SupeRugby 2024...

[Torquemada 1420]

Bloody hell, that must have hurt his lungs

Tale of the game this: the performance of the 2 FHs.

[Kiwias]

C'mon the Chiefs!!!! you can take this

[Guy Smiley]

The Free World is going down to the plague ridden horde here tonight

[Torquemada 1420]

Best team by a street on the night.

[Kiwias]

Very happy here today.

[Gumboot]

Chiefs win 30-19.

Cracking game!

[Kiwias]

Chiefs fully deserved that win.

[Enzedder]

You know what this means??? I have to go to Auckland next week.

Never go to Auckland.

Who wants my collection of left hand thread corkscrews?

[Jethro]

Once again the Canes contrive to frack things up Well done Chiefs, deserved win, better team on the day.

Too early to call for the Canes coach to be sacked? Way too many Wellington players in that team for mine.

[Enzedder]

Man, we bossed the breakdown. Hope we can take that to the game next week.

[Guy Smiley]

Man, we bossed the breakdown. Hope we can take that to the game next week.

Absolutely dominant over the ball...

but the Canes were their own worst enemy there, failing to show up in support.

[Kiwias]

Man, we bossed the breakdown. Hope we can take that to the game next week.

Jacobson had a huge game, well supported by Finau and Sititi. I think that was probably the Canes' backrow's worst game of the season. Shields was largely anonymous.

[Enzedder]

Just watched a replay (couldn't watch all the game as caregiving and cooking duties got in the way). Noticed the ref management from TJP and Barrett in feigning injury gaining yellow cards from Angus.

Noice - but ultimately a waste of their acting talents.

[OomStruisbaai]

You know what this means??? I have to go to Auckland next week.

Never go to Auckland.

Who wants my collection of left hand thread corkscrews?

You can't miss the final.

[Torquemada 1420]

Man, we bossed the breakdown. Hope we can take that to the game next week.

Absolutely dominant over the ball...

but the Canes were their own worst enemy there, failing to show up in support.

A Canes team shy of the hard graft? Who'd have thought that......

[Guy Smiley]

Man, we bossed the breakdown. Hope we can take that to the game next week.

Absolutely dominant over the ball...

but the Canes were their own worst enemy there, failing to show up in support.

A Canes team shy of the hard graft? Who'd have thought that......

They were the best team all season, Torq... and consistent in that. Getting to the finals series was no fluke and they shot themselves in the foot with a poor game last night. Perhaps a return to type but I think that's unfair, it was just one of those nights for them.

[Torquemada 1420]

Absolutely dominant over the ball...

but the Canes were their own worst enemy there, failing to show up in support.

A Canes team shy of the hard graft? Who'd have thought that......

They were the best team all season, Torq... and consistent in that. Getting to the finals series was no fluke and they shot themselves in the foot with a poor game last night. Perhaps a return to type but I think that's unfair, it was just one of those nights for them.

Too much hail Mary offloading and too little grit certainly in that game but yeah, maybe that wasn't the story of the season.

[Gumboot]

A Canes team shy of the hard graft? Who'd have thought that......

They were the best team all season, Torq... and consistent in that. Getting to the finals series was no fluke and they shot themselves in the foot with a poor game last night. Perhaps a return to type but I think that's unfair, it was just one of those nights for them.

Too much hail Mary offloading and too little grit certainly in that game but yeah, maybe that wasn't the story of the season.

It really wasn't. Their passing has been excellent all season, but the Chiefs' fast start rattled them and they were playing catch-up for a lot of the game. And, ironically, they didn't cope with the conditions as well as the Chiefs. McKenzie's goalkicking in the tricky wind was outstanding, as it has been all year.

[Enzedder]

All of a sudden, the desire to have a good hooker available is overwhelming

[Guy Smiley]

All of a sudden, the desire to have a good hooker available is overwhelming

Yeah... that's less than ideal.

I found an article from Gregor Paul that is surprisingly balanced and well written, pasting it below because it's behind the Herald's paywall....

Now that the Blues and Chiefs are the last two teams standing, there’s a multitude of storylines to present as pivotal to the likely outcome of the 2024 Super Rugby final.

There will be two young and enterprising No 8s in Hoskins Sotutu and Wallace Sititi desperate to prove it is their package of power, pace, and soft skills that are a must have for the All Blacks.

There are two coaching teams equally eager to show they have the depth of analysis and planning to tweak their teams strategically to pose a few unexpected questions in the final.

