Hot: Edinburgh....Round: Piri Weepu
It's time for our weekly wrap of who has their name in lights at the moment... and who is making the headlines for the wrong reasons.
They're on fire!
Mark Hammett's Hurricanes: Not many bookies, fans or pundits - ourselves included - were backing the new-look Hurricanes to do much this year but four victories later the 'Canes coach must be thinking of opening a humble pie factory behind Westpac Stadium. As a group of big-name former Hurricanes on the other end of New Zealand's North Island have realised, there are no guarantees in Super Rugby. Success starts with self belief and Hammett clearly has his troops singing positive notes from the same hymn sheet.
Edinburgh: A stunning performance for a deserved win in front of a record crowd. History was made at Murrayfield on Saturday as a Scottish team made the Heineken Cup semi-finals for the first time. Can Edinburgh now go to the Irish capital and cause another upset?
Leinster: After smashing Cardiff by over 30 points, the defending champions are the bookies' favourites to lift the trophy in 2012. HOT!
Ulster and Clermont: Winning a European knock-out game is always worthy of praise, but all the more so when it's done away from home. The reward? Semi-finals at venues as close to home as one could ask for. A Pool Four reunion in the final at Twickenham next month is on the cards.
Stormers: Still unbeaten, the Super Rugby table-toppers seem to be getting stronger by the week after putting on their best performance yet, dominating the Highlanders with the kind of physicality that will scare even the strongest of packs. Next stop, Christchurch.
French Amlin Challenge Cup teams: Stade Français, Toulon, Biarritz and Brive ensured the Amlin Challenge Cup semi-finals will be an all-French affair. With a place in the Heineken Cup up for grabs for the title winners, Biarritz will be especially motived to sneak into Europe's top competition through the backdoor since qualification via the Top 14 is impossible after their dismal domestic season. The Basques seem like a decent bet having now put together a five-game winning streak.
Get these guys a blanket!
The Bulls-Crusaders eye-gouge allegation incident: Todd Blackadder insists his guys have done nothing wrong and is demanding an apology from the South Africans. The Bulls insist their guys didn't make the accusations up, saying no video evidence doesn't necessarily mean nothing happened. We're not sure which is worse, gouging or pointing the...er...finger at an innocent player. There's a stink here, but who's to blame?
Toulouse: The four-time champs were the one team expected to win on the road last weekend and got it horribly wrong. Timoci Matanavou was the embodiment of their Jekyll-and-Hyde performance as the Red and Black Machine stuttered and choked: The Fijian wing scored a wonderful individual try, but was a liability as soon the ball went into the air. He didn't get much help from veteran centre Yannick Jauzion, who looked like a fish out of water at full-back.
Cardiff Blues: The visitors were played off the park in Dublin as the Blues' recent slump reached new depths. "Unfortunately there have been a few things on and off the playing field that have clouded things a little bit," coach Gareth Baber told Wales online, admitting the exodus of as many as 12 players at the end of the season is already taking it's toll. "A lot of people go on gardening leave if they are realising they are leaving a job in a short period of time but rugby players are expected to honour their contracts."
Munster and Saracens: Munster are not supposed to lose at Thomond Park. Ever. Two defeats in as many outings has left a serious dent in morale in the Red Army's grandstands. But at least those grandstands were full, unlike at Vicarage Road where the locals were drowned out by the noise coming from the visiting Ultras Vulcans. That said, the pedestrian pace of the Sarries attack wasn't worth singing about.
The mess in Auckland: Where do we start? Pat Lam has come in for some harsh treatment and those so-called 'fans' who were throwing racial mud on Twitter deserve to be thrown off the edge at the Downtown Ferry Terminal. But the Blues boss does have a lot to answer for since the pre-tournament favourites look unlikely to make the play-offs. Round-bellied Piri Weepu hasn't covered himself in glory either. Good on Kev Mealamu for reminding his All Black team-mate that he is a "professional."
The ERC sem-final draw system: Leinster and Edinburgh finished the Heineken Cup pool stages ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively. Clermont and Ulster finished ranked 5th and 8th. Yet Leinster must travel to Bordeaux and Edinburgh must go to Dublin for the semi-finals. Eh?
Aironi: It's sad news that financial constraints will see Aironi exit the Pro12 at the end of the season. Forming a franchise from a group of clubs in Italian rugby's traditional heartland in the northeast seemed like a good idea but it has turned out to be a huge flop. The root of the problem is, and has always been, results. Losing teams don't attract fans. No spectators = no funds from ticket sales. The Italian Federation are planning to nominate another team for the Pro12 next season, and must now decide whether to go for a different team from the north or re-examine their original plans to have a side based in Rome.
