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Rugby Direct - Episode 199 · Rugby Direct

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks EDB. Follow
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  Speaker 1: this and our Wide Ranger podcast now on iHeartRadio.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Straight down the middle of DRUPAC. Try these.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Get inside the game from every angle. It's Rugby Direct
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: with Elliott Smith and Liam Napier powered by News Talks EDB.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Welcome into Rugby Direct powered by Habita Physio. Book today
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: and stay in the game.
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: Elli Gett Smith with me Liam Napier The countdown on
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: to Super Rugby Specifical lim This was in theory supposed
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: to be the first show of the year, best slide
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: plans and everything, and I think this is number four
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: of Rugby Direct for twenty twenty six. But welcome and
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: how excited are you for Super Rugby to kick off
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: lad of this week?
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: Heah, what a treats to have four four in the can.
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: It's been a big year already, isn't it. Well into
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: the season Super Rugby thirty free as you say, and
• 1:09
  Speaker 4: planning to look forward to. I think summer rugby or
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: always produces great spectacles. It's a week earlier this year
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: than last year, so some people grumble about that, but
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: I'm looking forward to you bring him a Valentine's Day
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: present this weekend.
• 1:25
  Speaker 5: You got anything special on mine?
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: Yeah? The bookings in with Into Flora, A nicely bunch
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: of roses coming for the Valentine's Day.
• 1:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah, delightful. Yeah, expect nothing less.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: All right, let's get into the business of Super Rugby.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Big question first and foremost. I'm going to hit you
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: with Liam who will win Super Rugby twenty twenty six.
• 1:44
  Speaker 5: I'm a betting man.
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: If I am having a punt, which I haven't as yet.
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: I am on England to win six Nations, which was
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: good start. Left me very torn, but I would go
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: the Chiefs. I think, look there question mark there about
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: the coaching transition between Clayton McMillan and John o'gibbs. That've
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: been the nearly men of recent years, a number of lost,
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: blown finals, but I think they have the deepest squad
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: in Super Rugby. They've lost Antonina Brown temporarily to Japan
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: and Shan Stephenson, so interesting.
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: To see how they go about that.
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: But I just think when you look at the season
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: as a whole, all black rests, injuries, rotation, depth is
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: so important and this Chiefs squad is stacked. If you
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: just consider their starting team are starting twenty three potentially,
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: and how many all blacks and the depth there consider this,
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: Olin Norris, Samsoni Takyaho, George Dyer, Josh Lord, Tupu Vai,
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: Simon Parker, Luke, Jacobsson, Wallace a Tzi. That's a hell
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: of a pack, Cortes At, Damien McKenzie, Leroy Carter, Quintupaia,
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: Daniel Rohner who's highly underrated in my book, Ammonia, and
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: n and Tenny nine Ers so Torno. Then on the
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: bench you've got potentially Arkoy, some of Penny Female, Xavier Roe, Josh,
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: Jacob and Toymoi Flow and Brodie McAllister. So that's without
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: even going into the wider squads. So the chiefs to
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: me are favorites about what so you.
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think they have to go in as favorites
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: as they have for the last few years because of
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: that depth. And you're adding a player like a time
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: boy for Lour. You had Simon Parker who wasn't at
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: all black this time last year. All those sort of
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: things I think vitally important. And depth is so big
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: and super rugby we've seen it for the last few years.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: It's not necessarily the deepest team that wins, but it
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: certainly helps. And if you have a couple of injuries
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: and key positions, it's very very hard to rebuild. You
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: look back to twenty twenty four when cam roy Guard
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: got that injury. The Hurricanes were humming at that point
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: and after that they were never quite the same. Following
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: that last year took the Crusaders a little bit. They
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: were playing quite well, lost Taha Kimita, Rivers. Rahart originally
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: comes in and does very well, you know, wins a
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: Super Rugby title and was the player of the match
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: in the final, but took them a little bit to
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: get going as well. Twenty four the Crusaders didn't have
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: Will Jordan. You know, there's so you lose a couple
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: of players in key positions, then you're in real strife.
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  Speaker 3: I think the Chiefs have got that arsenal there that
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: if it's one player injured, the next man up is
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: a very very good replacement. I don't see that depth
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: across all the franchises. Maybe the Crusaders are perhaps the
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: closest in terms of a New Zealand perspective and having
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: that depth. And you know, there have been the two
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: standard bearers for the last couple of seasons.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: So I'm with you.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: I'm intrigued to see how the coaching transition goes from
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: John o' gibbs taking over. You know, he's a different
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: kind of coach to Clayton McMillan. From what I hear
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: speaking to Wallis a Titi last week, Damian McKenzie a
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: couple of weeks prior to that, seems like it's been
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: a fairly seamless transition. I don't know that's necessarily a
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: good thing in some ways because he's already been part
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: of the setup. You know, sometimes when you haven't got
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: over that hurdle of making the final, you might just
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: need a little bit of a shake up. But the
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: Chiefs have gone for consistency in a way, and you know,
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: apart from you know, those closing moments in a final,
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: they're they're there or thereabouts, aren't they?
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: They are, But it is a big mental hurdle question
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: how do they get over there hump? Because there's got
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: to be some demons there among that playing group, among
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: the coaching staff that largely remains the same. Johnny Gibbs,
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: as you say, was there last year, looking after the Fords,
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: So what has he seen? What is he going to
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: bring to the table that's new and he doesn't have
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: a hugely great track record as head coach.
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: It's very different being assistant to head coach.
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: So I think you're right there does need to be
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: something new because the Chiefs will almost certainly be there
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: come finals time. How are they going to get over
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: that hump?
• 5:46
  Speaker 5: Otherwise?
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: I think look the Crusader's resurrection last year. They've got
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: claims to go back to back largely settled squads. They've
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: lost Christy who was a real tireless workhorse, but you'd
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: think Ethan Blackett will probably play, you know, one on
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: five games on the discrossed on the open side lot
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: hopefully as a better season in terms of injury. I
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: think David Hevilli was a really smart choice as captain.
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: He made a real impact on the Crusaders. The Blues
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: will be there or thereabouts, but I think there could
• 6:20
  Speaker 4: be a bit of disruption there. I think we saw
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: last year Vncotta didn't have the same impact he had
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: in year one.
• 6:28
  Speaker 5: They lost the close semi final in christ Church.
