Super Rugby 2022

[qwerty51]

Parsons was quality but Wilson and JK are unwatchable. Like come on, to put all the Aus improvement on Rennie is laughable, sure he's probably made an impact but he's the Wallabies coach, not the RA high-performance coach. Give some more credit to the Super coaches and players.

 

[Dan54]

Parsons was quality but Wilson and JK are unwatchable. Like come on, to put all the Aus improvement on Rennie is laughable, sure he's probably made an impact but he's the Wallabies coach, not the Rugby Australia high-performance coach. Give some more credit to the Super coaches and players.

I never quite sure where that comes from either qwerty, they are real believers in the fact that test players etc take back what they learn in test teams to lower levels, I no idea if it does or not, never been at high level to go back and take what I learnt . But seems to me Tahs for instance are the result in investing in youth a couple of years back and sticking with it rather than what players at higher level have brought back? Also the coach they got seems to be good, but I don't disregard what the last coaches have done either.
Funnily enough on Aotearoa rugby pod at beginning of year Parsons named the Tahs as the team he reckoned would be biggest improver this year.
And would add I could enjoy Breakdown without Kirwan on it too, but guess I would say same of rugby heaven without Sean Maloney etc.

 

[KiwiM]

Yeah JK and Wilson are awful

it's like when they tried to attribute the Six Nations high quality rugby to kiwi coaches - when the two kiwi coached teams finished 5th and 6th.

Justin Marshall on Stan over the weekend had the odd good point but it's clear his knowledge of players and teams outside of NZ was awful. Before the Tahs game he made these weird comments which seemed to insinuate that the Tahs had a clear out of players in the offseason when in reality there was huge carry over from last year. In addition, when speaking about the Drua he only spoke about the Blues game so it was obvious he hadn't seen any other Drua games.

Stan would have been far better off getting Parsons on.

 

[qwerty51]

I remember that comment, he said the Tahs turnaround was due to a bunch of new players coming in. Literally Holloway and Hooper have been the only additions (and Cridge I guess but mainly off the bench) and Hooper only just came back). Was clear he didn't have a clue.

 

[Dan54]

Funnily enough on Aotearoa rugby pod at beginning of year Parsons named the Tahs as the team he reckoned would be biggest improver this year.
And would add I could enjoy Breakdown without Kirwan on it too, but guess I would say same of rugby heaven without Sean Maloney etc.

Just goes to show, just watched between the posts on Sky, and Sean Maloney ok on that. Is it just these in studio panel shows seem that the presenter feel they have to try and be dumb??

 

[fatprop]

So? Why did you? Though I watch it every week as well as Rugby heaven, just to get good bits out of them. And I found the bit with James Parsons real interesting.

All these shows are designed to look like "mates" gibbering at a pub

 

[Dismal Pillock]

It is unwatchable. Wilson is very professional and tries to drag the thing along but I dont think I've ever watched for longer than 3 or 4 minutes. Their bland collective aversion to offending their paymasters just undermines the whole premise of the show and renders it dull beyond belief. They should just get the Alternative Cricket Commentary brigade or someone in to tell it like it is.

Just once I'd like Mils to cut JK off and ask him "hold on, you coached test rugby sides for years and years but have yet to offer one iota of analytical insight in your current capacity as an expert rugby pundit on here. No nuts and bolts, nothing. How did you get away with coaching for such a high level for so long yet knowing so little?"

 

[Dan54]

All these shows are designed to look like "mates" gibbering at a pub

Yep and makes them a bit shit. I don't want mates gibbering in pub, just rugby pundits discussing game.

 

[PhilClinton]

Not sure how many on here watch the US sports shows, but I think a Pardon The Interruption (PTI) style show would work well for rugby.

Pre-selected topics to discuss, 30secs -1min on each topic, alternate panellists for the topics e.g. don't always put the former Brumby on Brumbies topics.

Limits overexposure to the more annoying pricks to blocks of 30secs at a time.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

As a Rebels fan I don’t see scraping into 8th with a losing record as an achievement or a successful season.

Maybe but missing out on the final 8 at this point would certainly make your season worse.

At this point the rebels have an opportunity to make the final 8 and finals knockout footy. If rebels can improve from here maybe they could go further in the finals if they make it. And no that was not a pig flying backwards as I said that.

