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2024 Super Rugby Review: New Zealand teams continues to dominate except the Crusaders at least for this year while ACT Brumbies still only the best here in Australia

by Sports Benches

While we are transitioning into International mode and also at Club Rugby too going into the 2nd half of 2024 next month, let’s look back at the 2024 Super Rugby Season following the Blues A+ Grand Final performance that sealed their long-awaited drought for their 4th championship trophy for the first time since 2003 over the Chiefs at Eden Park last night.

It began with the Crusaders largely not being the same team anymore that won them multiple championships despite their late season resurgence where they were one place short of the Top 8 while the Melbourne Rebels had a rare spectacular run on the field in 8th before their poor financial health regardless of this however unfortunately ended the team’s 14 year existence. Plus, NSW Waratahs were at an all-time low once again other than the two wins v Crusaders off the back of numerous injuries in the treatment room, particularly with their front rowers. Queensland Reds also had some fresh breath of under new coach Les Kiss including the Highlanders with their big rebuilding phase over in Otago but then they were both nowhere near past the Quarter-Finals alongside the Fijian Drua off the back of another excellent home season in 7th. Time will tell if the Drua will continue to progress & go Top 6 under a new coach while looking to improve their away form next season.

The same goes with the ACT Brumbies who continues to fall short in the semis yet again as they still continue to hold the title as Australia’s No.1 Super Rugby team, although we did witness a surprise semi elimination in the top-ranked Hurricanes by the Chiefs before the Waikato-based franchise weren’t simply up to the task against the championship-winning Blues last night. Nothing much also happened to Moana Pasifika and the Western Force when they had some wins off the back of a huge off-season drive but both are still underwhelming for the majority. It remains to be seen if the Force will benefit from the Rebels demise in an 11-team competition (short term) next year that would hopefully improve Australia’s record in Super Rugby as well as Wallabies at International level, so they can look to win games again. If not, while we understand of having a national footprint when the world has changed nowadays – three teams may finally be the way to go again with Rugby Australia helping the Force out elsewhere like reviving Global Rapid Rugby & have them play against teams in South East Asia.

And finally, congratulations to the Blues on their fourth championship when they first won this competition back-to-back while Super Rugby was born under Super 12 back in 1996 followed by a 3rd one in 2003 before they finally broken the 21-year hoodoo last night on top of the short-lived Trans-Tasman crown over the Highlanders during COVID back in 2021. They too have been unstoppable who can unseat any team including the top regular-season ranked Hurricanes while setting the standard all along including the Grand Final v Chiefs, even without Beauden Barrett at least in the short term until next year due to him playing in Japan. But it’s all about having an excellent group of players who is still around day in, day out alongside an experienced head coach of Vern Cotter after lifting his first major silverware off the back of long stints in France & Scotland.

So there you go for 2024 as Season 2025 would see 16 regular season matches and two weekly byes alongside a Top 6 Finals system like it was back in 2011-15 with the Top 2 going straight into the semis with 3rd-6th placed teams to play in the first week Quarter-Finals, then the other winning two will face the best two in the Final Four before the best of the best two teams will battle it out in the hope of lifting that championship next time around in 12 months’ time. After that, depending on the four Australian teams performance, Super Rugby would ideally like to say 12 teams but would otherwise have to go with 10.

The South African teams are well and truly happy in Europe following their split back in late 2020 while Japan wants to stay on its own with the Top League, a Jaguares reunion from Argentina may still pose financial and logistical issues & having Canada and USA onboard including a Hawaii-based team is still far off competitively right now for at least the next 10 years.

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2024 Super Rugby Final: Blues too good left, right & centre over the Chiefs en route to their 4th championship win at Eden Park

by Sports Benches

What a Final it was to finish the 2024 Super Rugby Season at Eden Park where the Blues finally got their moment with the Championship 41-10 after being simply too good to beat The Chiefs from Waikato for the first time in a long, long time that goes way back to 2003. Although don’t forget they did win the Super Rugby Trans-Tasman v the Highlanders also at the same place a few years ago when COVID restricted much of the norm at that time. Not only the Blues were clearly in front during the first half (20-3) off the back of two tries and two penalty goals, but they also continued to extend their lead with more tries including a Caleb Clarke double to finish his hat-trick. It was more than enough to pull off on the run home (41-10) with the easy Blues final victory whereas Chiefs only grasped whenever they can after they threw away for the majority while they were nowhere near the Blues danger zone including one first-half penalty goal & one late TRY thanks to a few fresh faces.