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: But interesting to see how they navigate recruiting a new
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: coach with Verne's transition out and what that means for
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: their wider coaching team as well. You've also got Biden
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: Barrot out to round four, Patrick two Pilot out to
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: round nine, Dalton Papal captaining the team. So Stephen Peter
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: Fetter coming back really intrigued to see how he goes.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it just to touch on those two players.
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: Papa last year was had a rough year. Was when
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: the initial All backs squad then comes in then goes
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: missing from the All Backs later in the year as well.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: I don't think he had a great rugby last year, Dalton,
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: but I think he's certainly capable of having you know,
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: more All Blacks rugby under his belt. And I think
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: this looms is a big year for Dalton Papa Lee
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: in so many ways. There's a new All Blacks coaching staff,
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: which will get to a bit later in the pod
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: with what the latest is around that. But I think
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: this is a big chance for Dalton Papa Lee to
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: stamp his claims and return to being perhaps the first
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: choice you know, open side in the country. Who knows
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: we ALREADYSRV might slot in into a new All Black setup,
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: but I think this is a big year for Dolton,
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: Papa Lee and Stephen Peter Feeder. I almost think this
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: is the last chance saloon. And I mean that in
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: the kindest possible way. Is that he's had so many
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: injuries through the years, He's had so much time out
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: of rugby. He's now what twenty eight. I think this
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: is make or break for Stephen Peter Fetter in terms
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: of nailing that All Black spot. I think a couple
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: of years ago he was the starting All Blacks fullback
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: and then he's had a number of injuries.
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: Since the start of Scott Robertson's reign, he was the
• 8:00
  Speaker 5: All Blacks fullback.
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: So look, if he can have a good Super Rugby season,
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: great and he may well get back in the All Blacks.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: But I think this is probably a big opportunity for Confit.
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: Otherwise I think that window might have closed.
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: He's a forgotten man, didn't play any NPC this year,
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: had a number of league injuries. He's a guy that
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: New Zealand Raby would love to retain because let's just
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: say a Muanga comes back, but he might fall over
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: or Bowden or d Mac.
• 8:30
  Speaker 5: You need that depth.
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: We've seen that in previous history with World Cups and
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: first fives and how influential will they be can be.
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: So he's a really classy operator and I'd love to
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: see him have a runner and he is going to
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: because Boden's not back to round four, so interesting to
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: see how that pans out. Also, the Blues without Riquoewane,
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: they've got Peter Aki coming back after seven years in France.
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: Some footage in the preseason looks like he's strong and
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: playing well. So look, the Blues have a strong roster.
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: There's no doubting that. I don't see them winning it,
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: but I see them featuring. And I think the Canes
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: were the big movers this year and they should be.
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: You've been pumping those tires on the train, yeah, for
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: a couple of weeks. Now, what gives you so much
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: confidence that they're ready to go?
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: Well, Jordie's a massive in He's had that time in Leinster.
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: He is coming back from injury, so I think he
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: missed the back end of the All Black season, so
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: he should be fresh and hungry there. He's a hugely
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: influential presence in the fact that he does a lot
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: of backline directing.
• 9:38
  Speaker 5: He's a physical presence.
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: I think we'll see him play a bit of fullback
• 9:41
  Speaker 4: as well as second five. So intrigued to see how
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: that pans out. I know there were a lot of
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: people last year with the All Black struggling under the
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: high ball, clamoring for Jordi to go back to fullback.
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: Maybe that would certainly spark a bit of a conversation.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so.
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: I'd like to see omit fullback at times this year
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: for the Hurricanes. I think with the way that rugby's
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: being played now, it made sense at the time for
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: Jordi to move into second five for the All Blacks.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: I think it now makes sense for him potentially to
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: move back to fall back, just with the way the
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: high ball game operates.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: So I think it should be a live conversation. Yeah.
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: The Hurricanes have are really like Roley Higgins, and if
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: he can stay fit, I think you'll see him feature
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: at twelve certainly at some point this year.
• 10:22
  Speaker 5: With Jordi at fullback.
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: The Hurricanes also get back Josh Morby, who's a very
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: solid operator.
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: Warner Dunes in the second row. They want big tickets
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: on Wanta don Well. I think he's up there with
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: the best locks in the world on his day, to
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: be honest. And that's always been a weakness of the
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: Hurricanes has been the Type five. And they've had some
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: good players come through the years. They've had the odd
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: you know, Hooker Moor, but they've never had them all
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: together at once. And you look at that Type five
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: now and you go, it's a pretty pretty good prospect,
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: you know, when you can put together maybe youngster like
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: a Delaaney or a Plumber alongside of Warner Dunes, who's
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: a captain international. Ukala Whitte is still there for the Hurricanes.
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: So I think it's a better Type five than what
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: we've seen from the the Canes in recent times.
• 11:06
  Speaker 5: Yeah, there's no excuses there.
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: The Hurricy have three all black tight head props and
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: they've recruited Lowaki who's a hulking prop.
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: They've got us all as you mentioned there.
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: I had a quick gown to lend mySAP Wang at
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: the Super Rugby launch and he was saying, look, I
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: think I'm done mate, I'm going to have to retire.
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: I've seen us suffer more running around and there's no
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: way I want to tackle that bloke.
• 11:26
  Speaker 5: So yeah, Warner Durnes is a good recruit.
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: I think it's interesting to see how he comes back
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: from Japan or adapts to Super rugby, which is certainly
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: going to be more physical. But he's a big line
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: out presence. And then you talk about someone like Cam Rugard.
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: If he stays on the park, he could be the
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: best player in the comp this year. And then I
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: think the Hurricanes are a lot clearer about where they
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: want to go at ten. Ruben Loves started there and
• 11:54
  Speaker 4: you've got Bret Cameron as well. A shame to lose
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: Harry Godfrey for the season. He had some real nice
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: moments at times, but he's done his ACL So look,
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: I think generally speaking, the Canes of all the pieces.
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: They've also got a view very strong coaching team. They
• 12:09
  Speaker 4: get Jason Holland back from the All Blacks, Corey Jane
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: and Jamie McIntosh are very highly regarded. Clark Lader thinks
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: into his third year. In his first year he took
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: them to top of the log and then they lost
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: the semi final to the Chiefs and Wellington the Hurricanes kryptonite.
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: I think they've lost three semifinals and four years. So
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: we talk about the Chiefs not getting over the final hump. Well,
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: the Hurricanes can't even reach the finals, so all the
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: pieces are there and they should be the big movers,
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: but there's no guarantee.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: No, it's not.
