April 5 - Quick Taps...
Some short, sharp dabs down the blindside
Sparse crowds for Super Rugby | Eddie Jones goes early! | Injuries ramping up - sad for Sevu but he won’t be the last sadly | NZ Sevens double gold in Honkers | Blues struggling to score | Where’s the Silver Lake impact?
Super Rugby
No upsets really but a couple of good frights for the Canes and the Brumbies. Still dominated by the NZ sides and am still looking for an upset to inject some additional interest. The Crusaders managed to get the job done in Brisbane with a depleted XV - due to injury which either means their squad depth is superb or the Reds are ordinary - probably a decent dollop of both.
I trundled down the motorway Sat night for the Chiefs v Blues battle - not a bad crowd on a rainy evening - but after an even and entertaining first 40, the Chiefs settled for a second half defence workout whilst the Blues failed to get over the line, again. As tough as the Chiefs defence was and they were a wall, the Blues should’ve found a way to score at least a couple. So much ball and so much time in the Chiefs 22, resulted in nothing - as my son Will said “Blues with plenty of bark but no bite!”. They had the same issue against the Crusaders a couple weeks back and seem to be playing too much as individuals…so some work to do for Rangi.
The chat in the car on the way back decided that Beaudy is off his oats, the Blues need to insert more basic structure into their attack. Cane was very good, Taukei’aho needs to be on for the whole 80, Chiefs blindside Finau looks like a new Kaino, and DMac is on fire although for me he’s over-running at times, making life difficult for his outside backs to know where to line up and a hell of a boot for a wee fella!
So the Chiefs go 6 on the trot and flying along top of the table. The Canes looking very dangerous in 2nd although they almost let a 24-point lead slip against the Force who raced home with 3 converted tries in the last 10. Strange things can happen in Palmy North..
The battle of the best of the Aussie mobs was a cracker. The Tahs and Brumbies went toe-to-toe for the 80 with plenty of tries. Whilst the Tahs had good leads for big chunks of the match, the Brumbies snuck over the line with a 78th minute winning try. Quite a number of players probably sealed their selection in Eddies first Wallaby squad announced the next day, although given there are no tests for 3 months, it must just be Eddie’s way of staying relevant.
Highlanders won again, the Drua won again at home which is promising, but they need to be able to win on the road. Their Pasifika cuzzies continue to struggle badly as the jump from club rugby is a big leap - maybe they need to somehow get their hands on some of the better PI players from the other franchises? The Rebels, Force and the Reds still just trying to make up the numbers. The Reds demise from the giddy heights of their 2011 title looks well locked-in.
Finally, Sevu gone - injuries are part-and-parcel of professional rugby but there are a lot of top players out, and Sevu’s season-ending knee tear is another one. Although September is still a ways away, this growing list could become problematic.
Hong Kong double Gold !
The Mens 7’s broke a 9-year drought to grab the title via a couple of hard fought victories, and then held on in the final v Fiji who are always tough in Honkers. Meanwhile, the NZ Black Ferns 7’s side would have to currently be the best 7’s side, male or female, on the planet. Thrashed everyone on their way to the final with scintillating play and always seemed to have enough quality to beat the Aussies in the final. Blyde, Waaka, Miller, Pouri-Lane, Nathan-Wong and Woodman are lethal with ball in hand and were great to watch.
NZRU
As I said last week, am happy the NZRU has made a decision on the AB coaching saga and we can now concentrate on RWC 2023 and support Fuzzy. Razor is the new broom needed and it will be interesting to eventually see who his assistants are. There’s a lot of wheeze that Rangi MacDonald is on the list and of course thankfully Jason Ryan is already installed! Does anyone know exactly what Scott McLeod does or has achieved as I’m thinking we can do better.
Finally, anyone know what Silver Lake are up to? Am sure they voted for Razor!!
Enough for now - comments & opinions welcome, and as always, draw-and-pass it on!
Thanks Rod!