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Transcript

Rugby Direct: Episode 217 · Rugby Direct

0:09
Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from news Talks at B.
0:12
Speaker 1: Follow this and our Wide Ranger podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
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Speaker 2: Straight down the.
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Speaker 3: Middle guy.
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Speaker 4: Try to get inside the game from every end goal.
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Speaker 4: It's Rugby Direct with Elliott Smith and Liam Napier powered
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Speaker 4: by news Talks at B.
0:38
Speaker 3: Welcome into Rugby Direct powered by Habitthaus, visit a book
0:41
Speaker 3: today and stay in the game. Elligott Smith with me
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Speaker 3: Liam Napier and another big weekend of Super Rugby to
0:49
Speaker 3: dissect Round nine done and dusted and look, we'll get
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Speaker 3: into it in a moment, Liam, But the Hurricanes looking
0:57
Speaker 3: pretty at top of the table.
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Speaker 2: Indeed, Elliott, are you on the cane showing it? Do
1:01
Speaker 2: you want a free pass? Free ticket?
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Speaker 3: Well, my usual method of the Crusaders horses is about
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Speaker 3: to be killed off, so maybe I might have to
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Speaker 3: join the cane train masor motor transportation. So we'll get
1:13
Speaker 3: into that a bit later on in the podcast, including
1:15
Speaker 3: the Hurricanes went over the Blues but first and foremost,
1:17
Speaker 3: as we always do, let's work our way backwards and
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Speaker 3: the Crusaders going down to the Reds thirty one twenty
1:23
Speaker 3: six in Brisbane. Look, this was I thought a really
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Speaker 3: scrappy and at times sloppy performance from both sides, but
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Speaker 3: more so the Crusaders and the Reds were good enough
1:35
Speaker 3: to take advantage of a couple of momentum swings late
1:38
Speaker 3: in the game and win win the match. But for
1:41
Speaker 3: the Crusaders, look like they turned over too much ball.
1:44
Speaker 3: I think both sides turned over a lot. It was
1:45
Speaker 3: probably I think I saw the stats twenty five Crusaders
1:49
Speaker 3: twenty four. The Reds is always gonna be tough when
1:52
Speaker 3: you turn over that much ball. But the Crusaders, just
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Speaker 3: as we touched on last week and you mentioned, didn't
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Speaker 3: look the same without Cody Taylor, but especially Will Jordan
2:02
Speaker 3: driving that attack throughout, and sure enough they were beaten
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Speaker 3: by a pretty good Reds team on the night.
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Speaker 2: It's a worrying turing, isn't it. Elliott's You can't rely
2:11
Speaker 2: solely on one person. I don't think they do that,
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Speaker 2: and Will Jordan's going to have a serious impact on
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Speaker 2: any team, but it is almost the case of Rocks
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Speaker 2: and Diamonds without him. When he's there, that attack seems
2:25
Speaker 2: to function well, and he's barking orders from the back
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Speaker 2: and throwing long balls and injecting himself into the line
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Speaker 2: and then when he's not, they're founding a bit wanting.
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Speaker 2: But it wasn't just their attack. You mentioned that it
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Speaker 2: was a very scrappy game, not of a really high quality.
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Speaker 2: But defensively I thought the Crusaders were broken open far
2:44
Speaker 2: too easily, some one on one tackles, very uncharacteristic. So
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Speaker 2: some big concerns there. You know, they got some pay
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Speaker 2: from their rolling more, but yeah, some worries I think,
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Speaker 2: and it's probably symptomatic of the whole year. They've put
2:58
Speaker 2: in one statement performance against the Chiefs and Hamilton, but
3:02
Speaker 2: other than that, largely unconvincing. And look, they've still got
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Speaker 2: some pretty heavyweight names to come back when you throw
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Speaker 2: Scott Barrett in the mix as well in the coming week,
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Speaker 2: so they'll be there or thereabouts at the business end.
