Super Rugby 2013 Round 2 threw up some major surprises. Who impressed you?
Super 15 Rugby Round 2 was exciting with plenty of high paced action. The Chiefs showed that life exists after Sonny Bill Williams, the Southern Kings and Blues scored surprising first up wins, while the Brumbies, Reds, Sharks and Bulls also recorded wins.
The Super Rugby Team of Round 2 featured plenty of inexperienced players who flew under the radar. Tim Nanai-Williams was the www.testrugby.com top points scorer of the Super Rugby Round 2. The Chiefs midfielder was playing out of position and battling illness, yet he still scored two tries and despite the odd defensive lapse he was one of several stars in the entertaining match between the Highlanders and Chiefs. The pace of that game was extraordinary considering it was the first game of the season for both teams.
Only Tatafu Polatu-Nau is a proven points scorer. It is difficult to know how long it will take for the usual stars like Adriaan Strauss, Dan Carter and James O'Connor to return to the Team of the Round.
Before you start purchasing dirt cheap Southern Kings, Highlanders and Brumbies, remember that they have the bye this coming week. Given that each side has two byes, it is worth planning ahead!
There were plenty of other fresh new players to make the Super Rugby Team of Round 2 including James Parsons, Luke Jones, David Bullbring, Ed Quirk, Jacques Engelbrecht, Lima Sopoaga and Bernard Foley who are available for under one million dollars.
I found it interesting how so many promising players who performed so well for Counties in the 2012 ITM Cup, were so impressive in Super Rugby. It seems that the step up to Super Rugby from provincial rugby is not as great as imagined. Players like Frank Halai, Tim Nanai-Williams, Bundee Aki and Augustine Pulu were impressive last season under coach Tana Umaga and seem to have found their feet in Super Rugby.
I was also impressed by Chiefs coach Dave Rennie who seemed to get his team firing against the highly fancied Highlanders. Rennie even got plenty out of Blues discard Gareth Anscombe at fullback for instance, showing what a great coach he is. Surely he should be inline for higher honours.
It will be interesting to see if teams like the Blues and Kings can continue on their winning ways or if some of the more fancied teams who lost first up like the Stormers, will be back in the winning circle.
Are the Kings and Blues the easy-beats we thought they were? Is the New Zealand pool the toughest? Do you agree with the www.testrugby.com Super Rugby Team of Round 2?
Rank Player Name Pos Team Games Total Avg Price
1 James Parsons FR BLU 1 325 325 $630,000
2 Tatafu Polatu-Nau FR WAR 1 300 300 $1,170,000
1 Luke Jones LK REB 1 295 295 $582,500
2 David Bullbring LK KIN 1 270 270 $732,500
1 Ed Quirk LF RED 1 375 375 $622,500
2 Jacques Engelbrecht LF KIN 1 350 350 $462,500
1 Lima Sopoaga HV HGH 1 415 415 $917,500
2 Bernard Foley HV WAR 1 380 380 $680,000
1 Ben Tapuai CT RED 1 360 360 $1,060,000
2 Rene Ranger CT BLU 1 315 315 $1,205,000
1 Tim Nanai-Williams OB CHF 1 430 430 $1,175,000
2 Lwazi Mvovo OB SHK 1 380 380 $1,055,000
http://www.superrugbytips.com/2013/02/blog-post.html
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