Now that the 2024 Super Rugby season is over, we will turn our attention to International Rugby next month beginning with the two game series v Wales followed by Georgia for the one-off occasion for Joe Schmidt’s first slate of matches as the Wallabies new Head Coach. We will also have some Club Rugby in between with the NSW Shute Shield & QLD’s Hospital Cup as well as a bit of Rugby 7s at the Summer Olympics in Paris, France a little over next month. Then it’s Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup time to finish off across August and September before we finish off 2024 with the November Tests in Europe.

Hat-trick championship winner Caleb Clarke tops the Grand Final list on the Blues left wing after his A + performance tonight at Eden Park. You cannot believe what he does with the ball every time he’s moments away from the in-goal before Caleb blows the opposition players away off his explosive pace. Gotta say the Chiefs have been clearly warned about their ill-discipline over and over again & thanks to the dominant possession and winning penalties, Caleb waited at the right time to gift the Blues their big trophy. There’s another sensational moment that warmed the Blues hearts tonight and it’s Harry Plummer whose conversion kicks looks 100% spotless through all angles at the starting 10 role tonight. Yes, this was a huge role to fill to drive the Blues attacking engine when Beauden Barrett sat out for the year in Japan. But he threw himself into the deep end with unfinished business and Harry proved to the world that he’s done it in a championship-winning team at The Blues – time will tell if Scott Robertson (also new Head Coach) gives him a go soon enough later this year for the All Blacks.

Congratulations to the Blues on an unbelievable all-round display that can wow any team after finishing 2nd including the Hurricanes & the Chiefs en route to their 4th Super Rugby title since 2003 as well as the Trans-Tasman trophy back in 2021.

And Anton Lienert-Brown did the best he can to break down the Blues areas all along in the Chiefs outside centre backline at 13. He’s got the power and physical grit that gave his side a couple of chances with the ball where Anton can not only turn things over, apply pressure and win a couple of penalties defensively; But he also can find himself with a bit of space going forward including the one and only TRY assist to Simon Parker later in the 2nd half. It’s heart breaking to see him & the Chiefs fell short once again following another brilliant season. But Chiefs weren’t simply up to their game unfortunately such as the poor discipline forced the Blues hand so many times while they just couldn’t find the breakthrough in their counter-attack.

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2024 Super Rugby Grand Final Preview: The Blues v The Chiefs at Eden Park in Auckland

by Sports Benches

89 games done, one to go to finish off the 2024 Super Rugby Season with a sold out crowd ahead of Saturday’s Final between two of the last two year’s runner-ups where one of them will be going one better for the Championship – It’s The Blues from Auckland (2022 runner-up) v The Chiefs from Waikato (last year’s runner up) at Eden Park. The last time the Blues won a trophy in the actual Super Rugby competition was back in 2003 v Crusaders as well as the short-lived Trans-Tasman trophy due to COVID three years ago v the Highlanders while the Chiefs last won back in 2013 in a home final v the ACT Brumbies.

Chiefs

It will be mostly be an unchanged line-up apart from their hookers with Samisoni Taukeiaho out due to an leg injury from last Saturday’s semi-final win v Hurricanes as well as Manaaki Selby-Rikit for Naitoa Ah Kuoi in one of the team’s reserve locks, so Tyrone Thompson will be thrown into the deep end for Taukeiaho who hasn’t started since last year’s regular season finale v the Western Force. You would think Bradley Slater would get that chance instead of Thompson but he would still be the team’s useful finisher when coming off the bench later on as the reserve hooker. Despite some injury cloud, the Chiefs are set to toughen up their defense to try and stop the Blues from scoring from the start while looking to exploit on the counter-attack by having the speedy full-back Shaun Stevenson back to lead the line that pushes Daniel Rona back on the team’s bench line.

Blues

The same would go with the Blues other than the return of Patrick Tuipulotu on their starting second row for Josh Beehre (demoted to the bench) at No.4. We thought the skipper would be originally out until the start of the International season next month for the All Blacks but he’s worked so hard to push way back into selection lately since that Quarter-Final MCL knee tear v the Drua three weeks ago on what is going to be a very big 80 minutes for him to hopefully steer the Blues with the Championship win they really deserved. A strong forwards pack should do the job to stop the quick Chiefs attack defensively in its tracks while giving their backline a run of their money. Hopefully, that would the key when it comes to making that support play work through the gate or the Chiefs’ wall in order to get the big points they accrue off a full 80 run in attack.

Final Thoughts & Predictions

You can say that the Chiefs had their lows at times in the last couple of regular season games a few weeks ago, particularly when they were away from home. However, they’ve been excellent all along throughout the Finals across New Zealand so far & other than the big blow of Taukeiaho, they still got enough attacking fire and the physical steel to bring this championship all the way back to Waikato. Blues, on the other hand, knows how to get the ball rolling right from the word go with early tries on the board. Yes, they might have their own weaknesses at times but the Blues will not down their tools that early in order to keep that winning lead away from the opposition as the game goes on before they can hopefully finally see that winning light at the end of the day with their long-awaited championship the Blues have been chasing for so long that goes back to 2003.