 

[Wallaby Man]

Yeah JK and Wilson are awful

it's like when they tried to attribute the Six Nations high quality rugby to kiwi coaches - when the two kiwi coached teams finished 5th and 6th.

Justin Marshall on Stan over the weekend had the odd good point but it's clear his knowledge of players and teams outside of NZ was awful. Before the Tahs game he made these weird comments which seemed to insinuate that the Tahs had a clear out of players in the offseason when in reality there was huge carry over from last year. In addition, when speaking about the Drua he only spoke about the Blues game so it was obvious he hadn't seen any other Drua games.

Stan would have been far better off getting Parsons on.

Can’t remember which game it was but Marshall admitted at some stage he didn’t have any knowledge of a few of the players despite there wasn’t any players really making debuts this week of note.

Horan is equally shocking. Absolutely convinced he doesn’t watch any games outside of QLD.

 

[Wallaby Man]

Maybe but missing out on the final 8 at this point would certainly make your season worse.

At this point the rebels have an opportunity to make the final 8 and finals knockout footy. If rebels can improve from here maybe they could go further in the finals if they make it. And no that was not a pig flying backwards as I said that.

Exposes more players to higher pressure games as well as marginally extending the season. Stan will also be thankful that a few more of the games involve teams with something to still play for.

 

[Rebel man]

Maybe but missing out on the final 8 at this point would certainly make your season worse.

At this point the rebels have an opportunity to make the final 8 and finals knockout footy. If rebels can improve from here maybe they could go further in the finals if they make it. And no that was not a pig flying backwards as I said that.

Look you always want to play finals. But when you make it on a losing record you just have to put your best foot forward and leave it all out there. We have an opportunity to prove ourselves and make something of the season.

 

[KevinO]

But when you make it on a losing record

Couldn't agree more, this comp should be a top 6.

 

[Braveheart81]

Couldn't agree more, this comp should be a top 6.

That ends up hurting the teams finishing top 2.

The top 8 is to give the top teams more home games, not teams 7 and 8 a chance to make the finals.

 

[KevinO]

That ends up hurting the teams finishing top 2.

The top 8 is to give the top teams more home games, not teams 7 and 8 a chance to make the finals.

I just don't like the idea of a team in the bottom half of the table playing finals. You should at least need to finish top half, let alone the need to win 50% of your games for the year.

 

[MarkJ]

The only finals systems that seem to work fairly are a top four, five or eight. So if you want to cut down the number of finalists you'd probably have go down to five.

 

[Wilson]

That ends up hurting the teams finishing top 2.

The top 8 is to give the top teams more home games, not teams 7 and 8 a chance to make the finals.

Yeah, this is the key part, top 8 is about maximising the home finals on offer and ensuring the most 'money' games for broadcast and gate revenue.

You could have a top 6 with 3 qualifying finals (1v6, 2v5 and 3v4) where the 3 winners and top ranked loser go through to semis. It's slightly better than the top 2 getting a week off but still one game short on the top 8. The compensation for the 4th team not getting a home final is a likely (though not guaranteed) second chance if they loose in the first round. I won't be amazed if we see the competition move to this model, but it won't be until the next broadcast agreement and it would probably need the broadcasters asking (and paying) for a reduced finals series specifically.

It's a pity the previous iterations of super rugby burned conference models in the eyes of fans, they have heaps to offer to satisfy the requirements of all parties here, fans included.

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

It is also about keeping more fans engaged. Many fans switch off one their team drops out.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

STANDINGS​

SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC​

Pos.			P	W	D	L	+/-	Pts
1		Blues	12	11	0	1	183	50
2		Brumbies	12	10	0	2	110	43
3		Crusaders	12	9	0	3	131	43
4		Chiefs	12	8	0	4	71	36
5		Hurricanes	12	7	0	5	93	33
6		NSW Waratahs	12	7	0	5	39	33
7		Queensland Reds	12	7	0	5	16	31
8		Highlanders	12	4	0	8	16	22
9		Melbourne Rebels	12	3	0	9	-127	16
10		Western Force	11	2	0	9	-109	14
11		Fijian Drua	12	2	0	10	-198	11
12		Moana Pasifika	11	1	0	10	-225	6

Hard to see Blues not finishing top; second & third up for grabs as are fourth to seventh but next to no chance of anyone in the latter group breaking into top-three; and Highlanders have eighth sewn up.