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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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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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The Melbourne Rebels one & only Finals journey has come to a end with back-to-back late tries as Hurricanes now off to host the Chiefs for next Saturday’s semi in Wellington

by Sports Benches

After 14 years of existence including a huge on-field fight in their final ever campaign despite its poor and fading financial position, the Melbourne Rebels exited the first week of finals this year with their head held high thanks to two late 2nd half tries off the back of Lachie Anderson’s superb double finish off the right as well as Carter Gordon’s continued emergence from start to finish in the starting 10 jersey. The real winner though you’re looking at is the No.1 ranked Hurricanes at Sky Stadium who was both unstoppable and also too good all along to comfortably advance into the 2nd semi-final next Saturday v the Chiefs back at the same place but on slightly later time during the night. First 40 was an arm wrestle where Rebels had the early headstart off the penalty conversion for the first 20 odd minutes before the Canes finally got the ball rolling with two converted big points by tighthead forward Pasillo Tosi and right winger Joshua Moorby going into half-time, 14-6. Nothing much happened later on other than the Canes’ continued scoring spree with tries mainly being shared across a few of their forward pack. Yes, as said from above, the Rebels did find a way to collect a couple by the time elimination was almost certain before Hurricanes didn’t mind scoring a few more towards full-time with a excellent two-try cameo by their substitutes, 47-20.

So the first two quarter-finals have now been ticked off where the first semi on Friday night sees the Hurricanes return to their home turf at Sky Stadium and the team to beat will be the 4th placed Chiefs, who had an outstanding first half last night with an easy win to hang in there & keep that Finals hopes alive (43-21) – despite seeing their reserves fall off the pace in the last 40 v Queensland Reds in Waikato. The 2nd half of Quarter-Finals will soon finish tonight to make up the other semis game where one will face either Hurricanes or Chiefs for the Grand Final, with Blues (2nd) currently playing the Fijian Drua (7th again) at Eden Park in Auckland right now followed by ACT Brumbies (3rd) v Highlanders (6th) at GIO Stadium in Canberra.

Gotta say Brayden Iose put in such a physical battle to not only nail down defensively but also crack the code in return with one TRY for himself not long after half-time in the Hurricanes 8 position. He’s the guy who lived up to his potential having unpacked a great eye off his towering height while digging deeper with the ball that got the best out the Canes’ TRY-scoring opportunities left, right and centre as all of this is what made the Canes dominate this competition with an early rest to the bench. Meanwhile, Jordie Barrett also did so well at first five-eighth in the Hurricanes midfield 12 where he knows where to find his man out wide either way as long as there’s numbers in there that puts his team on the map big time by playing off the 10 of Brett Cameron. He can also kick when required as seen on occasions before while bringing it back to protect his forwards when it comes to the defensive contribution as they do to help him through the ruck that led to more and more opportunities with the ball, so he can get the best out of this through the gate. Communication along with a full 80 performance including a strong bench would hopefully see the Canes at last get the past the semis next Saturday as the last time they’ve played in a Grand Final was back in 2016 where they’ve beaten the Lions from Johannesburg on home soil, 20-3.

Lastly, Lachie Anderson is the man who lightens up every time he steers home to score the TRY off the wide right for the Rebels including the last ever two in the team’s last ever match earlier this afternoon. We know he’s grown a lot in the search of discovering his best on-field firstly at home through the junior and early senior ranks in Sydney before he was a regular in the 7s for some time and then made a name for himself by going strength to strength with the ball on hand while chasing down the opposition for a couple of seasons in the XVs – despite no Wallabies call-up yet at 26 as sure he will be a great addition for any of the four Australian Super Rugby teams if Lachie wishes to continue in Super Rugby here next season.

And on the Rebels, it’s been a pleasure watching you play on the field by fighting for the Melbournians on what you do and give back best for Rugby Union in the area after 14 years. It’s not easy and also sad to see that Melbourne professional part of Rugby Union go but it is what it is as wish the players & coaching staff as well as the behind the scenes admin and medical stuff all the best wherever they go – hopefully we will see most of them up staying within here at another club than overseas.