It’s going to be a cracking match to finish off the 2024 Super Rugby Season on a high after we witnessed the highs and lows over the last 18 weeks – such as no Crusaders in the Playoffs for the first time in a long time off the back of key personnel moving on, ACT Brumbies falling short in the semis yet again, The Hurricanes’ top barren run also shockingly ended outside the Grand Final by the Chiefs last Saturday and the Melbourne Rebels’ rare magical season towards their one and only Quarter-Finals was being eventually cut off by their huge financial difficulties that became too difficult for them to survive.

Who will going to win the Grand Final? It’s going to be a very close finish but The Blues will get their moment with the win over the Chiefs by 15 points. Make sure you tune in this Saturday afternoon at 4.30pm AEST ahead of kick-off (5.05pm) where it will be shown on both Stan Sport (streaming subscription required without ads) & 9Gem (Nine’s free-to-air multi-channel).

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Chiefs eliminated heavy favourites of the Hurricanes on their turf en route towards yet another Final following their 19-30 victory

by Sports Benches

So there we have it, the 4th-ranked Chiefs have just eliminated the 1st-ranked Hurricanes on their home fortress during the 2nd semi-final at Sky Stadium in Wellington. Now two runner-up finalists from the last two years will can only become one champion for that Super Rugby trophy in next Saturday’s Final at Eden Park as the Blues will take on the  Chiefs with kick-off at 5.05pm AEST. The First half belongs to the Chiefs following a sensational start with early tries from Samipeni Finau and Cortez Ratima whereas the Hurricanes only collected just the one TRY ahead of half-time, 7-17. The home side might have prepared to scare off the Chiefs in the hope of playing in their first Final since 2016. But at the end of the day, it’s the Chiefs who managed to get the job done on what is going to be yet another Final this time v the Blues. Plus, another late Hurricanes TRY wasn’t enough to continue their spectacular 2024 campaign following their semi-finals exit alongside the regular outside finalists ACT Brumbies. The final score was 19-30 to the Chiefs over Hurricanes at Sky Stadium with one more game to go.

21-year-old Wallace Sititi has been going places with his brute strength and pace through the channels inside his Chiefs No.8 position. He can do all sorts of things  to put the Chiefs ahead like how the Hurricanes couldn’t find their own man & then Sititi read well to turn this into his own show & tell in front of Wellington and away Chiefs fans. Yes, he too would’ve liked to score one himself after another set of sprints not far from the TRY line, but Wallace definitely caused the Canes trouble in order for the best for his side to advance into the Final for another year. Chiefs also have an exciting half-back to cheer on in the hope of bringing home that championship and it’s their starting No.9 Cortez Ratima. He never stopped working hard for the most part before his well deserved rest later in the 2nd half, who knows where to find the sweet spot while backing them up with the ball on the counter-attack, thanks to the numbers he’s got to strike one down v the Hurricanes. His partnership with No.10 Damian McKenzie & the way he communicates with his players is important, so they can keep on working that magic by haunting another top side away from home at Eden Park in the Blues once again – this time for the Grand Final.

And Isaia Walker-Leawere did the best he can to push his Hurricanes side as much as possible on the second row at 5. He demonstrated brute physicality to smash the Chiefs through & dig his way both in attack and defense where the Canes never gave up until the Chiefs continued to increase their lead later on and unfortunately there’s nothing they can do as the clock ticks down. As said, they’ve had some terrific moments throughout this season that helped top the Super Rugby ladder. Yes, if it wasn’t for the no tries then the Hurricanes would’ve had been up close with the Chiefs all along to hang in there so they can get the chance to play in a Final and maybe be the next winner before & after the Crusaders for the Championship. But again, a very poor defense along with the limited possession following a bad start saw the writing off the wall by the Waikato Chiefs. 

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Top 3 Rugby Union Australian news this week: 2024 Super Rugby semi-finals, Player relocations post-Rebels & Drew Mitchell swam a rare comeback on Nine last night

by Sports Benches

It’s been a huge week of Rugby Union here this week where the last four teams still in contention have been prepping hard ahead of the weekend’s semi finals action starting tomorrow while a few players have been out and about when it comes to relocating to another club ahead of next season with one taking up a code switch rather than looking to stay within here at a different Super Rugby club or go overseas and a surprise guest came up last night in the Aussie Olympic Swimming Trials.

