Hot - The Beaaassst Not hot - Quade Cooper
It is time for Planet Rugby's weekly wrap of who has their name in lights right now...and who is making the oval ball headlines for the wrong reasons.
You can't touch this!
Sharks: The boys from Durban are the form team in the competition and their clinical display in dispatching of the defending champions, in their own backyard, would have won them many neutral supporters. That performance will have made Stormers coach Allister Coetzee and the rest of Cape Town sit up and take notice ahead of their semi-final clash at the weekend.
Dan Carter: The Crusaders number 10 will be the first to admit that his goal-kicking has not been near his usual high standards since he returned from injury. However, his contribution of 23 points paved the way to victory in his team's play-off clash with the Bulls. Although he missed one shot at goal, Carter's contribution of six penalties and a drop goal certainly makes him hot!
Tendai Mtwarira: The "Beast" was at his very best against the Reds on Saturday. The Springbok loosehead prop was as usual, solid in the scrums, effective with his support at the line-outs and kick-offs and always at the forefront of the defensive effort around the rucks and mauls. But it was his display in open play which really caught the eye. With ball in hand he gained more metres than the combined total of all the other props in action during last weekend's matches.
JP Pietersen: Is there a better wing on the planet at the moment? Many enthusiasts said Pietersen and Digby Ioane were vying for that title but the big Springbok speedster got the better of his Wallaby counterpart last weekend in their one-on-one duel. Apart from his attacking skills, Pietersen's defence, work-rate and reading of the game is second to none. Whisper it softly, but if he can maintain his current form he could be in with a shout for the IRB's player of the year award later this season. You read it here first!
Stuart Lancaster Congratulations is in order for the England coach who was awarded an honorary degree from Leeds Metropolitan University. Lancaster, a former undergraduate student at the university, was given a Doctorate in Sport for his significant contribution to the field of sport and coaching.
Bbbrrrr... Someone throw another log on the fire!
Quade Cooper: The mercurial fly-half must have been the most frustrated man in the Suncorp Stadium on Saturday. Serving a one-match suspension, Cooper didn't have much to say about his ban until after his team were knocked out when he took to Twitter to vent his anger. This is what he tweeted after the match: "SANZAR - lottery." Did someone say sour grapes? It certainly sounds like it and don't be surprised if the IRB investigates this matter and throws the book at Cooper.
The Bulls: Somebody must tell Frans Ludeke that it would help for him to have a plan B for his side when he sees that plan A is not working. The Pretoria outfit's one-dimensional, forwards-based style and reliance on the boot of Morne Steyn has been a source of many a successful season for the men in blue in recent years. However, Steyn's kicking is nowhere near his usual high standards this season, and against a team like the Crusaders, who are as efficient in doing their home work on the opposition as they are with their own preparations, the Bulls were always going to go home with their tails between their legs.
Morne Steyn: And speaking of Pretoria's golden boy. What a shocker Steyn had in Christchurch on Saturday! His usual accurate tactical kicking was well below par. There was even one instance where he managed to kick the turf while trying to put his team onto the, err, front foot!
Christchurch's AMI Stadium: Can anybody explain how the play-off between the most two successful teams in the tournament's history could only sell 16 500 tickets? Seriously, in South Africa some schoolboy games easily draw crowds with of up to 30 000 spectators. Crusaders CEO Hamish Riach revealed less than 24 hours before the game that a large amount of their higher priced tickets for the play-off with the Bulls were sold out, so cost could not have been the issue. Was there really not much interest in this clash? Or was it Christchurch's freezing weather which kept supporters at home?
By David Skippers
Comments
kakapo76 says...
Trinats2... can you say Bledisloe? and a general question how many Aussies contribute to Kiwi sucess? then calculate the number of Kiwis doing the same in Aussie teams- stop pulling it mate it's embarrassing, you have had some great teams in the past- not so much at the moment, GH 89% win record against all comers speaks for itself, but hey thanks for making up the numbers.
Posted 08:22 31st July 2012
Trinats2 says...
Stellenbosched2:
As for "last posts" and "years ago", Australia CURRENT (and will always be) Tri nations Champions, and Reds CURRENT (for another week !) S15 Champions. What have SA had to cheer about in recent years ?? Oh, a French player getting them to the final of S15 !!! and the Lions and Springboks winning the wooden spoon again !!!
When looking into the eyes of a monster beware not to become one.
From one brain dead poster to another !!!
As for the kiwis, 24 years and it took their own back yard to win one (yet again)
Posted 02:50 29th July 2012
Stellenbosched2 says...
Actually when it comes to our mate Trinats I suppose he may have already had his last post (in a military sense) years ago. It seems to be a national trait among Aussies that they continue posting on blogs long after they have been declared brain dead.:-p
Posted 05:54 28th July 2012
Stellenbosched2 says...
Hi APV1,
Heh heh, loved your last post (oops, sounds ominous in a military sort of way).
And todays oxymoron is.....Australian humour.
Posted 05:32 28th July 2012
APV1 says...
Hold on folks, I think I've had an epiphany. My own "Eureka!" moment...
Trinats2 thinks he's funny.
He's attempting humour. So let's all give him a smile and a clap and wish him well, shall we?
Bless him. Trying to join in with the grown-up discussions with an ickle jokey-woo-wa.
Posted 15:36 27th July 2012
kybone says...
Trinats2- Quade Cooper
Posted 14:28 27th July 2012
Trinats2 says...
