Tag:

Chiefs

2025 Super Rugby Grand Final: Crusaders back on top following four-point arm wrestle v Chiefs in Christchurch

by Sports Benches June 21, 2025

Now this and that is championship-winning stuff from the Crusaders back where they belong as the leading and most successful Super Rugby team in history like it was before and they’ve done that once again to finish the 2025 season.

There’s Fletcher Newell stepping up big time for nearly the whole 80 when these front rowers usually play half the time who put in a mammoth effort from the ruck to defense plus mauls and scrum time.

Plus, credit to Rivez Reihana (former Chief) with the extra points as the frontline 10 both flattening up attack v the scrambled Chiefs blocks & his conversion kicking game also paramount to a T.

Special mention to Crusaders legend Sevu Reece with his undeniable commitment to the grand halls of this dynasty along with his all-action play from both wings.

And the towering Tupou Vaai on the Chiefs second row 5 did his best to outmuscle & steal against the Crusaders when this 80 minute final was about one huge arm wrestle where one gets the winning arm and other the runner-up one. It’s unfortunate they couldn’t take advantage to get past a one-point deficit that became a four-point loss in the end when Chiefs didn’t offer much creativity and running rugby unlike Crusaders.

So there you have it, a four point difference separating the minor premiers Chiefs and champions-elect Crusaders by 16-12 at the Apollo Projects Stadium in Christchurch – at least for the final time when it comes to hosting finals.

Still be a couple of more games expected to play at the same place during the first half season in 2026 before the new 30,000 Te Kaha venue is ready for Crusaders to take centre stage from here.

After 83 games across the 2025 season for the 30th time, Super Rugby is now done and dusted as we turn our attention to the 2nd half International Tests & club rugby portion…including a new four-week third-tier comp called Super Rugby AUS.

What’s exciting to come soon enough is the British and Irish Lions coming here for nine games over the next 6 weeks – 3 from the Wallabies plus the rest being our Super Rugby of four and one-off teams.

Now the Lions did start their campaign earlier this morning on a one-off match v the Los Pumas in Dublin and they’ve lost by four points there (24-28). Well, it may have been one match but still we can’t take any discounts where a full 80 performance required from the Wallabies would be enough to win at least this prestigious series either way 2-1 or 3-0.

We’ve come from a long way both from a performance-based and commercial standpoint when the Lions only come around once every 12 years and it’s about time the Wallabies make up for it.

No more nightmares of 2023 and more of their rebuild being great that can provide a good next step towards being successful in the 2027 Rugby World Cup…at home.

June 21, 2025 0 comment

Rugby

2025 Super Rugby Semi-Final 2: Chiefs rule over Brumbies with their comprehensive win ahead of next Saturday’s Grand Final v Crusaders in Christchurch

by Sports Benches June 14, 2025

Could 2025 be the year of the Chiefs? Ask Damian McKenzie with his outstanding 10 out of 10 performance as always.

He’s not just your usual go-to kicker, he can be massive from his defensive work like preventing 50/22s to try-saving tackles, and can stir up some amazing razzle dazzle creativity too.

If he can help Chiefs win that grand final over Crusaders next weekend, then he can cover himself in all golden glory with team and individual awards written all over it.

Look out Sevu Reece! Emoni Narawa is ready to cause more damage on what is going to be Super Rugby’s own Ford v Ferrari moment from the wide 14.

He’s someone who never stops running and can stun everyone in many cat and mouse games through the gate.

Mind you Chiefs won against them twice so far and will his two-try haul could be the Chiefs coming of hat-tricks this time?

Bring it on.

Brumbies, don’t know what else to say other than falling short off a Grand Final for the fourth straight year.

At least we saw the best of Tom Wright from the back who isn’t afraid to take any prisoners and risks that can reap benefits like the Brumbies did earlier on.

He is someone the Lions would struggle to stop every time Tom hits full turbo.

Again, he has to see numbers and unfortunately there wasn’t much effort going on around him other than just Chiefs shirts where Chiefs deserved that win.

All in all, Chiefs just too good having unleashed and got away with all-out attacking rewards over the only best Australian Super Rugby team by 37-17 at FMG Stadium in Hamilton.

