Canterbury, 8th title in 9 years

they've achieved it again,..... congrats to all the Canterbury team,.... for something really difficult to match in the future,.... 8 titles in 9 years,... and all of them being the team losing more players to the AB,.... this year (as the lasts) a whole forwrd pack

and congrats to the other Crusaders partner, Tasman,.... tried really hard against a better team,..... after being founded in 2006 the last 4 years they won the championship title, 1 premiership semi and 2 finals,... providing many players to the saders and other SR franchises,.... very good job


and thinking in next year's Super Rugby there've been some positives,..... firstly, the coaching team,.... both Scott Robertson and the forwards/defense coach made a very good job,.... Canterbury's defensive effort this year marked the difference with the rest,... they've been really good at it, conceding very few points,... and many of the conceded were in the last quarter when changes were made and the games were already decided,.... let see if they are able to translate this defensive attitude to the saders

in terms of individual players, 3 of them stood out IMO:

-Richie Mo'unga. Best flyhalf of the comp by far, he's improving really quickly,.... next year he could be fighting with Cruden and Sopoaga for the AB bench,.... his performance in the final simply sublime,.... he managed and controled the game at will,.... got 2 tries and created another 2,.... always opting for the right choice to break the defensive line,... impress ive

-Jack Goodhue. The most complete center (and he can play 12 and wing also),.... and best defender I've seen in a while,.... superb rugby brain who reads the game really well,.... he does everything right,... kicks, aerial game, atttack the defensive line, palymaking abilities and specially his defense,.... he could be even better than Crotty defensively,.... and with him, form an excellent midfield for the saders,... and from there,... who knows,... I can see him battling with ALB to be Conrad Smith's successor

-Ere Enari. After Ellis departure the scrumhalf position could be seen as a weak point,.... but with Jack Stratton and very specially Enari it won't be a problem,....  only 19 years old, he already has the best passing after Aaron Smith,.... really fast and accurate,.... good defender and very good distribution skills,.... IMO the next saders' nº9 and pointing to the AB

the other outstanding player this season for the cantabs was Jordie Barret,.... but he left for the canes,.... though he struggled defensively when he played at midfield with his 1.96 m., he could be a good FB,....

 Bleeding Cantabrians eh ? Mounga certainly looks good for next year doesnt he ? The co nveyor belt moves on .

absolutely Wardad

 ...Yea Canterbury bounced back nicely after Counties kicked there butt in recent weeks to deserve the title so congrats to the Mainlanders - pity about those bad dance moves though....
..but with Tim Nanai Williams returning next year Counties could just be the team to beat - getting stronger every year is Counties so you gotta watch out for them Steelers... - only a couple of years since they went up a division so they're going from strength to strengths...
... speaking of halfbacks, how good has the Chiefs halfback Augustine Pulu been for Counties this year...he will be the halfback to watch next year  - a real travesty losing him to the Blues although with having Webb , Pulu, and Kerr Barlow at the Chiefs something had to give...
...Mo'unga has been awesome this year also and like Abasque said could be challenging Barret and Sopoaga for a bench spot...Although no Nadolo or fellow star winger Johnny McNicholl next year for the Crusaders - the Crusties are losing two of the best strike weapons in Super rugby so not as many try conversions to make Mo'unga look as good...he can score tries though

No doubt McNicholl will become a star for Scarlets - is he playing in the European Champions Cup this year i wonder because they might need him against Toulon and Saracens up next..a very tough pool that one but McNicholl could make a big difference there alongside Williams , Davies , Van de Mwerve and co - a great backline developing there..
Just as Nadolo is making a world of difference at the South African retirement village of Montpelier...can't see Cruden going there and playing alongside all those tired South Africans...maybe if they throw in a couple more million he might consider it...
...Cruden comes off contract at the end of 2017 so could end up the highest paid player in Europe especially after the Chiefs have won the Super Rugby title again and the ABs have kicked the touring British and Irish Lions butts.. 

 Counties had a great season, no doubt,.... and, yeah, they kick some cantab butts some weeks ago,.... is it your region, Brycy?

they had 2 outstanding players iMO,... Pulu and Taufua,.... Taufua was the heart and soul of the team, leading with his example,.... and Pulu was a constant thread,... leading the attack and always ready to it,... he was unstoppable, specially in the first half of the comp,.... a very different kind of scrummie from Enari,.... Pulu is more like Perenara, like to lead the attack, while Enari is more like A. Smith, excellent passing and distribution,.... next year there will be a bunch of excellent (and different) halfbacks to choose from for the AB

you are right, the saders are losing their 2 best finishers,.... as last year they lost the playmakers (Carter, Slade, Taylor),.... it's difficult to build a team losing so important players,... but that's how the rugby is currently
anyway, they need IMO one more important signing before this wednesday (the day the NZ SR franchises have to give their squads for next season),... they have already a quite decent backline but lack depth

9. E. Enari      10. R. Mo'unga

12. R. Crotty   13. J. Goodhue

11. S. Tamanivalu   14. D. Ioane   15. I. Dagg

21. J. Stratton/M. Drummond   22. B. Volavola   23. J. Macilai

with another good wing (and Inga Finau, Nankivell and Havili as midfield back-ups) they can be very competitive and opt to everything,....