Round 3 of Super Rugby started in Nouvelle Zealande with the Crusaders playing the Waratahs in some small kiwi backwater called Nelson. The Crusaders are playing there for the rest of the season due to the quake. The Waratahs, who started the season in blazing form, got handed their first loss by a clearly emotional and pumped ‘Saders team. The Crusaders clocked up a 33-18 win and didn’t show any rustiness after their 2 week quake break and won convincingly. Crusaders outside centre Robert Freuan, who I am convinced is in fact a gorilla, was rampant and collected himself a brace. Another standout was ‘Tahs Hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau who was nailing some guys as per usual. The other game played in New Zealand was between the Chiefs and the Rebels. It was basically 80 minutes of Sitiveni Sivivatu sidestepping the entire Rebels team with the Chiefs winning 38-10.
Over on Cut Throat Island, or Australia if ya gonna be anal about it, the Brumbies and the Reds faced off in Canberra with both teams desperate for a victory. The Reds got mauled by the Waratahs last week and the Brumbies got embarrassingly beaten by the Rebels. The desperation showed from the start with big hits flying in from all angles. It was the Reds that ran out with the win in the end, outscoring the Brumbies 31-25. The other game played in Australia was The Force against The Sharks from Durban with the Sharks winning comfortably 39-12. The Force crippled any chance they had against the Sharkies after centre Rory Sidey got a red car early on for a shocking spear on Odwa Ndungane. The 14 man force stood no chance against the muscular Sharks and the boys from Durban have yet to concede a try in this year’s Super Rugby. Sharks inside centre Meyer Bosman continued his strong form so far this year and Force wing Mitch Inman was particularly impressive despite the fact that he has the most ridiculous hair this side of the 1980’s.
In South Africa, the resurgent Lions faced The Blues in Jo’Burg on Friday night. The Lions search for their first win this year continued however as they fell short to the Blues with a scoreline of 41-32. The Lions played some great rugby but they clearly lack the maturity to close out matches. This was the third match this year where they led until late but just couldn’t hold on. Luke “Thunder Thighs” McAllister was hugely instrumental in the Blues comeback and was their best player. 19 year old Lions fullback Jaco Taute played brilliantly and broke the Blues defensive line at will. He shows immense promise and shows a creative spark that South African back so often lack. In Pretoria, the Highlanders became the first team in 3 years to beat the Bulls at Loftus by winning 35-28. To put this in perspective, the Bulls last lost a game at home when George Bush was still the American president. An amazing display by the Highlanders capped off a deserved win and their captain Adam Thomson was hugely inspirational. Kade Poki was on the tear as well and will be wearing the famed black jersey in no time. The Bulls deserved to lose this one but they’ll be back and I feel sorry for whichever team plays them at Loftus next. The Weekends fixtures ended in Cape Town with the Stormers beating the Cheetahs 21-15. The less said the better. A shit game played by two teams playing shit rugby. The Stormers really need to kick into gear if they want to reach the heady heights of last year and the only player who pulled his weight on the pitch was flyhalf Peter Grant.
And that’s all folks, catch you on the flipside
"like some kind of rugby watchin wikileaks" class :P
ReplyDeleteAwsome!
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