Summary - Super Rugby Round 1

We will read a lot in the media about the performance summary of the teams playing this weekend so here goes my own assessment:-
Blues vs Highlanders
These two teams to my mind is the top two teams in the NZ Conference.  I said this before the start of the tournament and nothing which happened yesterday did not confirm my prior opinion.
In the match on Friday both sides played top class rugby and it was probably the most interesting competitive game of the Round.      
The Blues has the best forward combination in New Zealand and combined with a very good backline is a definite competitor this year. The Highlanders ultimately got beaten because they do no have a forward combination that could compete with the Blues.
Would be interesting to see what happens this coming weekend when the Blues plays the Crusaders and the Highlanders the Hurricanes.    My own guess is that the Blues will easily beat the Crusaders with the latter team not even managing a bonus point and the Highlanders would have another bonus point victory against the Hurricanes.
Brumbies vs Hurricanes
Lets accept the basic facts in this game.  The Hurricanes were pathetic and was no match for the Bulls.   The problem is the Hurricanes were so poor - it presented no test as to high strong the Brumbies actually is.  
The situation pertains to leadership abilitiy and there was none in the Hurricanes team on Friday,  Both barrett and Perenara are top class players - but under pressure they are not effectife and under pressure Barrett folds badly.  
One of the interesting matches of the upcoming round is the game between the Brumbies and the Waratahs - that would be a test of the comparative strength of the top two teams in the Australian conference.  The winner of that match is likely to top the conference log ultimately.   My own guess is that the Brumbies will be the winner on Saturday. 
The performance of the Hurricanes were by some distance the poorest of any team in Super Rugby this weekend and I do not think they have a snowballs hope in hell in beating the Highlanders.  Another humiliation is quite possible.  
Cheetahs vs Jaguares
This was an interesting game - the first of the Jaguares in Super Rugby and the one game where everybody expected an easy win for them.   They actually struggled to beat a surprisingly competitive Cheetahs team.  the latter team is largely made up of unknowns and many of their players have never played in Super Rugby before.
It was a very good game to watch with eight tries scored by the two sides - and most competitive with the Cheetahs building  up an initial lead of 24-3. Once the Jaguares found their feet they started a fight back and they ended up deserved winners of the game.   
However, it is clear that neither team will be an easy baby in the competition.  I rate the Jaguares team as top contenders and the rest of their campaign would be eagerly watched.  I think that they are going to do very well.  Insofar as the Cheetahs are concerned - visiting teams to Bloemfontein would not have as easy a game as they think. 
This week the Jaguares will play the Sharks and the Cheetahs will play against the Stormers.  I think the Jaguares will have a good chance of beating the Sharks - but it would not be an easy game for either side.   The Stormers have some weak points in the team and I would not say they will be unbeatable against the rejuvinated and very young and inexperienced Cheetahs team.   I would say that they would still be able to beat the Cheetahs though.
Sunwolves vs Lions
The Sunwolves amde a determined effort to defend against a team who obviously was the favourites to win the game and was really impressive in defense - but not equally so in attacking play.   The Lions did not look as good as was expected away from home - but they were good enough to secure a bonus point victory.
There were some definite deficiencies in the Lions team and their worst performances were by Jantjies at flyhalf and Mnisi at 12.   I doubt very much whether the latter will play this coming weekend and they are likely to use Vorster at 12 in the enxt match.  They will be loath to p[lay the inexperienced Van der Walt at 10 against the Chiefs - but another flop by Jantjies will not be tolerated by Ackerman.
The upcoming game in Round 2 between the Chiefs and the Lions will be interesting.   The Chiefs forward combination is their main weakness - but they have a wonderful backline with McKenzie playing a leading role from the back.  I would say this is a 50-50 game with the Chiefs having hometown advantage.   If the Chiefs loose the game they would not make much progress in the rest of the tournament.         
Crusaders vs Chiefs  
This was a closely contested match.  The commentators were very scathing when they evaluated the game afterwards and said it was the worse game thus far in Round 1.   The mistakes made by players were endless andwith rare exceptions the top-rated players were inadequate and not looking good under pressure.  
Even though not really being up to standard up front they beat the Crusaders - who seems to be a lost team without McCaw and Carter.   Some serious team rebuilding on the part of the Crusaders is necessary and the Chiefs will suffer because their forwards are in general weak and ineffective.
Waratahs vs Reds 
An easy and deserved win for the Waratahs against a team who last year was pathetic and is obviously in a rebuilding phase.    I cannot really evaluate this match and come to a real conclusion about how strong the Waratahs in fact is.  The real test for that will come up this coming weekend when they play the Brumbies.  
As the Hurricanes was pathetic against the Brumbies - the match will be a more competitive indication of the real strength of the latter team - so we will have to see what happens this coming weekend.
The reds is playing the Force in the next round and I suspect they will beat the thoroughly poor Force team in the next round.
Force vs Rebels  
Until this game came up the game between the game between the Chiefs and Crusaders was the worst performance of teams in Round 1.   This must be rated as the worst rubbish dished up in rugby this weekend.  
I cannot see either of these two teams making any headway in the tournament and would say that both teams will lose their matches in the enxct round - the Force against the Reds and the rebels against the Bulls.
Sharks vs Kings
The Sharks has some exciting young players and will compete this year to be on top of the SA Group.  Not easy babies to contend with.   They played a desperately poor Kings side, but thoroughly deserve their win.   
The interesting game this weekend will be the one of the Sharks against the Jaguares.   I do think that it will be a closely contested game and have a suspicion that the Jaguares will beat them, but not by much.
Stormers vs Bulls 
The Bulls had a serious problem with their half back combination - who were poor - and that affected the performance of the team as a whole.  They made some errors in their team selection which will have to be set right this coming weekend.
The Stormers despit the easy win have also some deficiencies and especially their loosies and the midgets they insist on playing in their backline was not really stars.  Fact is that both De Jongh and Leyds in the backline failed and Kolbe was iffy at times. 
However, with a new flyhalf who showed some real class they are going to be difficult to beat this year.