3:14
Speaker 2: But they're starting to dig themselves a bit of a hole.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's hard to mount a convincing argument for them
3:18
Speaker 3: to be in the top three at this point in
3:22
Speaker 3: the season. And if you're not in the top three,
3:24
Speaker 3: it's a very very hard competition to win, and the
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Speaker 3: Crusaders still have a number of derbies to come with
3:29
Speaker 3: their schedule this year. Back end a little bit by
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Speaker 3: some derbies at the new Stadium in christ Church, so
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Speaker 3: they're gonna have to win a few of those if
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Speaker 3: they want to be up in the upper echelons of
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Speaker 3: the table, and on the basis of what we've seen,
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Speaker 3: probably not there that will. Jordan Tring goes back to
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Speaker 3: twenty twenty four. You're be missed. I think the entirety
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Speaker 3: of that season, first one under Rob Penny, and you
3:52
Speaker 3: know they struggled to get going then as well. So
3:55
Speaker 3: at the long term issue for the Crusaders, I open
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Speaker 3: point a moment in that game where Noah Hotham had
4:01
Speaker 3: the quick tap from the penalty just before the lying
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Speaker 3: Knox it on. Now, just a moment of patience there,
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Speaker 3: whether it be a scrum kick to the corner and
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Speaker 3: the Crusader's going to apply some pressure and look, maybe
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Speaker 3: the game turns out a little bit differently, but cool
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Speaker 3: heads didn't prevail in the tropical climate of Queensland for
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Speaker 3: the Crusaders and they get tripped over to the Force
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Speaker 3: later in the week, which they probably now need to win,
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Speaker 3: especially coming home with a game against the war Atars
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Speaker 3: the following week. Let's move back to the match of
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Speaker 3: the round Hurricanes forty two Blues nineteen at sky Nope
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Speaker 3: at Henry Stadium. Look very impressive from the Hurricanes. I
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Speaker 3: tipped the Blues last week more to be different than anything,
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Speaker 3: but I do think there were a chance of going
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Speaker 3: down and taking the win over the Canes. But their
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Speaker 3: young Ford pack was taught a lesson, I thought by
4:51
Speaker 3: the Hurricanes, who now have a full pack. That may
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Speaker 3: not necessarily be the envy of the rest of the
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Speaker 3: competition because other teams have good four packs as well,
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Speaker 3: but it's not an area that they've always been strong
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Speaker 3: and but I just thought this was a very very
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Speaker 3: good performance from the Hurricanes. And we talk about statement wins, well,
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Speaker 3: that was certainly one from them.
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Speaker 2: It was a statement win, wasn't it, Elliott? And it
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Speaker 2: was in aspects that we haven't traditionally seen from Hurricanes teams.
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Speaker 2: You mentioned that the scrum, in particular that they did
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Speaker 2: a demolition job. I thought on the Blue scrum, which
5:19
Speaker 2: was quite the turn up given some of the cavalry
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Speaker 2: the Blues have upfronts and throughout their pack, and you've
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Speaker 2: still got guys like Tyre Lomax to come back for
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Speaker 2: the Hurricanes. And then also the line out, Warner duns
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Speaker 2: coming to the fore as he has most of this year,
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Speaker 2: pilfering opposition ball and also the patients on attack. I
5:41
Speaker 2: think previous iterations of Hurricanes teams would throw a whild
5:45
Speaker 2: passes or lack of it. Are patients look for that
5:48
Speaker 2: miracle play, but the Hurricanes of this year are quite
5:53
Speaker 2: happy to go sixteen twenty phases, build pressure and then
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Speaker 2: you do get elements of luck going your way, whether
5:59
Speaker 2: it's a grubber kick through a bounce of the ball there.
6:02
Speaker 2: So look, it was a competitive match for forty fifty
6:05
Speaker 2: minutes and then the Hurricanes really pulled away, didn't They
6:08
Speaker 2: scored some fantastic tries fin Young and off four in
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Speaker 2: the corner with the jump step. He's some talents. I
6:16
Speaker 2: think he's leading the competition and tries, meeters, gains and
6:21
Speaker 2: clean breaks as well. So very sad to see him go.
6:24
Speaker 2: You wonder whether New Zealand Rugby's doing something behind the scenes,
6:28
Speaker 2: maybe Dave re Any having a few conversations to see
6:30
Speaker 2: if they could get him out of that Newcastle contract.
6:33
Speaker 2: But yeah, it really was a statement win for the Hurricanes,
6:37
Speaker 2: So happy days mate, Like get on board.
6:40
Speaker 3: Do you think that's something that New Zealand Rugby would
6:42
Speaker 3: look at. I mean, fineong and Apho was informed last year,
6:45
Speaker 3: but it was probably overshadowed a little bit by what
6:48
Speaker 3: Kenny Nahola was doing on the other wing. The Holo
6:50
Speaker 3: injured to this point of the season. But he's just
6:53
Speaker 3: been an outrageous for me. It always felt like he
6:55
Speaker 3: was going very very young. You know, is there an
6:58
Speaker 3: avenue maybe where they can push things down the road
7:02
Speaker 3: a little bit maybe to laughter the World Cup?
