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It's a Hurricanes-Highlanders Super final

27th June, 2015
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Last season's champs head into Round 3 with a 1-1 record (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
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27th June, 2015
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The Super Rugby semi-final honours on Saturday night were shared by Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd and his Highlander colleague Jamie Joseph, who combined to snuff out the Australian campaigns of the Brumbies and Waratahs respectively.

From the Australian fans’ point of view, both games were painful to watch.

The table-topping Hurricanes steam-rolled the Brumbies 29-9 at Wellington by playing entertaining and attacking rugby and in the process starved the travel weary Brumbies of possession and territory.

The Highlanders’ gave the defending Waratahs a 35-17 lesson at Allianz, thanks to a pack that didn’t have one member of the current All Blacks squad, yet they skilfully out-thought and out-played the all Wallaby Waratah forwards, while the Highlander backs ran rings around their elite Waratah counterparts.

So for the first time since 2006, when the Crusaders beat the Hurricanes 19-12, the Super Rugby title will be decided between two Kiwi sides.

And it will be the Highlanders’ first Super final since 1999, when they were beaten 24-19 by the Crusaders.

But there will be a lot at stake for both the Hurricanes and the Highlanders, as neither franchise has ever won a Super title.

New Zealanders have dominated the 19 titles to date with 12. The Crusaders won in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2008, the Blues in 1996, 1997, and 2003, while the Chiefs were successful in 2012, and 2013.

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Australian teams have won four – the Brumbies in 2001, and 2004, the Reds in 2011, and the Waratahs last year. The Bulls are South Africa’s only success, winning in 2007, 2009, and 2010.

So history apart, what pluses will Wallaby coach Michael Cheika take out of the two Australian losses as he settles on his Rugby Championship squad?

Open-side flanker David Pocock, skipper-hooker Stephen Moore, and prop Scott Sio were outstanding for the Brumbies, as were Israel Folau, Michael Hooper and Wycliff Palu for the Waratahs.

The Hurricanes’ scoreline would have been a lot bigger had it not been for the tireless Pocock, who is right back to his world class best after missing the last two seasons with knee reconstructions.

Moore must be the Wallaby captain-in-waiting, and he too was tireless as he valiantly tried to get his weary troops to lift.

Canberra to Cape Town to Canberra and Wellington in a week saps the energy out of the fittest footballers, and the Brumbies are very fit.

Sio will play a huge role in both the Rugby Championship and the World Cup and will be a first choice prop for many years to come.

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The disappointments were half Nic White and inside centre Matt Toomua, who never got out of first gear. Why White box-kicked when possession was at a premium was one of the games more mystifying moments, while his service was ponderous.

Toomua seemed so be somewhere else at a time when he should have controlled the midfield, despite limited opportunities. Folau tried everything in his vast box of tricks, but he rarely received any support. His handling of the high ball, and he was peppered, was exemplary as usual.

Hooper made the best bust of the game, and was in the thick of everything, but he couldn’t stem the Highlander tide. Palu had the same trouble, but he tackled his big heart out, especially in the first half, and made telling metres in a side that left their best in the shed.

Especially the halves Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley. Waratah fans could be forgiven for thinking both were on triple valium.

Phipps’ first pass of the game went long to no-one, and he was far too often called on by referee Craig Joubert to “use it” as Phipps stood over the ball as if transfixed.

Foley’s first penalty didn’t find touch, and apart from a perfect chip kick that ended up in Rob Horne’s hands for the first try of the game, Foley’s general play and kicking was well off cue.

As for the Waratahs’ performance, Sherlock would have summed it up as: “Elementary my dear Watson”.

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The Waratahs made a right royal hash of rugby’s elementary musts, like missing 23 tackles, making 19 turnovers, passing to nobody, and losing eight line-outs on their own feed.

As I said, it was painful to watch.

But full marks to the Hurricanes and the Highlanders, both very deserved winners. Their final clash next Saturday night at Wellington promises to be a belter.

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