Nothing by halves: Christie peaks at right time
Newstalk ZB’s lead rugby commentator analyses the latest news from the game
A question . . .
In what order do you put the All Blacks halfbacks this season? I am thoroughly impressed by Cortez Ratima and even considered him as a future All Black in this column but it feels like Finlay Christie and Folau Fakatava are peaking right at the business end of the season.
Are those two plus Aaron Smith the three for the All Blacks? And if so, is Brad Weber unlucky and is TJ Perenara now only the fifth best nine in the country? Ian Foster and his selectors face a tough decision in the coming weeks.
An observation . . .
If people are going to bemoan the crowds when they’re poor (and to be fair I have done so as well), the least they can do is commend them when fans click through the turnstiles.
The Blues were able to summon 19,670 fans into Eden Park for their win over the Reds. Not bad when you consider the Queenslanders had lost three straight and don’t have the local pulling power of any of the New Zealand teams.
It goes to show you can create all the themed nights or other peripheral noise you want, but the best advertisement to get tickets sold is still winning — and playing attractive rugby. And $3.50 pies and chips like the Brumbies bosses offered to the Canberra faithful last week for the Crusaders match also works.
If the Blues go all the way and host the final, you’d expect Eden Park to be close to a sell-out. Not bad for a sport we seemingly hear week in week out has lost the fans.
An explanation . . .
So, the crowds are back, the quality of rugby has been very good in recent weeks, there’s just one problem we are about to run into — the diabolically bad finals format.
Eight teams of 12 earning a knockout spot was presumably done to create more playoff games, and as a result more content for TV broadcasters, but also to avoid the amount of dud games in the back end of the competition with nothing riding on them.
The only problem is that the Highlanders look a lock for eighth spot with two rounds left; six points clear of the Rebels who sit ninth.
Inside the eight, there’ll be a bit of shuffling in the final two rounds but not enough to suggest that it’s a good idea to have the Blues (on 50 points) meeting the Highlanders (22) in a playoff fixture.
A prediction . . .
Having said that, I believe the Highlanders have found something — they looked a class above the Force over the weekend and now sign off their home fixtures against the Waratahs, then visit the Rebels next week.
There are other teams the Blues would probably rather be playing in week one than the southerners, especially if Sam Gilbert can continue his impressive first shot at 10.
A suggestion . . .
Five seems like a fair number to make the playoffs out of a 12-team competition; reward the top seed with a week off and have 2 v 5 and
3 v 4. Part of the magic of the playoffs is having a low seed make a run like in the NRL, but at least in that competition ‘only’ half the teams make the cut so there’s a more significant culling of the chaff.