7:03
Speaker 2: For that that deal with Newcastle, I think it's certainly
7:07
Speaker 2: worth a conversation. You don't want prime talent leaving in
7:11
Speaker 2: their prime, and that's certainly how it looks. And he's
7:15
Speaker 2: only getting better week to week. His confidence, his strength
7:19
Speaker 2: and contact his feet hasn't really been tested. We don't
7:24
Speaker 2: see as much of it and super rugby under the
7:27
Speaker 2: high ball, but as a finishing talent, he's hidden shoulders
7:31
Speaker 2: above anyone else right now. So look, if I was
7:34
Speaker 2: Dave Rennie, I'd be getting on the phone and saying, look,
7:36
Speaker 2: is there any way that you can Yeah, like you say,
7:38
Speaker 2: reconsider and push that out just at least until the
7:41
Speaker 2: World Cup. He's still young. What is he twenty six
7:43
Speaker 2: ye old, so he could come back. But as we've
7:46
Speaker 2: touched on in previous pods, wingers, you know, you struck
7:49
Speaker 2: while the iron's hot, and they do tend to expire
7:51
Speaker 2: in their late twenties, lose those fast switched fibers and
7:55
Speaker 2: some of that top end speed. So it'd be a
7:58
Speaker 2: great shame if he went up north and perhaps didn't
8:02
Speaker 2: get the attacking opportunities in that competition that he's getting
8:05
Speaker 2: here as well.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he's only twenty three, which is he's
8:09
Speaker 3: been the sevens for a couple of seasons and now
8:11
Speaker 3: move forward into a fifteen's environment. So yeah, a big
8:15
Speaker 3: loss for for New Zealand rugby. What did you make
8:17
Speaker 3: of the ten battle Ruben Love against Boden Barrett. I
8:20
Speaker 3: thought Love was excellent again, is really growing week to
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Speaker 3: week in that ten jumper when he gets his opportunities.
8:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think he thrived on the back of the
8:32
Speaker 2: front fot platform that he was given at set Peace
8:35
Speaker 2: cam Royguard's presence. I don't think you can underestimate how
8:38
Speaker 2: much time and space that gives a ten as well roguards.
8:42
Speaker 2: There's highlights of that one snipe. I think it was
8:45
Speaker 2: off a scrum. He beats fin Lay, Christie Boden, Barrett,
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Speaker 2: Caleb Clark and it's just those little snipes that forced
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Speaker 2: the opposition defense to hold and gives his ten In
8:57
Speaker 2: this case, Ruben loves so much more time and space.
8:59
Speaker 2: But it does feel like Ruben's growing each week with
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Speaker 2: confidence I think is game driving that only comes with time.
9:08
Speaker 2: But you've got to remember that he's a kid who
9:12
Speaker 2: grew up idolizing Boat and Barracks wanting his signature watching
9:16
Speaker 2: him play for the Hurricanes, and I think that was
9:18
Speaker 2: the first time, certainly at super rugby level, that he's
9:22
Speaker 2: opposed them in the ten jersey, and for him to
9:24
Speaker 2: shade them, I think you'd take a lot of confidence
9:26
Speaker 2: from that. Yeah.
9:27
Speaker 3: The Blues, on the other hand, desperately needing the likes
9:30
Speaker 3: of PAPALII and so two tu and three two back.
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Speaker 3: Their four pack was just outnumbered, as we'd mentioned by
9:37
Speaker 3: the Hurricanes pack, and not often Blues packs have had
9:40
Speaker 3: that done for them in the last five six years,
9:42
Speaker 3: but they certainly were on this occasion. And back to
9:45
Speaker 3: the drawing board for them as they play the Honders
9:48
Speaker 3: this week. Let's go to the Chiefs and Water Pacifica
9:50
Speaker 3: on Saturday afternoon called this game for gold Sport and iHeartRadio.
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Speaker 3: Look to be honest with you, it was done fairly
9:56
Speaker 3: early on in the contest. Two tries in the opening
9:59
Speaker 3: ten minutes, three in the opening twenty for the Chiefs.
10:03
Speaker 3: They just did a number really on Mota Pacifica, similar
10:06
Speaker 3: to them when they met month back in Hamilton fifty
10:09
Speaker 3: seven to twenty four. It was that day sixty two
10:11
Speaker 3: to seventeen. On this occasion, not much of a contest
10:14
Speaker 3: to write home about, but some good showings again from
10:18
Speaker 3: the Chiefs and maybe some signs there that they're winding
10:21
Speaker 3: up the season. That winn of the wartas the previous week.
10:24
Speaker 3: Now another big win over Moana Pacifica. Quinta Pie had
10:28
Speaker 3: another good showing. They did what needed to be done Liam.
