Super Rugby Round – Third Round

Highlanders vs Reds

In a battle of teams unlikely to feature in the competition’s knockout rounds, the Highlanders deserved their 20-13 win against the injury-stricken Reds, who boasted several new names to their roster. For the losers, Genia seems to have found a new lease on life and O’Connor hinted at her talent. Anthony Fainga’a is always committed but gives too many penalties. The Highlanders will fight up front against the more powerful teams, but their backs, with the Smiths, Ben and Aaron, Banks, Fekitoa and Naholo prominent, will continue to pose problems for any team.

Force vs hurricanes

The Hurricanes have given new coach Chris Boyd the best possible start to the season with three road wins out of three. Allied to their constant spreading of the ball on their backs, the Hurricanes now have a competitive group of forwards. They were quick to collapse, strong in scrum, and have added a rolling maul to their arsenal. In the absence of Jeremy Thrush, Broadhurst and Abbott were splendid in the lock. In the back, Barrett is full of ideas but Julian Savea’s hands let him down at times. Lee-Lo had a useful performance in Conrad Smith’s absence and Smiley was fair, but he’s not Perenara (Force 13 Hurricanes 42).

Cheetahs vs blues

It is becoming a somewhat worrying trend in rugby that the team that wins the most aspects of a game ends up being the loser. The Blues completely dominated this match in terms of territory, possession, and just about everything else. However, as is customary for them, they missed several opportunities, gave away soft attempts, and made the wrong choices. Faumuina’s substitution late in the game resulted in a scrum penalty, which allowed the Cheetahs to kick the winning points. West continued his excellent form with the boot and Kaino, in his 100th game of super rugby, was a powerful presence. Those dynamic game breakers Willie le Roux and Sarel Pretorius finally won the day for the Cheetahs, who are hitting above their weight right now. (Cheetahs 25 Blues 24)

Chiefs vs. Crusaders

This was a physical encounter in which the Chiefs were hit hard by the loss of Retallick early on, while the Crusaders lost Robbie Fruean. Judging from some of the penalties awarded in this game and in other recent matches, any contact between players competing for the ball in the air results in at least one penalty and often a yellow card against one of them, which it’s a ridiculous situation. Both defenses were aggressive, with Tameifuna for the Chiefs and Taufua for the Crusaders hitting big shots. The Chiefs were much more effective on the attack with excellent chasing kicks and quick support play, while the Crusaders continue to execute their side-to-side attacks, making them much easier to defend. The selection of the Chiefs of Pulu over Weber was crucial and Elliot’s lineout throws have improved a lot. Heem and, to a lesser extent, Weber are the only weak links in this Chiefs team right now. The Crusaders are struggling, but they will soon be welcoming back several All Blacks at rest. (Heads 40 Crusaders 16)

Rebels vs Brumbies

This was another match that the dominant team lost. The rebels dominated both halves, but they made some bad decisions, failed to finish off the chances, and made too many silly mistakes. Higginbotham’s poor discipline sets a bad example for a captain and scrum half Nic Stirzaker takes too much on his own. The Rebels were not helped by the fact that the Brumbies’ cynical game went unpunished, while Steve Walsh had one of his worst games as a referee. The Brumbies played smarter rugby and their use of the rolling maul, along with their defense, was far superior to the Rebels. (Rebels 15 Brumbies 20)

Bulls vs sharks

This was probably not an appropriate match to award to a rookie referee, but it was rather the fault of TMO Johan Greeff that certainly one and perhaps two tries, which should not have been given, were awarded to the Bulls. The match showcased the skills of what are obviously the best flying means in the country, in Lambie and Pollard. Labuschagne and Strauss’ pace of work for the Bulls was exemplary and they are proving to be a great buy for the Cheetahs Bulls. Matfield performed better and for the Sharks, Kankowski made a successful comeback while Marcel Coetzee was excellent on the breakdown in particular. The Bulls will be happy but the Sharks had a bit of bad luck (Bulls 43 Sharks 35)

Lions vs Stormers

In a change from last year, things tend to go in favor of the Stormers rather than against them. In wet conditions, which is not good for the Lions, the scrums were fairly even, but the Stormers’ lineout suffered from poor shooting from Mbonambi, who was otherwise quite good in the park. Muller was effective in contesting the Stormers’ lineout and the Lions did well in the breakout. However, in the first half in particular, they seemed disorganized and tight-headed prop Koch continued to impress the Stormers at the scrum. Behind the Lions group, de Klerk struggled and this hurt Jantjies, who didn’t always make the right choices, conceding a crucial penalty and dropping a high kick, leading to the Stormers’ only try. More of the skills and fluidity from last year’s Currie Cup campaign showed up for the Lions in the second half, but some will say their insistence on going for the win, rather than an easy kick for the draw, was foolish. . That is, however, part of his positive approach to rugby and if Mnisi had not dropped the ball over the line after his colleagues had achieved 28 phases without fail and then minutes later they would have dropped it a few meters from the line, the Lions would have been victorious. . De Jongh and de Allende were good in center for the Stormers. The Lions should consider giving hooker Armand van der Merwe more playing time and considering Jaco van der Walt in the air. (Lions 19 Stormers 22)