It has not been such a great start of the Super 14 season. Blues and Crusaders won showing an impressive form and gathered a bonus point each while Chiefs, Highlanders and Hurricanes lost. Specially disappointing was the performance of the Hurricanes in Brisbane, the only NZ team unable to score any try.
The Highlanders were close to bounce back and get on with a victory against the Reds during the second half, which makes us think that they are meant to gather some important victories this year.
The post-match comments of some players and coaches and aficionados about the ELVs and their effect are also interesting.
- Monsieur Rugbycan is surprised at the speed that the game is played under the new ELVs.
- Fourie du Preez, on the other hand, is a bit reluctanct to accept these ELVs as this very increased speed drives to more errors.
- David Nucifora is happy with the physical conditioning of his players that ended up high in the second half and reckons intensity as the key factor this season.
Next weeks will be all important for the Auckland Blues as they face the Sharks, Lions and Cheetahs in South Africa and depending on their performance, they could set a foot in the semifinals path as early as round 5.
12 comments:
But the writer at one of the big sites say that the ELVs are making the game look bad, especially the stupidity of the players in the kicking into touch and the fear of the quick tap as the turnover ratio is high.
Monsieur Rugbycan
It didn't record my comment. Your Hurricanes were full of stupid mistakes for such a good team but I thinbk next week they will put the Reds to sword.
MIff
That's what the 'canes coach said... I still have hope for the Hurricanes.
So, in the end... let me ask you directly: do you prefer this sped-up game with its mistakes? or you prefer the old version with no ELVs?
I have not fihured it out yet. It seemed like the game was faster in the Crusaders match but the turnover ratio was huge. But I didn't see the missed kicks or the free kick errors. In fact, I didn't see much puling down of the mauls or the lineout numbers reallocation. I think the whole thing was going too fasty and I was immersed in the breakdown. Like the players, it will talke me a few weeks to get the hang of it.
It seems that it is the second least scoring round one of Super Rugby History, the first being when the Super12 had less teams.
So the ELVs are to be tested to the roots.
How long have you been following the S14. You seem to know quite a bit about the tournament.
MIFF
Oh that statistics: I got to read it this morning at the RugbyHeaven website :-)
I will try my hardest to follow all of the S14 this year. I have really only followed South Africa in the competition but will focu a bit more on NZ and Oz now that Deans is in charge. It will no doubt prove an interesting rugby year in the SH. The NH are KacK this year! RM
I think last year the Super 14 was the most decissive tournament of the year.
Heading towards the RWC all gave two names to win: NZ and SA. How come, given the poor performance of SA during the Tri Nations? The key was the Super 14 performance of SA teams.
This year it even has this ELVs matter adding more interest.
A lot of people also had France to win. NZ held back some off their players in the S14, which , I think , gave the SA more of a chance as the Henry move backfired. SA looked to be making excuses in the 3N when they gave it up after the loss to NZ in SA.
It is true that the S14 were a bigger tournament than before but still the 6N was the tournament more people were passionate about. This year I can see a chamge of heart. It is much more difficult to follow S14 with 14 teams as opposed to only 6 in the 6N. People can get a better feel for the players, more intimate if you will.MR
Perhaps my friend Miff will kill me but I think real rugby is played in the south.
Take a look to the RWC 2007 pool C games NZ-Italy and NZ-Scotland. They convince me that the 6 Nations cannot be at the highest level.
I am on your side. Please read my harangue of Tuesday. Rugby is going downhill as we speak.
Miff
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