Compiled by Ross Hastie
Comments
JayStarr says...
@ BokAvenger: Are you for real..? Are you one of those cray-cray AWB Kommandokorps people..?
Posted 20:15 12th April 2012
philipjfry says...
@BokAvenger: That's harsh. You're assuming a lot.
Posted 19:52 12th April 2012
philb87 says...
@ Jaystar
Apparantly England are looking to lure Sleepy to England. Will qualify under residence rule and solve the number 7 problem!
Posted 19:11 12th April 2012
liam2me says...
No mention in the freezing pile of english club rugby? Bring equalled by the Welsh clubs (who are in freefall) and outdone by the Scottish is a complete embarrassment for the country with the most players, money and media support on the world. But saying something anti-English wouldn't do now would it (a bit like no reporting of the reason Hartley got away with such a short ban)
Posted 18:24 12th April 2012
JayStarr says...
@ GCP_JONES: Glad you enjoyed it as much as I did... I was laughing at it myself... ha ha :P
@ Carpelone: You're right... One does need a specialised fetcher after all..! (or so they say). How about one of Jake White's kids? They're good fetchers - they're always fetching him beer out of the fridge. Or Madonna - she's stolen everything..!
@ daibok: LOL - thanks for that..! What was I thinking starting Kirchner!? He'll never be able to keep up with Angela Lansbury... And he might just run to the lockers when she starts singing "Beauty and the Beast"...
Posted 17:50 12th April 2012
curates_egg says...
Your post on Aironi displays a gross ignorance of Italian club rugby.
Aironi at Viadana gets a few thousand fans out for every game. It is hard to think of any other club at any other venue in Italy that would match their impressive turnouts.
Furthermore, the home performances of Aironi this year have been excellent. They were robbed a couple of times in the past month (one time they definitely lost because of a refereeing mistake).
The actual core financial problems at Aironi are as follows:
- Parma (one of the clubs that made up the franchise) never delivered a penny of its promised 25% of the funding.
- The club sponsor - Banca Montepaschi - withdrew sponsorship as they are in financial difficulty.
The Italian Federation has said it won't support Aironi financially, as this would be unfair to Treviso. That is an ok argument in theory (although Edinburgh, who are now in the ERC semis, previously received support from the Scottish RFU) but many in Italy wonder if that is the real reason. Apparently, the federation want(ed) to impose some of the Italian coaching staff on Aironi at the end of the season as part of any deal (when Brunel plans a big clear out). There has also been a previous lobby to create a club in Rome....where there is no support base for rugby (if you want empty stadiums, then you will get them).
A question for the PR eds: has any of you ever travelled to Viadana for a game?
In short - if you are going to write something about a subject, do a bit of research, rather than churning something out on a whim.
Posted 15:05 12th April 2012
daibok says...
@jaystar.
I think I would have put Kirchner on the bench and tried Cooper at 15.
Posted 14:38 12th April 2012
BokAvenger says...
I see the anti-Afrikaner agenda at Planetrugby is as strong as ever. I guarantee that if the Crusaders had accused the Bulls of gouging but could not prove it due to a lack of video evidence, the reporting from PR would have been entirely different - no doubt full of anti-Afrikaner cliches and veiled racism
Posted 14:35 12th April 2012
Carpelone says...
Re the Bulls vs Saders accident, I do not think that VdM faked that injury and it was definitely in the eye area. Calling for a citing is fair (the All Blacks did it when Parisse made accidental contact on Borig's eyes few years ago), if evidence was not found, it is fair too.
Calling for apologies is a bit too much. Let's finish it here and move on.
Posted 14:34 12th April 2012
Carpelone says...
@ JayStarr
We need a fetcher here. What about the Itsy Bitsy Spider at 7?
Posted 14:30 12th April 2012
Carpelone says...
Among the ones who are not hot, you mentioned Aironi.
FIR and their President should have been named instead, for their inability to manage two franchises.
Viadana is the village of mosquitos and counts only few thousand people. Even though they all decide to go to the stadium, they will not reach the break even point.
Posted 14:29 12th April 2012
Carpelone says...
@ Bones7
Blasphemy!!! How you dare criticising anything related to Leinster??
You must admire the poetry by leinster_goy, "Images from the gainline", William Butler Yeats was an amateur in comparison.