Super Rugby Semi-Finals preview starting tomorrow

The 2024 Super Rugby semi-finals will kick off tomorrow night with the first semi-final game between the Blues and ACT Brumbies at Eden Park in Auckland before semi-final 2 stops there during the Saturday afternoon when the No.1 ranked Hurricanes host the Chiefs at Sky Stadium in Wellington. Will we see a Brumbies breakthrough at last or else The Blues stand strong and tough on home fortress? On the other hand, can the Chiefs make the main event for the 2nd straight year by upsetting the leaders or will the Hurricanes step one ahead in their unreal campaign going into next Saturday’s Grand Final?

This is all to play for when the Crusaders is out of the running at least in the short-term this season, it could open up a really good opportunity for the Brumbies to make a statement on behalf of the sport in Australia whose performance gauge has been underwhelming for a very long time while the team itself has always been regular semi-finalists over the last few years. It’s going to be difficult unfortunately to say unless they go & surprise all of us as the Blues will look to shut them out at home yet again by 15 points like they did earlier this year 46-7 during Round 8 and two years ago with the previous meeting semi-final. For those watching every Saturday on 9Gem, tune in tomorrow from 4.30pm so you don’t miss out ahead of kick-off.

Meanwhile, Hurricanes look set to be real favourites to win that semi-final since their 2024 season has been mostly outstanding despite the injury of half-back Cam Roigard. They’ve got a really good group of players including their bench that puts them way ahead on the Super Rugby map. But don’t forget the Chiefs is not out of the running just yet despite their inconsistencies combined with back-to-back losses v Hurricanes and Blues in the last few rounds of the season. especially when playing away from home after their Quarter-Final win v Queensland Reds last Friday. They are a team that has made massive progress though and the Chiefs would wanna go out on a bang in the hope of making the Final for another year, although don’t get your hopes up as they just need to take things one a time while DMac smiles his way through the sticks.

Life without the Melbourne Rebels with a few players looking to be on the move as one just made the switch to Rugby League

A week on from the Melbourne Rebels’s sad exit out following its one and only Finals loss in the last eight v Hurricanes, there is one player who has just made the move to Rugby League ahead of next season in young No.10 Carter Gordon at the Gold Coast Titans. He will be sorely missed having gone through the ranks at the Queensland Reds on hometown turf before Carter made a name for himself by moving to Melbourne by making the starting 10 role himself for the Rebels before he gained some experience in the Wallabies shirt despite its worse ever campaign at the World Cup in France last year. But again, he’s got so much potential on the best he can ever be following his development with the Rebels and not seeing him end up back at the Reds or go to the Waratahs is such a painful blow to Rugby here. Surely, he will be a hit in the NRL initially on a two-year contract depending on whether he likes to be around for a long time or not. If he just wants to be here for the two years, then happy to welcome him back at anytime ahead of the home 2027 Rugby World Cup as we wish him all the best.

Other than Carter to NRL, it’s too early to see which players will be ending up within Australia as most of them will expected to stay at any of the four Australian Super Rugby teams on top of Andrew Kellaway, who will be returning home at the Waratahs soon enough, while a few have already committed their next playing time offshore. Time will tell whether or not if they will be able to make some progress that would hopefully translate into Wallabies much-needed resurgence as a four-team group next season. If they are not able to deliver this despite a wee bit of quality of players in Rugby Australia’s main talent pool, then they need to do something about it sooner rather than later with the next TV rights deal set to commit from 2026-2030.

While Brumbies won’t ever face the cut since they’ve been always strong on the field despite some financial and crowd filling difficulties with the Waratahs and Reds being foundation teams that belongs in strong/traditional Rugby markets here that goes back to the 1800s, it’s up for the Western Force to finally deliver on the field or else they’d be best either merging with the Sunwolves/Moana Pasifika, expand into PNG or play Global Rapid Rugby in Asia again. Yes, the world has changed these days with 4-5 teams but sometimes things just wasn’t the same when the Wallabies were so good with three teams back then.

Drew Mitchell back on Nine after all in a while ahead of the upcoming Summer Olympics after he took part in the Celebrity Swimming event last night

While the Australian Olympic Swimming Trials is ongoing midway through the week at Brisbane Aquatic Centre, we saw one Rugby person poolside, who is an ex-Wallaby winger and also used to be on Nine and Stan’s Rugby Union coverage from the beginning until he was let go at the end of last year, in none other than Drew Mitchell. He was part of the celebrity swimming race last night where he swam 1 x 50m stint for Team Payne alongside Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne and Olympic Gold Medalist Duncan Armstrong before he confirmed to Roz Kelly after the race that he will be part of Nine’s Olympic commentary line-up for Rugby Sevens alongside Sera Naiqama. Yes, it’s a bit unusual seeing him only on the one channel and not all on the one Nine platforms like Stan Sport but that’s a separate contract when not many of them will be available for the Olympics as most of the ex-players they’ve got usually have more experience than at Sevens level. You can also think Morgan Turinui can easily be part of that group for Nine but will still be on Stan’s group as their resident Rugby 7s expert.

