Super Rugby - 5 Things We Learnt From Round 13
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Super Rugby - 5 Things We Learnt From Round 13
1 There are
referees not good enough to be refereeing Super Rugby. Last year referees were
demoted from the panel mid-competition, and there are a few overdue for
demotion now.
2 The Reds were smashed 58-17 by the Crusaders on Friday, conceding eight tries, and it’s taken the Queensland Rugby Union 13 Rounds to establish what the rest of us knew last season already – their coaching setup is not up to standard. Admitting at long last that their results last year and this have been “very disappointing” and “unacceptable”, QRU chief executive Jim Carmichael and the under-siege QRU board have appointed John Connolly in a supervisory and mentoring role to embattled head coach Richard Graham. Perhaps that’ll help, but what they really need is a strong, astute head coach who can get through to the players and orchestrate and inspire a vast improvement in performance. Clearly, Graham has not been able to that.
3 The Blues lost again, this week conceding 42 points, and there can be few people outside the Auckland hierarchy who believe their coaching setup does not need an overhaul and upgrade.
4 Congratulations are due to the Force and Rebels and Lions for their Round 13 attitude and performance. They showed what a clever game-plan, allied with passion and commitment, can achieve.
5 The Hurricanes won again to go 10 log points clear of their nearest rivals (Chiefs) and 14 points ahead of the next group of teams (Highlanders, Stormers, Bulls), but what we saw on Saturday was that Beauden Barrett’s injury is a massive setback, and that resting Julian Savea and TJ Perenara makes them much less formidable too. They are setting the pace in the competition, but to win their first-ever Super Rugby trophy they will need Barrett at 10.
2 The Reds were smashed 58-17 by the Crusaders on Friday, conceding eight tries, and it’s taken the Queensland Rugby Union 13 Rounds to establish what the rest of us knew last season already – their coaching setup is not up to standard. Admitting at long last that their results last year and this have been “very disappointing” and “unacceptable”, QRU chief executive Jim Carmichael and the under-siege QRU board have appointed John Connolly in a supervisory and mentoring role to embattled head coach Richard Graham. Perhaps that’ll help, but what they really need is a strong, astute head coach who can get through to the players and orchestrate and inspire a vast improvement in performance. Clearly, Graham has not been able to that.
3 The Blues lost again, this week conceding 42 points, and there can be few people outside the Auckland hierarchy who believe their coaching setup does not need an overhaul and upgrade.
4 Congratulations are due to the Force and Rebels and Lions for their Round 13 attitude and performance. They showed what a clever game-plan, allied with passion and commitment, can achieve.
5 The Hurricanes won again to go 10 log points clear of their nearest rivals (Chiefs) and 14 points ahead of the next group of teams (Highlanders, Stormers, Bulls), but what we saw on Saturday was that Beauden Barrett’s injury is a massive setback, and that resting Julian Savea and TJ Perenara makes them much less formidable too. They are setting the pace in the competition, but to win their first-ever Super Rugby trophy they will need Barrett at 10.
