The Lions join the the three Kiwi teams in the Super Rugby semi finals!

  

 

The Super Rugby quarters played out as expected, apart from the Lions victory at Ellis Park. I watched the first half of that, and they were right up for it, playing a fast paced skillful game, making the Crusaders looked leaden footed. The Crusaders have turned from the dominant team in the competition to also-rans, and Todd Blackadder leaves at about the right time I think.

I also watched the Brumbies fall to the Higlanders, in a pretty close match. The Brumbies will feel like they didn't get the advantage they deserved from their dominant scrum, but it was the Highlanders who played most of the rugby, and on balance totally deserved that win.

Elsewhere, the Hurrricanes duly slaughtered the Sharks, with coach Chris Boyd graciously pointing out the disadvantage of travel for the South African team. That's a factor alright, but the Sharks have won away before in semis, they just weren't in that match.

Finally, the Stormers were crushed at home by the Chiefs, so the travel argument didn't work in this case. It's a crazy competition where the Stormers didn't play a Kiwi's side until the quarters.

Friday, July 22   
Brumbies 9 - 15    Highlanders
Saturday, July 23   
Hurricanes 41 - 0    Sharks
Lions 42 - 25    Crusaders
Stormers 21 - 60    Chiefs
   
Super Rugby semi-finals   
Saturday, July 30   
Hurricanes v Chiefs   
Lions v Highlanders