Super rugby - time for the semi semi finals

(picure http://bit.ly/MKJzhm)

After 18 rounds of slugging it out, we’re down to the knockout stage of Super Rugby. This week I guess is the semi semi final, and the intricacies of the system mean that if the Sharks beat the Reds, the Stormers play the Sharks at Newlands in the semis. Should the Reds win however, the Stormers will play the winners of the Crusaders/ Bulls match.

So, there’ll be two things on the Crusaders minds this weekend – beating the Bulls and hoping like hell that the Reds win, otherwise they’ll be on the plane to SA for the next round. The Crusaders (or team Whitelock as they are now known), have only one key player missing , Kieran Read. McCaw has stepped into the breach and is covering the number 8 position and lying all over the ball.  I can see a yellow card in this match – for standing on McCaw at a ruck. The Bulls have namedan impressively large team, and I’m sure the strategy will be to pulverize the Crusaders pack, score on the breakaway, and kick the penalties. The critical question is will they be able to contain the flair of the Crusaders backs? I’m saying, no, they won’t so a home win for the Crusaders.

The Reds have sneaked into this final, with some very up and down form, mainly as a result of a long string of injuries. They will be missing Quade Cooper, not renowned for any type of tackling, and then last week he goes and does a tip tackle. How Will Genia plays is absolutely crucial for them, he could take them through on his own.  The Sharks have picked Alberts at lock, and are planning to pulverize the Reds pack – where have I heard that before? Without Lambie in the backs they are little short on flair, so again I’m going with the home team to get the win.

Super Rugby
Saturday , July 21
Crusaders vs Bulls 08:35
Reds vs Sharks 10:40

Block rocking Boks grab three, New Zealand two and the Aussies one

One to watch ( picture http://bit.ly/MrSA4Y)

It’s a good thing I don’t put money on my predictions. The Chiefs will be kicking themselves after handing the top of the league to the Stormers, in the last minute of their last round robin match. Composure! That’s what champions have, and I kind of doubt that the Chiefs are going to be champions this time around. Next up in the kicking themselves stakes are the Brumbies, who after hanging on to lead of the Aussie division forever it seems, managed to lose to whipping boys the Blues in their last match, and bow out of the competition.  It’s tough, but Jake White has done a great job with a team nobody expected anything of.

After that, it went to form, with the Crusaders easily beating the Force,  and the Reds trouncing the ‘Tahs to grab a spot. With only 58 points, in a real competition, they would have got sixth spot, but Sanzar gave the Reds 3rd.

The Stormers didn’t look to flash putting away the Rebels, but they already had their eye on potentially a final. If you top the log, you normally win the whole thing, is this going to be the Stormers year? The Sharks played their normal half of rugby, but lucky for them chose the second half this time, and put down a spirited Cheetahs side. JP Pietersen and Willem Alberts had big games, but it’s a pity to see Lambie out now.

Finally, the Bulls ran over the Lions, it was contest for some of the match, but in the second half the Bulls opened up and put the game to bed. Impressive for me was JJ Engelbrecht, who looks like he could add some much needed flair to the Bok backline.
So that’s the final standing, 3 from the Republic, two from New Zealand, and an Aussie side scraping in. Good news for the Boks.

1. Stormers 66
2. Chiefs 64
3. Reds 58
4. Crusaders 61
5. Bulls 59
6. Sharks 59

Then these are the next matches, while the Stormers and Chiefs take a break.

Saturday , July 21
Crusaders vs Bulls 08:35
Reds vs Sharks 10:40

Super Rugby
Saturday , July 14
Brumbies 16 - 30 Blues 
Crusaders 38 - 24 Western Force 
Stormers 26 - 21 Melbourne Rebels 
Sharks 34 - 15 Cheetahs 
Reds 32 - 16 Waratahs 
Bulls 37 - 20 Lions 
Friday , July 13
Hurricanes 28 - 25 Chiefs

50 Shades of Blue - relax, it's a Leinster round up , plus final round Super Rugby predictions

(picture http://bit.ly/PTggAy)

Here are a few links with some info on two new signings by Leinster, Tom Denton, and Michael Bent. Bent is apparently qualified to play for Ireland, so that could work out well. Are we going to have a shot at signing Brumby Ruaidhri Murphy?  The big news of course is that we’ve got Luke Fitzgerald back for another year. Crazy that he hasn’t got an IRFU contract, injuries aside, he’s been getting back to some really good form.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/sport/9680363.Tom_Denton_signs_for_Leinster_rugby_union_team/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bent

I’m predicting no change in the Super Rugby standings, with wins for the Chiefs, Stormers, Brumbies, Crusaders and Sharks. Well that was easy! I’d say the Sharks have their work cut out against the Cheetahs, and of course the battle between the Chiefs and Hurricanes will be epic.  Freddie Michalak has been in sparkling form for both France and the Sharks, who look like they are timing their run just right this year. With Lambie and Alberts on the bench, the Sharks have enough firepower to get home.

