Nine talking points from the Super Rugby quarter-finals

And then there were four! It’s been an absolute belter of a weekend with four fantastic games of knock out rugby and four teams have deservedly claimed the semi final spots.

There were no upsets but that doesn’t mean that the lower ranked sides got steam-rollered. Instead they all played their part in providing fans with some of the best games of the season so far.

What could have been for the Chiefs
All the games this weekend were great games but the one between the Jaguares and Chiefs was perhaps the most tense.

In the end the Chiefs lost by just five points having been ahead by eight points with 30 minutes to go. It was heart breaking in many ways – the Chiefs had the most terrible start to the season with loss after loss and top-level players picking up injuries.

The way they finished the season was inspiring and with their talismanic leader Sam Cane back in the side there were plenty of fans who were daring to dream.

The Jags played well and were the better side but the Chiefs will be feeling a sense of regret at how they weren’t able to close out the game.

They lost fly half Jack Debreczeni at a key point and while Marty McKenzie’s effort can never be doubted, Debreczeni was having a good game and if he had been able to keep playing the Chiefs would have stood a better chance.

The Kiwi side will be bitterly disappointed with their inability to turn pressure into points. There were times when they were camped in the Jags’ 22 and yet came away with nothing. You couldn’t blame them for waking up on Sunday morning and thinking “if only”.

Despite losing, Brad Weber continues to impress
Yes the Chiefs lost and some of the Chiefs players didn’t have their best games against the Jags. But one player especially impressed with scrum-half Brad Weber showing that he deserves to be in the discussions for an All Blacks’ World Cup squad spot.

Weber is in the unfortunate position of being behind two of the best scrum halves in the world at the moment with Aaron Smith and TJ Perenera dominating the All Blacks’ No.9 shirt for a while now.

But Weber has shown this season that it’s not just a two-man conversation and while he might not have the flair of Smith or Perenera, he does have other qualities that would make him a valuable addition to any test side bench.

In Buenos Aires he was one of the big reasons why the Chiefs were such a threat to the home side and it’ll be interesting to see what Steve Hansen does in the Rugby Championship with his scrum-half options.

(Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images)

Jaguares making Buenos Aires into a fortress
The Jaguares have set a new club first by getting into their first semi-final and what’s more is that they will be at home to play the Brumbies next week.

This season, and over the past few rounds in particular, they have turned road trips to Argentina into a very difficult mission indeed for any visiting side.

Against the Chiefs, the Jags combined their well organised and passionate defence with the fortress of the Argentine capital to make it almost impossible for the Kiwis to get over the try line.

At one point in the second half, the Chiefs were hammering away on the Jags line for 15 phases and it looked like a try was inevitable.

But the Jags just kept tackling and working hard and in the end the Chiefs couldn’t handle the pressure and made the error.

This sort of mean defence wasn’t there for the Jags earlier in the season and they actually have the sixth highest number of missed tackles in the competition.

But as the season has progressed so has the level of their performance and at the most important point of the season – these knock out finals – they are in a rich vein of form.

The fans are doing their bit too. Even though the stadium isn’t closed in and can’t really create that cauldron atmosphere, the Argentine fans make up for it with passionate, and very loud, support.

The Chiefs were met with huge cheers when they did something wrong and booming boos when, heaven forbid, something went against the home side.

This is exactly what home advantage should mean and the Brumbies are in for a very hostile match next weekend.

Jaguares scrum surprisingly crumbles
It was a really good performance from the Jaguares for sure but one thing that was interesting – and potentially concerning for the home side – was the way in which the Chiefs pack tore the Argentine scrum to pieces over the course of the match.

The Jaguares have 14 players in the international Puma side and the Puma’s pack has always been regarded as a fearsome weapon. But the Chiefs demolished them time after time to the point where they were turning down line out opportunities and instead going for scrums confident in the knowledge they could earn a penalty or cause real trouble for the home side.

When the Jags do their post game review work this week it will be a point at the top of the list to discuss and fix. The Brumbies pack is arguably more dangerous than the Chiefs and the Brumbies coaching team will have watched with small smiles on their faces as they saw another Jags scrum going backwards.