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: They also hate a trip to Canberra in the knockout
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: rounds because that has been their kryptonite for the last
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: few years. The question I Mark I'd have over the
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: Hurricanes is their depth. Dupless if he's going to miss
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: the opening rounds through injury. We saw as I touched
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: on earlier, Roy Guard if he gets an injury basically
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: stopped them their tracks. I mean, that was the same
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: year that they did lose to the Chiefs and the semifinals,
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: but they weren't the same team after he got injured.
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: But after that Roygard Love combination can click at ten
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: and then anything's possible. I think for them this season
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: they're certainly big contenders. The Crusaders defending champions Rob Pennies
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: now into his third year at the Helm. First year
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: was a bit of an unmitigated disaster, but you look
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: back now and go, well, they lost a few key
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: players that year and he rebuilt them be twenty twenty
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: five and won the title In the end.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: Can they do it again.
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: What do you think the chances of the Crusader's back
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: to back in christ shoot might.
• 13:34
  Speaker 5: Be Yeah, I mean, nobody wants to see that.
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: Thick for yourself, but of course right up there, I
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: think they're probably second favorites based on what they did
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: last year. I think David Hevilli was a very smart
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: choice as captain. They've lost Christie who is a real workhorse,
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: but look they get Leicsterifying a nooko back. What an
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: asset he's going to be, particularly at super rugby level.
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: Where do you think he features in the midfield or yeah.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: I think he does.
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: I think they'll probably move him alongside Brandon in or
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: potentially or a Dallas mcleoard. I think they've got a
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: number of options there seven Reeses last year as well
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: at macas Springer. They've got a lot of depth in
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: the world Jordan Will Jordan. Yeah, they could move the
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: pieces around as they see fit. I would like to
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: see Lester's at either second five wall center for the
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: Crusaders this season. I think he's got the biggest upside
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: in midfield. We sat a little bit of them there
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: with the All Blacks last year. I think he saw
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: needs a little bit work on distribution a couple other things,
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: but he might be there also a little bit of
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: whisper that maybe they might look in using him a
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: little bit of a hybrid role, maybe potentially as well
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: the loose forts, which is what he did in Too Long.
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: For one of the big unknowns I think with the Crusaders,
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: everybody hated going to was Apollo stating here in the
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: middle of the winter, you know, horrific place to go
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: for a finals match. Everyone's going to look forward to
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: going to a pristine place under the roof. How does
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: that affect the Crusaders.
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: It's a very good question, and you might be losing
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: one of their strengths by moving to the stadium. I
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: think ultimately they had to get a new stadium because
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: the scaffolding lean to, you know, had well exhausted.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: It's used by date.
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: But that does mitigate some of the Crusader's strengths, is
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: the ability to roll up the sleeves in the wets
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: or in the dewey night era of Christ Jutch. It's
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: still going to be cold inside the stadium, you know,
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: like full South Barth Stadium, It's still cold inside there.
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: But it does mitigate that and you take away, you know,
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: the atmospheric conditions. It's a bit of a leaveless So
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: it's going to be interesting for the Crusaders how they
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: adapt to that, especially with a run of derbies towards
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: the end of the season, because they've been back into
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: the derby's once the stadium opens for Super Round and April,
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: they've got a few derbies at home after that, so
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: they're going to have to adapt to those conditions and
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: adapt quickly. It's going to be interesting to see how
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: that unfolds over the course of the season.
• 16:04
  Speaker 5: It is.
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah, if you're the look I think the Blues one
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: team that's under Verncoda that went to christ Church with
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: a belief that they had the game plan to go
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: toe to toe with the Crusaders upfronts you know, play
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: that tim Man rugby, match them, physically, challenge their set piece.
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: But if you're the Hurricanes and the Chiefs and you're
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: going to a roof stadium, I think you're rubbing your
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: hands together compared to yes, going to.
• 16:33
  Speaker 5: A cold scaffold stadium in the middle of the winter.
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, a couple of question marks I do have of
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: the Crusaders is at ten Takim. I think it's a
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: big year for him. I was beginning to be impressed
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: by him last year before he got injured in that
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: Chiefs game at Home Rivers. Rayhanna was a player of
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: the match in the final. But I think it's still
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: a question mark there. I think in the second row
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: as well, Scott Barrett out until probably around maysh for
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: them this year, They've got Jamie Hannah, They've got shel Foon,
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: They've got Liam Jack Taylor, Cahill will tuck it Now.
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: These are names that have been around, some of them
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: for the Crusader's environment for a few years now, but
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: they haven't had a lot of opportunity. Is because they've
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: been behind white Lock and Barrett.
• 17:10
  Speaker 5: And always had a degree of experience there.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: Alongside them with them.
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: So I think that's a question mark for the Crusaders
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: this year is can these second row players stand up
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: and continue what has been a strength of them in
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: the set piece over the last few seasons. So that's
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: fascinating to me, is we I also think losing you
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: only more I know who is a loss this year.
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: He's got to Warrataz, They've got letter you who has
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: been under twenties last season. Good player, but again that's
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: a losing him's a big drop off as well. It's
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: touch on the Highlanders as well. You know the when
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: in the offseason I was compiling a rugby director things
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: we'd missed and that's quickly got turfed out the window
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: because we're back very quickly. But Dylan Pledge's injury was
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: at the top of that and I think that alone
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: has changed the course and the expectations of the season
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: for the Highlanders. And then you throw in Farbig and
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: Holand getting injured on Friday and we're still well waiting word.
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: I'm hearing various things as too. Once it's not as
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: big as it looked too. They were struggling to get
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: it back in on Friday, so that usually means surgery,
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: so we wait news on that. But you lose Dylan Pledger,
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: who was you know, one of the great players last
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: year in the NPC, and potentially Holland for instant that
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: really takes the Windo own of the Highland of Sales.
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: I think, oh massive, and I think wider from a
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: pure fan perspective, Dylan Pledger would have been one of
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: the top five players this year that you circled to
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: look forward to such an exciting prospects. His running game,
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: his control, his speeds to the base. You know, he's
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: probably the closest thing, closest nine to Aaron Smith, that
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: the New Zealand game has seen. And look, we hope
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: and expect he's a young man. He'll do the rearhab
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: and come again, but it won't be this year. So
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: huge blow for the Landers. And yeah, Fabian Holland's let's
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: hope it's not too serious because they just don't have
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: that caliber player.
• 19:04
  Speaker 5: They've got three all blacks Ethan de Groot.
