Super 14 making lots of points to win fans
Roar Guru
By Alan Nicolea, 21 Feb 2010 Alan Nicolea is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Lions, Rugby Union, Super Rugby, waikato chiefs
Whilst there is a chance many Rugby purists will look back on the Lions-Chiefs match as arguably the worst defensive performance from either team in Super 14 history, one can’t deny the enjoyment of watching two sides finally backing themselves to score tries and give the fans value for money.
The Waikato Chiefs eventually ran out winners 72-65 in the highest scoring game Super Rugby has ever witnessed.
Only Stephen Donald’s perfect night with the boot proved the difference in a match which saw both the Chiefs and the Lions score nine tries each in a scintillating display of attacking Rugby.
Although Lions and Chiefs fans must have had their hearts in their mouths for the majority of the contest, neutral supporters really should have had a blast watching the two teams trade blows on a constant basis.
After a solid two try opening from the Chiefs, the Lions responded swiftly with three consecutive five pointers to really set the offensive tone of the match.
Despite attaining the lead, the Lions were made to look pedestrian as the Chiefs scored six unanswered tries to build up a commanding 65-25 lead.
Winger Sitiveni Sivivatu’s try in the 60th minute was the best five pointer on the night, made possible by the Chiefs blend of cohesive decoy running, support play and passing.
To the Lions credit however, the South African team answered back in devastating fashion, scoring four unanswered tries of their own to eventually fall short by just seven points.
Chiefs comeback centre Richard Kahui and Lions player Wandile Mjekevu each finished up with hat-tricks next to their name.
While the avalanche of points conceded is a cause for concern for both sides, there is little doubting the Chiefs and Lions have played their part in the Super 14′s entertaining start to the season.
Back in Australia, the Queensland Reds played some terrific running Rugby to beat the Canterbury Crusaders for the first time since 1999.
The four tries to two victory was a reflection of the Reds eagerness to run the ball and throw caution to the wind against a Crusaders team that has had the wood on the Queenslanders for the past eleven years.
The sparkling performance from Reds half Quade Cooper ensured the home side’s miserable run against the New Zealand powerhouse came to an end in emphatic fashion.
Cooper scored two tries, kicked five penalty goals and two conversions to finish up with a record breaking haul of 31 points.
The 21 year old’s first try of the night was testament to the Reds clinical exchange of passing in the middle of the park, with Morgan Turinui, Peter Hynes and Will Genia all playing vital roles.
Whilst both the Crusaders and Lions will be feeling worse for wear after their performances, the opening two rounds of the Super 14 suggests Rugby is the real winner.
The avalanche of tries scored thus far in the competition is a great step ahead in the code’s bid to win not only win back fans, but gain new ones.
Judging from the opening two weeks, it seems Rugby is slowly reaffirming its status as the game played in heaven.
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- Explore:
- Lions, Rugby Union, Super Rugby, waikato chiefs
Billo said | February 21st 2010 @ 1:55am | Report comment
I’m not too sure about this.
I watched the final 30 minutes of this game on TV, and it was like watching kids’ rugby.
When tries come too easy the game loses its entertainment value, at least for me.
I’m not sure whether other people would find it attractive.
Tony Philipson said | February 21st 2010 @ 4:55am | Report comment
I’m with you Billo – all the way
It was boring and by the way the defensive coaches need the sack
I will have to let Spiro know what I think of the current “spectacle” which devalues the game
rugbyfuture said | February 21st 2010 @ 1:58am | Report comment
i agree with billo, although i cannot watch the game (no fox) from what ive read and followed, it sounded like a pretty stupid game. if you score tries thats fine, but if you have nothing stopping it you may as well be passing the ball in the park with your mates.
dave said | February 21st 2010 @ 2:11am | Report comment
Im watching the Bulls and Brumbies game live and its one of the best games I’ve seen. Exciting stuff this weekend and last weekend. Rugby is making a comeback.
rugbyfuture said | February 21st 2010 @ 2:29am | Report comment
except by the scoreline im reading the brumbies have collapsed in this second half
Viscount Crouchback said | February 21st 2010 @ 2:39am | Report comment
Oh dear. If it takes 65-72 scorelines to make Australians fall in love with rugby again, then most people in the north will simply shake their heads and conclude that they were right all along.