The Brumbies must stop Pablo Matera
Speaking of the Brumbies coaching plans ahead of their semi-final with the Jaguares, one name in particular will be on the top of the ‘must stop this guy’ list – Pablo Matera. He has been in fine form recently and was a constant threat in both attack and defence against the Chiefs.

Even more concerning for the Brumbies will be that their best back rower – Pete Samu – is not traveling with the team to Argentina as a result of a hamstring injury he picked up against the Sharks.

Of all the flankers left in the competition, Matera has some of the best stats across key categories such as tackle busts, turnovers won, line breaks and off loads.

(Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Questions raised over Hurricanes’ back three defence
The Hurricanes secured another semi-final place with a gritty win over the Bulls in Wellington. After getting out to a good start and building a healthy lead they had to work hard to keep out a Bulls side that just wouldn’t stop trying to find a way back into the game.

There were some good performances from the usual players with Ardie Savea putting in some crucial defensive efforts that caused the Bulls breakdown problems all evening long.

But one aspect that was concerning for the Canes was the defensive efforts of their back three and in particular Jordie Barrett and Salesi Rayasi.

Now it’s worth noting that Rayasi came on after Wes Goosen had to go off early in the game and ended up scoring two impressive tries. So it’s not as if he had a terrible game.

However, both Barrett and Rayasi were guilty of some really poor defensive efforts at times. Barrett made a very poor effort to tackle Cornal Hendricks as the South African scored one of his tries and Rayasi was far too weak against Hendricks for his other try and also made a terrible read as he rushed into the line, deliberately knocked the ball on and gave away both a penalty try and yellow card.

Both players are obviously talented but at this point in the season these sorts of mistakes can be costly in the most brutal of ways.

The Canes are up against the best Super Rugby side going next week and you better believe the Crusaders will make them pay if their back three are weak in defence again.

The season has started to claim more victims
The Sunwolves were given their marching orders early on in the season and then this weekend Daryl Gibson has resigned from his position as head coach of the Waratahs even though he had a year left on his contract.

It wasn’t exactly a surprise to anyone – the Tahs have been underachieving for a while now and one finals appearance in four years is just not good enough when you consider the playing pool they have.

There will be far more insightful articles written on The Roar about Gibson than these few paragraphs but one big question to raise now with you all is what will the Tahs of the future look like?

A new coach for sure and with plenty of older players heading overseas after the World Cup there will be a big change in the playing roster too. But beyond that, there needs to be a shift in culture.

The Tahs have had talent and experience for years but they have not improved. Their ability to identify what needs changing isn’t being questioned, but their ability or willingness to make that change has been shown to be lacking time after time.

Excitingly there is some good youth talent that they can bring on but 2020 could be a rough year as a lot of this youth has not been effectively introduced to the 1st XV over the past two seasons.

(AAP Image/ David Rowland)

A good or bad year for South Africa?
Just a couple of weeks before the end of the regular season, it looked like the South African conference could have four or even five sides in the finals.

Not only was the conference very tight from top to bottom, but the teams were picking up enough points to be competitive on the overall competition ladder.

At the end of the quarterfinals however there are two Kiwi sides, one Aussie team and the Jaguares from Argentina left to fight it out.

Now commercially speaking this is very bad news for SANZAAR as it’ll be hard to get South African fans to care about games that don’t have a single local side in, but beyond that, where does this season stand on the success-failure scale?

Unsurprisingly it’s a bit of both. The Lions really weren’t that good this season and the other teams from South Africa were very up and down.

One week they would be putting in fantastic performances and then the next week that same team would be barely able to get to double digits on the scoreboard.

But there have been some really big improvements. Teams like the Bulls and Stormers were able to be a genuine threat when they went on tour, there have been several players who have put their hands up for Springbok selection and their skipper Siya Kolisi has found some of his best form at the end of the season.

There might not be a South African side in the semi-finals but South African rugby has had a good year.

How will the semi-finals go?
We’ve got two fantastic games coming up next weekend as the Brumbies travel to Argentina and the Canes head to Christchurch (anyone notice the difference in journey there?!)

So the final question to leave you with is this – who do you think are going to make the Grand Final? Four great teams who have had fantastic seasons, but who are the final two?

For me, it’s the Crusaders and the Brumbies – what do you reckon?