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Shute Shield Week 15 of 18: Randwick’s huge 41-15 win over Warringah saw a new change for 1st on the ladder in the Eastern Suburbs 

by Sports Benches

Since we had the Wallabies v Georgia International match yesterday afternoon at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park, we had a rare Sunday afternoon match to finish off Week 15 of 18 today over in Coogee between defending champions Randwick v the high flying Warringah Rats. 

Randwick dominated the first half fair and square and although Warringah had some moments including their first quick try of their own, they were still behind by 14 points at half-time, 22-8. Now the 2nd half saw Warringah beginning to play catch up at one stage off the back of a great restart; But at the end of the day, the match still belongs to the Wicks court right in front of their strong home supporters. 

The final score was Randwick 41-15 Warringah as Warringah’s loss saw the Eastern Suburbs now leading the 2024 ladder with three regular rounds to go followed by another three weeks of Finals.

Well done to Waratahs winger Triston Reilly who scored a tremendous hat-trick (2 x 1st 40 and 1 x late 2nd 40) that sets up a decent lead for Randwick. Yes, he might have been in and out of the side earlier this year at Super Rugby level – in which the Waratahs didn’t so well unfortunately other than a couple of odd glimpses. However, that doesn’t take away his natural game where he’s got the blistering pace that benefitted Randwick’s excellent counter-attack. He’s also able to back track defensively & can crack opposition defenses to create chances via the gate, with unfinished business ahead to try & gift them another championship.

Next up is Randwick No.10 mainstay Andrew Deegan whose attacking creativities were wonderful to watch that safeguarded the Wicks with an easy win in Coogee. Okay, he may had a a few missed kicking attempts at times, especially when playing through the wind on a rare Sunday arvo of Club Rugby. But love how he unpacks every time he has the ball including in possession to make things expansive, such as that cross kick and quick passes through the gate or short side where tries were made there without much difficulty. Looks like the Tahs might have missed a trick without him but another club crown would do it here.

And the towering Ben Woollett did the best he possible to put Warringah on the map in the inside No.12 midfield. First of all, he caused the Wicks some trouble off the back of his running pace including the way he shields the opposition defenders for Warringah to touch one down via the gate. He too credit his forwards that helped Warringah accrue few winning penalties and turnovers – such as the side’s excellent 2nd half restart where they began to close in at one stage. Unfortunately, Warringah were simply scrappy & isolated when trying to get the finishing touches for the most part before ill-discipline held them back time and time again that forced the Wicks hand towards the end with more extended tries for the win.

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Rugby Union Today: Wallabies break away from Georgia’s 2nd half improvements with the eleven-point win at Allianz Stadium

by Sports Benches

It’s been an excellent contest of International Rugby throughout the afternoon at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park between the Wallabies v the emerging Georgia team as we now turn our attention to the Rugby 7s over in Paris for the Olympics next week followed by another year of the Rugby Championship campaign that will begin early next month. 

Georgia opened the scoring first off the back of the three-point penalty goal but it was the Wallabies at home who dominated the first 40 including another set of tries right on half-time, 26-10.Second half saw Georgia improving their game at the restart where we witnessed two quick sensational tries that puts them back on track to the Wallabies radar at one point.

At the end of the day though, the Wallabies have held their lead baton through full-time with the 11-point win, 40-29. They benefitted a series of opposition handling errors & ill-discipline with no disrespect to Georgia, who gave them a hard time all along, as Wallabies now has three wins now so far in 2024 under the tutelage of coach Joe Schmidt. 

The Wallabies long-term back rowers are safe with Fraser McReight on the openside 7 following his A-game performance this afternoon v Georgia. He’s the go-to man who can lock up defenses every time the opposition lack numbers. Not only that, he has power of physical steel that makes a big difference with a few tries off the back of Georgia’s silly mistakes/handling errors, especially in attack having ensured the win for the Wallabies at the end of the day.

Then we have another Wallabies main man at the back in Tom Wright at 15. He knows how to make that attack flow as seen regularly with the Brumbies where he never stops running while Tom can smash the opposition blocks – all of this has been created so they can get the job done with both hands. That’s without saying this contest was a practice match v Georgia which wasn’t easy & he’ll make sure the Wallabies continues with the Rugby Championship set to begin next month.

And shoutout to Aka Tabutsadze following his sensational 2nd half display on the Georgian right wing at 14. You can’t underestimate his abundance on pace who can win these 1 v 1 battles from out of nowhere as if he’s competing in the 100m sprint Final – Georgia should get him on their Track & Field team now to Stade De France for the Olympics next month!!

