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Five talking points from Super Rugby Round 2

25th February, 2018
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(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Expert
25th February, 2018
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Super Rugby is back for real! We’ve had a full round of matches this weekend and had a chance to see all the teams play other than the Sharks (bye) and there’s plenty to talk about.

Twitter is already on fire with concerns over Brad Thorn’s Reds and Chiefs’ fans are angry about how it can be classed as a high tackle when the player is practically on the ground.

So what are the big talking points from Round 2…

Yellow and Red cards are killers – unless they are not
There were plenty of cards pulled out by the refs this weekend – seven in the first four games of the weekend alone. In two of those games those cards really impacted the result.

The Highlanders scored 14 points against the Blues while the Blues had a man in the bin and in Melbourne the Rebels were able to put seven tries past the Reds who had Higginbotham sent off early in the game and then also went down to 13 men for 10 minutes.

However cards don’t need to be the defining moment of a game. The Tahs and the Crusaders both came away with wins in their matches despite being down to 14 men at key times.

The Crusaders were even able to cope with having two players sin-binned and still got the win, while the Tahs actually “won” the 10 minute period while they were a man down 3-0 against a powerful Stormers side.

Some of these cards are coming as a result of firm officiating on new guidelines/rules around competing at the breakdown and high tackles.

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The latter could cause some real issues during the season – it seems very harsh to send a player to the bin whose arm goes above the shoulder in the tackle mainly as a result of the ball carrier diving for the line and being about 30cm off the ground at the point of impact.

Lachlan Boshier suffered from this in the game against the Crusaders and it really changed the game against the Chiefs.

Scott Higginbotham

(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

Tahs must go to the air more
The Tahs showed great spirit and commitment to keep battling away against the Stormers and their winning try after the hooter earned them an important home win.

But it really did feel like they made things a whole lot harder for themselves in some of their tactics.

Folau had a very good game and the Stormers defence had no answer for him. He scored a classic Folau try as he leapt above the defender to take a high kick cleanly and then raced away to the line.

There is hardly anyone in the rugby world who can compete with this man under the high ball, especially when he’s the attacker.

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So it continues to confuse me why the Tahs don’t use this move more. They seem to get their one try from it, tick the box on the To Do list that says “Score from high kick for Izzy” and then move on to other things.

Sure you don’t want to be a one trick team but when this trick is very, very effective it’s ok if you use it a few more times during a game.

Israel Folau NSW Waratahs Super Rugby Rugby Union 2016

(AAP Image/David Moir)

Sunwolves not going to be an easy win for opponents
While the Japanese team are not going to challenge for the finals, they could well cause a couple of upsets to traveling teams during the competition.

Against the Brumbies they played well for big sections of the game and really made the Brumbies work hard for their win.

The Rebels, Tahs and Reds will need to make sure that the trip to Japan doesn’t become a missed opportunity they come to regret in the final fight for finals’ places.

Sunwolves

(Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images for Sunwolves)

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Kiwis looking worryingly good already
It’s only Round 2 so let’s not jump the gun but the Kiwis are already looking very good. The Crusaders, Chiefs and Highlanders played with great pace and skill in their games and the Blues looked like they could beat most other sides in the comp despite losing again to Kiwi opposition.

The Crusaders really do look unstoppable and despite having two players sin-binned they romped home to a good win over the talented Chiefs.

If one assumes that teams are only going to get better as the season progresses, then South African and Aussie teams have a lot to be worried about.

But some All Blacks stars out of form
Sonny Bill had a very average, if not poor, game against the Highlanders. He never really looked interested and there were some poor choices and pieces of execution.

The ABs coaching team might start thinking about a Crusaders centre pairing led by Crotty as the best way forward for this year’s Rugby Championship and give it chance to embed ahead of next year’s world cup.

McKenzie at No.10 for the Chiefs isn’t as good as McKenzie at No.15 for the Chiefs. He seemed to force things a bit too much in this weekend’s game and while he always looks dangerous with ball in hand in broken play, it didn’t feel like he was really in control of the Chiefs or the game.

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