Brissie Kid said | February 21st 2010 @ 7:13am | Report comment
Finally. a man with some good sense speaks with real clarity.
That anyone could seek to applaud the Chiefs & Lions debacle is astounding.
Or has rugby finally found its Twenty/20?
Ora said | February 21st 2010 @ 7:36am | Report comment
The Scoreline was riidiculous yes but in general most of the games played have been rather entertaining fixtures. So I would not jusde the entire tournament bythis one scoreline it is foolish to do so. I would also question if VC you have watched any of the other matches.
Some big scores have been posted in games by the other super 14 teams however it is normally only one team with the big scoreline.
Cheetahs – Bulls 34 – 51 = 85 point total
Bulls – Brumbies 50 – 32 = 82 point total
Canes – Force 47 – 22 = 69 point total
I’m not sure what you want to be honest, would you rather see a match ending 7-6 or 22 – 18, while there was a blowout the game still resulted in a narrow margin between the two teams, yes it wasn’t the prettiest game however the Lions were allowed to stay in this game not by their own play or major Chief frailties but by the Ref in the last ten minutes he made some truly bizzare rulings.
I’m not a fan of this type of rugby (Chiefs vs Lions) however i’d much prefer paying to watch tries being scored than some boring kickfest that ends in a 9-6 scoreline. If anything it has highlighted the downside of some of these new interpretations
Worcester Warriors said | February 22nd 2010 @ 11:50am | Report comment
That is exactly what i am doing.
When are we going to find a happy middle ground?
pothale said | February 21st 2010 @ 3:53am | Report comment
If the defence by both sides was so poor – a fact grudgingly ackowledged in a one liner in any of the match reports I’ve seen, how can this match and result be described as entertaining, skilful or even a contest?
Is this truly what S14 crowds would want to watch week in, week out?
“Chiefs edge Lions in Try-fest” is how one NZ headline acclaimed this game.
After a night’s sleep, the more reasoned heads prevailed as per Marc Hinton’s piece on Rugby Heaven (NZ):
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/opinion/3354517/Super-14-rugby-but-not-as-we-ve-known-it
Looks like the Reds game was the best exemplar of an S14 game so far this weekend. Some of the other scorelines look stratsopheric – hopefully in time, the freeing up the tackler bit doesn’t become too generous that shifts the balance from the defence all the way over to the attack, like we saw in the last few minutes of the Chiefs/Lions match.
Having watched the Reds match and then watched the Munster/Edinburgh match a little later, it seems both these games approached the kind of free flow, quick passing, but highly contested kind of matches we like to see.
Basketball scores should remain the province of basketball.
Rickety Knees said | February 21st 2010 @ 5:52am | Report comment
i agree Pots – the Lions v Chiefs scoreline was ridiculus
QC said | February 21st 2010 @ 6:25am | Report comment
Chiefs – Lions game aside the rugby being played is a great improvement on last year and generally more exciting, the Chiefs game was an exception.
Not surprising to see the same old negative feedback from the same posters, i don’t think it takes a genius to work out which posters who don’t have anything posititve to say about this competition!
Seems these bloggers are summing up the entire competition by one match.
Justin said | February 21st 2010 @ 9:10am | Report comment
“Seems these bloggers are summing up the entire competition by one match.”
Spot on QC – as is the current trend in life we take notice/listen to the minority or the exception to the rule. There will always be anomaly’s but on balance the football in this years S14 has been much more entertaining and of a better standard IMO than previous years.
pothale said | February 21st 2010 @ 9:32am | Report comment
“Not surprising to see the same old negative feedback from the same posters, I don’ think it takes a genius a work out which psoters who don’t have anything positive to say about this compeitition!”
