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   

Quite possibly all New Zealand semi finals coming up in Super Rugby!

 

It's quarter finals time in Super Rugby - even I can understand how that works, after a final qualification round that would have had Pythagoras stumped as to who had to do what.  It's a weird set up though - the Stormers have played no New Zealand sides yet! It's hard to look past the New Zealand teams in terms of results this weekend. I watched the Highlanders play the Chiefs last weekend in a game that was played at absolutely blistering pace. None of the Highlanders could even stand, never mind celebrate victory at the final whistle.

Out of the four matches, I'd say the Lions have the best chance of coming up with a victory, with home advantage and a pretty decent team. But it could easily be  all New Zealand semi finals

Meanwhile at home, there's talk about adding an American team to the PRO12. It would add a fair bit of excitement, but hard to see how it would work in practice, adding a shed load of traveling, and fixtures at odd times.

Friday, July 22       
Brumbies v    Highlanders     9:00 AM
Saturday, July 23       
Hurricanes v    Sharks     8:35 AM
Lions v    Crusaders     3:30 PM
Stormers v    Chiefs     6:00 PM

Ayumu Goromaru (Toulon) worlds best paid rugby player, and a bit of Super Rugby.

 

 Ayumu Goromaru (Toulon)

This is a list of the worlds highest paid rugby players according to The Telegraph. Good to see we have least one player in the top 10 - as many as England or Wales anyway. Pretty ludicrous that the top payed player is not known even to most rugby fans. Toulon obviously want to sell jerseys in Japan.

Elsewhere, it's the final round of Super Rugby. I had a look at the all the possible permutations, but as I don't have a doctorate in quantum physics I found them quite difficult to follow. I know the Lions and Stormers have done well anyway. Overall, the Jaguares, Sunwolves and Kings have been very disppointing additions, although in fairness it is their first season. The two prime match ups this weekend are the Crusaders v the Hurricanes, and the Highlanders v the Chiefs. Make the effort to watch them if you can, you won't be disappointed!

T9. Duane Vermeulen (Toulon and South Africa) - €540,000
T9. Colin Slade (Pau) - €540,000
T9. Manu Tuilagi (Leicester and England) - €540,000
8. Bryan Habana (Toulon and South Africa) - €570,000
T4. Charles Piutau (Ulster) - €600,000
T4. Johnny Sexton (Leinster and Ireland) - €600,000
T4. Ma'a Nonu (Toulon) - €600,000
T4. Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon and Wales) €600,000
3. Matt Giteau (Toulon and Australia) - €1.08m
2. Dan Carter (Racing 92) - €1.67m
1. Ayumu Goromaru (Toulon) - €1.67m+



Friday, July 15       
Blues v    New South Wales Waratahs     8:35 AM
Queensland Reds v    Melbourne Rebels     10:45 AM
Sharks v    Sunwolves     6:00 PM
       
Saturday, July 16       
Crusaders v    Hurricanes     6:15 AM
Highlanders v    Chiefs     8:35 AM
Brumbies v    Western Force     10:45 AM
Stormers v    Southern Kings     4:05 PM
Cheetahs v    Bulls     6:15 PM
Jaguares v    Lions     10:40 PM

Everybody wants Joe Schmidt!

Joe Schmidt

It's no secret the Joe Schmidt is weighing up his options, and has discussed going back to New Zealand, but ultimately he must also be angling for the All Black job. Super Rugby Highlanders want to talk to him, and now the Chiefs do too. At the end of the day though, All Black incumbent Steve Hansen has to leave his job before anything happens,  and he's making the wrong noises about that for the moment. So let's cross fingers that Joe stay put!

I watched a fair amount of Super Rugby, and what has to stick out is the power of the New Zealand, smiting all and sundry before them, Australian, South African, Argentinian, home or away, it doesn't matter. You feel like they could field two sides in the Rugby Championship and come first and second. And no lie, the handling skills of the Highlanders forwards are way better than the Cheetah's backs - it's not even close.