Saturday night’s 2012 Super Rugby final between the Chiefs and the Sharks at Hamilton is a fitting climax to what has been a terrific tournament. One of the best features has been that on any day, any team can defeat another.
This trend continued in the semi-finals. Neither bookmakers (who put their money where their mouths are) nor pundits (who just offer their mouths) could see past a Stormers-Crusaders final.
A typical commentary was that of Michael Lynagh, a shrewd player and informed commentator, who went on the record before the semi-finals to declare that the Crusaders would win the entire tournament.
His grounds for making this claim were that the Crusaders have been the best team in Super Rugby in winning finals.
What we saw at Hamilton on Saturday night was an end, at least until a rebuild takes hold, of this undoubted Crusader ascendancy. The great Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter, who are the heart, soul and muscle behind so many Crusader triumphs, just can’t carry the rest of the players.
Embattled coach Todd Blackadder was moved to express his disappointment with the many All Blacks in his side who could not rise to the occasion. But, in my view, part of this is due to Blackadder’s coaching.
He took over a side that the year before, in 2008, had won its seventh Super Rugby tournament. This was Robbie Deans’ last Super Rugby campaign, and the last of his five tournament wins as a coach.
Under Blackadder, the Crusaders have been a finals side, but not the finals-winning side.
When you looked at the way the Crusaders played against the Chiefs, the immediate thing that strikes is that the Crusaders are playing to the exact game plan that Deans worked out for them. In four years, Blackadder has not added anything tactically. He has introduced or poached gifted players like Israel Dagg but failed to get value out of them.
The Crusaders need a new coach. Well-coached sides are beginning to work out how to defeat the old game plan.
It is significant that a change in the coaching staff marked the rise and rise of the Chiefs. Dave Rennie, along with former All Blacks coach and selector Wayne Smith and forwards coach Tom Coventry, has given the formerly flaky, unstructured Chiefs the systems, plays and nous to make them the most formidable of the New Zealand teams.
The Crusaders were taken by surprise (but why?) by the rushing, hard-shouldered Chiefs defensive pattern. Every time Carter got the ball he seemed to be surrounded by Chiefs defenders. I thought that the Crusaders actually played too flat (a big concession on my part for I am an advocate of the flat back-line system).
At the end of the match, when the Crusaders needed a dropped goal or penalty to take the game into extra time, they were driven back 20 metres and into their own half by the ferocity and accuracy of the defence before a handling mistake was made.
What I look for in coaches is whether players improve under their supervision. Three key Chiefs, Aaron Cruden, Liam Messam and Sonny Bill Williams, have taken their games to a higher level than previously this season.
Messam, in my opinion, has cemented his place in the All Black side as the successor to Jerome Kaino. Certainly his play against the Crusaders was right up to the McCaw standard for loose forward play.
Cruden (and let’s say this very very quietly because it is such an unlikely outcome) is probably the best number 10 playing in New Zealand right now.
And Williams was just awesome against the Crusaders. What a pity that he is being lost to international rugby just at the time when he promises to be one of those players of a generation.
The confrontation between SBW and JP Pietersen, easily the outstanding player on the field in the South African semi-final, will be titanic. Pietersen playing in the centres and sometimes on the wing for the Sharks has been totally outstanding. He is big, fast, and has a devastating step which he used to split the usually impenetrable Stormers defence to score a decisive try. His defensive work is just as outstanding.
It was fitting, somehow, that at the end of the match when the Stormers were hot on attack, looking for a converted try to take the match into extra time, it was Pietersen who made a tremendous clean-out that knocked the Stormers off a tackled ball, exposing it for the Sharks to pick up and boot into touch.
The issue for the Sharks is whether they can maintain their energy after yet another trip from South Africa to this part of the world, with Brisbane two weeks ago and Hamilton this coming weekend. They are going to spend most of this week in Sydney before flying on to Hamilton on Thursday. This makes sense.
The key for them will be to start as vigorously and effectively as they did against the Reds and the Stormers. In both these matches they were able to establish a handy early lead which they were able to defend, even though for long periods their line was under intense attack.