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: And Tavatavanawa the other one, the other ones, so they
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: desperately need them and they've got a bloody tough start
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: to the season. I think they have the Crusader Chiefs
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: maybe next and then the Reds away and you've got
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: the Jamie Joseph unknown hanging over their season as well.
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: They were wooden spooners last year, and it does feel
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: like it's sort of set up for the Highlanders maybe
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: next year when they get Josh Shakim.
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: They've been crying out for.
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: A real established tin and I think he is going
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: to be that guy for them. They've still got talents
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: Russe Mavookie Neapkins and you know the All Blacks needs
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: some wingers. Caleb Tungueytowel had a breakout year last year,
• 19:49
  Speaker 4: so if they can get some good quality ball, they've
• 19:52
  Speaker 4: got talents in that back line.
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: But I do it does feel like a rebuild project
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: that still work in progress. I mean they've got Stanley
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: Solomon who's a very good player out of Wellington. They've
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: nabbed him from there. If he gets an opportunity this year,
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: excited to see him.
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: Van Hurley and Seawann will the Hurley gets injured quite
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: quite consistently as well, So yeah, it could be another
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: tough year for the Landers.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: Mark I think is over that pack. They've got a
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: lot of excitement in the outside backs. They've got Fucker
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: Tava who I think is a big year for him. Potentially,
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: maybe he's back knocking on the door of the All
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: Blacks if he can have a good year. You know Pledger,
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: he's probably gonna behind Pledger now you know he's going
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: to be the first choice this year. Ten I think
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: is a question mark for them again. They've got new stub,
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: they've got Cam Miller. They've got Tan Robinson, They've got
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: Rishan passitoa who came over from Australia.
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: It's pretty lightweight.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: It's lightweight. These are players that in theory could be good,
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: but they haven't had a lot of game time.
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: Cam Miller was he was he marked as the guy
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: and look, maybe a year on, I think he gets
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: the keys, but it's all set up for and waiting
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: for Jacob Okay.
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: Let's touch on the rest of the team's more on
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: a PACIFICA. Losing Ardisava, that's a big blow for them.
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: They're going to be captain by a miracle fire along you,
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: which I think is a great pick for them, But
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: it feels like losing Artie Savilla might take the take
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: more Wana. You know they're going to get him back
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: next year, but it just feels like that's going to
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: be impossible to get over.
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: It's an Artie Savia sizes hole.
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: Look, there's no getting away from he was super a
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: good player of the year last year with what three
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: rounds remaining, he was that good, ye, and you do
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: not replace the guy like that. I think Miracles a
• 21:38
  Speaker 4: smart choice as captain when you think about his story
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: coming from the Island's been plucked from relative obscurity and
• 21:45
  Speaker 4: coming here and thriving. It is a great story. But
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: he's not going to step into artie shoes. He's going
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: to need some support. I think they've still got a
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: strong coaching team with Tana and Tom Coventry. They've lost
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: Stephen Jones, so interesting to see whether that has an
• 22:00
  Speaker 4: impact on their attack my pursua as well.
• 22:03
  Speaker 5: They've recruited Nannie Lao Marpi. I've heard a few.
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: Worrying reports about the state of his knees, so interesting
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: to see how much rugby he plays. Look, I hope
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: more want to go really well and build on that momentum.
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: They were on the cusp for making the top six
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: last year. I can't see them making it this year.
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: And look, there are real concerns over their financial future.
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: Reported a lot on that last year.
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: I understand they've got a a it's called a information
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: memorandum out there at the moments, and so they're basically
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: seeking investments, significant millions and millions of dollars investments to
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: keep them afloat so off the field, major major question marks,
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: and I think that's probably true on but I think
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: they are a real unique proposition for this tournament and competition,
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: and a hope that they can pull it together on
• 22:58
  Speaker 4: the field because that does generate interest and momentum, and they've.
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: Got a lot of goodwill and support.
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: But it could be a tough year to meet the
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: expectations that they set for themselves last year, because nobody
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: really saw them going that well, knocking over the Crusaders
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: and the.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: Like, yeah, beting the Blues and all those sort of
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: big moments. It's not only Savvig they've lost. They've lost
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: their Nissi brothers, their Reformo is not their car, Anthime Woiflour,
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: a couple of Hosavily Taylor too, He's gone. So this
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: is a even removing artists Ivy. They've lost a bit
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: of the nucleus that's been around for three or four
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: years since that team came into Super Rugby. So I
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: think it's gonna be a struggle this year for more
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: one a Pacific. Let's touch on the Australian insides. Do
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: you expect them to be better this year? There was
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: certainly an improvement last year. Are they able to take
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: that lead?
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: Well?
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: We see more Australian sides in the top Sex and
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: threatening to win the title.
• 23:52
  Speaker 4: I expect the Waratahs to be I think you tipped
• 23:54
  Speaker 4: them last year to make the final last year and
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: as a familiar theme, isn't it? And I spoke to
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: Jack Measley, the competition CEO at the launch and he admitted,
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: purely from a selfish point of view, from a revenue
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: broadcasts and eyeball's point of view, they would love the
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: war Tars to go well because that's the Sydney.
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: The Marketsburg twenty twenty seven World Cup. It's everything that
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: gets to.
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: The yeah, and I think Australian rugby has a wee
• 24:21
  Speaker 4: bit of momentum there with on the back of the
• 24:23
  Speaker 4: lines tour the World Cup coming and.
• 24:28
  Speaker 5: They need to continue that. So I think the Wara Tars.
• 24:32
  Speaker 4: They've recruited well and they've got some massive names throughout
• 24:36
  Speaker 4: that backlane, guys like Suwey Lee and Max Jorgenson, who's
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: an incredible talents. The Brumbies have consistently set the bar
• 24:44
  Speaker 4: for them. The Reds have had their moments, particularly against
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: New Zealand's teams, and Liz Kiss in his final season
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: before going to the Wallabies will be you know, looking
• 24:54
  Speaker 4: to make a final impression, so I don't see an
• 24:59
  Speaker 4: Australian side winning it. I probably don't see an Australian
• 25:02
  Speaker 4: side making the final, but I hope there's a a
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: and some upsets because the competition needs it.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 25:12
  Speaker 3: I think the Australian sides do look a little bit
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: stronger Man for Man this year than they do last year.
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: The Warrior I think very very good, so elite. He's
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: had a super rugby season under his belt now after
• 25:22
  Speaker 3: being thrust into that Wallaby's tour end of twenty four.
