Kiwi teams face the long road to title
With the bonkers Super Rugby format guaranteeing the Lions a magic carpet ride through the back-end of the regular season, Kiwi rugby fans can only chew their fists in frustration.
So just imagine how the coaches of the five New Zealand sides must feel; it is already apparent that if their teams are to win this competition, they may have to travel to South Africa and beat the Lions in their Johannesburg den during the playoffs.
Because the Lions, who don’t have to play any fixtures in Aotearoa during the regular season, have a relatively easy run down the home straight. Games against the struggling Bulls, Kings and Sunwolves at home, followed by a fixture against the Sharks in Durban, make things pretty comfortable for the boys from Gauteng.
Given the top-seed secures the right to host games, the Lions, on 46 points after 11 games, are primed to play in Jo’burg when the finals series begins on July 21-22. The South Africans’ cause will be aided if their closest rivals, the Crusaders (50), Chiefs (42), Hurricanes (38) and Highlanders (36) suffer losses in the remaining rounds.
The Lions’ biggest threat for pole position, the unbeaten Crusaders, have a much tougher draw; they meet the Chiefs in Suva next weekend, followed by the Rebels in Melbourne, Highlanders in Christchurch and Hurricanes in Wellington.
No wonder, then, that Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd, speaking in the wake of his title holder’s 20-12 loss to the Crusaders in Christchurch on Saturday night, indicated his side may need to have their passports handy if they qualify for the finals.
‘‘The Lions are probably going to go through and only have one loss (suffered against the Jaguares in March),’’ Boyd said when explaining why two losses could spike hopes of claiming the minor premiership, and force the NZ sides to travel to South Africa during the playoffs.
‘‘It was the same last year. But the boot was on the other half of the African conference and the Stormers went through. And the Chiefs went over and rolled them (in the quarterfinal). Maybe an African team has to play in Jo’burg (in the playoffs) or a New Zealand team has to travel there. It is a fair way off, yet.’’
The Highlanders got a taste of the tough stuff in Pretoria, requiring a late try by centre Malakai Fekitoa to beat the Bulls 17-10 in Pretoria on Sunday morning. Wing Waisake Naholo was red carded for a shoulder charge in the final quarter, as was Bulls lock RG Snyman for a similar offence and it cost his side dearly; Snyman was marched for ramming his shoulder into Greg Pleasantstate’s face in a ruck, resulting a try being disallowed.
The previous evening the Crusaders scrum and aggressive defence undermined the Hurricanes in the blockbuster at AMI Stadium, limiting playmaker Beauden Barrett’s influence. The bad news for the Crusaders is that All Blacks forwards Scott Barrett (ankle and knee) and Matt Todd (concussion) were injured.
The Blues’ 50-32 win over the Cheetahs in Auckland on Friday also came at a cost, with Ihaia West and Pauliasi Manu suffering leg injuries. Still, they are doing enough to claw back some respect and as they flew to South Africa they were still an outside chance of qualifying for the finals.
Two sides, who are supposed to be on death row under the proposed competition restructure, created some upset results. The Force rolled the Jaguares 16-6 in Buenos Aires, and the Kings shocked the Sharks with their 35-32 triumph in Port Elizabeth.
But it will be their legal representatives, not the players, that ultimately determine the under-siege teams’ fates. There are few indications that this is issue is close to being resolved. Chiefs Highlanders Blues Kings Bulls