Drama abounds in Anzac round
Hurricanes are downed in Canberra but other NZ teams enjoy winning weekend
The powerful-looking leaders, the Hurricanes, were tripped up in Canberra, the Blues had to dig crazily deep in Brisbane and, at the other end of the table, the Crusaders looked like themselves again.
Drama was not in short supply in Super Rugby Pacific’s Anzac round.
Toppling tall timber
Canberra used to be a graveyard for Super Rugby dreams when Stephen Larkham was seamlessly running the show from first-five for the Brumbies 20 years ago.
Now their coach, his precision was reflected in how the Brumbies beat the Hurricanes 27-19. The Brumbies have never been an excitement machine but they were brilliantly organised, accurate in set pieces and on defence — and in Noah Lolesio, they have a Larkham-like organiser.
The twitchy truth for all Kiwi teams is that the Brumbies had the better of the scrums and lineouts, areas where the Canes have been dominant all season.
The Brumbies’ classy forward display may be a clue as how the Wallabies will perform this year.
The two standouts
Two men stood out in a thrilling second spell as the Blues clawed their way to a 41-34 win against the Reds.
One was Blues No 8 Hoskins Sotutu, whose All Blacks career ground to a halt last year. As he has been all this season, Sotutu was a powerful, dynamic threat in Brisbane, and it was fitting that he ran in the 68th-minute try that started the Blues’ fightback to victory.
The other was the Reds’ 20-yearold rookie wing, Tim Ryan, who scored three tries in his debut Super start. His third, in the 63rd minute, was the try of the weekend. He stepped right, stepped left, dashed 30m and left Blues fullback Cole Forbes sprawling to score.
The sharp end gets sharper
After a shaky start, with two yellow cards and down 12-0 after 19 minutes, the Chiefs hit overdrive in the second half in Sydney to see off the Waratahs 38-22.
In the last quarter, the men from Hamilton showed why they’re still title contenders. In the 48th minute, impressive wing Eroni Narawa sealed a slick backline move for a Toronto Raptors. And five minutes later, halfback Cortez Ratima stepped two tacklers and flew 30m like a budding Aaron Smith to score.
In the 61st minute, Chiefs No 8 Wallace Sititi brushed off tacklers with ease to take the score to 31-15, leaving the Tahs shattered and well beaten.
How late is too late?
The crash tackle by Chiefs flanker Samipeni Finau in the third minute that left Waratahs first-five Tane Edmed spreadeagled on the ground, was eventually ruled not even worthy of a penalty.
Was the decision to play on right? To me, the collision teetered just on the right side of legality. Finau was committed to the tackle when the ball left Edmed’s hands.
It would have been physically impossible for Finau to somehow freeze his body in mid-tackle and avoid the impact.
Man of the match
The Crusaders’ 39-0 whipping of the Melbourne Rebels in Christchurch was sparked by excellent performances all over the park.
In started at scrum time, when the Crusaders didn’t so much dismantle the Rebels pack as smash it to bits. Christian Lio-Willie and loose forward comrades Ethan Blackadder and Callum Grace were relentless.
Sevu Reece, as he has all season, did the work of two men.
And at last, ball was delivered to centre Levi Aumua so he could blast his way across the advantage line.
But if one man epitomised the switch-up by the Crusaders, it was returning captain Scott Barrett.
His lineout work was a thing of beauty, and in general play, he was, as always, uncompromising. You rarely see such a sparkling return after an injury break.
Does this change everything for the Crusaders?
It might. We’ll get a much better idea after they play the Reds in Christchurch on Saturday.
But the most promising sign for Crusaders coach Rob Penney had to be the belief that spread through his team the longer the Rebels’ game went on.
The best quote of the weekend came from Rebels captain and prop Sam Talakai, who said wearily: “We got our pants pulled down.”
Grinding at the mill
The closeness of the score, with the Highlanders beating the Western Force 7-6, was about where the entertainment stopped in Dunedin.
Clinging on to eighth and a chance of the playoffs, the Highlanders scored the only try when Folau Fakatava plunged over in the 46th minute after his forwards had besieged the Force’s line.
If the Landers don’t make the playoffs, it won’t be for lack of effort from players such as captain Billy Harmon, but with the Canes and Blues still to come in pool play, it’ll be a battle.
Crowd prize goes to the Drua
The fun of watching games in Lautoka gets a massive boost from the noisy, joyful crowd.
But playing there against the Fijian Drua is not such a good time, as a gutsy Moana Pasifika found in their 24-17 loss on Saturday afternoon.
Moana’s courage, to score twice after being 24-5 down with just 10 minutes to play, was epitomised by 36-year-old first-five Christian Leali’ifano, who played with the craft of a veteran and the fearlessness of a newcomer.