Super Rugby Pacific tipping week 15: Everyone playing for second

Thanks Thugby .. same as I barracking for Crusaders opponents. In 2011 I was at Lang Park watching the Reds beat my Blues, disappointed at the result but acknowledging that the Reds were the better team. Then for the final which I also went to, I cheered for the Reds against the Crusaders! It was sheer joy, even though our seats were behind the goalpost high up and quite a way from the action. Auckland and Canterbury always had this rivalry but since 1996 when rugby went professional, the contest has been one sided. My memory of the 2011 final is very clear, and while the Blues nemesis was beaten by the Reds, I have to admit that I appreciated the Crusaders more for their performance in even making the final. Christchurch had those terrible earthquakes that took so many lives in 2011 that year. The terrain was so bad that the Crusaders had to play every match “on the road” that year. I doubt that any other team could have achieved that.

RT, TNT started the year with cr^p locks and never managed to get a decent one all year. Add that their two best props are out and tbh A.Bell and H.Johnston-Holmes are not quality props in the scrum anyway; their forte is their work around the field. Even with those two playing the Tahs scrums are a penalty magnet, without them its "goodnight princess" and penalties mount and minus the field work of Bell and HJH. I always figured the Blues didn't need their very good backline to win this match, just let the big boys crunch it up against the Tah with scrum penalties, lineouts and bulk humanity charging at the line from 2 m. So once again, the February Champs go down swinging soft punches in June. :crying: The Tahs should forget about paying big bucks for past back-line heroes like K.Beale and B.Foley. TNT need to get 2 props who breathe fire for a good scrum or ruck, and 2 quality tall timber locks with a streak of meanness in their bones. Bell, HJH, J.Holloway and Ned Hannigan will then have to show a >20% improvement in skills and hardness just to get in the run-on side. Until that is done, every June will end the same way. ps: putting down my hankie for a moment, good luck to your Blues. They played a smart game and won the match running away. Next week I'll be cheering for them, mainly on the basis I will always cheer for the Crusader's opponents. :silly:

G’day Thugby, Tahs had their chances but couldn’t take advantage. There is always next year! .. I’ve been waiting precisely two decades so far . Blues last victory as a SR Champion was 2003, they did of course win the first SRP’s abbreviated comp in 2021 - still counts!!! Enjoy the next 3 Qtr finals Thugby .. cheers

Oh RT, Yea of Little Faith! I have prayed and the Goddess hath spoken to me with "Tahs to win by 8". Now I just need to know the winner of this year's Melbourne cup. :silly:

Young Bobby, someone has to get on Them Noble Tahs so why not? Plus its a pretty good stir-up. :silly:

According to the TAB, if you had a multi on all the Kiwi teams losing (head to head) it would offer odds of 1,249 to 1. Jump on it!

Why is nobody talking about the chance there are no Kiwi sides next week?... :laughing:

@Bobby Again I recommend you adopt a Kiwi team as your 2nd after Brumbies. And also ABs as your 2nd after the WBs. You life will instantly improve as you'll almost always win and you'll be a more inclusive, more positive person with no counter productive emotions against our great Kiwi neighbours. 2023 has been a great season for me so far with my 2 teams (Brumbies and Chiefs) looking good all year. Good chance I'll have 2 in the semi's after this weekend :thumbup:

"The Waratahs play like wanna be gangsters with pop guns going to war against seasoned professional mercenaries that wipe them off the planet." Brilliant analogy Cookie.

Mr Fan, are you OK ?? :happy:

Oz sides are disappointing. Connon fodder each and every year. The Reds Chiefs game has been the only highlight. Reds players carried on like they won Olympic gold. Geez, that’s how low the game here in Oz has slid. Gasping for wins is ridiculous. They should of let Genia and James O’Conner play with the Chiefs. Rugby Australia, no way. How dumb! This is the only way Oz players will improve. Oz players plying the trade in the NPC say it realigned there playing style and understanding of how kiwis player think and play. Should look at allowing this cause no kiwis want to play here in Oz unless they like not reaching finals footy.