Yes, he had some mistakes including the ill-discipline that forced the Wallabies hand at times but he won’t be short of suitors as better competition v the top teams more often including domestic level as they hope will make him & his country reach new levels – such as getting Tier 1 status so Georgia can look to crack the Top 10 rankings as well as the chance to play in the Europe’s elite United Rugby Championship competition in the long run. We’ll keep a good track on them as time goes by.

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International Rugby News 2024: Wallabies hold on tight v Wales with a 2-0 series clean sweep victory tonight at AAMI Park

by Sports Benches

The two-test series belongs to the Wallabies with a 2-0 whitewash v Wales on what has been a close encounter tonight under wet and wild weather at AAMI Park in Melbourne. Wallabies fired off well where they were comfortably ahead whereas Wales struggled for the most part until they found the touch line twice off the back of two successful line-out penalties as Wallabies lead by nine points at half-time, 23-14. 

Wales did have an excellent restart that puts them back in the game by a two point difference at one stage. However, the Wallabies puts them into bed off the back of Wales’s series of silly and disciplinary mistakes. Not only the Wallabies continued to score a couple of more tries, but they’ve done enough to stop Wales from closing out the match with the eight point win, 36-28. My predictions for that game wasn’t bad with Wallabies to win the other day by eight & they did win by eight!!

Plus, also happy to see a Trans-Tasman clean sweep with the All Blacks also won v England earlier this evening at Eden Park by 24-17 on top of their one point win (16-15) last Saturday in Dunedin. Now there’s one last set of matches to go in the July Internationals next Saturday where the ABs will jet off to San Diego v Fiji while the Wallabies will be back at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park this time in the arvo v Georgia at 3.45pm.

The flying Filipo Daugunu showcased his magic as usual on the left wing like he did with the Rebels this year & sure he’ll continue to do so when he will back at the Queensland Reds next season. He’s not afraid to go up high while having an abundance of who finish it off with the ball with two tries and can also defend, having been a goalkeeper & even striker in the past through junior soccer. Melbourne Rugby fans will always remember him for his contribution there both club & country.

If one Melbourne-related rugby player isn’t enough to cheer on, how about we look at someone that is born and bred & now plays for the ACT Brumbies? His name is Rob Valetini on the back row this time on the open flanker at No.6. He’s the man who can get down and steal the ball back defensively that leads to turnovers/winning penalties before Rob can be an exceptional force going forward at the breakdown that proved to be a big difference tonight, especially when he kept the lead away from Wales in the 2nd half.

And the only man that pushed Wales as best as possible through the very end is another left winger in 24-year-old Rio Dyer. Love how he processed that quick ball assist to Liam Thomas where Wales were two points off at one stage after half-time before he has unbelievable pace to finish things off like that sensational 70th minute masterclass TRY. It’s a shame that Wales suffered ill-discipline all along + a series of silly mistakes when most of his backline buddies were a horror show, especially when trying to pass the Wallabies for the lead under pressure & yet Wales still without a win so far in 2024.

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Rugby Union today: No.1 Warringah too good for Eastwood by 27 points in Week 14/18 of the 2024 NSW Shute Shield Season

by Sports Benches

Great to have Shute Shield back on 9Gem for another year in 2024 with the last five rounds including three weeks Playoffs beginning Week 14’s Match of the Round between Warringah v Eastwood at Pittwater Rugby Park. The first 20 minutes was a bit quiet but then Warringah ate most of the pie by dominating the 1st half, although Eastwood did score right on half-time as the score was Warringah’s way, 28-8. Eastwood did make a couple of steps forward where they were able to score a few, having seen two of their players sitting on the naughty chair earlier on at different times. But at the end of the day, it was Warringah who was too good in the end whilst extending their winning share to almost half-century by 27 points, 49-22.

He’s the starting Warringah Hooker who is a ball-throwing machine with lots of physical grit to plow the opposition down and his name is Wes Thomas. What a performance he’s had this afternoon with two tries, although a hat-trick would be nice but then that was counted as a penalty TRY. Anyways, he’s the seasoned veteran out there having the best time whose team is sitting on top spot & he’s here for the best of Warringah. Coby Miln, a 25-year-old Kiwi plying his trade in Sydney, also had an excellent afternoon as Warringah’s creative man in the No.10 role. His conversion kicks never looked out of place while getting the best out of Warringah’s counter-attack through open play with the likes of tall back of Ben Marr running with the ball before the help of his forwards helped finish off the good work for him. Again, keep an eye out for him over the next coming weeks where winning the Minor Premiership & hopefully a grand final triumph would be the next great thing on his CV.