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: The Reds you know, Mcwright Wilson, very good pack. The
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: Brumby's are always very very strongly attained EDMD this year
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: to their mix. The Force I think have recruited well
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: for you Agentina players over there. George Bridge comes back in,
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: but it's hard to see them going you know, you know,
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: making a real charge.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: One of those teams.
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: Especially they started really well last year and fell away
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: quite badly. Yeah they did, so that to me speaks
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: to a lack of depth and they don't tend to
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: travel well to New Zealand.
• 25:56
  Speaker 5: So it'd be nice to see the narrative change.
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: It would be Drew is the team only team. We
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: haven't touched on Unknown with them, didn't have a great
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: lead year last year. They've got my nust at Tali,
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: which is probably the highest profile recruits this season. But again,
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: the Unknown playing at home in Fiji, there's a great
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: advantage for them, didn't travel particularly well last year.
• 26:19
  Speaker 5: No, they're away record iss horrific.
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: So until they address that, they're not going to feature
• 26:25
  Speaker 4: long into the competition. And I think it's fair to
• 26:29
  Speaker 4: say they've probably gone backwards since Mick the Kick moved
• 26:34
  Speaker 4: on from them and went to lead the national team.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: I think so too.
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: All right, anyone else that stands out for you, any
• 26:41
  Speaker 3: players to watch the sear I'm excited to see a
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: few of those young players that have gone around the place.
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: Rico Simpson would like to see him get an opportunity
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: at the Blues. Excited to see him Tyrone Thompson at
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: the Chiefs for me back in rugby this year went
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: to the Knights and the NRAL. Last year didn't quite
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: work out for him, but I think he's a player
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: of real upside if he can get some game time.
• 27:01
  Speaker 3: He stands out for me. Anyone that stands out of
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: the top of the head for you.
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: Well, not up and comers necessarily, but bill Blecks need
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: a wing need wingers. So I think I'm really intrigued
• 27:13
  Speaker 4: to see who stands up out of Kleib, Toney, Towel,
• 27:17
  Speaker 4: Timeoi Flo, these sort of guys.
• 27:20
  Speaker 5: Nawa as well had a.
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: Brief impact with the All Blacks, suffer More needs a
• 27:28
  Speaker 4: big year. He looks in great physical shape and if
• 27:32
  Speaker 4: he can stay on the park. Looking forward to seeing
• 27:35
  Speaker 4: him go again. Guys like Peter Ki but interest and
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: see how he comes back. There's a few wraps on
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: Rampling yep as well. Recruit for the Blues. There's always
• 27:46
  Speaker 4: a few surprise packages that we aren't necessarily on the radar.
• 27:52
  Speaker 4: Tava Tavanaha missed most of the second half of last
• 27:56
  Speaker 4: year and he was right up there in terms of
• 27:58
  Speaker 4: Super Auby Players of the Year last year of his
• 28:00
  Speaker 4: turnover ability and moved to the midfield, so there's a lot.
• 28:04
  Speaker 4: I think there's a lot of points to prove, particularly
• 28:07
  Speaker 4: with a new All Black coach coming in. Maybe reputations
• 28:11
  Speaker 4: don't count for as much, so yeah, there's plenty of Injurgue.
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: All right, final question on Super Rugby, who will be
• 28:19
  Speaker 3: in the final come mid to late June this year, Liam.
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: The Chiefs and the Canes.
• 28:30
  Speaker 3: Interesting, it's going to require the Canes to actually win
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: a knockout game, so good luck to them.
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: I'm going to the.
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: Chiefs in the Crusader's very matched last year's final, but
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: I suspect this time around it will probably be in Hamilton.
• 28:43
  Speaker 5: Is that boring?
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: Like that's that's what most people would predict, right? Is
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: that bad for the competition that it's so familiar?
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: No, you said no, I think legacies, you know, are
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: good for competitions and way because everyone wants to knock
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: off the top team. The Crusaders one seven straight that
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: frustrated the Jesus out of everyone. But I, you know,
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: I would like to see an Australian team really rattled
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: the cage this year and put some pressure on the
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: New Zealand teams. Can't see it happening to the extent
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: that one of the women about the final, I thought
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: maybe last year, as I said, I took Blues Warritar's
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: final last year had been quite happened. I took the
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: Chief Drewer the year before, which was rather rogue. So
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: I'm going a bit conservative this time and going to
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: the Chiefs Crusaders, so watch the space.
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: One final question before we leave Super how much wind
• 29:34
  Speaker 4: is sucked out of the competition by guys like Severe
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: alb Rico being in Japan, or Rico and Link so
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: this is not a new concept necessarily, and also guys
• 29:45
  Speaker 4: like Scott Barrett non playing sabbatical, Boden Barretts and Cody
• 29:51
  Speaker 4: Taylor having late starts. And then there's also a number
• 29:53
  Speaker 4: of injuries which are beyond the control of a competition.
• 29:58
  Speaker 5: That does the seasons need to start later?
• 30:01
  Speaker 4: Should Super we delay the Kii Doubi's when all these
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: guys are missing.
• 30:06
  Speaker 5: You know, it's it's not idea, was it?
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: It's not a deal. It does take a win and
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: out of the sales.
• 30:11
  Speaker 3: We talked about the ARTISRV sized hole at more on
• 30:14
  Speaker 3: a Pacifica this year. But I think it's the way
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: of the world. Like I would like to see a
• 30:20
  Speaker 3: Super Rugby start start of March. I think that would
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: be better for everyone. If you speak to Super Rugby
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: that they would love to go even longer at the
• 30:28
  Speaker 3: back end of the year and you go past Dune
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: July and make it a real you know, home and
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: away style competition. It does take some wind out of
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: the sales. But I also you know, we talked about
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: the Chiefs thing. We didn't mention Antonine Brown not being
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: there and the Chiefs you mentioned they've got a whole
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: lot of great players coming through there, you know, the Blues.
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: Rique Yuani's not I don't think it's as big as
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: it's been made out to be.
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: What about you.
• 30:54
  Speaker 4: I think fundamentally you want all of his players on
• 30:56
  Speaker 4: the park all the time, and I think the all
• 30:59
  Speaker 4: Blacks reces I can understands from a worklow point of view,
• 31:04
  Speaker 4: but I think you could have a bit more structure
• 31:09
  Speaker 4: around the ki we doobies. I think you don't want
• 31:13
  Speaker 4: headline stars missing from those matches in particular, and they
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: do tend to be front loaded at the start of
• 31:19
  Speaker 4: the year and it probably does diminish their appeal.