As we all know, he’s the guy that likes to be around when it comes to having fun and giving his insights that goes back from his playing days, having first worked for Fox Sports not long after he retired before he was made redundant after the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Although he was given a lifeline when Nine/Stan took over the rights at the start of 2021, he only did studio analysis/sideline reporting for the most part while doing relief game commentary since they prefer Morgan Turinui up there alongside Tim Horan and caller Sean Maloney. Then he barely featured only on Nine during last year’s World Cup particularly on Sports Sunday and maybe on the sports news reports before he was dropped not long after the tournament was over and Drew had no choice but to fight for his media employment in court, which unfortunately didn’t change the outcome.

He has since moved on by appearing in the Kick Off and Kick Ons podcast on a regular basis including at all home Wallabies games later this year alongside ex-Wallabies Matt Giteau, Adam-Ashley Cooper & Host James Rochford. For now, it was great seeing him on Nine again with a bit more to come at the Olympics before Drew is happy to hang around at KOKO every week.

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Queensland Reds 2024 season stops in the last eight for yet another year after 2nd half turnaround not enough to flip their poor start at the hands of the Chiefs in Waikato

by Sports Benches

The first of the 2024 Super Rugby finals has just been getting started where 4th placed Chiefs host 5th placed Queensland Reds at Waikato Stadium. First half saw a massive show from the Chiefs in front of their home supporters that puts them in a healthy position going into half-time, 31-0. Yes, the 2nd half was won by the Reds alone off the back of some tries when a few new faces from the Chiefs bench might not have exactly shined a light as the starters. However, Reds were still nowhere near the Chiefs all along where they continued to pick up more errors whereas the Chiefs were able to extend their lead whenever and wherever possible that ensured the Waikato supporters another year in the semi-finals going into next weekend, 43-21.

The winner for Quarter-Final 2 early tomorrow afternoon at Sky Stadium in Wellington would see the 1st-placed Hurricanes or 8th-placed Melbourne Rebels (soon to be shut down not based on regular season form this season unfortunately due to financial reasons) take on the Chiefs going for the 1st semi game which will now be on next Saturday afternoon. Plus, the 2nd Saturday night semi would be finalised off the last two Quarter-Final games across the entirety of tomorrow night in both Auckland & Canberra time respectively with Blues (2nd) v Fijian Drua (7th) and ACT Brumbies (3rd) v Highlanders (6th).

Samipeni Finau kept the Chiefs in check in all areas both in defense and attack on the blindside No.6 tonight. He never stopped running and smashing into places that gave the best run for his money thanks to his team’s brilliant backline, so they can get the job done for him with as seen with their outstanding 1st 40. Yes, the Reds might have some moments of their later in the 2nd half off the back of the Chiefs subs but his towering and rock solid physicality would be key in next week’s semi v Hurricanes or Rebels. Samisoni Taukeiaho was also another Chiefs player who did so well as the starting hooker (No.2). He’s got plenty of power to unpack such as his throwing-in accuracy and most importantly, his physical strength to plow his way into opposition defenders with two first-half tries. He earned his early rest after 50 odd mins of play with his reserve Bradley Slater also doing so well with just the one 2nd half TRY for himself that would hopefully see them win semis once again.

And despite the Reds leaving the Playoffs early yet again, gotta say competition isn’t bad when it comes to reserve No.10 Lawson Creighton following his impressive impact for Tom Lynagh later in the 2nd half. He got straight into it by changing up the attack for the Reds even though catching up to the Chiefs is very much impossible with two successful conversion kicks sandwiched in between one late TRY for himself. If he did all of that magic from the start, it would’ve been a different story when Les Kiss gave Ballymore a new lease of life off Brad Thorn – just not the Reds night sadly to finish off their 2024 season.

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2024 Super Rugby three-week Playoffs Preview: Another year of New Zealand dominance other than the Crusaders or is it Australia’s turn at last in a long, long time?

by Sports Benches

After 15 weeks of regular season action, let the three-week Playoffs begin as we are edging closer to close out the 2024 Super Rugby Season before the International season begins next month off the back of a three-game series (Wallabies v Wales and All Blacks v England) as well as bit of Club Rugby in between (NSW Shute Shield and QLD Hospital Cup as well as New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship) followed by The Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup throughout August and September. Here’s what you need to know which of the Top 8 have made it and which four have been left out of the cold.