Like who, QC? At least half of this article is devoted specifically to the Lions/Chiefs match.
Ora said | February 21st 2010 @ 11:05am | Report comment
Pothale, you can not judge this competition by one match it’s ludicrous to do so. The Chiefs vs Lions match wasn’t that great but I’m sure you’ll find that the other 6 matches played this weekend were quite entertaining even though some teams were on the wrong side of a flogging.
As you can see here in this article Pothale most agree that the chiefs game was dour, but most also agree that a kickfest is not what they want, also most people seem to agree that it is rather silly to judge a competition by one match
QC said | February 21st 2010 @ 8:01pm | Report comment
Your on your own here Pothale, it’s nice to see most people know not to judge the competition by that one record setting match.
pothale said | February 22nd 2010 @ 12:15am | Report comment
How do you mean I’m on my own? If you actually read my earlier post, you’ll find that I am not viewing the Lions Chiefs match as representative of the S14 games, QC and Ora.
Try reading people’s posts instead of jumping to assumptions.
Ora said | February 22nd 2010 @ 6:00am | Report comment
Pothale I am reading your posts for what they are, it does not take a genius to work that out.
I’d save the sarcasm champ because it really does you no favours. How about you go and watch some of the other games and come back and make some more positive comments because as it stands you have only contributed negatively. But I guess it’s easier to be a cynic right!
Pajovic said | February 22nd 2010 @ 7:18am | Report comment
Ora throwing the rattle from the pram yet again. Pothale has every right to his own opinion.
pothale said | February 22nd 2010 @ 7:34am | Report comment
“Looks like the Reds game was the best exemplar of an S14 game so far this weekend. Some of the other scorelines look stratsopheric – hopefully in time, the freeing up the tackler bit doesn’t become too generous that shifts the balance from the defence all the way over to the attack, like we saw in the last few minutes of the Chiefs/Lions match.
Having watched the Reds match and then watched the Munster/Edinburgh match a little later, it seems both these games approached the kind of free flow, quick passing, but highly contested kind of matches we like to see.”
That’s a quote from an earlier post of mine. If you bothered to read, Ora, you’d see that I referenced another of the four S14 matches that I watched, along with 3 Magners ones. You’ll also find that other posters on here, and commentators in Australian and NZ media have mirrored my own ‘negative’ comments as you see them on the various scorelines over the weekend in some of the higher scoring matches. It’s called critical appraisal.
Phil Waugh has also commented on the same factor, as well as poor defensive displays, as have a number of coaches. Glad to see I’m in such ‘negative’ company.
Sam el Perro said | February 21st 2010 @ 11:29am | Report comment
Want something positive? The Reds game was outstanding. The Lions-Chiefs game was an embarrassment.
johnno42 said | February 21st 2010 @ 8:36am | Report comment
the stodgy kick fest fans will latch on to any negative. i am not surprised at all.
ohtani's jacket said | February 21st 2010 @ 10:06am | Report comment
Unless matches like this happen on a regular basis, it’s not worth using it as an example to fan the flames. Who uses the highest scoring match in a competition’s history of proof of anything?
JF said | February 21st 2010 @ 11:45am | Report comment
Exactly right OJ, a scoreline like this is an extreme rarity. We won’t see another like it for many years.
Sam said | February 21st 2010 @ 12:37pm | Report comment
I didn’t see the game, but have read a few match reports and apparently there were a large number of yellow cards. The Chiefs were at 13 men for a period where the Lions scored three tries. Were there anymore yellow cards? The Chiefs are probably one of the most dangerous running sides in the world though, when they get confident and throw the ball around it must be pretty hard to defend – look at their match against the Blues last season.
Anyway I agree with QC, can’t judge the whole competition from one match (especially a record setting one) and there are certainly people that love to bag the Super 14. I’m sure games are going to get tighter once teams adjust to the referees interpretations.