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Opinionated Rugby Commentary - by Fans for Fans
Spill what you really think about events in the rugby world.
Super Rugby Round 9 - Aussies Bogey Teams Win! 16 views
14 April 2013 by The Swede Eaters
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The Australian teams gained the upper hand on their New Zealand counterparts in Super Rugby Round 9, what did you think?
Super Rugby Round 9 has been a shocker for most New Zealand teams with some of their Australian bogey teams scoring gutsy victories. It seems that the Reds, Brumbies and Force have unlocked the secret of how to beat New Zealand teams with all three posting impressive wins by bringing a very physical style of game not usually associated with Australian teams. In the only all New Zealand match, Blues were the only New Zealand team to win in Super Rugby Round 9 with their impressive dismantling of the Hurricanes for the second time this season.
The Brumbies, Reds and Force produced aggressive defence and this frustrated their New Zealand opponents into making plenty of handling mistakes and turnovers with some great long range tries by the Brumbies and Reds. It is funny though as the Crusaders have often struggled to win in Perth against the Force, while the Chiefs often struggle to combat the Reds. The Highlanders often struggle with the Brumbies too. The Hurricanes fans would have been in awe of some of the great young Blues players like Frank Halai, Charles Piutau, Francis Saili and Steven Luatua.
Is New Zealand the strongest conference? With three teams from the supposedly weak Australian conference scoring wins over New Zealand teams it leaves you wondering which conference is the strongest. It also goes to show that if the top teams show up without their "A Game" then they will be punished, even against some of the lower teams. Super Rugby Round 9 will go down as one of the toughest rounds to pick. Things do get difficult when better ranked teams play away against lesser ranked teams. I thought that although historically, teams like the Reds and Force punch above their weight against the Chiefs and Crusaders having decent success, you still have to be a gutsy punter to pick it happening again given the current standings.
I wonder if Robbie Deans naming the initial Wallaby squad acted as motivation for those players who missed out on selection? Quade Cooper for example had a great game against the Chiefs.
There is plenty of money to be made out of picking upset wins. There are plenty of bogey teams in this competition, but it is hard to know if the hoodoo will be broken at some stage. Every competition has historical bogey teams who just seem to have a knack of beating another team in the competition.
Is the Australian conference still the weakest? Which teams are bogey teams for others?
http://www.superrugbytips.com/2013/04/super-rugby-round-9-bogey-teams-win-new.html
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