As one of Super Rugby’s foundation clubs in 1996, the Wellington Hurricanes struggled in their first season before rebounding strongly to finish their second year in third position. The Hurricanes then entered a lean period in their history which saw them miss the finals on five consecutive occasions. Since 2003 however, the Hurricanes have been a constant in Super Rugby finals, culminating in their maiden Grand final appearance against the Crusaders in 2006.
In-form Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn kicked four penalties and a conversion to pass 100 points for the season and help the Bulls to a narrow 19-18 win over the Wellington Hurricanes on Friday.
The Super 14 leaders scored just one try, through fullback Zane Kirchner, and relied on Steyn’s radar-like boot to extend their winning run [...] Read article
Super 14 preview panel for this weekend’s round six match (all times AEDT).
FRIDAY
BLUES v BRUMBIES at Eden Park, Auckland at 5.35pm
Last meeting: Brumbies 37 bt Blues 15 at Canberra
The Brumbies have slowly risen to equal fourth by grinding out four tight wins. They face a massive test here to continue their streak with the Blues [...] Read article
The Stormers scored five tries and produced another strong defensive display to beat the Hurricanes 37-13 in round five of Super 14 rugby in Cape Town.
Fijian winger Sireli Naqelevuki, Joe Pietersen and Duane Vermeulen all crossed for first-half tries be prop Brok Harris forced his way over in the 57th minute to secure a bonus [...] Read article
Preview of the third round of the Super 14 (all times AEDT).
FRIDAY
CRUSADERS v SHARKS at AMI Stadium, Christchurch at 5.35pm
Last meeting: Crusaders 13 bt Sharks 10 at Durban
The fall-out from the Crusaders’ surprise loss to Queensland has seen All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw, via the bench, rush back a week early from his early-year rest [...] Read article
New Western Force scrumhalf Brett Sheehan believes he’s partly to blame for team-mate Sam Harris’ horror debut at five-eighth in last week’s Super 14 loss to the Brumbies.
Harris arrived at the Force with his eyes firmly fixed on the No.12 jersey but the former Waratah was thrust into the flyhalf role on the eve of [...] Read article
Auckland Blues’ new signing Stephen Brett was the first half hero and second half villain as the Wellington Hurricanes opened the 2010 Super 14 rugby season with a come-from-behind 34-20 victory.
The former Canterbury Crusaders flyhalf scored one try and made another as the Blues racked up a comfortable 20-12 lead by half time, with the [...] Read article
The new interpretation of the breakdown laws promises to rewind Super Rugby back to the days when tries were the norm, rather than the exception. It’s exciting stuff, despite the risk that the pendulum will swing back too far and we’ll get a return to the bad old days of basketball scores.
Remember the 2004 final?
Brumbies [...] Read article
Flanker Karl Lowe snatched a late intercept try to hand the Hurricanes a 17-12 win over the Chiefs in both teams’ final Super 14 pre-season rugby match at Rotorua on Friday.
In hot, hard conditions, Lowe’s 70m try made the difference after the Chiefs had turned around a 10-7 halftime deficit through a try to stand-in [...] Read article
Six weeks into the 2010 Super 14 tournament, the NSW Waratahs are in the top four. But is this elevated position a case of flattering only to deceive?
The other three leading sides are there without any qualms about whether they’ve been promoted above the level of their abilities. Can we say the same about the [...]
Despite playing a role in bringing together a gathering of Roarers, to happen at the Waratahs-Brumbies blockbuster (ANZ Stadium, 24 April for those interested), I’ve only just organised my own tickets to the game in this week just gone. And didn’t I get a shock.
Since when have tickets to the Super 14 – and [...]
The constant shuffling of Australian backlines will result in our best young players never reaching their potential, falling victim to the ‘Peter Principle’.
The ‘Peter Principle’, penned (somewhat comically) by Dr. Laurence Peter in the 1960’s, is a common truth which you may well have heard of, or at the very least, been witness to.
It states: [...]
Plenty has already been written about the Tahs and how lucky they where to get over the Force. The Tahs are definitely a team with some issues.
I watched the games the other night over a few bottles of Red and was far from impressed but happy with the Tahs’ defensive effort in the dying stages [...]
The NSW Waratahs surged into the Super 14 top four with a hard-fought 14-10 triumph over Western Force in Perth on Saturday night.
The Waratahs trailed 10-8 at half-time but regained the lead courtesy of two penalties from five-eighth Daniel Halangahu, who took over the kicking duties from the wayward Berrick Barnes after the break.
The Force [...]
The Crusaders were made to work harder than expected to beat the hapless Lions 46-19 in their Super 14 clash in Christchurch on Saturday.
The win, their fifth from six outings, kept the seven-time champions on course to again make the playoffs while the Lions remain without a win.
But despite the 27-point margin the contest was [...]
Joe Pietersen scored 13 points and Springboks centre Jaque Fourie grabbed his third try for his new team as the Stormers beat the Cheetahs 21-8 in an all-South African match in the Super 14.
Pietersen kicked two early penalties and converted his own try on Saturday to help the Stormers to a third successive win and [...]
The Sharks finally broke their duck with a 30-16 Super 14 rugby win over the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday night.
It marked the first victory in six matches for the South Africans this season at the expense of a Highlanders team now boasting a similarly mediocre 1-5 win-loss record.
The result was only confirmed two minutes [...]
The result of the game against the Force has seen the Tahs move into fourth place. As a fan of the team this should be great news. What this round has shown us is that this is the most open super season we have all seen for a very long time, but things don’t look [...]
In-form Bulls flyhalf Morne Steyn kicked four penalties and a conversion to pass 100 points for the season and help the Bulls to a narrow 19-18 win over the Wellington Hurricanes on Friday.
The Super 14 leaders scored just one try, through fullback Zane Kirchner, and relied on Steyn’s radar-like boot to extend their winning run [...]