The four teams that were eliminated outside the Top 8 bubble are the NSW Waratahs following so many injuries (mainly the front row department) combined with very poor form other than winning both games v the Crusaders as if 2014 comes around again (12th), Moana Pasifika even though they made some progress by winning a few games but they’re still not yet competitive as they would’ve liked during their third season (11th), Western Force when they had a poor start off the back of a huge off-season drive but some rare wins here and there only at home as the campaign goes on wasn’t enough to justify their slim Finals hopes (10th) & lastly, the Crusaders with so many key men moved on including the seasoned winning head coach combined with a few injuries whose recent winning form & some unlucky losses just wasn’t enough to make it on time (9th).

We will begin with the 4th & 5th placed team tonight at around 5pm AEST between the Chiefs and Queensland Reds once again at FMG Stadium in Waikato. Can we see the Reds go one better or will the Chiefs continue its strong NZ teams run going into the second week semis next weekend? Then we have all three games throughout Saturday from early afternoon to night to round off the first week’s play. We will pick it up from there between the 1st and 8th placed match of the Hurricanes and the Melbourne Rebels. Rebels had a great on-field season thanks to a brilliant front row while their backline has been sublime but their constant off-field troubles financially saw the writing off the wall to the Melbourne-based team after 14 years. Yes, making the finals for the first time is a great way to end things on a high but then it’s like an extra round of rugby as the favourites remain to the Canes with a new Super Rugby champion being crowned soon now that the Crusaders is out.

Saturday night in New Zealand sees the Fijian Drua play in their 2nd straight Playoffs year after finishing 7th again in their third season of existence. They will be up against another difficult team likewise in the Blues who will be hosting them at Eden Park in Auckland. Can the Drua finally live up to its full potential when they haven’t been great away from home or will the Blues continue its championship hunt going into the semis yet again & win a trophy that the fans have long been waiting for (2021 Trans-Tasman trophy doesn’t count) since the start of the 2020s? And finally we finish off the big Saturday at GIO Stadium in Canberra between the ACT Brumbies and the returning Highlanders who is now back in the Top 8 after they fell short in 9th last year. Well, the Highlanders had their moments this season as whether or not if they can continue their resurgence by causing a storm to the best Australian Super Rugby team? If not, will see the Brumbies make the semis once more and hopefully they go one better to hopefully be the next Australian Super Rugby winner after the Tahs 10 years ago.

And with Super Rugby moving on with a 11-team competition next year (for now) with two weeks of byes and an extra regular season round, this is widely expected to be the last year we will see an eight-team Finals format since its big and then reduced expansion back in 2016. The quarter-finals may stay on but it will be slightly different by going with a six-team Finals route as it once was before between 2011-2015 where the Top 2 teams will get the first week off with two matches instead of four – 4th v 5th (winner meets 1st) and 3rd v 6th (winner meets 2nd). It’s still a long way away from its absolute best even with South Africa now already moved on and thriving across Europe as we will go with four Australian teams from five while it remains to see if Moana Pasifika and even the Western Force can lift themselves up from the bottom at least over the next year or two.

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Chiefs see off late threat from the Melbourne Rebels thanks to a Damian McKenzie penalty goal with the close win 23-26 at AAMI Park

by Sports Benches

Last night was such a thriller between the Melbourne Rebels & Chiefs at AAMI Park with the Rebels got the first TRY while Chiefs make up the most of their maximum points via penalty goals and the one TRY. The half-time score was Rebels 11-13 Chiefs. Second half saw the Chiefs extend their lead thanks to their advantage despite having the first TRY attempt being knocked on by the TMO.  Although the game wasn’t over just yet when the Rebels make up back-to-back tries in quick succession where they almost gave a win for everyone supporting at home after they were 23-23 all for a bit, but then an unfortunate lost penalty with only 1-2 mins on the clock saw the Chiefs seal another penalty kick with the win 23-26. Chiefs stay in fourth on the ladder for now while Rebels hang on 6th with another one bonus point going into Rounds 14 and 15.

Damian McKenzie is the Chiefs main man who can get the extra dimension into play with an outstanding knack of kicking into the two posts at 10. Great to see him pass on some good leadership skills that puts his Chiefs team on the map even including under advantage so they can get the job done as being tested with his creativity and direction in attack & sure he still has lots to offer where his spotless kicking conversions has saved the day with the narrow win v a threatening Rebels team. Next up is Chiefs’s No.12 at inside centre/second five-eighth Quinn Tupaea who put in an excellent physical battle to help his side stay ahead. Glad to see him unpack that powerful grit through the Rebels’ wall where the rewards paid off including at the maul en route to his team’s 2nd TRY as if he’s one of the team’s superheroes & he will keep on doing this to win from here. The Chiefs were so relieved to win this game thanks to a great start but then they need to watch out and take advantage with the ball under pressure where they were almost run over by the Rebels. They may be in the Top 4 for now where hosting the home Finals is crucial like it was before but have a tough task ahead with Hurricanes on Friday & then Blues to finish up Round 15. 