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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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Thoughts on the Melbourne Rebels not returning next year as confirmed by Rugby Australia this morning despite a good 2024

by Sports Benches

Even though the Melbourne Rebels had a great season that would mean a first extended go in the Super Rugby finals next week depending on their regular-season finale performance in Suva this Saturday v Fijian Drua after Week 15, unfortunately the new consortium group involving ex-directors just didn’t prove to Rugby Australia that they can make them financially viable to bring back from the dead and not fall into the red once again as instead the Rebels will not be back playing next year with their last game coming up next month. There’s nothing anyone can do about it when the club entered this season under huge financial uncertainty and despite this, they managed to do so well with a really strong squad they’ve got over the off-season while the Waratahs had lots of injury clout that reflected yet another worst ever season & the Force still very unlikely to make just inside the Top 8 when you got the Drua (win and you’re in) and Crusaders (win and see Drua lose) in front of them.

We feel very sorry for the Rebels administrative staff, players and coaching staff who have to suffer this difficult announcement like this where some will be moving to another Super Rugby club here like the Waratahs (Andrew Kellaway already onboard with a few more looking to follow him soon) and Force or else head overseas. It doesn’t mean everyone should hate the Rebels when they first entered Super Rugby back in 2011 but their on-field performances have been mostly mediocre for so long combined with them running as insolvent in recent years when RA first controversially cut the Western Force back in late 2017 – only for the Force to return a few years later off the back of COVID & South African teams leaving for Europe full-time.

It doesn’t mean that RA will stop investing community and grassroots rugby within the Melbourne and Victorian area despite the Rebels shutdown with more home-grown players coming through which isn’t going away any time soon but for these kids to play for either of the four Australian Super Rugby clubs at some point in their careers after high school or juniors U-16 to U-19s level with Rugby Victoria. For example, loose forwards Rob Valetini and Pete Samu whom are both born and bred in Melbourne, both also grew up there & ended up moving interstate later on (Valetini to Brumbies & Samu to Sydney/Brisbane).

We also hope to see that the ACT Brumbies and even NSW Waratahs (both teams wouldn’t be mergers to Melbourne after all – don’t stress) could play some of its games there at AAMI Park from next year if that can be done too but you never know when the annual Super Round might be heading elsewhere at the same time. At the end of the day, RA is unable to support their senior talent pool of players up to five teams financially as said above where they will field four Australian teams next year consisting of the Brumbies, Reds, Waratahs and Western Force – with no replacement team elsewhere like the Jaguares in place of the Rebels to make up 12 teams & will instead go with 11 teams in the next Super Rugby instalment for now. Let’s hope they can make it count with more than just the Brumbies so our Australian Super Rugby teams can have a really strong campaign against the New Zealand teams that would mean a great extended Finals campaign and most importantly, a strong Wallabies performance at last in a long time in order to win back both the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup.

What does it mean for the Western Force? They’re also beginning to build a good group of experienced players too other than Nic White onboard this year thanks to the ownership of Andrew Forrest, with his ex-Brumbies team-mate Darcy Swain expected to join soon after the season is over for the second row department alongside two brilliant hookers like Nic Dolly and Brandon Paenga-Amosa from Europe. But again, they’re a team who still hasn’t yet had a full Super Rugby finals campaign before that goes way back to when the Force first started in 2006. If they don’t continue to make much progress in the next few years regardless of how much money being thrown here and there, then they would be better off either expanding into Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Singapore on top of Perth (they can continue some of the games there), merge with Sunwolves if Japan wants to play Super Rugby again (also doesn’t mean they shouldn’t leave Perth altogether with some home games like the PNG link up suggestion) or else play in a different competition. The NRL is about to give PNG their 18th team soon, so no doubt Twiggy can have a look at the growing PNG market just like the other Pasifika hotspots such as Fiji. It doesn’t mean that the work of developing and producing more of the homegrown talent is to be missed/overlooked where he can get some of the best PNG league players to play for the Force alongside the experienced & youth players in Super Rugby.

For now, this weekend and next weekend is all about the Rebels putting their best show as they possibly can to go out with their head held high. They can make the Crusaders make Finals possible if they can beat Fiji on their home turf to finish 6th spot before going all in regardless of their final result against any of the Top 3 sides like the Brumbies, Blues or Hurricanes.

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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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Thoughts on whether Rugby Australia can still accommodate the resources & funding to support five Super Rugby teams after the Melbourne Rebels huge success so far in 2024

by Sports Benches

Last night, Melbourne has witnessed their own Rugby team winning another game this time v Highlanders in the form of the Rebels and they now sit in 4th place on the ladder with a bye next week before they resume to go all in & hopefully have their first taste of Finals footy. Although they did play in the Qualifying Final back in 2020 v QLD Reds under a temporary Super Rugby AU comp when COVID interrupted our daily lives at the time & the Waratahs weren’t doing much good back then.