They even call Sexton Sexyboy, which I fall to understand.
Posted 14:22 12th April 2012
GCP_JONES says...
@ JayStarr...
CLAASSSICCCC.. Bro
I always thought Tinky Winky was a Loosehead, you learn something every day.
Posted 14:08 12th April 2012
NHsaints says...
@genghis_j I have to say that's one of the wittiest (and funniest) comments I've seen on here in a fair while.
As for all the arguing about the HC there has to be something done about the system when you can have the opening games providing more of a thrill and a close, almost decisive encounter than a quarter final such as Northampton vs Munster which has still been the best game of the cup this year bar Edinburgh vs Racing Metro... What happened to last years thrillers of NH vs Ulster, Leinster vs Leicester in the knockout stages?!
Posted 13:57 12th April 2012
Ramage says...
@genghis_j No sorry Weepu is not allowed any more pies p.
Posted 13:36 12th April 2012
GCP_JONES says...
Leinster_Goy....
You are an embarrassment to Leinster rugby, the province, the players, the club's, the schools, the coaches, especially the Fans. its great that Leinster finally have the success that we all craved over the years, but Jaysus Man CHILL OUT.
With regards the Hurricanes (and Edinburgh), yet again it shows that you can have all the star names you want(look at Bayonne in France), but if you don't have the heart you will get nowhere. I remember Sandal writing before the season started that it would be a disaster, so i for one am delighted for the Hurricanes Fans.
Posted 13:28 12th April 2012
JayStarr says...
I think you should've created a new section for the Blues this week... SUB-ZERO.
I watched the lowlights (see what I did there...) of the game last night. I think since Thursday my mind has expelled all memory of exactly how bad that game was.... They were SOOO BAD..!
I think this team would've beaten them:
1-Oprah Winfrey 2-Courtney Love 3-Tinky Winky 4-Tony Blair 5-George W. Bush 6-Happy 7-Sleepy 8-Dopey 9-The Little Mermaid 10-Liberace 12-Siegfried & 13-Roy 11-Angela Lansbury 14-Joan Rivers 15-Zane Kirchner
Let's see if one of their All Blacks can catch a ball this week.
Posted 13:14 12th April 2012
staph_glorious says...
goy,
In their two seasons of European rugby, Aironi have only accounted for one home-seeded quarter finalist (Biarritz in 2011), and only by virtue of a single try. Of late, teams like Leinster, Northampton, Edinburgh and Munster have bucked this trend of 'il biglietto d'oro', cruising through pools that ought to have been tougher.
The Heineken Cup is very close to being a competition worthy of full seeding and, along with the Amlin Cup, even restructure.
Posted 13:12 12th April 2012
Bones7 says...
@ leinster_goy, it's for that reason I'm glad it was left out, I don't think I'm alone in dreading another smug round of self praise from Leinster fans after beating another average side. I don't begrudge them the victories or doubt their ability, I just can't stand the ridiculous hyperbole that so often accompanies it.
The Hurricanes have left a lot of armchair critics like myself a bit red-faced I think. Without Nonu, Weepu, Hore and Gear they looked destined for a Mark Hammet induced flop but it just reinforces the old addage of games not being played on paper, especially in the light of the Blues performances.
Posted 12:53 12th April 2012
leinster_goy says...
@ross hastie
while i do appreciate the two consecutive mentions of leinster in the "hot" section, along with the use of capitals to emphasise said hotness, it irks me that you disposed of them in one-and-a-half measly lines. why no reference to their scintillating backline play (reminiscent of the all blacks), total dominance in the scrum (in particular mike ross, who, with the power of thorn at his rear, decimated the world's best loosehead), mammoth defence to keep the blues tryless, or cian healy's barnstorming charges in open play? you could have at least mentioned o'driscoll's score which was indisputably the try of the year so far - the sinuous inside line of Luke the Lion, along with Sexyboy's delicate (and totally blind) pass right at the gainline, concluding with the perfectly timed support run of Drico to collect Fitzy's offload...mozart, van gogh, wordsworth, etc can go get stuffed because that was human artistry at its most spellbinding. all i'm saying ross is that since leinster are the best team in the northern hemisphere you could stand to do them a little more justice in this column
as for the point about the semi-final draw, i must admit it did bother me at first but think about it: if the semis were seeded along with the quarters then this would ensure a home-country semi-final every season for the top team that gets aironi (or whichever side will replace them) in the pool stage. on that basis, the random draw is probably better
Posted 11:43 12th April 2012