And half-back Tom Goddard gave Eastwood some great moments including one TRY for himself on what has been a tough outing v Warringah. He might not be the tallest but has a great knack of picking up the pieces that Warringah couldn’t capitalise before he finds the support Goddard needs to get over the line. It’s a shame Eastwood unable to stay on Warringah’s radar despite some 2nd half improvements off the back of poor discipline coupled with a poor first 40 as well.

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Top 3 Rugby Union news this week: Trans-Tasman’s perfect start to the two-match July Internationals, ACT Brumbies to hand over control to Rugby Australia & Club Rugby is back on 9Gem for another year this weekend

by Sports Benches

There has been plenty of rugby news over the last couple of days ahead of another big weekend of International Rugby where a couple of two-match tours is about to come to an end, although they do have another match left to play but this time it will be against the lesser sides before we turn our attention to the Rugby 7s at the Summer Olympics in Paris towards the end of this month. Not only that, there’s a huge change coming at the ACT Brumbies in Canberra when it comes to the off-field operations and Club Rugby is back on free-to-air once again via 9Gem that will go for little over a month including Finals beginning this weekend whether if you’re tuning in for the Shute Shield in New South Wales or Hospital Cup in Queensland.

International Rugby

All Blacks were relieved to see off England unscathed by a single point 15-16 in Dunedin while the Wallabies may have a huge task ahead following their disastrous World Cup pool stage run last year but at least a win is a good start to get on top of the under-pressure Wales side 25-16. What’s even better that both sides were able to hold onto their respective series plates, even though the final Test results aren’t guaranteed to see out for sure when they retained them last time around. Now the ABs will head off to Eden Park in Auckland which is place they do so well all the time and Wallabies play at AAMI Park in Melbourne this Saturday. The reception there in Melbourne is going to be mixed when Rugby Australia decided to axe the Melbourne Rebels at season’s end towards the end of May & it won’t be the same without rugby fans going there as if they have no home-supporting player to cheer on for the Green and Gold – despite the team’s one & only rare good season that wrapped up the Rebels’ 14 year existence but again, it was due to financial reasons & the board moved on with the times now.

Predictions: All Blacks to win v England by 13 points and Wallabies to win v Wales by 8 points – so another Southern Hemisphere/Tasman clean sweep then to round off their respective two-match July tours.

Super Rugby 1: Australia

Speaking of Rugby Australia, their plans to have their Super Rugby teams being centralised (similar to the setup in New Zealand and Ireland) has taken another step this week as the ACT Brumbies now became the second team after the NSW Waratahs to hand over their off-field operations to the governing body – such as the high performance, players/staff and the commercial departments. That way, RA will look after both the Brumbies and Waratahs in the hope of getting back to their best while the state-run organizations will focus on getting the best out of Club and Grassroots Rugby – even though the Brumbies is by far the No.1 Australian Super Rugby side every year. They won’t be leaving Canberra after all which is good news, although they might be open to host some games in Melbourne since the Rebels is now gone (again not a merger).

If that happens, then it will be great to see Melbournians return to AAMI Park by getting behind the best Australian Super Rugby team in the Brumbies and that is gonna help inspire the kids there to start playing Rugby in their local area before they can make a name for themselves once they’ve grown up through the junior representative ranks with Rugby Victoria. All of that can be done while the Brumbies will always remain first and foremost in Canberra hoping they can make the Grand Final at last by knicking the championship. Even though Western Force will stay on as Australia’s 4th Super Rugby team, hoping they can get some support from Japan like reviving to boost their on-field performances if they can’t do well next season when a national third-tier competition is back on the cards – as if Japan is the perfect nation to replace South Africa in Super Rugby without having to sacrifice their own Top League competition thanks to the huge amount of seasoned Internationals they’ve got there. Again, most of the home games would come from Perth with some over in Tokyo and Singapore.

Super Rugby 2: New Zealand

Looking across the Ditch a bit in NZ, the Highlanders have re-installed Jamie Joseph as their head coach once again with Clarke Dermody demoting as his No.2 assistant coach. Yes, it was great seeing them enjoy some success in 6th this season but the Highlanders still have a long way to go if they want to challenge the Blues, Chiefs and Hurricanes someday since their last championship back in 2015 under Joseph during his 1st spell before he went on to coach Japan and is now back at home to turn things around for Otago. Their attack has been somewhat hesitant at times that consigned them to losses, especially when playing against the Australian teams but most of home games they’ve played though ain’t bad. Watch this space as this is the team they wanted to reclaim its former glory having last won the Super Rugby title under the six-team Playoffs format before its complicated expansion between 2016-2024, which is expected to be revived as a 11-team competition next season.