However, questions will still need to be answered by Rugby Australia amid the Rebels still being broke as whether or not if they have the resources including the talent pool to support as many as five teams? It’s been a long-running debate that saw two teams end up in the hole including the ACT Brumbies whose existence will not be taken away anytime soon thanks to their decorated history regularly up front that reflects long-running success. There’s another team that won’t be in for the axe at all is the NSW Waratahs whose history is also so strong in a Rugby dominated state/market that goes back to hundreds of years despite their mediocrity over the last couple of years; Same goes to the Queensland Reds – so rule both of them out too as removing those big influences & RA investing more into the Brumbies, Rebels & even Western Force won’t help that much.

While we’d like to go back to the way things were when the Wallabies were oh so good with just three teams in the 1990s and early 2000s, it won’t happen since the world has changed over time with most professional sports here having an excellent national footprint. At the end of the day, it’s still going to be five teams without needing to axe a team again under a few conditions – if the Rebels get cut, 1. I’d to see a like-for-like replacement with the Jaguares coming back this time as a Melbourne-based team by inheriting most of the Rebels players with a few Los Pumas Internationals coming over and 2. Western Force gets some help from Japan and merge with the Sunwolves while still playing most of the games in Perth.

That way, we will able to meet the goal of having all five Australian Super Rugby teams thriving against the long-dominating New Zealand counterparts. Plus, the talent pool will be stronger as ever which in turn will get more quality Australian Super Rugby players coming from all five teams for the benefit of the Wallabies returning to its former glory by winning games & silverware again while expanding overseas selection availability since the Springboks won back-to-back recent World Cups under this model including the next crop of local grassroots kids who will learn massively from the seasoned Internationals playing here.

And hopefully no more fighting after consistently losing to the All Blacks over the last 20 + Bledisloe Cup editions while experiencing the worst World Cup campaign ever where they exited the group stages for the first time last year in France as the worst thing can happen is for RA to face someone in the courtroom yet again like the Force back in 2017, The end.

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2024 Super Rugby Half-Yearly Report, Hurricanes still unbeaten with Melbourne Rebels finally thriving other than the ACT Brumbies

by Sports Benches

Round 8 is now done and we are at the halfway stage of the 2024 Super Rugby Season with one more shortened series of four games next weekend while some teams will undertake the required week-long off the field and all 12 teams will then look to bring it home non-stop towards the end of this regular home and away portion. For now, let’s look back what happened over the past month between Rounds 5 to 8 when we finished March while having an Easter long weekend before entering April and the clocks have moved back an hour with all cold game nights ahead after Daylight Savings was over one week ago.

New Zealand teams

Hurricanes still strong albeit Cam Roigard’s knee injury that will keep him out of the field for six months as let’s see if that unbeaten run continues with games coming up v Fijian Drua as well as two Aussie teams like Brumbies & Waratahs. What else? Blues also on the same wavelength as the Hurricanes where they got the Brumbies next up followed by the Reds and Rebels, so won’t be easy when facing Aussie opposition but they should be alright though with 1-2 wins mainly v Reds and Rebels. Chiefs also not bad despite some losses lately v Crusaders in Christchurch a few weeks ago as well as the unbeatable Hurricanes just now & they have a good next series of matches which we will expect to see them again at Finals time. Then Highlanders have shown that they can always stay in the game but four losses over the last month isn’t a good look whose progress is still in the rebuilding phase which will take a bit more time. And on the Crusaders, great to see them win at last two weeks ago v Chiefs. Although they were unlucky v Waratahs again the other day thanks to Will Harrison’s last-minute drop goal, but they are on the right track though lately as they still need to win the rest if the Saders want to play Finals this year.

Australian teams

ACT Brumbies are still unstoppable who currently sits 2nd with games coming up v the Top 2 such as Blues next Saturday and the Hurricanes after that. Can they be the top ranked side in this comp other than being just the best here that saw them accomplish regular semi-finals over the last couple of years? We’ll see. Melbourne Rebels, on the other hand, got away with really good wins off the back of the Waratahs as that team so far can only win v the new-look Crusaders, as well as Fijian Drua who still struggle away from home and of course, the Highlanders by a comfortable margin. They now sit 4th amid financial problems at the start of this year as nothing is still guaranteed whether if they will be back playing next season & beyond.

