|
Opinionated Rugby Commentary - by Fans for Fans
Spill what you really think about events in the rugby world.
Super Rugby Round 9 Review - NZ Teams Battle 15 views
15 April 2013 by The Swede Eaters
|
| |
|
The New Zealand teams had a terrible weekend in Super Rugby Round 9 with three of them losing to Australian teams. Which conference is now the strongest?
Super Rugby Round 9 saw only one New Zealand team win, three Australian teams get wins over their trans-tasman neighbours, the Kings get their first away win and two home wins in South African derby matches.
There were two major upsets with the Force and Reds defeating the Crusaders and Chiefs respectively. Only one percent of SuperBru punters picked the Force to beat the Crusaders, while seven percent picked the Reds to beat the Chiefs. It seems that the Force and Reds are bogey sides against these opponents, although it would have taken a brave man to pick these results. It would have been a highly profitable wager if you could have seen these two results coming. It is funny that the Crusaders often play the Force on the way back from South Africa. Does form count for anything or is there an element of some teams struggling to beat the style of their opponents?
The Reds have now beaten the Chiefs the last four times they played in Super Rugby. Since 2006 the Force have drawn with the Crusaders twice and now beaten them twice. Although the Crusaders are winning head to head, they have been one of the benchmark sides in the competition compared with the Force who are usually towards the bottom of the table.
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.
The Brumbies, Force and Reds were impressive with massive defence which resulted in mistakes by the Highlanders, Crusaders and Chiefs, while the Hurricanes also got a case of the dropsies against the Blues. The Crusaders and Hurricanes have fallen off the pace with these latest results.
The Kings recorded their first away win of the competition with a close win over the Rebels.
The Blues were impressive against the Hurricanes with young stars Charles Piutau and Steven Luatua pushing their claims for All Blacks jerseys.
The South African conference is making a claim as the toughest conference with the Stormers and Bulls winning matches at home against the Sharks and Cheetahs. The Stormers and Bulls have been a tad disappointing this season so the latest results have condensed the teams in the South African conference.
Which conference do you think is the Super Rugby conference?
In our SuperBru conference I had another terrible week picking only two winners. ROYEE is back at the top of the leaderboard ahead of Shaka and Chanti-belle. Popparillo earned the golden cap for the best tipster of the week.
Have your say!
http://www.superrugbytips.com/2013/04/super-15-rugby-round-9-review-new.html
|
|
|
➜ Previous Story
Next Story ➜
|
|
Tags:
Super Rugby
|
|
|
|
|
|