2EyedKiwi and kakapo76
NO kiwi team has ever won the Super 15 and NZ will never hold the Tri nations again ! FACT
Posted 11:30 27th July 2012
2EyedKiwi says...
@Hayj05. Blues are the 2nd most successful in the SANZAR era, ie from 1996. My ANZAC brother Trinats7 will still try and claim gains pre-SANZAR (more than 16yrs ago when we had Super 6 and Super 10), but hey - desperate people do desperate acts... So semantically he is correct. Rationally, well thats up to you
Posted 05:50 27th July 2012
kakapo76 says...
trinats2, check out this link- Reds have one title (2011)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_Rugby_champions
delusions of granduer?
Posted 01:10 27th July 2012
Stellenbosched2 says...
Poor Trinats. So well brought up by his mother....then the nurse took him away and bathed him. Afterwards she wrapped him in a faux koala skin (made in the East, like 80% of Australians under the age of 30)and presented the little one to his mom, who promtly has a nervous breakdown.
Posted 13:48 26th July 2012
APV1 says...
@ Trinats2 - "Reds didn't sell out last week because they were waiting for next week, but had a shock defeat !!!"
Are all Reds fans that presumptuous and arrogant? Verging on being almost English, that is!
Now let's just tot-up how many chickens we've got here. Actually, I think I'll just wait until they're hatched - you never know, there might be a shock...
Posted 11:59 26th July 2012
Trinats2 says...
hayj05:
Haven't a clue have you. You would be lucky to find 1 union supporter to 10 league fans in briso (1 in 1000 in regional QLD), then there is AFL - Lions probably most support), soccer - Roar, healthy crowds (don't know why?)) And many more sports. But even when Reds were bottom table we still had big crowds, hence the move from Ballymore 20,000 to Suncorp 50,000.
Reds didn't sell out last week because they were waiting for next week, but had a shock defeat !!!
Oh and BTW, Reds would be the second most successful !!! 1992, 1994, 1995 and 2011 Super rugby titles.
Posted 11:26 26th July 2012
APV1 says...
@ Oceansnz - the television schedule is almost moot now, despite what Sky et al want us to believe. I rarely get the chance to watch a match live on TV and record them all to watch at a more convenient time. Unless I can get to a match (me getting to a Super match is not going to happen in a hurry, unless they bring them over to the UK, a la Saracens), or arrange to meet chums in a pub, I almost never watch them live. Even internationals I record, as I cannot guarantee being able to watch them live.
So the scheduling should be convenient for the locals, to allow them a greater opportunity to have a family afternoon at the match. I certainly would take my two young sons to a night match in the middle of winter - they'd just not enjoy it as much. The rest of us can either get up early / stay up late; record it; or wait for the replay / highlights.
@ jonesy2 - really? You should read some of your own posts then..!!
@ 2EyedKiwi - that's just mean. Can we, at least, keep our Saffas?
Posted 10:54 26th July 2012
2EyedKiwi says...
@Leebok. Then English and Aussie rugby would really be in the sh*t!
Posted 09:00 26th July 2012
gazzabok says...
DutchWing says...
Did you even watch the recent series against England. JP made them his b*tch.
Posted 08:54 26th July 2012
hayj05 says...
@terry English - Yeah some good points.
For those who don't know, Auckland is the only city in NZ with anything resembling a significant population with 1.3 million. The next biggest city is Wellington with only a marginally larger population than Christchurch's 350,000.
Compare that to the Queensland Reds final that managed to sell 36,000 but still wasn't a sell out in a city that has 2.1 million & it puts the Chch number into perspective. Yes we know Australia aren't big fans of union but the Reds have probably been the most supported team in Queensland in the last couple of years in terms of crowd numbers anyway, not far off the Broncos if they are at all.
Also don't understimate that there was 1 week to sell tickets to a night game in the middle of a NZ winter in a City where 1000's of poor people are trying to get their lifes back on track.
And I'm sure they'd rather take the extra millions of broadcasting revenue than the extra 100-500K that the remaining 6,000 seats would of made.
On a more positive note, can't wait for these semifinal derby's. Will be some of the most intense Rugby you can ever witness if nothing else.
Oh & BTW aren't the Auckland Blues still the second most succesful side in Super Rugby, They've won 3 titles like the Bulls but have also been in a 4th final unlike the Bulls & I think they've both been in 6 semifinals each.
Posted 08:35 26th July 2012
sandal says...
Regarding the crowd for the Christchurch quarterfinal:
Don't PR staff talk to each other? Do they not even read each other's columns? If David Skippers had done either he would not have made his remarks in his final "cold" entry.
As for the size of the support for South African schoolboy rugby, seriously, why then haven't the SA under-20 teams been more successful?
Posted 07:30 26th July 2012
jonesy2 says...
never heard a bigger load of bullsh*t in my life
Posted 07:10 26th July 2012
MaxPower says...
the non-sellout in chch is bizarre. even the semi in hamilton is 4000 short of a sellout tomorrow night. and this after a season where nz crowds are up significantly on last year in the regular season. too cold? bizarre....
Posted 06:32 26th July 2012
Oceansnz says...
Yes, yes... what Terry_English said.
But also, one thing that frustrates me as a NZder is that I can't enjoy an afternoon game in the sun with my kids because our peak game match times have to coordinate with the early morning risers in the UK so the NZRU can get better broadcasting fee's. Well... that's life I guess, and also a reason to stay home by the fire and enjoy the game in front of the tele.
Posted 22:10 25th July 2012