Can the Blues (who were out-thought and outplayed in the 2022 final) and the Chiefs (who suffered the same fate in 2023) take the pain of their respective experiences and convert it into a tactically smart, clinical performance?

Perhaps strangely, the best story – certainly the one no-one saw coming four months ago – is that the Blues may have found themselves the unlikeliest of unlikely heroes in Harry Plummer.

His ability to manage their gameplan has been underappreciated and undervalued by everyone other than his team-mates and coaching staff.

The Blues’ revival under new coach Vern Cotter has been built on a simple yet exhaustive desire to break opponents in the middle of the field through endless, destructive ball carriers.

Cotter arrived with a singular focus on lowering body heights in the contact area to improve the dynamism of the forwards’ ball carrying and clean-out work.

All season – including the semifinal defeat of the Brumbies – the Blues have been able to advance 30m to 40m on the back of four to five phases of clinical, destructive pick-and-drive ball carries that often see power wings Caleb Clarke and Mark Telea get involved to do some of the heavy lifting.

It’s proven an almost unstoppable way to build momentum, set the defence pedalling backwards and create space and opportunity.

And it’s the way that Plummer has taken advantage of the opportunities his pack has presented that has been the surprise of the season.

He’s been very good at balancing when to pass, when to kick and when to run – and he’s been just as adept at knowing to whom he should pass, where he should kick and into what holes he should run.

His execution has been just as sharp as his decision-making and Plummer has carefully and methodically steered his ship with the sort of authority and control few imagined he possessed.

For years, the Blues have lamented their lack of quality at first five-eighths; ironically, having lured Beauden Barrett to Auckland to fix the problem, the solution has been a local boy under their noses all this time.

The Blues’ simple, direct rugby and Plummer’s accurate, low-risk approach have proven a surprisingly potent combination, and his value was perhaps best illustrated in semifinals weekend not by what he did in Auckland, but what the Hurricanes didn’t get right in Wellington.

Whereas Plummer struck the right balance in his game management, Brent Cameron didn’t get the kick-run-pass ratios right for the Hurricanes.

The No 1 team, playing on their home ground, spent the first half kicking the ball away, hoping a tricky wind would bamboozle the Chiefs’ back three.

But it was a strategy that not only depowered the Hurricanes as it left the likes of Brayden Iose, Peter Lakai, Jordie Barrett, Billy Proctor and Salesi Rayasi chasing shadows, it played directly into the Chiefs’ hands.

The visitors were both better at the prolonged bouts of kick tennis and better at mixing up their use of possession as demonstrated with the two counterpunch tries they scored in the opening 10 minutes.

The game only turned in the second half when the Hurricanes kicked less. But the damage was done and it illustrated just how important it is in these tight encounters, where line speed is incredible, to vary the attack and present defences with an element of doubt about where the threats lie.

What makes Plummer’s role in the final yet more intriguing is that he will be matched against a No 10 in Damian McKenzie who could hardly have a more contrasting approach.

McKenzie has a wider skillset, a greater array of personal weaponry and a greater appetite for risk as he presents such an individual threat that he’s licensed to back his speed and agility to challenge defences.

The Chiefs man will buzz about at first receiver, he’ll pop up in the backfield, and he’ll happily play kick tennis – and for 80 minutes it will feel like the game is almost all about him.

In stark contrast, Plummer will be light touch – a clearing kick here, a short pass there and a little probe down the blindside to create what will almost be rugby’s play-making version of the tortoise and the hare.

And just like the tortoise, there is something compelling about Plummer’s steadiness and resolve.

[Kiwias]

Two seemingly-ordinary first fives really stood out in the two teams ranked top after the round robin matches -- Brett Cameron and Harry Plummer.

[JM2K6]

I thought Plummer was shit, tbh.

Not as shit as Gardner, mind. What the hell was he smoking? Baffling inconsistency.

Should be a good final

[Gumboot]

Kudos to future All Black Fabian Holland, who's been invited into the BaaBaas squad to face Fiji at Twickers this weekend. Hope he gets some game time alongside all-time great Samuel L Whitelock, who captains the side.