And how good was Lachie Anderson when he almost guided the Rebels home 23-23 all until a lost late penalty saw Damian McKenzie seal a successful penalty kick for the Chiefs win by three points, with two tries on the board throughout the 2nd half on the right wing. His speed skills isn’t without question who can get things done quick smart – as seen with the sevens circuit in the past as well as his XVs career where he spent the last few years playing for the Rebels in Melbourne & he’s improved so much with so lots more to come if he keeps on bagging tries like this. Speaking of the Rebels, they’ve come from a long, long way having played so well by dominating the pitch for the majority, but unluckily lost if it wasn’t for the inconsistent play as still no word if they will be back playing next year. There is still two games left & maybe a bit more when it comes the Quarter-Finals with the ACT Brumbies in Canberra next Friday before they will finish off the regular season in Fiji against the Drua .

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2024 Super Rugby Season monthly report after Round 12: A change of lead on the ladder with some teams going up and down

by Sports Benches

The last four weeks of the 2024 Super Rugby season saw some great success with the New Zealand teams still going strong minus the Crusaders still unluckily, while the Australian sides have proven that they are up to the challenge that would make a huge difference to their upcoming Wallabies campaign later this year with three more regular rounds to go.

Then it’s all about Finals Footy once again to round off the season campaign after this from the quarter-final followed by the semi-finals and the Grand Final.

New Zealand teams

The Blues recently became unstoppable having just surpassed the Hurricanes on top of the ladder yesterday as they just got the Highlanders, Crusaders & Chiefs to go, which shouldn’t be too hard to go into the Finals with plenty of optimism for a fourth title. Hurricanes as said haven’t done too bad at times without Cameron Roigard but still had some tough times against Blues yesterday & the Brumbies two weeks ago in Canberra, let’s see if they can hold keep on winning where Moana Pasifika should be easy while Chiefs & Highlanders is a bit difficult.

Chiefs also had some easy wins in recent weeks against the bottom 3-4 teams & the race is on for the Waikato side to hopefully get the job done that might be a bit challenging starting with the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday followed by the Top 2 teams (Hurricanes & Blues). Meanwhile, Highlanders recovered well from their worst trip v Reds (31-0) in Round 9 by putting themselves back in the Top 8 at 7th with some good wins even though it wasn’t pretty. Yes, things are going to get difficult when facing the Top 2 sides other than Fijian Drua in Round 14 but sure they can cause a storm like it was before. 

And last but not least the Crusaders who got themselves another win in Christchurch two weeks ago v Rebels 38-0 with some great improvements to see at times. However, time is running against them as they really need to win big, which won’t be easy against Brumbies & then Blues other than easy finish v Moana Pasifika to hopefully make the Top 8 just in time after Round 15.

Australian teams 

ACT Brumbies are still high and flying bar the Blues loss back in Round 9 as they still sit 3rd with an easy run-in that would hopefully give themselves a good Finals run and then end the drought to take home the trophy. Queensland Reds on the other hand returned to winning ways other than also a close Round 10 loss v the Blues. Now the run-in might look a bit difficult when the Drua is so strong on the home front while they got a few being injured but then you got the Western Force at home followed by the Waratahs again shouldn’t be too hard to seal a good run-in v Chiefs or Brumbies in the Quarters.

Western Force also has a great strong home atmosphere off the back of wins against the Crusaders back in Round 9 & the Fijian Drua last night, which puts them back on track towards an outside possibility of playing Finals footy with the Waratahs next up followed by Reds away & then the Brumbies after that. Then don’t know what to say about the NSW Waratahs when they are at their lowest ebb once again with so many being injured other than two lucky wins v the Crusaders with more losses going against them. The only positive I can say that they’ve put in their best effort to hopefully get themselves up first at the finish line, but then they’re last right now with two difficult games to finish it off (Force & Reds) other than Moana Pasifika.

And the Melbourne Rebels are still hanging in 6th with three tough games to go with two being at home, such as the Chiefs on Friday followed by the Brumbies and then the Drua away in Fiji. It all depends on the other results but they will still make it even it means an extra week of playing considering the Crusaders are still struggling with the Waratahs going way worse. Then the big question mark is whether or not if the Rebels will be back next year & beyond who is still broke despite recent on-field success? We still don’t know when you got a businessman-led consortium group ready to save the club from liquidation but then the powers of Rugby Australia has the final say at Rugby HQ with still no resolution to either stay or go at this stage.