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: Interesting, all right, We'll take a break, come back with
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: more on Rugby Direct after this powered by Habit Health Physio.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: This is Rugby.
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: Direct, a podcast for real rugby fares.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: Try try and sixty every tackle tackle Get up again.
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: Before it's Rugby Direct. You're back with Rugby It's Direct.
• 31:49
  Speaker 3: Time now for the final four. Let's pivots and go
• 31:52
  Speaker 3: to the big topic of the summer, biggest story of
• 31:56
  Speaker 3: the year, bigger than the election that I think as well,
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: all blacks coaching gig where are we at? Applications have
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: closed last week. We're just going to give it to
• 32:04
  Speaker 3: Steve Hanson and Egan Foster. And we're wrong about the clock?
• 32:08
  Speaker 4: Is it the I don't think so. Okay, Look, it
• 32:11
  Speaker 4: is like an election in some ways. I'm not sure
• 32:14
  Speaker 4: who's national and who's labor. But I have to ask Jamie,
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: Joseph and Dave Rennie because look, it's a two horse race.
• 32:23
  Speaker 4: They've applied everyone it's aware that it's down to those two.
• 32:26
  Speaker 4: So what coaching teams can they as symbol how they're
• 32:29
  Speaker 4: going to interview. And you think it shouldn't even take
• 32:34
  Speaker 4: too long when that's the scenario as well, well.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: I think it'd be good if it doesn't take too long.
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: Make a decision, especially for the Highlanders, you know, make
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: a decision if if Joseph misses out or gets it,
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: then you can move on and plan for the future.
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: You don't want to dragging through, you know, to round
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: eight nineteen of especially if the Highlanders, for example, are
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: in the Super raggy playff mix. I don't think they
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: will be, but look, you don't want that being You
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: know in the back of your minds as a team
• 32:59
  Speaker 3: that the coaching is uncertain, so I suspect they'll come
• 33:03
  Speaker 3: to a pretty quick conclusion. It surprised me, what are
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: we at the moment ninth of February. I wouldn't be
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: surprised to see a decision this time.
• 33:11
  Speaker 4: In a month's time, yeah, I think even by the
• 33:14
  Speaker 4: end of the month, they've got the coaching panel. Dane
• 33:18
  Speaker 4: Cole's joining, Kevin Meer, Lamu, David Kirk and Don Tricker.
• 33:24
  Speaker 5: I think that's a strong coaching team.
• 33:26
  Speaker 4: You could argue maybe they're missing a former coach in
• 33:30
  Speaker 4: that mix, but there's two contenders, interview them, have a
• 33:36
  Speaker 4: thorough debate about it, and make a decision.
• 33:38
  Speaker 3: Should they be presenting their coaching staff at these like
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: how much is that going to matter?
• 33:44
  Speaker 4: I think it does matter because we saw with Scott
• 33:47
  Speaker 4: Robertson that his coaching team didn't work. We had a
• 33:52
  Speaker 4: number of exits, we had a real lack of experience a.
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: Floyd, but he still presented it. It just didn't work.
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: So he presents it and look, there was. It was
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: pushback saying this is not experienced enough, but they still
• 34:05
  Speaker 3: signed off on it and then it didn't work. So
• 34:08
  Speaker 3: who with Joseph or any might brings you know that
• 34:10
  Speaker 3: may not work either.
• 34:11
  Speaker 5: It's a different panel this time around. Yeah, so maybe they'll.
• 34:17
  Speaker 4: Maybe those floors will be hit them between the eyes
• 34:22
  Speaker 4: when it's the sudden and people were locked up like
• 34:26
  Speaker 4: Tony Brown and Joe Schmidt and Vern Cootta and others.
• 34:29
  Speaker 4: It's not going to be the krem dela creme of
• 34:32
  Speaker 4: the coaching team necessarily. I don't think Joseph and Reny
• 34:36
  Speaker 4: are going to work together. But I think the coaching
• 34:40
  Speaker 4: teams are important. But getting the right vision and the
• 34:44
  Speaker 4: right man is first and foremost. What it comes down to.
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: Watch the space opening weekend of Six Nations as we continue,
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: the final four is under in the books now France
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: island WAITANGUI day. Great to have them schedule that game
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: for nine am on a public holiday in New Zealand.
• 35:01
  Speaker 5: I saw that smashed TV records in France.
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 35:05
  Speaker 3: Look, I think that's what rugby needs to be a
• 35:07
  Speaker 3: bit better. AT's just as an assign it is. They
• 35:09
  Speaker 3: moved it to avoid the opening ceremony of the Milano
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: called Tina Winter Olympics. But especially in markets where rugby
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: is not the biggest, biggest driver, find those windows where
• 35:22
  Speaker 3: you can slote in games. And Thursday night game didn't
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: clash with any football on the weekend, didn't clash with
• 35:28
  Speaker 3: the opening ceremony, smashed the records. There's big interest in France.
• 35:31
  Speaker 3: You look at the Wallabies three or four years ago
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: when they played that game on Thursday night. The blood
• 35:35
  Speaker 3: is low, big interest levels there. So I think in
• 35:38
  Speaker 3: those markets, just a site, it's important to find those
• 35:41
  Speaker 3: little windows that work and capture the public's imagination.
• 35:44
  Speaker 4: Yeah, be adaptable, Yeah, pivots, be creative. We've talked about
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: this before around Easter and Anzac Day and how the
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: NRL and other sporting comps do that better than rugby.
• 35:55
  Speaker 4: So yeah, I think you're right in terms of that
• 35:58
  Speaker 4: opening weekends. Look, the All Blacks coaching team or next
• 36:02
  Speaker 4: to All Black coach is a two horse race, and
• 36:03
  Speaker 4: I think the Six Nations is a two horse race.
• 36:05
  Speaker 4: France and England's Scotland don't. I don't think you could
• 36:10
  Speaker 4: say that's a shock loss, given what's transpired in recent
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: times in Italy. Beat them last year as well, and
• 36:17
  Speaker 4: Islands real concerns thereabouts their states.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: They haven't just not gone stagnant, they've gone backwards.
• 36:25
  Speaker 4: They are on the decline, yeah, one hundred percent, and
• 36:29
  Speaker 4: I saw the results.
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: I think it was.
• 36:31
  Speaker 4: England a Island ay as well, and England pumped them.