Barbarians squad:

Forwards
Lachlan Boshier (Saitama Wild Knights)
Kieren Brookes (RC Toulon, England)
Jack Cornelsen (Saitama Wild Knights, Japan)
Fabian Holland (Highlanders)
Shota Horie (Saitama Wild Knights, Japan)
Zach Mercer (Gloucester Rugby, England)
Craig Millar (Saitama Wild Knights, Japan)
Liam Mitchell (Saitama Wild Knights)
David Ribbans (RC Toulon, England)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, England, British & Irish Lions)
Scott Sio (Exeter Chiefs, Australia)
Harry Thacker (Bristol Bears)
Sam Whitelock (Section Paloise, New Zealand – captain)
Cameron Woki (Racing 92, France)

Backs
Fergus Burke (Crusaders)
Danny Care (Harlequins, England)
Leicester Fainga’anuku (RC Toulon, New Zealand)
Gaël Fickou (Racing 92, France)
Chay Fihaki (Crusaders)
Jonathan Joseph (Biarritz Olympique, England)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, England)
Virimi Vakatawa (Bristol Bears, France)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, England, British & Irish Lions)

[Kiwias]

I thought Plummer was shit, tbh.

Not as shit as Gardner, mind. What the hell was he smoking? Baffling inconsistency.

Should be a good final

I was not referring specifically to the semi but the season as a whole. He has performed way above expectations.

[Gumboot]

Patrick Tuipulotu has made a rapid recovery from his knee injury and will start the Final.

Blues:
Stephen Perofeta, Mark Tele’a, Rieko Ioane, AJ Lam, Caleb Clarke, Harry Plummer, Finlay Christie, Hoskins Sotutu, Dalton Papali’i, Akira Ioane, Sam Darry, Patrick Tuipulotu (capt), Marcel Renata, Ricky Riccitelli, Ofa Tu’ungafasi.
Reserves: Kurt Eklund, Joshua Fusitu’a, Angus Ta’avao, Josh Beehre, Adrian Choat, Taufa Funaki, Bryce Heem, Cole Forbes.

Chiefs:
Shaun Stevenson, Emoni Narawa, Anton Lienert-Brown, Rameka Poihipi, Etene Nanai-Seturo, Damian McKenzie, Cortez Ratima, Wallace Sititi, Luke Jacobson (capt), Samipeni Finau, Tupou Vaa’i, Jimmy Tupou, George Dyer, Tyrone Thompson, Aidan Ross.
Reserves: Bradley Slater, Jared Proffit, Reuben O’Neill, Manaaki Selby-Rickit, Simon Parker, Xavier Roe, Quinn Tupaea, Daniel Rona.

[Kiwias]

Rushing PT back from injury so quickly could rebound on the Blues.

[Guy Smiley]

Rushing PT back from injury so quickly could rebound on the Blues.

Initial diagnosis was that he'd done his knee and would be out for months...

that's either a wildly inaccurate diagnosis or these is Something Afoot.

[Kiwias]

Rushing PT back from injury so quickly could rebound on the Blues.

Initial diagnosis was that he'd done his knee and would be out for months...

that's either a wildly inaccurate diagnosis or these is Something Afoot.

Has he made any secret flights to Fiji in recent days?

[Enzedder]

Blues $1.45 Chiefs $2.60

From the poll that matters (other than the match itself). We're doomed.

Matchday - Go Chiefs

[OomStruisbaai]

Blues $1.45 Chiefs $2.60

From the poll that matters (other than the match itself). We're doomed.

Matchday - Go Chiefs

Chiefs all the way!

[Gumboot]

I love the smell of game day in the morning.

Chiefs by 9

[Kiwias]

Backing the Chiefs to go all the way.

[Gumboot]

It's pissing down in Auckland. Hope we still get some razzle dazzle.

[Kiwias]

It's pissing down in Auckland. Hope we still get some razzle dazzle.

Both teams more than capable of it

[Enzedder]

I'd rather die than play rugby like the Blues are playing at the moment.

It is fucking boring as batshit

[Gumboot]

Blues lead 20-3 at HT.

[Enzedder]

Half time and game over at 20 to 3. Blues grinding the Chiefs down with superb forward power but I think I would rather watch the Warriors than this style of play.

Bloody Cotter has been corrupted

[Kiwias]

Half time and game over at 20 to 3. Blues grinding the Chiefs down with superb forward power but I think I would rather watch the Warriors than this style of play.

Bloody Cotter has been corrupted

They'll tell you they are playing the conditions but they really have taken it to an extreme.

[Enzedder]

All game we have made one half break, and even then we kicked it out on the full.

I wish we had lost last week

[Sandstorm]

Prison style. No lube.