10:33
Speaker 2: They did and there's a number of boxes ticked when
10:36
Speaker 2: you can reach some of your frontline players like Samsoni
10:38
Speaker 2: Takyaho and others as well. Yeah, I'm not too sure
10:43
Speaker 2: how much you can take out of that game. It
10:44
Speaker 2: was a bit of a procession, wasn't it. Damian McKenzie
10:47
Speaker 2: becoming I think the Chiefs all time leading try scorer,
10:50
Speaker 2: so good to see him back on the park, Quincy
10:52
Speaker 2: Pyres in absolutely outrageous form, just bossing the physical battle
10:57
Speaker 2: and making great decisions with ball, Timeway, Filao and others
11:02
Speaker 2: benefiting from his power and contact and just the way
11:07
Speaker 2: in which he's playing. So yeah, I think the Chiefs
11:11
Speaker 2: will take something from that, but they'll be very realistic
11:15
Speaker 2: looking ahead to this week and what could be a
11:20
Speaker 2: potential preview of the She's final Earliert, well.
11:23
Speaker 3: We thought that last week, so a bit of wanted
11:25
Speaker 3: to go under the bridge as yet, Liam, but this
11:27
Speaker 3: will give me a good marker. Wallace the TD sounds
11:30
Speaker 3: like he may be back in the mix for the Chiefs,
11:32
Speaker 3: whether he starts comes off the bench. He's had a
11:34
Speaker 3: couple of you know, stop starts this season already. Look,
11:38
Speaker 3: Jacobson could be as one hundredth game as well, so
11:41
Speaker 3: interested to see how that pans out in Hamilton on
11:44
Speaker 3: Saturday night. It could be a bit of a marker,
11:46
Speaker 3: as you say, before we head into the plubs and
11:48
Speaker 3: the opening game of the round. Brumby's fourteen Highlanders ten
11:52
Speaker 3: in Duned and look fairly dour game. It has to
11:55
Speaker 3: be said. I felt both teams were willing, but the
11:59
Speaker 3: quality just didn't come in the end. A lot of
12:01
Speaker 3: turnovers in this contest, a lot of mistakes and ultimately
12:05
Speaker 3: it was probably a late yellow car that turns the
12:08
Speaker 3: fate of the game towards the Brumbies, who have now
12:11
Speaker 3: beaten ever in New Zealand team this year by the Hurricanes.
12:14
Speaker 3: So they meet next week in christ Church. You know,
12:17
Speaker 3: Brumby's job done. Highlanders probably left ruling what might have been.
12:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, indeed, And that's a good point you make about
12:23
Speaker 2: the turnovers. When you get a match under the roof
12:26
Speaker 2: like that, you expect skill quality to be high, but
12:31
Speaker 2: I didn't feel it was in that match. But it's
12:33
Speaker 2: another good point you make about the Brumbies and New
12:36
Speaker 2: Zealand opposition. Look, they've been there or thereabouts from a
12:41
Speaker 2: finals perspective, consistently under Stephen Larkham and knocking over Kiwi
12:46
Speaker 2: teams consistently. Again their last loss shot losses at home
12:51
Speaker 2: to the Warritars, so they again shape as the great
12:55
Speaker 2: Australian hope. But this wasn't an entirely convincing performance. E
13:00
Speaker 2: If they're up against the Chiefs, the Canes, the Crusaders
13:06
Speaker 2: and the Blues at full strength when they've backed them
13:09
Speaker 2: to get the job done with that performance.
13:11
Speaker 3: No, and you feel now that maybe the playoffs may
13:14
Speaker 3: be beyond them. They're in fifteen points on seventh on
13:19
Speaker 3: the latter five outside the playoffs Crusaders and six war
13:22
Speaker 3: Tars and behind on fourteen. If there's one team that's
13:25
Speaker 3: going to come through, it's probably the Wartars. They've got
13:27
Speaker 3: a softer draw to close out the season from memory
13:31
Speaker 3: more on a Pacificar at home this week, the Crusader's
13:34
Speaker 3: away next week. They may get on a little bit
13:37
Speaker 3: of a run. But even though the only one win
13:40
Speaker 3: outside of the Plaffs, it's hard to mount an argument
13:42
Speaker 3: for the Highlanders making the top six.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, indeed, and look at this point, I firmly believe
13:50
Speaker 2: there's only four teams, the top four New Zealand teams
13:54
Speaker 2: that can win the comp this year. So it's a
13:58
Speaker 2: bit symptomatic. We've seen a few upsets throughout the season,
14:01
Speaker 2: probably not as many as last year, but it's yeah,
14:05
Speaker 2: but symptomatic of super rugby that some of these results
14:08
Speaker 2: are a bit predictable. I think we both tipped the
14:10
Speaker 2: Brumbies to go down there and get the job done.