Pasifika teams 

Well, Moana Pasifika had their moments earlier during the season where they were flirting with the Top 8 bubble a few times here & there. However, a recent string of losses meaning they will unfortunately miss out as progress will take a bit more time before Moana can start winning more games from here; They got the 2nd-placed Hurricanes next up followed by the Waratahs & Crusaders, even though all of their final three regular season games are going to be played within New Zealand.

Same goes with the Fijian Drua who always have an outstanding home atmosphere in Lauktoka, Fiji like the Force bar the Hurricanes loss back in Round 9. They might be able to play another week of Finals this year depending on other results with the next two games being at home against the Reds & Rebels other than the Highlanders in Dunedin but their away form still much leaves to be desired which is gonna bite back to haunt them including the 48-10 loss v Force last night in Perth. That is going to be their next big step alongside a new head coach with Mick Byrne agreeing to step up with the national team soon.

Post-notes

2/3rd in with three regular weeks to go as the race for 6th-8th is still on where we could still see an odd upset or two on top of the continued Australian teams’ winning progress & the battle for 1st & 2nd between the Blues and Hurricanes, with the lone Australian side Brumbies and the Chiefs being the outside favourites as they’re all locked up with the QF hosting rights.

While the Reds will surely end up in 5th, The Rebels and Highlanders would most certainly be a given as the Waratahs are unable to improve anytime soon with more injury hit-lists in the treatment room. And who is going to claim 8th?

It’s going to be between the Drua, Force and Crusaders – with the Crusaders hopefully getting the last remaining Finals spot, even though things weren’t the best where lots of new guys have a huge job to fill after so many people including a few big-name players and even the head coach in Scott Robertson getting the All Blacks job have came and gone in the off-season.

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Rugby

The Chiefs explosive counter-attack derails the Waratahs good start with an easy win to close it out tonight at Allianz Stadium, 22-38

by Sports Benches

Round 10 of 15 in the 2024 Super Rugby Season during the Anzac weekend saw all 12 teams back in full swing after taking their respective byes over the last three weeks and fortunately, I was able to see it on-site tonight at Allianz Stadium (awesome modern venue btw) in Moore Park where the NSW Waratahs welcome last year’s runner-up team the Chiefs from Waikato, NZ.

The first half saw the Waratahs off to a flying start following the Chiefs early ill-disciplines that saw two of their players having to sit out on the naughty chair (yellow card) for a while. Despite this, the Chiefs were able to move on and level the scoreboard with the Waratahs going into half-time at 12-12. Then the Chiefs were able to extend their lead with another set of tries while the Waratahs began to fall behind. Yes, the Waratahs might have not lost all of hope just yet when a successful penalty conversion and a 3rd TRY might have spark a bit of an outside revival. However, as the clock ticks away towards full-time, the Chiefs proved too strong for them whilst having the last laugh with one more TRY to close it out for the win once again 22-38.

Emoni Narawa has been lightning quick on the Chiefs right wing, having been blessed with the support needed to get things done on the counter-attack that made him so great. He can make things so difficult with his trickery pace for the opposition defenders to try and stop him in his tracks where he punished them not once but twice that puts his side in cruise control.

Here’s another experienced young talent Kaylum Boshier on the Chiefs openside back row at 7 after he kept a good eye on the Waratahs at his own end, so he can turn the ball over, muscle it up & cash it in on return as the rewards have paid off. He’s a multi-talented player with a background in both rugby and cricket who’s got tremendous mobility that reflects his natural game-changing abilities and that is how Kaylum made the Waratahs suffer towards the end with a big win away from home.

Both of them may not had much International experience but they can certainly compete v the best of the rest and that includes the unbeaten Hurricanes in the hope they can translate success in all fronts of New Zealand Rugby. The road to go one better continues as they will be back at home (FMG Stadium in Waikato) next Saturday night v Perth’s Western Force.

And Julian Heaven has converted a couple of the line-in throws into tries for the Waratahs tonight including one for himself thanks to these winning penalties. He’s still young at 23 who might not have gone through the traditional route but his hard work handed his side a huge early headstart off the back of the Chiefs ill-discipline that saw two players sat 10 minutes at each time on the naughty chair. But what’s even naughty is the way his side failed to get the job done at times through open play despite having good possession as the Chiefs explosive counter attack really punished them in the end that handed them yet another loss. It doesn’t look any good from here with the Hurricanes next up & it’s even going to be a long trip to get to Wellington in NZ for next Friday on what is going to be a really tough run-in to finish off this term.

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