Yes, Brumbies did fire off well on the front foot right from the word go which wasn’t bad or encouraging to see.

They just couldn’t get enough ball while their attack through open play is something Brumbies struggled to grasp that became a touch isolated where Chiefs went on to eat that whole 2nd half pie by far left, right and centre.

Now we have the Crusaders back in the big dance against the consistent grand finalist Chiefs where there can only be one winner at the same time next Saturday in Christchurch.

Will Chiefs finally get their breakthrough since their last triumph back in 2013?

Or will Crusaders reclaim their golden glory that took time & patience to rebuild from scratch?

We shall wait and see as if there can only be one winner, no doubt Crusaders will want to use that grand final as their A-game where they will win by seven points.

June 14, 2025 0 comment

Rugby

2025 Super Rugby Season Qualifying Final: Blues snatch last-minute win v Chiefs who will also stay on as the lucky loser but not so much by Hurricanes to ACT Brumbies

by Sports Benches June 7, 2025

Can you believe it from the Blues? They’re somehow still in it thanks to their last-gasp win over the Chiefs on the Chiefs home front at FMG Stadium in Hamilton.

Hats off to reserve second row Josh Beehre on his staunch defensive and attacking efforts at the centre of tackle that turned into a game-scoring TRY with Beauden Barrett continues to put in some crucial performances including a mix of creative & conversions at the starting 10.

Unlucky from Chiefs who got away with winning penalties but just couldn’t hold on sometimes – more about a physical game than just trying to score big. Look out for quick Daniel Rona on the outside 13 making excellent runs and threats too and Blues didn’t see that coming with Rona causing damage and he’s got another one coming up for next Saturday’s semi-final.

Off to Canberra and the returning tighthead Brumbies 3 Allan Alaalatoa churns in those performances from defense to attack and yet he’s stood tall.

Meanwhile, Andy Muirhead runs rockets on the wide right 14 that the Hurricanes weren’t able to do and what more can you say about him? Just unbelievable from someone who still continues to be ignored by the Wallabies & hopefully him taking on the Lions would surely convince Joe Schmidt to put Andy on the green & gold.

And looking on the Hurricanes when they no longer able to go any further? Their attack looks one-dimensional & don’t forget they defended poorly too with the long game. Gotta say Ruben Love knows how to pull off magic from the back with his hands, running legs and the boot of the tee – it’s a shame things didn’t work out with lost balls & errors here and there.

Now the 2 x semi-final match-up will be a bit like two years ago with the Crusaders v Blues first on Friday and then Chiefs v Brumbies next Saturday in Hamilton.

Nothing much will change and the same will go with Brumbies who will be front and centre once again for fourth straight year.

However, for the Brumbies to try and go one better assuming they advance to the Grand Final, they better dominate those ball retentions by taking advantage of the points that Chiefs would struggle to grasp like we saw earlier tonight v Blues.

They are the only side hang in there hoping to win back a championship that Australian Rugby has long wanted since way back when.

June 7, 2025 0 comment

Rugby

2025 Super Rugby Season Round 16 Friday: Chiefs finish regular season on top v Highlanders and Crusaders close out match on time v Brumbies in Canberra

by Sports Benches May 30, 2025

Tupou Vaai’s got power on the Chiefs second row 5 with tries and exceptional ground work while Damian McKenzie at 10 unleashed his need for speed at counter-attacking plays and kicks for goal as well.

Message sent with the three qualifying final games to start next weekend.

Timoci Tavavanawai at 12: a quick thinker, shifter & finisher- not the Highlanders year in 2025 but here to make things count.

Then in Canberra, Crusaders back rowers punched above their weight v Brumbies like starting blindside 6 Ethan Blackadder who did a bit of everything in the first half, and No.8 Christian Lio-Willie pushing and pulling against all stops all game.

Unlucky to Brumbies who didn’t have much ball in the first half when their late bid wasn’t quite enough but Tom Wright from the back always involved that the Crusaders wasn’t able to do on its own.

Chiefs simply unstoppable with their goal-scoring ability that sets the challenge for all over five teams to beat, having collected the regular season honours.

Highlanders, on the other hand, had some great moments that the home fans were proud of for the sake of this last-placed team – lots to look at in the off-season.