Club Rugby

And last but not least, while the respective Shute Shield and Hospital Cup competitions are ongoing since the start of April, it’s great to see both Club Rugby competitions return to free-to-air a bit relatively early this weekend via 9Gem for another year in 2024 starting with the last five regular rounds followed three weeks of Finals. That gives you a huge Saturday viewing line-up of Rugby there with Club Rugby in the afternoon before finishing off the rest of your evening with some of the Wallabies action when playing at home including the 2nd Test v Wales in Melbourne. Although it remains to be seen whether if next weekend’s Shute Shield free-to-air viewing would bump into Sunday or be pitted at the same time as the one-off Wallabies match v Georgia that is going to be aired on the main channel at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park. The same thing should apply with the Hospital Cup for those tuning in from Queensland. The Shute Shield commentary team will look a bit different when Will Davies will be out for a while to commentate Field Hockey at the Olympics soon for Nine with former Hockeyroo Georgie Parker, but he should be back after this to call the Shute Shield Finals like he did last year – having also called a series of Super W games more often, as well as some Wallaroos Tests and the odd Super Rugby match (Force v Fijian Drua) so far this year.

UPDATE: Next round’s Shute Shield game for Round 15 is scheduled on a rare Sunday afternoon next weekend at 3pm between reigning champions Randwick v Warringah, so this should be on 9Gem while Nine will showcase Wallabies and Georgia to fill up the primary 3pm Saturday afternoon slot on the main channel. For Queensland viewers though, not so much where you would need both a TV and a portable device or a computer to watch both rugby games at the same time.

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Wallabies are back in business that gave Joe Schmidt his first win on the job in Game 1 of 2 v Wales by nine points at Allianz Stadium 

by Sports Benches

What a night it has been for the Green & Good to walk away with the win v Wales at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park as they now retained the James Bevan Trophy ahead of their 2nd and final Test next Saturday at AAMI Park in Melbourne.

The first half kinda scrappy where Wales opened the scoring account first via the three-point penalty goal including a penalty TRY, but the Wallabies had a narrow three-point advantage off the back of their first TRY by Taniela Tupou in between two successful penalty goals from Noah Lolesio going into the break 13-10. Nothing much happened into the second half despite some glimpses of promise from the Welsh when they were not far away from the Wallabies radar for the lead. However, a series of missed opportunities in open play including an observation that denied them the TRY forced the Wallabies hand later on where it ultimately came back to bite them as Wales still yet to taste victory this year off the back of a poor Six Nations campaign. Meanwhile, Wallabies continued to maintain their dominant ball off the back of a receiving Wales kick & their poor conversion play where they found the gaps well with pace of nowhere that surprised everyone including the opposition team.

They went on to touch down decent tries through the wide channels courtesy of Filipo Daugunu and Tom Wright before the Wallabies won in the end for the first time in a while off the back of a painful 40-7 Wales loss at the World Cup in France last year that consigned to their first-ever pool stage elimination. The final score was 25-16 with the Wallabies win by 9 points.

Tom Wright kickstarted the new Wallabies year with the bang from the back at 15. He had a really great night in the way he supported his wingers that got the best out of him and his team with thanks to the dominant possession while Tom had excellent recovery ball including from up high to kick his way out of trouble as being tested defensively. But what made him so special is his explosive pace that wowed everyone from out of nowhere. He read that gap well where no one was Wales was able to stop him before Tom got the job done that finally got the Wallabies talking following their worst ever campaign throughout last year as he hopes to give them better days more often like he does to the Brumbies every week of the season.

Although yet to commit to a club next season after good year for the one & only good Rebels season, but Taniela Tupou did well to keep the Welsh quiet on the front row at tighthead. Every time the Welsh couldn’t the best out of their counter-attack in open play or bottled the ball down, Taniela’s there to turn things around thanks to his excellent read and brute physicality that turned out to be his side’s way for the majority. Plus, he never put a foot wrong with great patience thanks to the dominant possession before he left the field in great hands for the Wallabies to get the job done with the win. He made Wallabies supporters in Sydney had a good night, why not do that more often if he goes to the Waratahs? We shall see…

And Wales No.8 Aaron Rainwright did the best he can to keep the Wallabies in check. He’s the man who never stopped working hard while being brave to smash the Wallabies defense that opened up plenty of opportunities for his Welsh side to get over the line. But unfortunately, Wales just couldn’t cut it that frustrated their fans every time when balls go out into the full/touch – despite winning a few penalties. Plus, they had less ball on top of poor line-outs, discipline & defense which was very disappointing. Wales still needs get the job done in order to build on their 2023 World Cup run to the Quarter-Finals & not blow it out like it was before where constant chopping & changing isn’t enough to make them win matches more often.

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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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