The Sharks play the most balanced game of all the South African sides. Their defensive work is strong. They have a goodish lineout and strong enough scrum (although their front row comes up a lot without being penalised). They have a lot of energy and verve in their attack. With Pietersen in the backs and Bismarck du Plessis in the forwards, they have two game-breakers who can turn a losing match into a winning one.
All this adds up to a cracking final.
Tiger
Guest
Ron from brumby county, that is the dumber thing I have ever read in all my time on Internet forums! If you truly believe that, seek help immediately!
Shaun
Guest
I don't quite understand your logic, as it was the bulls & meyer who developed Habs into the player he is. He's always had the work rate, his tackling may have improved slightly although he still jumps the defensive line in search of intercepts. Meyer coached him at the bulls from 2004 - 2007 left in 2008 which coincide with a form slump, WC hangover and dismal bulls season. You mention kick chasing as his current strength...he learnt that at the Bulls with PdP. Opportunities for his tries pre stormer didn't just miraculously present themselves. They were a product of pressure created by a performing bulls team, who created opportunities for him. I totally agree with your assessment on his play under PdV, but to say the same about his time at the bulls is pretty naive and obviously blinded by provincialism or something of the sort.
Solomone
Guest
Home Ground advantage. What else could go wrong? Had the Chiefs had to play in SA then I would've been worried. Good Luck to the Chiefs, South Auckland all the way.. Cheers
mania
Guest
royce - i agree. what the hell is kankowski on. he's gone from being average unmemorable to being the player of the day in the last 3-4 matches. all of sudden vermulen has a bona fide competition for 8. this is gonna be an awesome year for the boks i reckon. i'm hoping for some epic battles with the AB's.
mania
Guest
david -only people that were upset bout the hamilkton comments was the hamilton mayor. and for once PDV was right
mania
Guest
sharks can win this. its the last game of the season and they can empty the tank. its a nice feeling going into a fight knowing you have nothing to lose. thats when adversariesa are most dangerous. i'm not writing the sharks off. they've come along way and are well aware of the pit falls of jetlag. they'll sleep earlier for longer and should over come the travel factor and bring everythig to this game. chiefs would be fools to fall for everyone's predictions that the sharks have lost this already. chiefs still need to play at a very high level.
mania
Guest
shaun - i'm not a statistician and nor do i look at a column of data when determining a players worth. what your stats dont show is all the extra work habana does, chasing of kicks, tackles, turn over bals. your isolating your view of his performance solely to his tries scored. whilst this is an indicator of his prowess it doesnt show his new lease of enthusiasm or for that matter show that all the tries he scored in this era were from opportuny presenting itself and habana capitilising on it. bulls and PDV era almost ruined habana's career. of the last 3 years of PDV/PlayerPower reign not once did they have set moves to get the ball to the wings. bulls were the same. the tries habana scored were inspite of the bulls and playerPower gameplans your stats may show that habana scored more tries in that era but its easy to see that habana is enjoying rugby more and playing better at the stormers and the Boks under meyer
Ben S
Roar Guru
Hard to reach any concrete opinion on this, IMO. Deans was in charge of the Crusaders under a totally different context. I wouldn't seek to undermine the titles he won, I'm just not sure that the comparison between the two coaches is particularly apt. Also, the writer is just using this as another pro-Deans tool because he's unable to point to anything tangible in his time as Wallabies coach. OJ makes a number of good points further down the page.
David
Guest
These things happen. The Rebels beat the Crusaders didnt they? The Sharks won 8 of their last 9. Worse than the Tah loss, the one they lost recently was against the Lions and that one they lost badly. They also lost badly to the Canes. The game against the Tahs they should have won but didn't. They came close in 3 other games including away games against the Bulls and Stormers But their highlights * Beat the Stormers (SA Conference leaders) home and away (also lost one away) * Beat the Reds (Aus Conference leaders) home and away * Beat the Brumbies away * Beat the Blues away * Beat Bulls at home (after losing narrowly away) * Beat the Highlanders at home A very good season. Such a pity they started badly but thats life
Royce Strauss
Guest
Yeah. In actual fact the Sharks didn't really start hitting their straps until mid season... when Alberts and Beast returned and having Francois Steyn for 2 games at the end also seemed to help. Don't know about anyone else, but I could not stand Kankowski, he was like a Spies type of player. Had one good season in 2008 but otherwise has been a total show pony. I don't know what he is taking before each game now.. bath salts perhaps? But he is playing like a man possessed. He is actually one of the reasons why the Sharks can afford to play Alberts at lock.