Back to Canberra as this Brumbies v Crusaders clash seeks realm like it was last year and many times before. Not saying it was the best of the Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby teams at this time when times have changed.

But still, Crusaders did enough to get over the line off the back of their strong hold forward pack & not so much from the backline, particularly when the loose ones stood out best despite hauling Ethan off.

I guess that’s to protect him who Crusaders need him most next weekend.

Brumbies wished they could have kept Crusaders under water off the back of their restarts that follows up with dominating the last 40 – just needs to work on their consistency and we might as well see the much better version this year.

Now the tables have turned to final round Saturday with three teams still in the hunt for the 6th and final spot:

Moana Pasifika
Blues
NSW Waratahs

This afternoon Tahs will be in Auckland v Blues then at 5pm AEST Moana Pasifika will look to make their first finals appearance in Wellington v Hurricanes.

It’s either Tahs win and Moana lose or Blues win and Moana lose or Moana win either way as long as it’s the win v Canes.

May 30, 2025 0 comment

Rugby

2025 Super Rugby Season Round 15 from Saturday: Chiefs too good for Moana Pasifika and Waratahs still alive in Top 6 race following their extra time win over Western Force

by Sports Benches May 27, 2025

Lots of Chiefs players submitted their own Emmy Awards of Super Rugby nominations following a turbocharged Round 15 win v Moana Pasifika.

1️⃣ Can’t enough of Leroy Carter’s hat-trick on the left 11 who loves being front and centre – going into top gear for Finals.

2️⃣ Another hat-trick display this time Cortez Ratima at half-back goes to show why winning the championship will mean beating everyone for the ABs.

3️⃣Not out of the Top 6 just yet and Ardie Savea 7 is one freakish giant who can take them all like he did the other day despite Moana’s heavy defeat – look out Canes!

Looks like we got more by the Waratahs over Force starting with the player behind that winning “Darby” at Super Point.

1️⃣ No need for an intro with Darby Lancaster as the Tahs usual outside backs sprinter & acrobatic specialist on the left.

2️⃣ Reserve 10 Jack Bowen unpacks that dynamic passage passing and wouldn’t mind taking conversions into extra points.

3️⃣ Carlo Tizzano loves scoring tries like he does every time; now may be out of reach for Finals Footy but perfect time now to Force that storm v the B & I Lions.

May 27, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports Football Motorsport

A few quickfire sports items this week: Chiefs def. Crusaders once again, NSW Swifts continue to be unbeatable in Super Netball and Honda’s return to winning ways in MotoGP with Johann Zarco from Team LCR

by Sports Benches May 14, 2025

Here’s a few quickfire sports items this week: Thursday 15th May, 2025

1️⃣ Great to see the Chiefs def. Crusaders once again but if these two play in the Grand Final later on, sure it’s not over just yet. Can’t wait for Saders v Tahs tomorrow although no Joseph for a while due to jaw injury while wishing Mason Gordon the best of luck now he’s unable to play rugby.

2️⃣ Swifts still unbeatable as always but at least they’re leading the Super Netball ladder by a merry way – not so much from Giants who lost to SC Lightning.

3️⃣ It’s a Honda with that emphatic French Motorcycle GP win by Johann Zarco in the Satellite LCR Bike. Yes, Honda haven’t been at their best last 1-2 years but hoping they can be back challenging for titles again.

4️⃣ Sheffield United too good for Bristol City and Sunderland sees off late threat from Coventry – going to be a cracking Final where one will go to the big time PL.

May 14, 2025 0 comment

Rugby

Super Rugby 2025 Round 11 of 16: Force were hit with a crushing blow following Bay Oval’s first match v Chiefs while Reds stood firm at home Lang Park fortress v Blues

by Sports Benches April 25, 2025

Chiefs being too good for the Force when a promising start from the Perth fades real quick going into the second 40 in a Super Rugby being first held at Bay Oval that is well renowned for NZ cricket by 56-22.

From Mount Maunganui to Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, fortunately the Reds stood firm over a lapse concentrated Blues side 35-21, as we go into the weekend with still no NZ side win yet on an Aussie front as of Round 11 out of 16.

