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Rugby News Australia, All Blacks finish off the 2024 Bledisloe Cup Series on a real high v Wallabies by 20 at Sky Stadium in Wellington

by Sports Benches

Well, the All Blacks had something to finish off their home 2024 campaign on a high after they were simply too good v Wallabies. Yes, the first half was tight with the Wallabies up first thanks to Fraser McReight while the ABs managed to fill up the first half at the right time going into the break by five points (19-13). But at the end of the day, the ABs extended their lead with more and more tries where the Wallabies unable to catch them up as the clock ticks down unlike Game 1 last weekend in Homebush (Accor Stadium). 

Even though the Rugby Championship trophy may no longer be within reach with the Springboks or Los Pumas likely favourites to take home later tonight over in South Africa, a win will do it for the ABs to settle fair & square by 20 points (33-13) as all eyes on the South now to take on the North’s best when the Autumn Nations Series begins this November in Europe.

This is the man the All Blacks wanted to see someone pounce all day & it’s Will Jordan from the back at 15. It’s been a while when he couldn’t play for the Crusaders earlier this year due to a pre-existing shoulder surgery. But what we know best about Will is that he has the outstanding pace to lead out all in one go as if he got the chance to drive that fast military tank & he too got the best out of his wide players on what has been a masterclass display tonight.

Then we will move onto someone currently earning his stripes in the All Blacks Way & he’s young too thanks to Wallace Sititi on the blindside 6. He’s had a huge 2024 from guiding the Chiefs to a Grand Final on this same Wellington ground to All Blacks selection and yet Wallace didn’t put a foot wrong every time he runs and smashes hard with the ball as well as his solid defense. Don’t forget he has a brilliant rugby IQ as seen particularly in the second half – more to come in 2025.

All in all, congrats to the ABs with a 2-0 series clean sweep thanks to their comfy Game 2 win by 20 points (33-13). Yes, they still need to improve their breakdowns while retaining ball retention. But other than that, they’re still winning as long as they still have the Bledisloe Cup trophy.

And journeyman Taniela Tupou didn’t back down as one of the two Wallabies main front rowers at tighthead 3. Yes, he may felt such pain on his knee not long after the game was underway but he still kept going to do some damage on the ABs alongside his solid defense off the back of the Wallabies’ fast start. Anyone would love to have the Tongan Thor all day as we’ve seen that before earlier this year with the Rebels, a few years ago at the Reds & now he’s Waratahs-bound next year under Dan McKellar. For now, it would’ve been better if the Wallabies had more ball to score more tries rather than letting the ABs have it if that helps with little to no fight towards the end there.

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Rugby

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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Rugby

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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