Super Rugby Round 5 Review

We were one game short of the perfect round in our predictions last week. The Cheetahs falling to the Sharks at home was the only match we tipped incorrectly. In hindsight, it was an ambitious ask of the Bloemfontein franchise, however, we did the same to the Chiefs, Rebels and Highlanders and they served us well.

The rugby was slightly more watchable this week with a couple of crackers making up for a lacklustre few weeks. Check out the individual results below:

Hurricanes (30) v Blues (23)

You have to admire the Blues’ desire to play even in the face of such massive adversity. Without a win in the competition, and with the media turning on coach John Kiran (rather than questioning the player efforts), the Blues played with expansive abandon and tested and probed the Hurricanes often during the first 60 minutes. However, the final 20 proved to be the winning and losing of the match as the Hurricanes sealed the points with a late Julian Savea try. The Hurricanes remain unbeaten, while the Blues are firmly rooted to the bottom of the table and rumoured to be feeling out Robbie Deans for a return to top level coaching.

Hurricanes: Tries – TJ Perenara, M.Proctor, J.Savea 2, Pen – B.Barrett, Con – B.Barrett 3

Blues: Tries – L.Visinia, F. Halai, Pen – I.West 3, Con -I .West 2

Force (17) v Rebels (21)

The Melbourne Rebels put a couple of unfortunate losses behind them to get back in the winners circle against fellow strugglers the Western Force. After an opening round win against the Crusaders, they have suffered narrow losses to the Waratahs and Brumbies. Friday night was to be different though as they immediately benefited from their attacking intent. Mike Harris and Mitch Inman scything through early; Harris scoring on his own and Inman teeing up Dom Shipperley.

The Force on the other hand couldn’t find much momentum of their own, and it took former All Black, Alby Mathewson to eventually cross the line; diving around asleep forwards close to the line.

The Rebels controlled most of the encounter despite not scoring themselves after the 66th minute, and even with a late late try to Tetera Faulkner.

Force: Tries – A.Mathewson, T. Faulkner, Pen – L.Burton, Con – L.Burton 2

Rebels: Tries – M.Harris, D.Shipperley, Pen – M.Harris 3, Con – M.Harris

Crusaders (34) v Lions (6)

Todd Blackadder stacked his side with All Blacks and was rewarded with the easiest win of his coaching tenure on Saturday afternoon. The Black (and Reds) completely dominated their overwhelmed opponents in every facet and got decent returns out of Colin Slade and Dan Carter. The 57th / 58th minutes were decisive at Christchurch Stadium as a penalty try for a collapsed scrum and a quick follow up to Kieron Fonotia effectively sealed the points (four try bonus point included) for the Crusaders. The competition points take the Crusaders to just 9 points after their four games and languishing in 10th place. The Lions three places worse on five points and facing a challenging couple of weeks in Australia.

Crusaders: Tries – A.Ellis. Penalty try, K. Fonotia, K.Read, Pen – D.Carter 2, Con – D.Carter 4

Lions: Pen – E.Jantjies 2

Highlanders (26) v Waratahs (19)

The first major upset of the round came courtesy of an excellent performance from potential competition dark horses, the Highlanders. The Otago outfit rolled on from beating the Chiefs at home to toppling the defending champions the Waratahs with a fine all round display.

The Waratahs got the better of the start. Free flowing backline plays straight out of the playbook saw the Tahs hit the early lead. Rather than lose composure the Highlanders gained in strength and tries to Wiasake Naholo, Ben Smith and Patrick Osborne – all who would do an All Black jersey justice this year – justified their hype and delivered them a deserved win.

The Tahs a bit too fumbly, too impatient to win this one. They need to lift to compete with the Brumbies next week.

Highlanders: Tries – T. Franklin, W.Naholo, B.Smith, P.Osborne, Con – L.Sopoaga 3

Waratahs: Tries – N.Phipps, M.Carraro, S.Hoiles, Con – B.Foley 2

Reds (0) v Brumbies (29)

The Reds were held scoreless and resorted to wrestling moves to make an impact against the Brumbies. Liam Gill impersonated WWE wrestler Batista when he “bombed” Brumbies scrum half Nic White when clearing a ruck in the only significant contribution to the match by a Reds player. The move was super dangerous and, ironically, cleared the ruck long enough for Ben Alexander to dive over and score.

The Brumbies look as composed and controlled as ever. They lead the competition outright after having played one more match than the Hurricanes. The Brumbies look the only Australian team likely to feature in the qualifying rounds, and could possibly go all the way if there defence is anything to go by.

Reds:

Brumbies: Tries – S.Moore, B.Alexander 2, I.Vaea, C.Lealiifano, Con – C.Lealiifano 2

Stormers (19) v Chiefs (28)

The Chiefs were expertly guided to an away win against the Stormers by All Black first five eighth Aaron Cruden. Cruden sparked an impressive turnaround for his side that had suffered a shock loss to the Highlanders only a week prior. He was in everything as the Chiefs ran through and around a surprisingly sedate Stormers outfit. Sonny Bill Williams survived a nasty head clash with Vincent Koch, James Lowe continued his try-scoring feats, and the entire Chiefs forward pack were staunch in the face of a first half onslaught. The win capped off a great week for the New Zealand conference.

Chiefs still very much the team to beat in New Zealand.

Stormers: Tries – K.Van Wyk, Pen – K.Coleman 3, Catrakilis, Con – K.Coleman

Chiefs: Tries – A.Cruden, J.Lowe, S.Cane, Pen – A.Cruden 3, Con – A.Cruden 2

Cheetahs (10) v Sharks (27)

The Sharks have two playing temperatures; Hot and Cold. The hot is good, South African conference winning good, but the bad that has reared its ugly head on too many occasions this year. They opted for the hot option in the final match of the round against the Cheetahs. The solid win, just their second of the year was brought about thanks to a season high four tries, including two to the tournament’s joint top try scorer, Marcell Coetzee.

For Sharks fans the win will hopefully put their side’s season back on track.

Cheetahs: Tries – F.Venter, Pen – W.du Plessis, Con – F,Brummer

Sharks: Tries – F.Steyn, M.Coetzee 2, J.Wilson, Pen – P.Lambie, Con – P.Lambie 2