Super 14 2009

Neither the Stormers or Bulls really reinforced my initial confidence in them...

se tell me, what makes the super 14 better than say the heineken cup?

i've only ever seen a couple of games in the super 14 and it wasn't enough to form an opinion on the competition.

i will say that i think the 6 nations is better than the tri nations. not because the rugby is better but because of the extra teams, games and it's tradition. i've seen some excellent tri nations games along with some equally excellent 6 nations matches.

Originally posted by Crowley
Neither the Stormers or Bulls really reinforced my initial confidence in them...

Looks like we bombed a bit on these games.
I had Bulls but not by 10 so don't think I scored there.
Next time I'll stick with the Sharks I should have known better..Stormers are pretty dogged though.

Originally posted by trev33
se tell me, what makes the super 14 better than say the heineken cup?

i've only ever seen a couple of games in the super 14 and it wasn't enough to form an opinion on the competition.

i will say that i think the 6 nations is better than the tri nations. not because the rugby is better but because of the extra teams, games and it's tradition. i've seen some excellent tri nations games along with some equally excellent 6 nations matches.

I'm no great Super 14 fan.

I like the grass roots of National Provincial Rugby here, but our system has long forgotten club rugby is the real rugby here, especially in rural towns.

We have many many clubs here but don't have huge city type pro outfits like they do in Europe. In the cities here the clubs are local suburban clubs with all the grade fed directly by local secondary schools.

Should add that some of these clubs have stood up in world rugby before and done rather well.. like Ponsonby and Petone. But Euro Clubs have more money than our provinces and our clubs have next to no money at all.

So it's Provincial Rugby that I like over the prostitution of Super 14.

Which league do you prefer?

Originally posted by Crowley
Neither the Stormers or Bulls really reinforced my initial confidence in them...

The Stormers pack is not up it. Sigh ... another season of failed hopes coming up.

Tirau - email sent.

Originally posted by buffalobill
The Stormers pack is not up it. Sigh ... another season of failed hopes coming up.

Early days yet. Look at it this way - They can only improve from here!

Originally posted by Tirau Dan
Which league do you prefer?

i've never seen a league match of a southern hemisphere country.

the 3 leagues that i have watched are the english (guinness) premiership, the celtic (magners) league and the french 'top 14'.

i prefer the french league because i love they way they approach the game, yes not all the teams are great but the games amongst the top side are easily better than any other domestic league in the northern hemisphere.

To win this week..
Canes
Waratahs
Force
Stormers
Brums
Bulls
Sharks
biggest margin guess - 24 (Sharks game)
Talk me out of it guys we have until half an hour before kick off to enter or change our scores.

My predictions:

Canes
Waratahs
Force ( Cheetahs may just surprise)
Stormers
Brumbies
Blues (can't stand the Bulls)
Sharks

Biggest margin - Stormers to beat Reds by 20.

Dan, I see you also picked the Brumbies for a win. I believe the Crusaders are going to have a slow start and kick later.

We will only know where the Lions and Cheetahs are at after this weekend. The Waratahs look impressive as they always do, until they reach the knock out stages.

Originally posted by Dr. Brain
Dan, I see you also picked the Brumbies for a win. I believe the Crusaders are going to have a slow start and kick later.

We will only know where the Lions and Cheetahs are at after this weekend. The Waratahs look impressive as they always do, until they reach the knock out stages.

I can't help think this may be the Waratah's year.
I almost went with the Blues for attacking strength but think the Bulls may have enough power to hold them for a narrow win.
Crusaders are rebuilding and down a lot of players. I'm unsure of Todd Blackadder as a coach...time will tell - Brumbies do look tight and have lots of potential.
This to me is a much harder week to pick and the margins are super tough. (7/9 wins last week but blew lots of margins)
At The club I manage we have a sports tipping comp which is the same as this but this week included the HKR v Leeds League game and Auckland Otago twenty20 cricket on Saturday.. I went for leeds and Auckland.

Going well in the league.. we're at #33

I never would have got the margin for the Bulls.. they thrashed the Blues.

Originally posted by trev33
se tell me, what makes the super 14 better than say the heineken cup?

i've only ever seen a couple of games in the super 14 and it wasn't enough to form an opinion on the competition.

i will say that i think the 6 nations is better than the tri nations. not because the rugby is better but because of the extra teams, games and it's tradition. i've seen some excellent tri nations games along with some equally excellent 6 nations matches.

I don't think it's about which competition is better than the other. If you ask any SAFFA, AUssie or Kiwi they will tell you the super 14 is the toughest and the best there is, but I do think the fact that their teams are playing and theyre much more involved influence will influence their oppinion.
And the 6 nations may be the oldest competition in the world and all that, but at the end of the day the true test of toughness of our competitions is the strength of the teams and players that comes out of it.
And if you look at the games of SA, NZ, and Aus in their end of year tours last year in europe the results speak for themselves.

Originally posted by Lucardo
I don't think it's about which competition is better than the other. If you ask any SAFFA, AUssie or Kiwi they will tell you the super 14 is the toughest and the best there is, but I do think the fact that their teams are playing and theyre much more involved influence will influence their oppinion.
And the 6 nations may be the oldest competition in the wor ...[text shortened]... , NZ, and Aus in their end of year tours last year in europe the results speak for themselves.

I'm England born but NZ since the 70s, played as a kid in UK then out here for years love the game and love aspects of both Northern and Southern hemisphere games.

It's the club structure that I like up top... because of the population base, bums on seats in the stadia and multimillion note sponsorship deals the Clubs have the best facilities, the best players money can buy from all over the world and very expressive knowledgeable fans.
(I know that varies between regions too but seems fair to say)

Down under the clubs are just basic committee run outfits that feed our provincial unions. That used to be great until Super Rugby created franchises that are designed with the sole purpose of making money through TV and sponsorship contracts. It's pilfers the best from our provincial competition yet consistently fails to produce top teams (in NZ at least).

The Managing director of Sky Sport NZ said this week that the Waratahs v Chiefs game was the single most pathetic game he'd had the misfortune to watch in years. Now that says a lot and should sound a huge warning to the franchises to shape up.

We only manage to keep top players here as long as they have a chance to play and be paid to wear the Black Jersey. Without that they are off up north to play in UK, France, Italy or even Japan for decent money and to get a good life for their kids over there.

We don't have a true equivalent of English or French Club Rugby maybe it's time to end super rugby and get back to our provincial grass roots. Our Provincial champion could play a tournie up north one year and yours could come down the next.. That would be great.

I must add here that regarding the end of season tours up North last year: Our teams were still chopped around too much and were very lucky to come away well. I thought with the exception of England, the home Nations teams were heading in the right direction for success at the next world cup. Up top rugby is in fine fettle and improving.

Separate issue but it's my firm belief that Martin Johnson unfortunately needs assistant coaching time at lower grades.

I'd love to watch more Heinie Cup ... Come on you Quinns!!!!

This weeks Winning Picks:

Canes close up 10 or under margin
Tahs close
Sharks good 11-20 margin about 15pts in this win
Brums close
Bulls good they'll put 16 on the Lions
Stms close
Reds close

Good luck to Red Hot Rugby players Go Brain Go Crowls let's see if we can get up the ladder from #34 (we were at #33 I can't figure how they dropped us 1 place?
http://pickthescore.nzherald.co.nz/BuddyGroups/view.aspx