Plus, the Queensland Reds good start under Les Kiss has turned sour in recent weeks after three straight losses to the Western Force, ACT Brumbies and now Moana Pasifika. The good news is they are still within the Top 8 bubble in 6th but bad news is they need to win games again if Queensland wish to do well in the Finals and not let it slip out with fear like last year when Brad Thorn had his course as head coach. Meanwhile, the NSW Waratahs are still struggling other than winning games v the Crusaders and they too have a series of tough matches ahead after next week’s bye like Chiefs, Hurricanes and also the Brumbies again. And while the Western Force was fortunate to celebrate the rare home win v Reds, they still haven’t been at their best despite having lots of experienced players. Looking ahead, the run-in fixtures doesn’t look any good to them as an outside finals berth looks less likely but surely they will get some wins at home though like Crusaders, Drua and Waratahs.

Pasifika teams

We all know that the Drua like the Western Force and Melbourne Rebels can have a strong home crowd impact which reflects their impressive winning record there but not so much away from home. They got the Hurricanes and Moana Pasifika coming up at home soon to close out April, so this could mean business for them to get back on track to stay inside the Top 8 bubble and hopefully play Finals again like they did during their sophomore campaign last year. And what about Moana Pasifika? They made some excellent progress at last as seen in the early rounds of 2024, although they had some heavy losses recently until Moana beat the Reds the other day but that was against the top teams. They will need at least 3-4 wins now in order to enjoy their first finals experience as long as the ladder doesn’t change that much over the next 4-6 weeks, but again Moana is making some gradual progress on their third year before they can be more like Drua and win more games in the long run.

Post-Notes

All in all, the New Zealand teams are still dominating Super Rugby as the Crusaders downfall should only last this season while Australia has made some great progress too – including a couple of upset wins against some of the established or original foundation teams should I say – with the Brumbies and Rebels being their best so far in 2024. Nothing much will change as wouldn’t mind a couple of more upsets and other team wins that isn’t a New Zealand team or from somewhere in the bottom four, but the only exception we might see is for the Crusaders to win all the remaining games as they can & make the Finals just inside the Top 8 by the time we wrap up Round 12 before all 12 teams will then become eight teams after Round 15.

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2024 Super Rugby Season Week 8, Melbourne Rebels’ explosive backline & attacking pace ran the Highlanders ragged with the big win

by Sports Benches

It was a huge scoring game at AAMI Park in Melbourne tonight with Highlanders unpacking the brawns of physical strength thanks to their good start or early lead while picking up some good points along the way, but then the Melbourne Rebels outsmarted them with an abundance of pace, accurate passing and communication and an unreal backline that got way with another win in front of their home crowd. Rebels responded well to the Highlanders opening converted TRY with two Darby Lancaster tries on top of their 1st minute opening score account where they were leading 26-10 at half-time. Highlanders thought they’re beginning to close in after the break but nowhere close enough as the Rebels went on to extend their lead further afield with a Carter Gordon scoring double followed by another Darby TRY that sealed the hat-trick to close the match his way and the Rebels way, 47-31. Rebels will take the well deserved rest next week before they travel to Christchurch on Friday 26th for R10 v the under fire Crusaders & Highlanders head off to Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Friday v the Reds.

Andrew Kellaway was outstanding by leading the Rebels backline who made his side’s attack so much better that gifted them tries at No.15. He absolutely knows where to find his man where he is right on the money with the ball on hand through the counter-attack as long as the numbers are there like Darby Lancaster’s first-half double TRY on the left-wing as well as No.10’s Carter Gordon’s first try of the match when the Rebels extended their lead in the 2nd-half. Then tough to say who is 2nd best as discussed between Darby and Carter – both of whom are exceptional Rebels youngsters – but gotta say Darby made a huge name for himself with a hat-trick of tries, having established himself in the World 7s circuit for Australia before and now he continues to cause opposition players carnage in the 15s and Super Rugby level. This Melbourne Super Rugby team is high flying right now in 4th amid financial problems but surely they have a really great squad with Kellaway being an established Wallaby while Gordon earned some stripes last year & surely Darby will be fast-tracked soon enough under Joe Schmidt.

And Sean Withy never stopped working hard in order for the Highlanders to keep the Rebels in check whose physicality and application on the blindside (No.6 flanker) opened up plenty of opportunities that went his side’s way. His opening TRY puts them up front for a short time while he adds so much pressure to make that brick wall against the Rebels so they don’t steal it under his watch including at scrum and mauls, even though the Highlanders were trying to play catch up in a race against time after losing the lead for the majority. But what really let him down tonight is that his side’s so scared of attacking earlier on despite winning a few penalties yet the defense is so poor while the backline weren’t simply up to the Rebels’ standard; Okay, some late changes might have helped but it still puts them at odds as the clock ticks down & sadly it was too late.

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