14:13
Speaker 2: In Donedan so in terms of jeopardy, I think you
14:16
Speaker 2: probably want a bit more than what Super Rugby's offering currently.
14:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, Highlanders do have the Hurricanes in Donesian Holanders do
14:23
Speaker 3: have the Wartize in Dunedin in a few weeks. Times
14:25
Speaker 3: that might be a pitiful game in terms of the
14:28
Speaker 3: playoff mix as well. You mentioned the four New Zealand
14:31
Speaker 3: teams able to win it. You don't see that. Think
14:32
Speaker 3: the Brumbies can do it.
14:34
Speaker 2: I don't think so. I think they could win a
14:36
Speaker 2: one off game in camera. But just the record in
14:39
Speaker 2: New Zealand's and I think when you look at the
14:42
Speaker 2: back end of the year, all blacks playing for places
14:45
Speaker 2: and Dave Runny's first squads teams at full strength, I
14:49
Speaker 2: just I feel like those top four New Zealand teams
14:52
Speaker 2: are a cut above.
14:54
Speaker 3: It does seem like that at this point in time. Look,
14:57
Speaker 3: the thing with the Brummis, and I mentioned a few
14:58
Speaker 3: times on the podcast now, is that if they can
15:00
Speaker 3: get into that top two and again there's a lot
15:04
Speaker 3: of water to go on the bridge and you've got
15:06
Speaker 3: to try and bump out those Kiwi teams from doing so.
15:08
Speaker 3: So then there are contend You played two weeks at time.
15:10
Speaker 3: Then you go into a one off scenario, whether it's
15:12
Speaker 3: in Wellington or Hamilton, whatever it might be, then you
15:16
Speaker 3: know you're a better chance. But if you've got to
15:17
Speaker 3: play two weeks away from Canberra in the playoffs, and
15:20
Speaker 3: I think it's always going to be a tricky ask
15:22
Speaker 3: if you're the Brumbies. But as we say, you know,
15:25
Speaker 3: a bit of water to go under the bridge. In
15:26
Speaker 3: the closing weeks of the Super Rugby season, Hurricanes out
15:30
Speaker 3: on top by three points. We'll take a quick break,
15:32
Speaker 3: come back with the Final four and our MVP voting
15:35
Speaker 3: after this on Rugby Direct. You're back with Rugby Direct
15:38
Speaker 3: powered by Habit Hell Phisio. Time for a final four
15:41
Speaker 3: to four rugby topics that Ligham and I get into.
15:44
Speaker 3: Topic number one. The Black Ferns start a new era
15:47
Speaker 3: with a big win forty eight to fifteen over the
15:50
Speaker 3: United States in Sacramento. Liam, what did you make of
15:54
Speaker 3: that performance? Black fun starting under Whitney Hanson.
15:58
Speaker 2: Ye, there's a bit. Well, it's a good start. I
16:00
Speaker 2: think anytime you start there's going to be a bit
16:03
Speaker 2: of russ and this blackfer and team Black Fern's team
16:07
Speaker 2: is missing a bunch of their stars due to the
16:10
Speaker 2: clash with the sevens, so a chance for others to
16:12
Speaker 2: come through. It was pretty tight first half and then
16:15
Speaker 2: they pulled away later in the match, had to overcome
16:18
Speaker 2: a red card as well. So all on all, I
16:21
Speaker 2: think a good start.
16:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, a good start, a bit to work on discipline wise.
16:26
Speaker 3: I think there's a few question marks. Two yellow cards
16:28
Speaker 3: and that red card you touched on tackling and correct
16:32
Speaker 3: tackling seems a slight issue for them, But I think
16:36
Speaker 3: you give them a little bit of grace because a
16:38
Speaker 3: lot of these players, bar areing the ones that have
16:40
Speaker 3: been playing in the English Premiership, haven't had any rugby
16:44
Speaker 3: since last year's World Cup, so it's been a long
16:47
Speaker 3: time and then to be thrustraight into a Test match
16:50
Speaker 3: is pretty difficult. Felt like they were better at the
16:52
Speaker 3: end of the game obviously than they were at the start.