Time will tell if the Brumbies win tomorrow night that could leave the Hurricanes empty-handed en route back to Wellington and things could still be rosy after all on their road for a proper Finals run by the Force.

Force currently sit 5th which is one place over the Waratahs who are taking the week off but again, a bonus point win for the Canes is a must if they want another shot at the Finals later this season.

And since the Hurricanes have drawn to the Force also last weekend in Perth, looks like it will be a tough ground to win over the breezy cold in Canberra.

There’s two other games also tomorrow with Moana Pasifika v Fijian Drua at North Harbour in Auckland and Highlanders will have a tough night out in Dunedin when they take on the 1st-placed Crusaders.

Top 3 players from both matches of the night

Chiefs v Force

Cortez Ratima zooms, zooms while his hands always sticks and never really falls off as unreal stuff that turns into tries and try assists from the Chiefs starting No.9.

Ollie Norris born in Sydney btw grasps and pounces every turn with a slice of the scoring pie at loosehead (Chiefs 1) on what a been a great night at Bay Oval.

Also, Harry Potter is your man who need it most in high-scoring games (Force No.14) where he can go right at you thick and fast at the other end but then a good start quickly fades away with poor defense being the culprit.

Reds v Blues

Meanwhile in Brisbane, Tom Lynagh as first-choice in the Wallabies shirt at 10?

He’s gone strength to strength with two early tries on top of his spotless kicks to goal – such a magician who is more than ready to take on at the biggest stage of top-level rugby.

Josh Canham also on fire on the Reds second row 4 in not just turning the Blues away, he also smashed deeper ground too as more to come on his 2nd finals run (could be semi or GF) + more Wallabies on-field caps especially with the Lions coming over soon on our backyard after May.

And Hoskins Sotutu continued to hit the hard yards on the Blues 8 but one too many missed opportunities & poor discipline paid the price that went the Reds way for coach Les Kiss in the end.

April 25, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports Motorsport Rugby

Top 5 sports items this week 24/4/25: Rodney Childers’ shock departure at Spire, Scott Parker’s links with Tottenham after PL promotion with Burnley, Super Rugby Round 11/16, Max Verstappen and Western Bears in NRL

by Sports Benches April 24, 2025

Bummer Rodney Childers won’t be back in the No.7 pit box but Spire ain’t backing down nonetheless with all three cars in & out of Top 16 to 20 drivers’ points.

There’s always time with the win and Playoffs still a possibility as long as it’s before September where Spire has the full backing of three talented and experienced drivers in McDowell, Haley and Hocevar.

Parker back to Tottenham?

While Burnley now back to the PL, Scott Parker might not be there because of Tottenham who could get rid of Aussie Ange even if he wins the Europa final.

Maybe it’s best if Scott helps Burnley win it all and see Leeds bottle it at the same time, then he can go considering he hasn’t been successful so far at this top level.

There’s even talk about Leeds wanting to sack Farke in order to avoid his curse record at PL level – looks like it will be advantage Parker for the title then.

Super Rugby: another golden week from the Aussie sides v NZ?

Super Rugby back for another week going the Australian teams away we hope after a few brilliant games including one that ended in a draw, although not so much for the Waratahs unfortunately v Fijian Drua away in Suva.

Yet, things could get even better if Reds, Brumbies and Force all beat their respective NZ teams in Blues, Hurricanes and Chiefs this weekend.

Perfect timing (mark that down) and as of Week 11 out of 16, still no NZ side win recorded yet at least on Australian soil.

Max Verstappen wants out of Red Bull?

Also, Max frustrated behind the scenes being the cut lone figure at Red Bull when McLaren in a Mercedes customer engine are leading the way via Oscar and Lando.

Would love to see him end up at Aston Martin with Honda engines + Adrian Newey again & Franco C. be the ideal one when RB have no other choice post-Max.

NRL finally has a Perth team with assistance of the North Sydney Bears

And last but not least, Perth will finally get a NRL team in a long time with credit to the North Sydney Bears.

That means, the Bears will be expected to play top-level Rugby League once again but looks like half of the games will be played at in Perth with other still going to be at the spiritual North Sydney Oval.

National footprint is important for all of our Aussie sports including rugby despite losing a team in Melbourne but gotta accept it’s the best fight right now in the bid for championships and series trophies.