Super Rugby

Friday , July 13
Hurricanes vs Chiefs 
Saturday , July 14
Brumbies vs Blues 15:30
Crusaders vs Western Force 19:35
Reds vs Waratahs 19:40
Stormers vs Melbourne Rebels 15:00
Sharks vs Cheetahs 17:05
Bulls vs Lions 19:10

A sprinkle of Irish News and Super Rugby

Connacht spread the word (picture http://bit.ly/NRkVLK0

Not much Irish news as far I can see, except that Leinster will be taking on Ireland in a 20/20 match of cricket ( 27th July, 2.30) – sounds excellent! I met Irish captain Trent Johnson the other day and he’s a big tall strong lad – would have made a pretty fearsome rugby player I’d say. I’m not expecting too much blocking from Leinster… Also I see Connacht  did a bit PR around the great platform of the Volvo Ocean Race, with an open skills session and some touch rugby.

Super Rugby

I didn’t get to see the Sharks/Bulls match, as a barbeque, my son’s cricket and mowing the lawn conspired against me. But they did OK without me, a bonus point win against the Bulls is none too shabby. The top of the Table is quite SA heavy at the moment, with the Stormers inching towards the top, and the Bulls and the Sharks in the last two play off spots.

The matches I did watch were the Crusaders/Chiefs match, where a lack of composure and a brutal line out saw the Chiefs hand a win to the Crusaders. It was a good game though, very skilled, high tempo and passionate.  I also saw the Highlanders/Reds game, where again a nervy Highlanders team ran themselves into the ground, made errors at key moments, and lost a match they had the winning of. The Reds look great in fits and starts, but don’t seem to able to maintain their concentration. Ben Smith is the stand out player for the Highlanders.
Super Rugby
Saturday , July 7
Blues 32 - 9 Western Force 
Waratahs 15 - 19 Brumbies 
Cheetahs 6 - 13 Stormers 
Lions 37 - 32 Melbourne Rebels 
Friday , July 6
Chiefs 21 - 28 Crusaders 
Reds 19 - 13 Highlanders 
Sharks 32 - 10 Bulls 

Irish provincial signings and a bit of Super Rugby

CJ Stander (picture http://bit.ly/N7CLtT)

Irish Round Up

All seems quiet on the Leinster front with all the news coming from the other three provinces. It seems you are nobody if you haven’t signed a South African recently – Leinster snapped up lock Quinn Roux, Munster have got their hands on CJ Stander, a promising young flanker from the Bulls, and Connacht are in on the act as well, signing wing/full back Danie Poolman,  from the Stormers.  All three can potentially play for Ireland, but they might want to cast their eye over the career of another South African who came here looking to play rugby for Ireland, Robbie Diack. Diack was tipped by some to be a future Springbok, but his chances with Ireland seem slim when he’s struggling to make Ulster’s first team. Time will tell who makes the grade. With Ricard Strauss waiting in the wings as well , the days of the Springboks using Afrikaans for line out calls when they play us are numbered.

Meanwhile, Ulster, in a ‘signing a South African is so last season, dahling’ move,  have signed a kiwi, Nick Williams.

Super Rugby

The Chiefs could do the Canes a big favour by beating the Saders, and I actually think they have a chance, even with Carter, Dagg and Read back in the team. The Reds should beat the Highlanders, and put pressure on the Brumbies, who on paper should lose against the Tahs.

The Sharks vs the Bulls rivals the first match in terms of impact. I’m not expecting anything fancy – in fact I’d fall off my chair if I saw anything fancy- it’s going to be South African rugby at it’s brutal best. The Sharks are without Lambie and man mountain Alberts, and have slipped up in recent matches. I’m going with home advantage to see them through.

The Blues and Western Force, and the Rebels and Lions promise to be fascinating encounters…not.
Enjoy the rugby!