Definitely not going to help developing as a player.. heading back into a weaker Australian domestic competition.. the expectations are lower, their team mates work full time. They play at random university fields. Basically they go on holiday instead of pushing their abilities and learning new skills.. then if they’re not selected for international duties.. which is majority of ARU SR players, they won’t have any real intense training until pre season 2024. By that stage they haven’t grown or developed, they’re pretty much starting from where they left off.. or most cases worse off, less fit and softer. That’s the big gap in a Aussie SR players career. Better off hooking up with the kiwi competition NPC.. if they can qualify or be better than the current players. In some cases I don’t think they’ll be good enough despite playing for an Australian SR team… until this huge hole in these guys playing career gets filled with something productive they won’t get better, much less competitive! Just keep getting the same results, same frustrations, same Aussie teams being knocked out when it counts. We all know the saying.. doing the same thing, expecting different results.. yadda yadda. Need to get smarter. This where the ARU head bosses fall way short.. isn’t up to these guys to use their brains & fat pay checks to figure something out? Run school training with elite coaches.. Jamie Joseph, Get Gatland to teach them a few things. They need more input, even Graham Henry might chip in. Or get a NH top coach.. before I hear BS about costs! That’s a poor mindset, it’s called investing.

I forgot to put my tips in last week, yet still got 2 from 6 as the system auto-gives you all the away games. So now I am one of the few folks on planet Earth who can say I got the Moana Pasifika result correct in my tipping. :silly: Everyone bags Them Noble Tahs (TNT) for the limp effort in that game, but I prefer to say Moana played really tough in-your-face footy (and they indeed did). I guess I was drinking my $9 watered-down beer in a plastic cup (YEACHhhhh) and didn't see all those missed tackles. The Farewell to Hooper at the end was well worth being gouged at the SFS and that game strangely seems to have erased itself from my cranium. Onto this week: - Now listen carefully as you heard it here first! TNT will knock the perennial chokers off their perch. Big bad Jed is back while the chokers have lost their main man P.Tuipulotu. There will be dancing in the streets of Mosman and the Northern beaches, while in Far East Aussie Island there will be pitchforks and riots. - Chiefs will flex their muscles and belt the Reds as payback. So ending the Reds annus horribilus. - The Borg will march out calling in unionism "Assimilate, Assimilate" and play tough forward-dominance footy. The Fijian Drua boys will freeze waiting for a chance which will never come. At the end of the match, witness 23 Drua boys making like L.Jacobson warming his "nether regions" after the Chiefs' victory in Canberra a couple of weeks ago. Borg to win by 4 maul tries to zip. - I have to stand with my Aussie brethren, Brett and Christy, and tip another Aussie team into the semi finals. This match will show whether coach Larkham can come up with a game plan to beat the Canes, or is it simply to let Darcy Swain punch Dane Coles in the gob? Brumbies to mix and match and allow the troubles of Auckland to permeate to Wellington. The new CEO of RA puts out a statement "I told you it was simple. Wait till them Kiwis have to meet Sydney Uni". In short: Tahs, Chiefs, Crusaders, Brumbies. Sure Thing: After the Tahs victory on Friday evening, the disgruntled folks of Auckland will, en masse, ignore the rest of the SRP comp and watch sheep dog trials instead. :silly:

Gee Brett that that would be the biggest collective upset in the history of rugby – they’d have a parade even before the semis – surely! :laughing:

Stranger things have happened like the last time these two teams played.

That's not mathematically correct, if I give 100% 10 times I've given 1000%. :-)

And small digits?

Like most, I think the first 3 1/4 finals seem pretty straight forward. The Blues will have to much firepower for the Tahs and I think they will be more clinical than they were last week. The Chiefs will have some fire in their bellies after the Reds toppled them in New Plymouth. They are at full strength this week and they continue on the same way they have done all season. It will be too cold in Christchurch for the Drua and the Crusaders will want to bounce back after last week. The Brumbies vs Hurricanes game is a tough one to pick. The Hurricanes won in round robin in Wellington. The Brumbies are a better team at home. The Hurricanes possibly played their 1/4 final last week with the win vs Crusaders. A lot to think about but I am going with the Hurricanes. I think they are up for the challenge and have the squad that can come up with some big knockout game plays with Savea, Jordie Barrett and Iose could be a point of difference. a 1/4 final thought: Does Ian Foster and co want an all 4 NZ team semi-final lineup next week???