but with Mark Hammett bringing a pragmatic approach, as apposed to Colin Cooper's entertaining but silly style.

I don't think the Hurricanes reserves are any less impressive than any other teams. Yes, many of the AB's will be rested, but the Canes regions have produced the best young talent in the last 4 years with Dagg, Guildford, Savea, Gruden, Vito, Fruean and all the Whitelocks being origionally from within the Wellington recruitment.

I'm not saying we'll win the thing for sure, but I find it's a little hard to think that we'll come any less than 7th. Doesn't immediately strike me as a vintage team, but I think Aaron Cruden has now had long enough to show us what he's worth.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Well, that does give me a different view of things. We will see. About the Sharks... I know they had a terrible 2010 Super 14 season but before that, we did perform very well.

2007 we were top of the log, only losing the final due to a stupid mistake (not goint to blame the forward pass)
2008 we made the play-offs as well
2009 we only missed the play offs on the last day by 1 point against the Bulls

2010 was a season to forget quickly. We started horribly with, if I'm right) 6 losses in a row. We won 6 of the following 7 matches up till the end, finishing quite spectacular, but still missing the play-offs.

We lost Steyn, Pienaar and Muller who moved to Europe but we got some nice talents coming through with Patrick Lambie as the best example. We contracted a fly-half (JL Potgieter), a centre (Meyer Bosman) and a multi-functional backline player (Conrad Hoffmann). Apart from that, we had Mvovo, Alberts, Daniel, Lambie, McLeod, Strauss (moved to Bloem) all making their first minutes in the Green & Gold. I'm not saying we will win the Super15, but I am 99% sure we will be there at the end when the play-offs start.

 

[Shaggy]

acording to inside rugby

1Crusaders
2tahs
3bulls
4stormers
5reds
6brumbies
7force
8chiefs
9sharks
10blues
11canes
12cheetahs
13lions
14rebels
15highlanders

i think its pretty good exept for i think the reds will win or atleast top 4

It's quite possibly this is the way that the final standings will go, as the three Australia teams in the top six, are likely to dominate their conference, where as i think the New Zealand teams are likely to share the wins, so their conference will have the points on offer more evenly shared ... finals qualifying places 4-6 are likely to go to all Australian and South African teams, leaving the New Zealand Conference winner as the sole NZ representative in the top six/finals

... Having said all of that, i'm not sure if it's mathematically possible or probably that the 4th Australian team can finish 7th, or the 5th NZ team to finish last - I'd expect that the 2nd to 5th NZ teams to be bunched further up towards the 7th position.

My prediction would be something like:

1 Crusaders
2 Bulls
3 Sharks
4 Reds
5 Warratahs
6 Brumbies
7 Hurricanes
8 Blues
9 Stormers
10 Chiefs
11 Highlanders
12 Force
13 Cheetahs
14 Lions
15 Rebels

This isn't a slight on any teams ability, more a reflection on how the competition is now structured

 

[Darwin]

:lol:

Ahhh, 9 is supposed to be Sharks


1. John Schwalger (was arguably the form prop of the ITM Cup.
2. Andrew Hore (All Black Hooker)
3. Neemia Tialata (All Black Tub-O-****, but had a good game for the Barbarians who beat SA)
4. Jason Eaton (Possible WC All Black)
5. Jeremy Thrush (Wellington's Captain for the end of the season)
6. Victor Vito (Will be an AB in the RWC)
7. Karl Lowe (Best ITM Cup Flanker, will be late entry)
8. Rodney So'oialo (A bit past it, but Faifile Levave is very capable).
9. Tyson Keats (Solid)
10. Aaron Cruden (IRB Junior Player of 2009/If he's great, Hurricanes could win the entire thing. If he's average, we'll finish mid table)
11. Hosea Gear (Arguably Best Winger in the world)
12. Ma'a Nonu (Arguable best 12 in the world)
13. Conrad Smith (Arguably the best Center in the world)
14. Julian Savea (IRB Junior Player of the Year 2010)
15. Cory Jane (Arguably best outside back in the world)

With the Canes backline, I find it hard to think people are counting them in the same standard as the Lions, Highlanders, Western Force, Cheetahs and Rebels...

The forward pack as individuals is one of the better packs in the competition, with 6/8 being All Blacks at some point. What has been the Canes biggest problem is the fact that they play such an expansive and at times, stupid game, that the forwards just can't keep up, and get isolated, but with Mark Hammett bringing a pragmatic approach, as apposed to Colin Cooper's entertaining but silly style.

I don't think the Hurricanes reserves are any less impressive than any other teams. Yes, many of the AB's will be rested, but the Canes regions have produced the best young talent in the last 4 years with Dagg, Guildford, Savea, Gruden, Vito, Fruean and all the Whitelocks being origionally from within the Wellington recruitment.