Super Rugby
Friday , July 6
Chiefs vs Crusaders 19:35
Reds vs Highlanders 19:40
Sharks vs Bulls 18:10
Saturday , July 7
Blues vs Western Force 19:35
Waratahs vs Brumbies 19:40
Cheetahs vs Stormers 15:00
Lions vs Melbourne Rebels 17:05

#Leinster sign Quinn Roux and bits and pieces of Super 15

(picture http://bit.ly/LYlUue)

Leinster have announced the signing of Quinn Roux from Western Province. He’s the lad on the right (not the one in the middle, thank goodness), while the other chap is Eben Etzebeth, the new Springbok sensation. He’ll add some much appreciated grunt to the engine room, and I guess is a medium term prospect for Ireland. I hope Damian Browne gets more game time this season as well, he’s come along a lot with the opportunities he’s had.

Well with the North on Holiday, it was time to catch up with the S15. I caught three  derbies, Crusaders/Hurricanes, Brumbies/Force and Bulls/Cheetahs.  The first was the closet, and an exciting match. It got really helter skelter near the end, I guess the Crusaders miss some old heads like Carter and Read to calm things down, but you have to take your hat off the Hurricanes for a great win.

The Aussie derby was pretty dire- low skill levels, and the amount of mistakes! The Force lost their coach mid season, and it shows, with heads hanging firmly down.

Finally, it was the Bulls, in stampede mode in the first half, running in four trys as easy as you like. To me the stand out player was Juandre Kruger (former Saint), he’s frighteningly agile and mobile for a man his size. When the Bulls turn it on, I’d say a sniper is the only thing that would save you. With the match won, they then totally switched off and let in a few easy trys. Heinrich Brussow didn’t feature much at the breakdown, but what an all round player, evening scoring a wings try.

Ireland's season - the verdict. Time for a spot of dialysis

(Picture http://bit.ly/MWWKgQ)

Ireland’s season was slammed shut by the All Blacks last weekend, so time to pore over the debris, and try to work out what happened.  This is Irelands record of the season- readers of a nervous disposition should look away now.

Scotland 10-6 Ireland
France 19-12 Ireland
Ireland  22–26  France
Ireland 9-20 England
Australia  6 – 15  Ireland
Ireland  36 – 6  Italy
Ireland  10  22  Wales 
Ireland  21 – 23  Wales
Ireland  42 – 10  Italy
France  17 – 17  Ireland
Ireland  32 – 14  Scotland
England  30 – 9  Ireland
New Zealand 42 – 10 Ireland
New Zealand 22 – 19 Ireland
New Zealand 60 – 0 Ireland

Pluses – we beat Australia! Lost narrowly to the All Blacks, and at a push got a draw with France

Negatives – takes a deep breath – lost 60-0 to the All Blacks, knocked out of the WC by Wales when we should have been there or thereabouts. And look at the losses NZ 3 England 2 Wales 2 France 1 Scotland 1.  Basically, Italy and Australia were the only teams we beat consistently.  I haven’t included the USA and Russia, because if we can’t beat them we can all go home.

So, what’s the reason for all of this, when we have arguably the two best club teams in Europe. And Munster. Not arguably in the best the best two teams in Europe, but a pretty good team none the less. We are struggling a bit with the age of the best players – there are a few giants of the game who have retired, or are held together by bandages and plasters.

But after all that, we managed to up in the IRB rankings, to 7th. I love the IRB rankings! If you can lose and go up, we should keep Kidney forever, because at this rate we’ll be no. 1 in no time!

We have been struggling with a few key positions, mostly at lock and in the front row. So one of the positives of the NZ was what looks like the new starting lock combination of Tuohy and Ryan, and a new tighthead in the shape of Declan Fitzpatrick.

In the next 2-3 years we are going to lose Ross, O’Connell, O’Driscoll,  O’Gara and D’Arcy. We have some replacements coming through, but at centre we have a big gap looming. So far Kidney has used Earls and Wallace there. Earls improves each match, but I don’t know if he’ll ever be a center he’s a wing or a full back.

That is the nub of the problem we have right now, in that we need change, but have an ultra conservative coach, who’s making change mainly as a result of injuries. Our style of play doesn’t fit our skill set either, it’s not great to watch, and it’s not giving us the results. We have the firepower in our backline, but we are firing blanks. We had a great win over Australia, but the only time the team had the hairs stand up on the back of my neck was the second NZ match. Straight after that match, I had some good words for Kidney. I’m going to have to take them back now.

I think it’s time for change. We need a coach who can foster new talent, and play to our strengths. My ideal candidate is Joel Schmidt – it wouldn’t be great for Leinster, but I think he could really do things with Ireland.  Mike Ruddock would be in the frame too, that’s a smashing job he did with the U20’s, 5th and the only team to beat the Baby Boks.  Personally, I think it’s too early for Connor O’Shea, although I wouldn’t mind him at Leinster! Graham Henry?

I think it’s how and when, and not if anymore.