16:54
Speaker 3: Big Test though this week coming up against Canada and
16:57
Speaker 3: Kansas City. Of course they were beaten by Canada in
17:00
Speaker 3: the World Cup semi finals last year. They'll have to
17:03
Speaker 3: be much improved I think heading into that game. But
17:07
Speaker 3: a decent start from the Black Funds to the pack four.
17:10
Speaker 3: Topic number two, This is a good one for you names.
17:12
Speaker 3: If the Hurricanes don't win the Super Rugby title, is
17:14
Speaker 3: it a choke from here?
17:16
Speaker 2: Oh? Look the trainer is humming Elliott, but pump the
17:20
Speaker 2: brakes on that. Any Hurricanes fan with a broken heart,
17:26
Speaker 2: it's very familiar with the broken heart. How many times
17:31
Speaker 2: have you said that about the Hurricanes in previous years.
17:36
Speaker 2: You don't have to go back a couple of years
17:37
Speaker 2: when they topped the log, looked untouchable really and got
17:42
Speaker 2: tipped up at home in the semi final by the Chiefs.
17:45
Speaker 2: I think they've also lost three quarter finals in the
17:49
Speaker 2: last four years, so finals rugby, winning finals rugby has
17:53
Speaker 2: been a problem for this team. Look at this point
17:56
Speaker 2: they look a cut above, but there's plenty to play
18:00
Speaker 2: out yet. And cam Royguard is such a focal figure
18:04
Speaker 2: they need to keep him on the park. But they
18:07
Speaker 2: are doing it right across the park. Scrum line outs,
18:11
Speaker 2: patients of ball and hands, big ball carriers and then
18:15
Speaker 2: lethal firepower, so the full package is there. They've got
18:18
Speaker 2: a great coaching staff, pretty good depth on the whole,
18:22
Speaker 2: so it's there to win. But no way any Kaines
18:25
Speaker 2: fans jump in the gun.
18:26
Speaker 3: Look, I think it's got to be a choke. The
18:28
Speaker 3: way that you're playing, you're clearly the best team in
18:30
Speaker 3: the competition at this point.
18:33
Speaker 2: Yep, yep.
18:33
Speaker 3: Canroy guard if he gets injured, that's a big question mark.
18:36
Speaker 3: But the way you're playing, I don't think anyone can
18:38
Speaker 3: hang with the Hurricanes in the form that they're in.
18:41
Speaker 3: So I think it would be a choke if they
18:43
Speaker 3: don't go on and win it from here.
18:45
Speaker 2: Well, look, anyone but the Crusaders elit you.
18:48
Speaker 3: It'd be like the America's Cup in twenty thirteen, as
18:51
Speaker 3: Jimmy Spittle said, the captain or the skipper of Oracle.
18:55
Speaker 3: Imagine if these guys lost it from here at what
18:57
Speaker 3: was it eight one down and they did so, Imagine
19:00
Speaker 3: if the Hurricanes lost it from here. That's all I'm
19:02
Speaker 3: going to say.
19:02
Speaker 2: Topic number three TV on the train, mate, welcome on board.
19:07
Speaker 3: I haven't got I sort of haven't bought a ticket yet.
19:09
Speaker 3: I'm just sort of on there illegally without a ticket
19:11
Speaker 3: at this point in time. And topic three, how much
19:14
Speaker 3: longer can Mowana survive as the whipping boys of Super Rugby.
19:18
Speaker 3: One win to the name of the season that was
19:20
Speaker 3: against the DRUA opening round. You know last year we
19:23
Speaker 3: saw them rise to the occasion with Ardie Savilla in
19:28
Speaker 3: their ranks and finish just outside the playoffs and have
19:31
Speaker 3: a really, really good campaign. It was spirited, there was
19:34
Speaker 3: a lot to it. This year though, they have slumped
19:37
Speaker 3: to the bottom of the ladder and not only are
19:39
Speaker 3: they losing napes, they are losing comfortably every game and
19:43
Speaker 3: I don't think it's a good spot for any sports
19:45
Speaker 3: team to be in. And it's hard to see light
19:49
Speaker 3: at the end of the tunnel. I know they get
19:51
Speaker 3: Artie Saviga back next year, but it's they're gonna have
19:55
Speaker 3: to find a new coach for next year. It just
19:57
Speaker 3: feels like how much longer can they survive as the
19:59
Speaker 3: whipping boys of this competition.
20:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's worrying signs, isn't it. It's not a one
20:04
Speaker 2: off result where you can see fifty. There's been a
20:07
Speaker 2: couple of times this year against Kiwi opposition. They had
20:10
Speaker 2: the one one at the start of the year over
20:13
Speaker 2: the Duror in Fiji, but it's been pretty well downhill
20:18
Speaker 2: from there. And as you say, this year was always
20:21
Speaker 2: going to be a challenge without Artie Severe but then
20:24
Speaker 2: to lose tana Umaga to the All Blacks, and there
20:28
Speaker 2: was quite a high turnover of their original players in
20:33
Speaker 2: the off season as well, so maybe that hasn't been
20:36
Speaker 2: it in as well as they thought. And there's massive
20:40
Speaker 2: financial question marks still over this team, and that's been
20:44
Speaker 2: hovering for the best part of two three years. So yeah,
20:47
Speaker 2: I think Grave concerns big worries for the future of Muana.
20:50
Speaker 2: And look, they even just the scenes at Albany last year.
20:56
Speaker 2: You think about the crowds they got and the good
20:59
Speaker 2: will and the results. It's a very different scenario this year.
21:03
Speaker 2: So you hope the worm turns, but it's hard to
21:07
Speaker 2: see much changing this certainly this season.
21:10
Speaker 3: I feel sorry for players like Miracle Fire Lungy, who's
21:13
Speaker 3: been regular at Mona for a few years now, is
21:16
Speaker 3: plucked out of some morea by from memory the Mowana
21:20
Speaker 3: Talent Academy. He is their captain this year and he's
21:23
Speaker 3: turned in week in, week out, but he's not getting
21:26
Speaker 3: a lot of support. Has to be seen and look,
21:28
Speaker 3: dar I say, a lot of these players probably aren't
21:30
Speaker 3: super rugby standards. The turnover has been high in this competition.
21:35
Speaker 3: They don't have a lot going on in their back line,
21:39
Speaker 3: so yeah, it's hard to see them stringing together too
21:42
Speaker 3: many more, if any more wins this season. But they're
21:46
Speaker 3: going to have to keep turning up obviously, and they've
21:48
Speaker 3: got the war Tars this week. Before we get to
21:50
Speaker 3: the MVP Voting Final four Topic number four, The Crusaders
21:55
Speaker 3: Horses given the heave ho Liam not I would fit
21:59
Speaker 3: them at the new stadium. Rumors have been swirling around
22:02
Speaker 3: christ Church for about eighteen months as to whether they
22:05
Speaker 3: were going to be able to fit. I'd heard that
22:06
Speaker 3: there was no initially, then that tried to make it work,
22:09
Speaker 3: and then they're pretty confident they could and now we're
22:11
Speaker 3: back to nope, they're done. So one of the pregame
22:15
Speaker 3: rituals of the Crusaders, the horses whipping around Ami Stadium,
22:20
Speaker 3: Jade Stadium, a polyoprojects arounda whatever it might be and
22:24
Speaker 3: getting the crowd into a frenzy, is going to die
22:27
Speaker 3: with this new stadium.
22:30
Speaker 2: I'm heartbroken, Elliott's. You can probably sound my voice the devastation.
22:36
Speaker 3: You sound. You sound heartbroken.
22:38
Speaker 2: Look it's not a brave Heart movie, mate, it's a
22:40
Speaker 2: rugga mat So time to move on. I think you
22:44
Speaker 2: can't have it all. You've got a new stadium. It's
22:46
Speaker 2: a new chapter. But maybe maybe it's the beginning of
22:49
Speaker 2: the end. You know, new stadium teams are going to
22:51
Speaker 2: love going there. No horses, it's all starting to crumble.
22:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, and look, yeah, we've already had our logo changed,
22:59
Speaker 3: you know, three years ago, whatever it was five years ago,
23:03
Speaker 3: and now they want to take away the horses once again.
23:07
Speaker 3: Everyone's just against the crew. You know, it's the world
23:09
Speaker 3: against the crusaders. And wait, this is.
23:11
Speaker 2: Your own doing. You can't blame anyone else. No Rush stadium.
23:15
Speaker 3: Look, then there must have been away. There must have
23:17
Speaker 3: been a way to put the horses in the stadium.
23:20
Speaker 3: I don't believe they explored all options that'll do us
23:23
Speaker 3: the final four. Incidentally, though, some breaking news before we
23:25
Speaker 3: were hit record on this podcast, Glenn Jackson won't be
23:28
Speaker 3: back at the Drawer Helm next year. They have been
23:32
Speaker 3: up and down, mainly down this season. But look, maybe
23:35
Speaker 3: a little bit of a surprise that Glenn Jackson's not
23:37
Speaker 3: back for another campaign next year. Napes.
23:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, like you say, I don't Yeah, I don't think
23:45
Speaker 2: he's made a great impression taking over from mc burne,
23:49
Speaker 2: who incidentally has also moved on from coaching Fiji. So
23:56
Speaker 2: some big changes within Fiji rugby, both with the Jura
23:59
Speaker 2: and the national team. Maybe there's a push to bring
24:02
Speaker 2: in a local coach with the juror. But yeah, I
24:06
Speaker 2: think Glenn Jackson done his time. Be interesting to see
24:11
Speaker 2: if he pops up elsewhere or maybe mc burn goes
24:15
Speaker 2: back there and gets involved. But yeah, big changes in
24:18
Speaker 2: Fiji rugby.
24:18
Speaker 3: You certainly are, certainly are. Indeed, let's get into our
24:21
Speaker 3: MVP voting three two ones, interested to see the official
24:27
Speaker 3: Super Rugby voting has no hurricanes in about the top
24:30
Speaker 3: six or seven, which.
24:33
Speaker 2: Has There's got to be a troll, doesn't it.
24:35
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, it feels right, feels right. That's, you know,
24:39
Speaker 3: team of champions versus a champion team mate. You can't
24:41
Speaker 3: be individuals. Having said that, for the young and all
24:44
Speaker 3: for his top of our standings on eleven points, Christian
24:46
Speaker 3: Leo Willie and Cody Taylor have six points each there
24:50
Speaker 3: and second equal five points back. So there is a
24:53
Speaker 3: hurricane leading our stand things. So how did you go
24:56
Speaker 3: for the three two ones this week?
24:58
Speaker 2: I'm going to give cam Reguard three. I just thought
25:01
Speaker 2: he controlled proceedings very nicely from the base in that one.
25:04
Speaker 2: Little snipe was quite telling. So he's got my three
25:07
Speaker 2: quints of Piets who continues his sensational former year. And
25:12
Speaker 2: I was going to give one to Finnian and off four,
25:14
Speaker 2: but I'm going to give one to Warner Durns because
25:17
Speaker 2: I can't totally overlook the grunt men up front.
25:20
Speaker 3: Fair enough to Yeah, Rogub gets my three years just
25:22
Speaker 3: playing some sublime rugby at the moment. McKenzie gets my two.
25:26
Speaker 3: I was tossing up between him and Quinnepia but decided
25:29
Speaker 3: against it. Went with mackenzie in the end. A couple
25:33
Speaker 3: of records he broke as well. On the weekend. Xavier
25:35
Speaker 3: Nimia gets my one point. Feels like he's returned to
25:39
Speaker 3: that form we saw him perhaps a couple of years
25:41
Speaker 3: ago when he was in that All Backs conversation. He
25:44
Speaker 3: gets my one point. I thought he was very very
25:45
Speaker 3: good up front for the Hurricanes in that win over
25:49
Speaker 3: the Blues. That about does us for what Rugby Direct
25:52
Speaker 3: for the early part of the week. You can, of
25:54
Speaker 3: course get in touch with us on the mail bag.
25:56
Speaker 3: We'll dig into that on Thursday Rugby Direct at Newstalk
25:59
Speaker 3: ZB dot co dot nz. But a quick word as well,
26:03
Speaker 3: Rugby Direct nominated for the Best Sports Podcast at the
26:07
Speaker 3: New Zealand Radio and Podcast Awards. So very exciting moment
26:12
Speaker 3: for us NAPS last week when those nominations came out.
26:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, indeed, congrats and thanks to all the listeners. Really
26:18
Speaker 2: appreciate all the support and looking forward to my debut
26:23
Speaker 2: at the radio words heard great things, so look forward
26:27
Speaker 2: to following yourself and Jason Pine and others into battle
26:32
Speaker 2: that night.
26:32
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I'm make sure the beer is a cold. I
26:34
Speaker 3: think it's early June, so yeah, no, very appreciative and
26:37
Speaker 3: thank you all for listening and being part of rag
26:39
Speaker 3: B to RIC. We'll be back on Thursday with another
26:41
Speaker 3: edition of Rugby Director thanks to Mark Kelly and we're
26:44
Speaker 3: of course powered by Habit Health, Visio book Today and
26:46
Speaker 3: Stay in the Game. Thank you all for listening and
26:48
Speaker 3: being part of rug B di RIC. We'll be back
26:50
Speaker 3: on Thursday with another edition of rag B Director thanks
26:52
Speaker 3: to Mark Kelly and we're of course powered by Habit Health,
26:55
Speaker 3: Visio book Today and State in the Game.
27:02
Speaker 1: For more from News Talks ed B, listen live on
27:04
Speaker 1: air or online and keep our shows with you wherever
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