Super Rugby 2019

[wixfjord]

Haven't seen a thread on this yet. Super Rugby kicking off on Friday with a NZ derby.

ROG's Crusaders the favourites again. Hurricanes should be exciting to watch as always. The Blues might be a surprise package though. They look much stronger than they have done for a while, and Nonu/SBW (if they can stay fit and they haven't lost all their agility due to age) will be very interesting to watch.

Rebels have reunited Genia and Cooper at 9/10, which should be interesting. On paper Brumbies look like the most solid Aus side to me.

Sunwolves will do well to win a few.

Jaguares have three home games against SA teams first up which could see them off to a good start.

Lions look the best of the SA teams. Bulls have brought back big Dwayne but I think they'll struggle.

Sky previews here:

https://www.skysports.com/rugby-union/n ... ce-preview
https://www.skysports.com/rugby-union/n ... ce-preview
https://www.skysports.com/rugby-union/n ... ce-preview

[Fan with smartphone]

Crusaders have been well ahead of everyone else, but elsewhere the Aussie teams might narrow the gap a little this season. Chiefs particularly have lost a lot of players over the past 2 seasons and aussies have concentrated their talent.

Mostert is a big loss for the lions from last year, but they do still look the pick of the South African teams. Jaguares are in that conference and whilst they may or may not win their first game v lions, i think they look set for a good season too. They’ve lost Hernandez and Sanchez but will have a few additions from the Argentine u20s. They are prone to the self-destruct, but were more consistent last season. It’s a good platform.

Looking forward to this weekend. This competition gets it in the neck a right bit, and there are parts of it very frustrating, but overall I love it.

[Fan with smartphone]

Must say have been impressed with the job Brad Thorn is doing with the reds. They try to play and have really developed a few good, young players there. They were in an awful way when he took them on, but I thought they made the best of a bad situation last year. That was encouraging this morning too, despite the loss.

If he’s a coach willing to develop kids, is well got here and knows the lay of the land here...he could be someone to keep an eye on.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Yeah the Reds have a much harder edge to them now. All the Australian teams do actually, hope they keep it up for the season and that it carries into the national side.

I always love seeing new trends in the first few weeks of Super Rugby, one thing I've noticed is that wingers are being asked to do a lot of the heavy lifting to take it up off first phase.

[Fan with smartphone]

Biggest trend for me is less too do with a specific tactic and more just performances/results. The decline in New Zealand teams since roughly the year before the lions tour until now is fairly stark. The crusaders have managed to avoid player losses too badly and are at least at the level they were, but the other teams appear to be dropping off bit by bit. Japan and Europe is playing a part in that, and whilst they will still win more games than lose, I do think the gap has been narrowing and may narrow considerably more this season.

Is early days, but this weekend past Chiefs got an awful hemellimg (with no Pocock for the Brumbies), Highlanders should have been beaten - they were outplayed by the reds, blues got comfortably beaten by what I would have considered a mediocre sharks outfit. I thought Plumtree would add a harder edge to the hurricanes as head coach, but it looks like he has his work cut out. At the moment they are playing like flat track bullies and have been for at least a season. That’s one weekend, in a World Cup year, but their all blacks have been playing and I don’t recall acweekend like it in a long time.

The South African teams look to have made a jump. That concerns me a little from a pro 14 standpoint. Are they focusing their efforts on these teams and not the cheetahs and kings? The cheetahs were a competitive team at times in super rugby. I thought they had potential. The hangover of that potential has them competing reasonably in pro 14. But they lost players last offseason and I’d say the like of Ox Nche will be on other teams’ radar. How long before they are completely picked over? The kings aren’t really competitive in either competition.

I was very sad to see super rugby leave Perth, but the aussies do seem to have benefitted, in the short term at least,from concentrating their talent. The reds seem to be improving a young team with very little in the way of established imports. The Brumbies in the recent past have been dreadful without Pocock but the weekend was impressive. The rebels may well have the best Aussie team. The Waratahs have the most established talent, and although a big rebuild is in the post, they should be strong for the next 2 seasons.

So it looks to me like the Crusaders are absolute miles in front. After that it’s a much more level chasing pack than had been the case. The era of total New Zealand dominance may be (briefly at least) on the wane. In a World Cup year, I suppose everyone is hoping that translates to the international team too.

[Ruckedtobits]

Biggest trend for me is less too do with a specific tactic and more just performances/results. The decline in New Zealand teams since roughly the year before the lions tour until now is fairly stark. The crusaders have managed to avoid player losses too badly and are at least at the level they were, but the other teams appear to be dropping off bit by bit. Japan and Europe is playing a part in that, and whilst they will still win more games than lose, I do think the gap has been narrowing and may narrow considerably more this season.

Is early days, but this weekend past Chiefs got an awful hemellimg (with no Pocock for the Brumbies), Highlanders should have been beaten - they were outplayed by the reds, blues got comfortably beaten by what I would have considered a mediocre sharks outfit. I thought Plumtree would add a harder edge to the hurricanes as head coach, but it looks like he has his work cut out. At the moment they are playing like flat track bullies and have been for at least a season. That’s one weekend, in a World Cup year, but their all blacks have been playing and I don’t recall acweekend like it in a long time.

The South African teams look to have made a jump. That concerns me a little from a pro 14 standpoint. Are they focusing their efforts on these teams and not the cheetahs and kings? The cheetahs were a competitive team at times in super rugby. I thought they had potential. The hangover of that potential has them competing reasonably in pro 14. But they lost players last offseason and I’d say the like of Ox Nche will be on other teams’ radar. How long before they are completely picked over? The kings aren’t really competitive in either competition.

I was very sad to see super rugby leave Perth, but the aussies do seem to have benefitted, in the short term at least,from concentrating their talent. The reds seem to be improving a young team with very little in the way of established imports. The Brumbies in the recent past have been dreadful without Pocock but the weekend was impressive. The rebels may well have the best Aussie team. The Waratahs have the most established talent, and although a big rebuild is in the post, they should be strong for the next 2 seasons.

So it looks to me like the Crusaders are absolute miles in front. After that it’s a much more level chasing pack than had been the case. The era of total New Zealand dominance may be (briefly at least) on the wane. In a World Cup year, I suppose everyone is hoping that translates to the international team too.

Very astute analysis with which I concur. Coaching and fitness have returned to the Aussie and SA teams. But just maybe the NZ franchises are timing to peak later.