nick
Guest
Final last year under extreme conditions and semis this year. Still a very consistent team and, according to the stats and the season standings, still very much one of the NZ teams to beat with only one finishing above them. Funny you mention that you thought they'd struggle against the chiefs due to try scoring. Especially seeing as the Crusaders scored more points on average than the Chiefs Had the same number of Try Scoring bonus points as the Chiefs Had a better defense with less points given up and they won only ONE less game than the Chiefs AND THE MOST DAMMING OF ALL: THEY SCORED THE SAME AMOUNT OF TRIES AS THE CHIEFS.(47)
Sylvester
Guest
Rob, as a Christchurch resident, I can say the aftershocks during this season have been almost non-existent. Nothing overly worrying ar least. I can't comment on their personal living situations, but none of really adds up to under-performance in a rugby match, especially when they played better rugby last year in far more trying circumstances.
Jutsie
Guest
Im not interested in getting into a code battle but I find it funny that you guys accuse rob and the union fraternity of being arrogant when he was simply rebuking droppa's completely stupid comment about SBW hiding in union and union not being a "real" game.
Sylvester
Guest
"They haven’t blooded as much new talent to succeed those nearing the end of their playing days and those holding their spots due to lack of options and with the development programs of other franchises starting to bear fruit, they won’t be the benchmark team in NZ for much longer." Sam, outside our Carter and McCaw, and to a lesser extent Flynn and Donnelly, what other players would you determine are "nearing the end of their careers"? At openside, they've got Todd and at 10 they've got Bleyendaal and Taylor. The rest of squad is mid career at best.
Sylvester
Guest
The Crusaders in their championship years always got the best out of players with limited ability, but under Blackadder it's mostly the opposite. Players like Dagg and Fruean are quite inconsistent and for the most part underperform in the bigger games. I'm not convinced he's tactically astute, more relying a talented team playing to their best most weeks which just isn't going to cut it.
Correction mate, JP Pietersen scored a try in that famous win in Duneden in 2008.
David
Guest
Its Japies btw. Yappies sounds like little toy dogs. And yes I know most people spell it Yarpie etc. Its a pretty insulting term btw, but I know you guys don't mean it that way so who cares. But yes it is great that black players are coming through. And thats without Port Elizabeth (the 6th franchise) not having a place at Super level. Many of the black players come from the Eastern Cape. In most areas of SA, black people dont play the game much. In the Eastern Cape it has always been part of their culture. It was a great shame that the country's polciies stopped so many good players fom emerging. Why Sydney? - To break the trip - To quote PdV, Hamilton is boring as hell (sorry Hamiltonians). NZ does not spend a week and Bloemfonein and I dont blame them. It amused me that in 2009, PdVs words got people a little annoyed. Your one guy on Reunion said PdV was speaking the truth.. Was funny at the time The Sharks are not going to have time to train much. They need to recharge and rest
David
Guest
Well I hope my Sharks do well but its hard Only once in Super Rugby history has a side won the title in a country other than their own. That was the Crusdaders about 10 years ago against an Aus side Apart from that when the final is conteseted by 2 teams from different countries the home side wins. Why? Well both sides are by definition very good and the home side has an advantage. This is compunded this year by the Sharks yo-yo play off schedule. I am not saying that the Chiefs have not earned their advantage. I would ake advantage if the boot was on the other foot. To make the final more of a spectacle from 2013 I would like to see a 2 week gap between semi and final. Alas there are not enough weeks as it is... May the best side win and I hope its my Sharks
David
Guest
He has played NZ 9X Flawed logic - Lomu never scored against the Boks. I dont draw conclusions from that except that maybe he was well marked. With him on the field we have a 4-5 record against NZ. He is solid in defence 14 test tries.. none against NZ Still only 26 years old
klippies101
Guest
think the travel will kill the sharks as well