The big weekend other than the off-weekend of F1 starts tomorrow on ANZAC day Friday before the second last round’s matches is on a bright Saturday night at 9pm and we round it off with the shuffling decks of Talladega come Monday AM.

April 24, 2025 0 comment

Other Sports

Tennis x Sports Crossover at the 2025 Australian Open: Super Rugby, All Blacks & Wallabies preview along with Netball in New Zealand and Jack Doohan under pressure for only the first six races in Formula 1 at Alpine-Renault

by Sports Benches January 19, 2025

And last but not least, how about we give a shoutout to two Wallabies stars Harry Wilson (Queensland Reds) and Max Jorgensen (NSW Waratahs), who were both in attendance at Melbourne Park this weekend to cheer on Alex De Minaur.

Yet, the Demon did win after all to play in the 4th round for the 4th straight year of his AO men’s singles career.

It was also nice seeing Harry and Max lend over that Wallabies green and gold jersey to Alex and look at him go! – How good!

Rugby Union

We first have a jam-pack year of Rugby ahead of us with the 11-team Super Rugby competition set to start in a month’s time before the British and Irish Lions arrive at our own backyard during winter. Plus, there’s Club Rugby at the same, the Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup in August-September, and we finish off the year in Europe v the North’s best sides on earth.

First of all, it’s been a bitter blow not seeing Melbourne field a Rugby team anymore in the Rebels when they are a big sporting city due to financial problems. But with lots of people playing AFL (Aussie Rules) and even NRL (Rugby League), it seems there’s no room for Rugby to succeed in that place unfortunately.

Now we are down to four teams with the Western Force still around & as we all know the ACT Brumbies would love to finally play in a Grand Final. However, we would need the Tahs, Reds or even Force to be playing in the semis either way in order for the Wallabies to succeed & that includes the Brumbies. It’s never been a better time to try taking that advantage now, especially with Joseph Suaalii onboard from the Sydney Roosters (NRL) to the Waratahs.

Other than that, the NZ teams will still be dominating for the most part along with a new-look Crusaders, even though the All Blacks had their bad times last season when it comes to the Springboks and France.

Netball

If Rugby isn’t big enough for NZ, why not Netball when they also have a huge year ahead?

The Silver Ferns will be stopping by in Sydney soon to spend nine days there as part of their training camp including a Practice Match v the NSW Swifts featuring the Ferns former star shooter (for now) Grace Nweke on Sunday, February 2.

They will also have a slightly different ANZ Premiership season amongst half of the six teams having brand new coaches (Mainland Tactix, Southern Steel and Northern Stars) between May-July including Finals with a two-round home-and-away format across 10-12 weeks rather than playing three times last year.

Yes, the Ferns haven’t organised any matches lined-up yet for the second half season but we are still expected to see the Taini Jamison Trophy series back regardless of opponent. Although England have won it last year but the good news is that they will be able to defend the Constellation Cup v the Aussie Diamonds following their 3-1 series win back in late October.

And shoutout to former Silver Fern and current GWS Giants (Western Sydney) player Gina Crampton who plays at Wing Attack and was also in attendance from the stands for Alex De Minaur’s game yesterday – sure she still has plenty to offer at age 33, especially playing against the best in Super Netball.

Formula 1

What else? Rugby & Netball isn’t the only sport who mix and matches well with Tennis.

I also wish Alpine-Renault’s Jack Doohan from Formula 1 was there to see Alex also because they do look like each other with both of them having a smiley face personality. Surely, Jack can get some tips on defying those odds from Alex when there’s a bunch of reverse drivers waiting in his wings under pressure including Franco Colapinto. Alex did beat another Argentine actually yesterday too in Francisco Cerundolo; hopefully, this will cheer Jack up in a bid to keep his seat over the first six odd races of the season.

Although I can understand Jack is more aligned with Ayrna Sabalenka because she visited his team’s garage in his unexpected F1 debut last month at Abu Dhabi & Jack came back in return for Ayrna when she played a match a few weeks ago at the Brisbane International.

Post-Notes

Can’t believe there’s a whole lot of other athletes watching for fun there rather than looking to go toe-to-toe with the pro Tennis players & see who’s better?

