Adriaan Fondse
Super Rugby matches in the three-week playoffs which start this weekend will be decided by penalty shootouts if the teams remain deadlocked after extra time.
The Blues and Crusaders will have to win the Super Rugby title the hard way but Blues coach Pat Lam doesn’t see that as a bad thing in a World Cup year.
There are no second lives for either New Zealand side under the extended six-team playoffs system.
Following the completion of Round 18 of the Super Rugby regular season, the confirmed fixtures for the 2011 Super Rugby Finals Series Qualifiers are:
Date: Friday 24 June 2011
Teams: Blues (4th) vs Waratahs (5th)
Date: Saturday 25 June 2011
Teams: Crusaders (3rd – NZ Conference winners) vs Sharks (6th)
Crusaders (6) 16 / Hurricanes (6) 9 (Final Score)
The Crusaders hosted the Hurricanes at Westpac tadium, Wellington at 09:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Crusaders finish top of the New Zealand Conference.
Chiefs (6) 11 / Reds (10) 19 (Final Score)
The Chiefs hosted the Reds at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton at 07:30 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Reds held on to win, but apart from a very good first 20 minutes did not impres, apart from keeping their defences up well. The Chiefs tried well but finishing let them down.
Blues (17) 33 / Highlanders (11) 16 (Final Score)
The Blues hosted the Highlanders at Eden Park, Auckland at 09:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
The Blues were clearly the better side, doing the necessary to claim a play-off spot.
Herewith ALL the Super Rugby team sheets as they were announced for week 18 of Super Rugby 2011.
All Black and Blues midfield back Luke McAlister has confirmed that he has signed a three-year deal with French rugby club, Toulouse.
Peter Bills wrote an article in the New Zealand Herald warning (or is he looking for excuses) that the New Zealand S15 Franchises are bashing each other to a pulp just in time for the World Cup.
He writes: “The pace and physicality of the Super 15 since it began in February has to be increasingly draining these guys. For the best, and that means most of the All Blacks, it will go on for the rest of this month. The Super 15 final isn’t until July 9. And then comes … the Tri-Nations. If a side like the Crusaders reach the final, it could be they’ll have to play it in South Africa.
All Blacks coach Graham Henry has said that his selectors face a tough job as they must ensure that New Zealand’s entire squad must get game time ahead of the world cup and still win Test matches.
SANZAR have released the match officials for the 18th Round of the 2011 Super Rugby tournament with Jonathan Kaplan getting the big Bulls vs Sharks clash in SA.
Waratahs (19) 33 / Highlanders (7) 7 (Final Score)
Crusaders (13) 23 / Blues (11) 16 (Final Score)
The Crusaders hosted the Blues at Alpine Energy Stadium, Timaru at 09:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Crusaders prevailed with a 7-point win, going top of the New Zealand Conference, with one week to go.
Chiefs (15) 18 / Hurricanes (5) 18 (Final Score)
The Chiefs hosted the Hurricanes at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton at 09:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
The rain stifled what was initially a promising match, fair result on the day.
Herewith ALL the Super Rugby team sheets as they were announced for week 17 of Super Rugby 2011.
Sanzar CEO Greg Peters has admitted that “disparities between penalties” remain a concern as the first season of conference style Super Rugby moves into the home stretch.
SANZAR have released the match officials for the 17th Round of the 2011 Super Rugby tournament with Steve Walsh returning to action.
The Crusaders have suffered another cruel blow with the loss of Captain Richie McCaw for the rest of the regular Super Rugby season.
Although I have said many times that I do not like the new format of Super Rugby, be it due to the unevenness of not playing all the teams in the Competition and playing local derbies twice, it still does make for interesting reading going into the final two rounds of Competition.
The 15th of August 1992 was South Africa’s official return to first class international rugby after 11 years –since the 1981 tour to NZ- of rugby isolation. The Springboks did play two “Test matches” against a world XV in 1989 (6 years prior to 1992) and 4 “Test matches” against the NZ Cavaliers in 1986 and of course there was the two Test matches against a 1984 touring English side but these matches were in all fairness not the real thing.
Stephen Donald kicked a late penalty to seal an 11-16 Super Rugby victory over an unconvincing Blues team that has now lost three matches in a row.
Blues (6) 11 / Chiefs (7) 16 (Final Score)
The Blues hosted the Chiefs at Eden Park, Auckland at 09:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Blues stumbled for the 3rd time in 4 weeks, the Chiefs finally coming to some kind of form, late in the competition.
Ideal result for the South African challenge on the competition as a whole!
Hurricanes (15) 38 / Lions (20) 27 (Final Score)
The Hurricanes hosted the MTN Lions at Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 07:30 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Hurricanes managed their 5 Log points win to nothing over the MTN Lions.
Highlanders (14) 14 / Force (3) 21 (Final Score)
The Highlanders hosted the Western Force at Carisbrook Stadium, Dunedin at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ local time). This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Highlanders were simply blown off the field in the second half by a very gutsy Western Force side. Ideal result for the sides from South Africa with aspirations for the play-off’s.
Herewith ALL the Super Rugby team sheets as they were announced for week 16 of Super Rugby 2011.
SANZAR has announced the referees for week 16 of Super Rugby 2011.
Reds (7) 17 / Crusaders (10) 16 (Final Score)
The Reds hosted the Crusaders at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane at 08:10 SA Time, Sunday morning. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Reds flyhalf, Quade Cooper, slotted a penalty in the 80th minute to secure a 1-point lead and eventual win. It was a hard and brutal match but the relatively low scores both sides just do not do justice to the open and flowing game presented by these tow sides on the day.
Highlanders (16) 22 / Lions (9) 26 (Final Score)
The Highlanders hosted the MTN Lions at Carisbrook, Dunedin at 09:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The embattled MTN Lions pulled off a miracle win right at the death, doing the Bulls and Sharks a huge favour in the process… and causing the Highlanders to only get 1 Log point from this game.
Activists in New Zealand have threatened to disrupt this year’s Rugby World Cup with protests over government cutbacks, including possibly flour-bombing Auckland’s Eden Park stadium from the air.
Hurricanes (10) 34 / Force (18) 28 (Final Score)
The Hurricanes hosted the Western Force at FMG Stadium, Palmerston at 09:35 SA Time. This was the match Thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
After a diabolical start, the Hurricanes rallied to grit out a bonus point win against a gutsy Western Force side.
Herewith ALL the Super Rugby team sheets as they are announced for week 15 of Super Rugby 2011.
All Blacks’ inspirational captain Richie McCaw has confirmed that he has re-signed with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and the Crusaders Super Rugby franchise, committing through until 2015.
SANZAR have released the match officials for the fifteenth Round of the 2011 Super Rugby tournament and Steve Walsh has the big one on Sunday between the Reds and Crusaders.
This weekend has six matches, one on Friday and four on Saturday and one on Sunday.
The Blues, Chiefs and the Rebels have the bye this weekend.
The prospects of three teams from either New Zealand or South Africa making Super Rugby’s six-team playoffs is firming, as is the embarrassment of Australia having just one.
Crusaders (6) 25 / Chiefs (6) 19 (Final Score)
The Crusaders hosted the Chiefs at McLean Park, Napier at 09:35 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
In a dour game, with lots of errors, the Crusaders marched on in their quest for the title.