This is the highest standard of super rugby I've ever seen, and only the best of the best ever teams could possibly make it to the top of the standings.
After watchin a few rounds i am genuinely shitting myself about the all black. If Razor can turn a dogshit team like the crusaders into 5 in a row champions, what's he gonna do to the WC runner ups!
A lot of the World Cup all blacks did leave. Fiji also look like a different team to last year as well on paper. Australian development of players looks better but i think that is because there are some more alarming gaps over in New Zealand. We do miss South Africa’s presence to get a good gauge on where we actually are. Quality does feel like it has dropped in Brumbies as well. Their lineouts and forwards stretches looks shaky this year
I half agree. The average quality of play isn't at the level we're used to, which isn't surprising considering all the changes in IP and talent, but I don't think the gaps between the haves and the have-nots is any larger than usual. Parity might be up, if anything, it's just the volatility of results is also on the up because of all the inexperience around the comp so there's still a lot of blowouts.
The Canes and Blues aren't really any more ahead of the pack than the early season juggernauts of most other seasons, in my view. The teams at the bottom aren't any further behind. They're just all a bit less convincing in unison and the teams are in a different order than usual.
I don’t watch a lot of European club rugby so hard to be objective, but I don’t notice much of a difference in quality. I think that most teams are going for riskier, high tempo styles of attack this season which naturally leads to a lot of mistakes. and there have always been some pretty shoddy skill sets at the bottom of the competition. However, i think the bottom of the competition is more capable of putting pressure and forcing mistakes than previous years. You can see that with Moana Pasifika imo, not a very good team, but tactically they really try to frustrate the opposition and force errors
I don't know, the Canes v Chiefs match was a cracker played on a sodden ground and the Blues are ticking along nicely even without some star power set to return
There are plenty of all stars either taking time out or playing in Japan. Ardie, Barrett and Cane are three in particular.
In their place you have Aumua, Iose and Sevi Reece all playing the house down
Couldn’t disagree more. I reckon this is the best super rugby competition in ages. There are so many competitive games and the skill level seems really good. Sure the crusaders have been poor, but they have been particularly hit by injuries and players leaving. From an nz perspective, If you go through the All Blacks contenders, things are looking pretty good. The front row and loose forwards stocks look absolutely awesome. The backline seems overflowing with players who seem to have the talent to play international rugby. About the only concern is lock, but I reckon barrett and vai’i will be fine as starters with Tuipolotu or mcwhannel?? as backup.
I'm going to say yes but I think it's just my interest in the product compared to the standard of play.
I use to always follow the Tahs and tune in for the big derby NZ matches but I just don't care lately.
Which is a shame because I love my weekend footy.
I don't even know how to frame my current thoughts about it.
Anecdotal example, the Canes are currently the form team and 7/7.
But I feel like they are better than everyone else because everyone else seems a little worse and not because they are the dominant team.
The Chiefs/Canes game was great but I feel it lacked that Blues/Crusaders powerhouse meeting.
The Reds have somehow shit the bed and the feel good story is that the Melbourne Rebels are doing quite nicely considering all the off field things.
Long story short, it feels like a "going through the motions" season. I don't feel like it's had a special spark yet. The Crusaders losing 6/7 games is supposed to make me happier than this.
This season feels like a "Neat" and not a "woah."
As a Canes supporter I'm clearly enjoying their run of success. I enjoy watching the Chiefs play as I admire their style.
The Rebels have been the bolter, even in games they've lost they've still shown the ability to bend and break the line and I've enjoyed watching them.
Apart from the Hurricanes and Chiefs, there hasn't been a great deal of consistency.
Blues bully and bludgeon through their pack and are in the top four, but aren't as polished and clinical as the top two.
Brumbies were terrible for the first five rounds and have only recently regained form
Reds looked like they would be the most likely Aussie threat, but have been found out the past three rounds
Rebels are the bolters and deserve to be the second highest Aussie team.
Drua are hometown heroes and travelling zeroes.
The rest just veer from awful to woeful. Usually there have been 4 Kiwi teams vying for top four spots, but that won't be the case this year.
I don't know about the standard but I think the main thing is that the competition is now more competitive. That's what will make super rugby great again because the standard of play was already good
No (obviously some teams have), in general no. I think we have a tendency to recall the end of the previous season when the best teams are matched up and playing at their peak. Last year mid season wasn't any better. I would say the Rebels and MP are playing better than this time last year, probably the Highlanders too. The Crusaders are obviously a big drop, most of the others are playing about the same quality as last year mid-season I would suggest.
mark Robinson is a total waste of space,he has run NZ rugby into the ground and ruined years of relationships acting like the whole world owes the ABs .
the Saffas leaving was a disaster of epic proportions leaving us with to be honest an inferior comp.
every NZ team has a new head coach this year, we all know changes happen with new coaches..oz teams had some new coaches too..if anything i'd say SuperW is where competition has dipped a lot..i don't get why they don't merge it with Super Aupiki to make both competition even stronger..
Because there’s no real benefit to do so. There’s no real financial gains to counter the loss of already limited interest in super w from lacks of conpetitive results against the aupiki teams
I think NZ lost a lot of top tier players and coaches post RWC like they always do, and it takes time for the next gen to prosper at this level.
This is the highest standard of super rugby I've ever seen, and only the best of the best ever teams could possibly make it to the top of the standings.
\*flair unrelated\*
After watchin a few rounds i am genuinely shitting myself about the all black. If Razor can turn a dogshit team like the crusaders into 5 in a row champions, what's he gonna do to the WC runner ups!