Time will tell.

January 19, 2025 0 comment

Rugby

Thoughts on the 11-team 2025 Super Rugby Season structure with 16 rounds, two byes, no Super Round for now & one Quarter-Final lifeline out of six-team Finals

by Sports Benches September 12, 2024

The 11-team 2025 Super Rugby Season structure including its Finals system has just made its first steps today, although the full 16-round fixtures draw will be released later in the next coming days.

Here’s what we know so far

Still an uneven fixture list but the annual rugby calendar during the first-half year is already tight anyway. At it stands, one will play twice v four teams and once v six other teams, with seven home and away games plus two week-long byes.
A bit more Sunday afternoon games where we got three on offer throughout the 2025 season with the option of expanding more Sundays when it comes to future seasons.
Season to start a bit earlier like mid-February with an extra round rather than the 3rd week of February like it was over the last few years.
No Super Round where all teams get to play at the one venue during the three-day weekend – at least for now, especially when Melbourne no longer has a Professional Rugby team in the Rebels. Although they could be back in 2026 as part of the Bledisloe Cup ANZAC Day weekend via A Festival of Rugby that is expected to take place at Optus Stadium in Perth.
Finals to look a bit different for three weeks in June with six rather than eight while the bottom five can no longer take further part once the regular season is over. Three Quarter-Final winners to go to the semi-finals before one each winning semi-finalist will go on to battle in the Grand Final, with the 3rd winning Quarter-Finalist being the lucky loser as the highest ranked losing team – so a bit like what we saw with the NSW Shute Shield (Club Rugby) during the 2023 season. Yes, some fans still don’t like it and I do personally like to see just a simple four-team Finals format (just two semi-finals and Grand Final) but this is where it’s going in the way we see in other Footy codes like AFL and NRL.

All in all, good to see some changes that will spice up the competition from a format perspective. We’ll see what happens, especially going into 2026. As much as I liked Super Rugby being a Trans-Tasman and the Pasifika competition over these last few years when South Africa moved over to Europe, we’d like to see the Jaguares come back from Argentina to make up 12 teams like it was before (2022-2024) but be logistically based in Melbourne for the most part with Finals on home turf.

With the idea of having more Super Rugby on Sundays, why not begin the day on the couch when the Jaguares sometimes play at home (if they do really want to play some of their home games truly in Argentina) before finishing off the afternoon either side of the Tasman? This would also be the perfect springboard when it comes to future expansion like North America & Hawaii at some point where we could have more Sunday games here/Saturday games there, but both USA and Canada are a long way off from where we are at least in the Top 10 competitively right now.

Although I’d also like to see Andrew Forrest’s Western Force side to team up with Japan by making one super revival team of the Sunwolves together featuring max involving the best of our players and also these Japanese Internationals from the Top League, with most games in Perth and some in Japan. That would be a great replacement to cover up the lost South African quality talent & income there.

If the Western Force do wish to continue playing Rugby, it would be through the idea of a new third-tier National Club Competition or a series of exhibition matches like the Cheetahs do from Bloemfontein in South Africa while being a feeder club to the Sunwolves, as well as junior level in the Super Rugby U16 & U19 competitions – also run similarly to the one Rugby Victoria is set to operate now the Rebels are gone with some Melbourne games still a possibility by the ACT Brumbies next season.

But I guess we will wait and see between now and at least the home 2027 Rugby World Cup depending on the Wallabies performance. If not, I could see Twiggy going elsewhere to another comp – doesn’t mean the Force is going to be dead since he’s the owner. In the meantime, all we could hope for the best of Australian Rugby right now is to have at least two decent teams battling up front alongside the dominant NZers next season – even though it’s going to be a bit more difficult from here.

That way, we could finally see our usual Brumbies or any other Australian team like the Reds or Waratahs to finally play in a Grand Final in a long time when simply advancing into a Quarter-Final & then getting eliminated right on the spot isn’t good enough.

Not even getting kicked outside the last 4 isn’t a good excuse either, especially for the Brumbies when we haven’t been winning for 10 years now since the Tahs last won it v Crusaders & over 20 if you count the Bledisloe Cup & even Rugby Championship for the Wallabies.

September 12, 2024 0 comment