• 36:34
  Speaker 4: So probably concerns zir about the next generation coming through
• 36:38
  Speaker 4: as well. Maybe Andy Farrell doesn't have a lot of
• 36:40
  Speaker 4: options to turn to. And also I think maybe in
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: general Irish rugby has just been found out for being
• 36:47
  Speaker 4: a little bit formulaic. You know that that pattern structure
• 36:51
  Speaker 4: worked really well to a points, but it's I think
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: the game has moved on to a degree and it
• 36:58
  Speaker 4: hasn't got them over that World Cup hump either. They've
• 37:01
  Speaker 4: had some great success. They enjoyed time at number one,
• 37:03
  Speaker 4: They've won six Nations titles. Andy Farrell succeeded Joe Shma
• 37:08
  Speaker 4: and yeah, has enjoyed success. But they've hit the ceiling
• 37:11
  Speaker 4: and now they're on the decline.
• 37:13
  Speaker 3: That French performance, especially in the first forty five to
• 37:15
  Speaker 3: fifty minutes, was as good as I've seen against another
• 37:18
  Speaker 3: Tier one team. They played a style of rugby that
• 37:22
  Speaker 3: was entertaining to watch, but they were just ruthless at
• 37:25
  Speaker 3: the same time. You know, Blbot is an exceptional player
• 37:29
  Speaker 3: that any number of players this is, you know, while
• 37:31
  Speaker 3: they've also left out audreats from their squad.
• 37:34
  Speaker 5: Credit credit to Galt.
• 37:35
  Speaker 4: He made some massive selection decisions, going favoring more that
• 37:40
  Speaker 4: the Bordeaux way than to lose way of style, but
• 37:44
  Speaker 4: also players, and it's paying off.
• 37:48
  Speaker 3: Losing Winnie Antonio to retirement on the I mean, all
• 37:51
  Speaker 3: sorts of things. And they absolutely pummeled Ireland. England smashing Wales.
• 37:54
  Speaker 3: No surprises there.
• 37:56
  Speaker 4: No Wales. Rugby's in a very sad state. No one's
• 37:59
  Speaker 4: happy about that at the moments. And I don't think
• 38:02
  Speaker 4: you can take too much from that from an English
• 38:03
  Speaker 4: perspective either.
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: No, I think it was fairly standard.
• 38:06
  Speaker 3: I mean, what I did see was that the forty
• 38:08
  Speaker 3: eight seven I watched their game back and honestly could
• 38:12
  Speaker 3: have been another sixty pointer late last year. They probably
• 38:14
  Speaker 3: missed a couple of opportunities while it was really really poor.
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: And then a great win for Italy who are playing
• 38:18
  Speaker 3: some entertaining r He doesn't always come off, but they
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: are really really thrilling to watch, and in the reign
• 38:25
  Speaker 3: and Rome. They were too good in the end. So
• 38:27
  Speaker 3: a big day for you're Italian heritage.
• 38:30
  Speaker 5: That's right.
• 38:31
  Speaker 4: The blood was boiling on in the morning when I
• 38:34
  Speaker 4: got up and saw that the result. I didn't get
• 38:36
  Speaker 4: up to watch that.
• 38:36
  Speaker 5: It was very early. Consider this.
• 38:40
  Speaker 4: It'saly had won one of forty two six Nation games
• 38:43
  Speaker 4: before Gonzalo Corsada took over. They have won four of
• 38:47
  Speaker 4: eleven since.
• 38:49
  Speaker 3: It's remarkable and and look he looks like you look
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: at that performance that he got out of them against
• 38:54
  Speaker 3: the All Blacks end of twenty twenty four. It was
• 38:56
  Speaker 3: a tit All Blacks team, but they really just annoyed
• 38:58
  Speaker 3: the All Blacks that night and played some good rugby
• 39:01
  Speaker 3: at times I thought and didn't get perhaps to get
• 39:03
  Speaker 3: the awards. But they've found a coach there came off
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: the back of Kieran Crowley. They've struck gold. Think with
• 39:08
  Speaker 3: guisarda Scotland on the other hand, Gregor Town's end. He
• 39:13
  Speaker 3: was asked in the media conference afterwards. I heard the footage,
• 39:16
  Speaker 3: I heard the audigo and basically was asked whether you
• 39:19
  Speaker 3: expected to be in charge when England came to town, come
• 39:22
  Speaker 3: to town and at Murrayfield, this coming weekend he will
• 39:25
  Speaker 3: be he would suspect, but Franco Smith is poised and
• 39:29
  Speaker 3: ready to go. It wouldn't surprise me to see them
• 39:32
  Speaker 3: pulled the trigger after these Six Nations if it continues
• 39:34
  Speaker 3: in this vein.
• 39:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I can see that happening Glasgow. I
• 39:39
  Speaker 4: think they're currently second in Europe leading the USC. Franco
• 39:43
  Speaker 4: Smith's done a great job there and patients has run
• 39:45
  Speaker 4: out with Town's end, He's had.
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: General ninth Six Nations campaign.
• 39:50
  Speaker 4: He's he is Scotland's most successful coach, but he for
• 39:55
  Speaker 4: a number of years he's had generational players and scored
• 39:59
  Speaker 4: depth like Scotland have never had before. And when Scotland
• 40:04
  Speaker 4: blew that leads against the Pumas a week halfter losing
• 40:08
  Speaker 4: to the All Blacks and similar fashion at Murrayfield, Scotland
• 40:11
  Speaker 4: will booed off the park. And if that's not telling,
• 40:15
  Speaker 4: I don't know what is. This result comes on the
• 40:17
  Speaker 4: back of that. I think Scotland needed to finish at
• 40:20
  Speaker 4: least third or above. And look, there's already a lot
• 40:23
  Speaker 4: of noise around Gregor Town's end going to become director
• 40:26
  Speaker 4: of rugby at Newcastle after the World Cup. He's already
• 40:29
  Speaker 4: there in a consultancy capacity. I don't think that's a
• 40:33
  Speaker 4: good look trying to juggle two rolls in one when
• 40:36
  Speaker 4: your main gig's not going well. So I think he's
• 40:39
  Speaker 4: gone by the end of the six Nations and you'll
• 40:41
  Speaker 4: see a change at the head of Scottish Rugby.
• 40:44
  Speaker 3: Topic number three and the Final four Rugby World Cup
• 40:47
  Speaker 3: draw for twenty twenty seven was released last week has
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: predicted the big game to open is Australia Hong Kong, China.
