The games this weekend was very interesting with some unexpected results. I have my own ideas about what happened and decided to post those for comments:-
Hurricane vs Highlanders
I was quite surprised by the outcome here, especially after watching the previous Highlanders – Hurricanes games. The fact is that the Highlanders in round 14 beat the Crusaders made them the favourites in my book.
To my mind the Hurricanes outplayed the Highlanders and their loosies were far better than their Highlanders counterparts. In the backline Naholo had a terrible day at the office – his worst performance ever. That resulted in a serious weakening of the Highlanders backline that - with the exception of Ben Smith and Fekitoa – looked very amateurish to me.
The defense of the Hurricanes was very tight and that accounts for the final outcome of the game.
Waratahs vs Chiefs
The Waratahs thrashed the Chiefs in the most convincing manner. The Chiefs problems have all along be that they have a very sub-standard Tight 5 and they would always come short in that department of the game.
I think that McKenzie after a brilliant start to the season got worked out by opposing teams and they largely neutralized him in the last few games. The guy is not physical enough and cannot compete when he cannot use his swerve and speed. His defense is also highly questionable. Based on recent matches he is not an international level full back.
Kings vs Jaguares
By some distance the worst game of the weekend. It was ruined by the ill-discipline displayed by the Jaguares. Two red cards in the first half of the game and two further yellow cards in the second half reduced the Jaguares to a 13 man team for a large part of the game. The red cards stemmed from exactly the same offence by both players. The Jaguares have had disciplinary problems throughout the tournament and that cost them dearly.
Blues vs Crusaders Game
This game was played in wet conditions and was definitely not what I expected from the Crusaders. After the Blues were thrashed by the Bulls I expected the Crusaders to thrash the Blues. Nothing of the kind happened and Blues could have won the game. The narrow win leave question marks about the Crusaders as well. Their loss against the Highlanders the previous week indicates some problems iro that team as well.
Brumbies vs Sunwolves
The least said about this game the better – the Sunwolves is just not competitive.
Stormers vs Cheetahs
The Stormers win was not convincing. The Stormers loosies remain their problem – even though Kolisi was MOM. Their backline showed some improvement with Dan Du Plessis at 13. His cousin had a rather off day at the office – perhaps he was trying too much after the game against the Bulls the previous week. One lesson must be abundantly clear and that is no team can beat the Bulls by playing their style of rugby.
Etzebeth had a better day at the office than the week before – but was still rather quiet outside of the Line-outs.
Bulls vs Lions
The scorecard tells the whole story – the Bulls got thrashed by a better team – who played a 15 man game. There were some serious problems with some of the players – especially Snyman, Kirsten, Serfontein and Jesse Kriel – who were all sub-standard.
What is really amazing is that the foolish Meyer could not find a single Lions player to play in the WC. I think that Meyer knew that he could not use the Lions players to play the dud rugby he wanted the Springboks to play – so he selected those he thought could play only dud rugby.