I'm not saying we'll win the thing for sure, but I find it's a little hard to think that we'll come any less than 7th. Doesn't immediately strike me as a vintage team, but I think Aaron Cruden has now had long enough to show us what he's worth.

While I do agree that it will be surprising if the Canes did much worse than tenth, I think it will be 50/50 as to whether they make the top 6. Whether they make the playoffs will depend on a number of things:

Prop depth: Schwalger and Tialata are both proven Super Rugby performers, however if one is injured (or rested) I worry how they will cope. Jacob Ellison is probably going to be the bench prop, however his scrummaging is hopeless, while Michael Bent is a rookie at Super Rugby level (and really doesn't impress me that much in any case). I do really rate Perenise, however he never seems to get any respect for the Canes selectors, so I would be surprised if he gets any game time unless they have quite a few props injured.

Openside Flanker: With Karl Lowe is meant to be out for the first 2-3 months of the season either Serge Lilo or Jack Lam will be starting at 7 for the Canes. While both are solid NPC players, neither really stands out as a quality Super Rugby player in my mind (I bet they are wishing they had managed to keep Scott Waldrom...)

Aaron Cruden: As you mentioned he will be a key. He played well at times during the Super 14 last year, but was hardly a standout. He's certainly got the talent to be a star at Super Rugby level, and will want to have a huge season if he is to force his way into the RWC squad. With Weepu out for the first few months Cruden will also be the primary goal-kicker, so I hope he's been working hard on his kicking over the summer!

Hosea Gear: Can he stay fit for a whole super Rugby season? Over the last 3-4 years he seems to have only managed to play 6-7 games a season due to injury. Because of this he is yet to have a dominant Super Rugby season, as he's not manged to put more than a few games together. I really hope he does stay fit all season, as he is a huge asset to the AB's when he is fit and firing.

Julian Savea: Has he learnt to catch and tackle of the Summer? If not he could be badly exposed at Super Rugby level. If he has learnt to catch/tackle he will be a huge asset to the Canes, as he is a phenomenal attacking player.

I expect the Canes will destroy some teams this season with their backline, however whether they can consistently perform is again going to be the key for them...

 

[Haysie]

1. Reds
2. Crusaders
3. Stormers
4. Bulls
5. Hurricanes
6. Blues
7. Chiefs
8. Waratahs
9. Stormers
10. Brumbies
11. Highlanders
12. Rebels
13. Cheetahs
14. Western Force
15. Lions

 

[Seaton]

It's quite possibly this is the way that the final standings will go, as the three Australia teams in the top six, are likely to dominate their conference, where as i think the New Zealand teams are likely to share the wins, so their conference will have the points on offer more evenly shared ... finals qualifying places 4-6 are likely to go to all Australian and South African teams, leaving the New Zealand Conference winner as the sole NZ representative in the top six/finals

... Having said all of that, i'm not sure if it's mathematically possible or probably that the 4th Australian team can finish 7th, or the 5th NZ team to finish last - I'd expect that the 2nd to 5th NZ teams to be bunched further up towards the 7th position.

My prediction would be something like:

1 Crusaders
2 Bulls
3 Sharks
4 Reds
5 Warratahs
6 Brumbies
7 Hurricanes
8 Blues
9 Stormers
10 Chiefs
11 Highlanders
12 Force
13 Cheetahs
14 Lions
15 Rebels

This isn't a slight on any teams ability, more a reflection on how the competition is now structured

Absoutely agree with this post, with pointing out that I don't think 3 Aussie teams will qualify, so maybe one of the Blues/Hurricanes/Stormers get away conference wins, which is where I think
The Aussie teams fall short

 

[TCLewis]

1 Crusaders - too much depth and consistancy not to make the finals and with added spice in the backline (Carter, SBW, Dagg) they ought to be pushing top spot
2-4 Stormers - very even between the top 3 SA sides
2-4 Sharks - see above
2-4 Bulls - see above; nothing in it
5 Waratahs - best Aus side and will push hard
6 Reds - will get lots of points but not a team to win tight games
7 Hurricanes - able but don't have the forwards to go the distance much like the Reds
8 Chiefs - good but the others are better
9 Brumbies - see above
10 Blues - too hot and cold to push for tops although they have the talent
11 Cheetahs - great forward pack and thats it; lost too much in the back
12 Force - lots of guts but not enough depth and lacking in some areas
13 Highlanders - good effort but not enough results
14 Lions - will win 2 games this year
15 Rebels - will find the step up difficult

what step up? there is no step up to be made as they are a new team but also the squad its self athough new is full of some very experienced and talented players, so step up is the worng phrasing but i don't think they will do great this comming season