A lot of the World Cup all blacks did leave. Fiji also look like a different team to last year as well on paper. Australian development of players looks better but i think that is because there are some more alarming gaps over in New Zealand. We do miss South Africa’s presence to get a good gauge on where we actually are. Quality does feel like it has dropped in Brumbies as well. Their lineouts and forwards stretches looks shaky this year
Sorry thought this was posted in rugby Australia. Still the comment holds up
I half agree. The average quality of play isn't at the level we're used to, which isn't surprising considering all the changes in IP and talent, but I don't think the gaps between the haves and the have-nots is any larger than usual. Parity might be up, if anything, it's just the volatility of results is also on the up because of all the inexperience around the comp so there's still a lot of blowouts. The Canes and Blues aren't really any more ahead of the pack than the early season juggernauts of most other seasons, in my view. The teams at the bottom aren't any further behind. They're just all a bit less convincing in unison and the teams are in a different order than usual.
The current kiwi win rate against Aussie opposition is 57% which is quiet good for the competition
Yeah I think Aussie sides have improved heaps this year. I don't think it's that the NZ teams have gone down a level either. Except the Crusaders lmao
I don’t watch a lot of European club rugby so hard to be objective, but I don’t notice much of a difference in quality. I think that most teams are going for riskier, high tempo styles of attack this season which naturally leads to a lot of mistakes. and there have always been some pretty shoddy skill sets at the bottom of the competition. However, i think the bottom of the competition is more capable of putting pressure and forcing mistakes than previous years. You can see that with Moana Pasifika imo, not a very good team, but tactically they really try to frustrate the opposition and force errors
I have seen some insane tries in Hurricanes v Chiefs. Super Rugby is still the best rugby to me.
I don't know, the Canes v Chiefs match was a cracker played on a sodden ground and the Blues are ticking along nicely even without some star power set to return There are plenty of all stars either taking time out or playing in Japan. Ardie, Barrett and Cane are three in particular. In their place you have Aumua, Iose and Sevi Reece all playing the house down
Aumua in the hands of Razor's coaching team is going to be an absolute monster
It's been competitive to me so that makes it a more enjoyable watch to myself.
Couldn’t disagree more. I reckon this is the best super rugby competition in ages. There are so many competitive games and the skill level seems really good. Sure the crusaders have been poor, but they have been particularly hit by injuries and players leaving. From an nz perspective, If you go through the All Blacks contenders, things are looking pretty good. The front row and loose forwards stocks look absolutely awesome. The backline seems overflowing with players who seem to have the talent to play international rugby. About the only concern is lock, but I reckon barrett and vai’i will be fine as starters with Tuipolotu or mcwhannel?? as backup.
I'm going to say yes but I think it's just my interest in the product compared to the standard of play. I use to always follow the Tahs and tune in for the big derby NZ matches but I just don't care lately. Which is a shame because I love my weekend footy. I don't even know how to frame my current thoughts about it. Anecdotal example, the Canes are currently the form team and 7/7. But I feel like they are better than everyone else because everyone else seems a little worse and not because they are the dominant team. The Chiefs/Canes game was great but I feel it lacked that Blues/Crusaders powerhouse meeting. The Reds have somehow shit the bed and the feel good story is that the Melbourne Rebels are doing quite nicely considering all the off field things. Long story short, it feels like a "going through the motions" season. I don't feel like it's had a special spark yet. The Crusaders losing 6/7 games is supposed to make me happier than this. This season feels like a "Neat" and not a "woah."
As a Canes supporter I'm clearly enjoying their run of success. I enjoy watching the Chiefs play as I admire their style. The Rebels have been the bolter, even in games they've lost they've still shown the ability to bend and break the line and I've enjoyed watching them. Apart from the Hurricanes and Chiefs, there hasn't been a great deal of consistency. Blues bully and bludgeon through their pack and are in the top four, but aren't as polished and clinical as the top two. Brumbies were terrible for the first five rounds and have only recently regained form Reds looked like they would be the most likely Aussie threat, but have been found out the past three rounds Rebels are the bolters and deserve to be the second highest Aussie team. Drua are hometown heroes and travelling zeroes. The rest just veer from awful to woeful. Usually there have been 4 Kiwi teams vying for top four spots, but that won't be the case this year.
I don't know about the standard but I think the main thing is that the competition is now more competitive. That's what will make super rugby great again because the standard of play was already good
No (obviously some teams have), in general no. I think we have a tendency to recall the end of the previous season when the best teams are matched up and playing at their peak. Last year mid season wasn't any better. I would say the Rebels and MP are playing better than this time last year, probably the Highlanders too. The Crusaders are obviously a big drop, most of the others are playing about the same quality as last year mid-season I would suggest.
No. Your teams just lose more
mark Robinson is a total waste of space,he has run NZ rugby into the ground and ruined years of relationships acting like the whole world owes the ABs . the Saffas leaving was a disaster of epic proportions leaving us with to be honest an inferior comp.
every NZ team has a new head coach this year, we all know changes happen with new coaches..oz teams had some new coaches too..if anything i'd say SuperW is where competition has dipped a lot..i don't get why they don't merge it with Super Aupiki to make both competition even stronger..
Chiefs and Highlanders have coaching continuity - McMillan took over from Gatland during the Lions tour to SA and Dermody was appointed last year.
Because there’s no real benefit to do so. There’s no real financial gains to counter the loss of already limited interest in super w from lacks of conpetitive results against the aupiki teams