• 40:56
  Speaker 3: I mean we had to draw in decend, but this
• 40:58
  Speaker 3: is the schedule, but it just sort of was laid
• 41:01
  Speaker 3: ba A. How thin that pool stages in terms of
• 41:05
  Speaker 3: must watch matches. I think World Rugby has lost a
• 41:07
  Speaker 3: plot here. Like, I do not know what they're thinking.
• 41:10
  Speaker 3: The sport does not have twenty four teams worthy of
• 41:13
  Speaker 3: being at a World Cup. They've gone far too early
• 41:15
  Speaker 3: with moving to that format. I just think this is
• 41:19
  Speaker 3: going to fall flat in the face and I think
• 41:21
  Speaker 3: there's a real risk that this tournament doesn't get the
• 41:25
  Speaker 3: returns that they're hoping for in Australia, So I just, yeah,
• 41:29
  Speaker 3: I do not know what they're thinking.
• 41:32
  Speaker 4: I think there's a real internal conflict in sport in
• 41:35
  Speaker 4: general at the moments when you look at the NRL
• 41:37
  Speaker 4: expanding between broadcast revenue and putting the fan first, and
• 41:44
  Speaker 4: the Rugby World Cup is expanding to make more broadcast revenue,
• 41:49
  Speaker 4: and it's going to completely suck the interest out of
• 41:51
  Speaker 4: that competition basically until almost the quarter final stage, and
• 41:57
  Speaker 4: that's a long time.
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: There should be some jeopardy in the opening rounds. I
• 42:02
  Speaker 3: just don't know what world are we think they're getting
• 42:05
  Speaker 3: out of having such a light group stage. You know,
• 42:10
  Speaker 3: you can have the Australian New Zealand game, but really
• 42:12
  Speaker 3: there's not even that much jippety on that fixture because
• 42:14
  Speaker 3: they should both pump Hong Kong, China and Chile in
• 42:18
  Speaker 3: that pool. We've got Ireland Scotland, you got England Wales.
• 42:21
  Speaker 3: But again, it works at World Cups because there should
• 42:24
  Speaker 3: be some jeopardy that if you lose this game, you
• 42:26
  Speaker 3: have a tougher path through the quarterfinals or you might
• 42:29
  Speaker 3: not make the quarter finals at all. And I just
• 42:31
  Speaker 3: don't see that from World Rugby. So I think they've
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: misread this big time.
• 42:35
  Speaker 5: Oh massively.
• 42:35
  Speaker 4: You look at South Africa's pool, they could put out
• 42:37
  Speaker 4: a fourth fifth string team and waltz through the pool stages.
• 42:42
  Speaker 5: Nobody wants to watch that.
• 42:43
  Speaker 2: No, no, no one does.
• 42:45
  Speaker 3: So yeah, Black Mark against World Rugby Topic four in
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: the final four thirty years of Super Rugby or thirtieth anniversary,
• 42:52
  Speaker 3: It started in nineteen ninety six, on the eve of
• 42:54
  Speaker 3: the twenty twenty six season.
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: You'll stand out memory from the last thirty years.
• 43:00
  Speaker 4: Well, we were at the superbrig relaunch and they had
• 43:02
  Speaker 4: had a bit of memorabilitiya floating around there, and they
• 43:05
  Speaker 4: had the stubs from the opening game and Mighty Palmas
• 43:08
  Speaker 4: the North and I was at that game.
• 43:10
  Speaker 5: I remember.
• 43:13
  Speaker 4: Snippets of it, but also remember the Mexican waves, full
• 43:16
  Speaker 4: cans flying up and a little kid being carried out because.
• 43:19
  Speaker 5: He got gone with a full can.
• 43:21
  Speaker 4: So yes, they say it's good that that times have
• 43:25
  Speaker 4: moved on from that, but I think the early stages
• 43:29
  Speaker 4: of that competition were amazing because it was just all
• 43:32
  Speaker 4: out attack, wasn't it. You think about Christian Cullen and
• 43:35
  Speaker 4: Goldie and other players just you know, linked to the field.
• 43:40
  Speaker 5: Try is amazing brand of rugby.
• 43:42
  Speaker 4: The game's changed a lot since then, so that was
• 43:45
  Speaker 4: magic being witnessing Mike Canes won their first title and
• 43:50
  Speaker 4: the freezing cold in Wellington. Wasn't a great final, but
• 43:55
  Speaker 4: it was a great night. So there's a couple for you.
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: I'm struggling to narrow it down.
• 44:00
  Speaker 5: Person, get out there.
• 44:05
  Speaker 3: Well, I'm going to say the Crusaders warri Tis two
• 44:06
  Speaker 3: thousand and two at Jade Stadium in Christia.
• 44:09
  Speaker 5: You're going to say the one they lost.
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: Crusaders Pumping the war Tars ninety six nineteen. I was
• 44:15
  Speaker 3: at the game, never seen anything like a standing ovation
• 44:18
  Speaker 3: at halftime there was sixty three nil up. So that's
• 44:20
  Speaker 3: one that lives in the memory. So I'll give you
• 44:21
  Speaker 3: that one. But I mean I could narrow it down
• 44:23
  Speaker 3: to any of the other thirteen thirteen titles. The Crusaders one.
• 44:26
  Speaker 4: Right, I could have said Rob Pennies fish.
• 44:31
  Speaker 3: Well, look at the reboard works. So it was all
• 44:33
  Speaker 3: worth it. The pain was worth the worth it in
• 44:36
  Speaker 3: the end, Like this run through some tipping. We'll keep
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: this going this year. Give me some tips for the
• 44:41
  Speaker 3: opening round. We start with Highland. Just Crusaders Friday night
• 44:43
  Speaker 3: in Dunedin.
• 44:45
  Speaker 5: Stada's doing that, Yeah, I think so, yeah.
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: War Tars Reds in Sydney.
• 44:49
  Speaker 5: It was always tight. But I'll go the Tars.
• 44:51
  Speaker 3: You're going to go the Tars. I will go the
• 44:55
  Speaker 3: Reds for an upset in that one. The Drewer hosting
• 44:58
  Speaker 3: winner Pacifica in Tokia Saturday afternoon.
• 45:02
  Speaker 5: The the Drewer at home.
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I tend to agree with you. I just have
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: worries about my Wanda. She Blues Chiefs Eden Park the
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: National Stadium.
• 45:12
  Speaker 4: Tough to tip. Interesting to see what sort of crowd
• 45:14
  Speaker 4: they get on opening weekend for that. Had to chat
• 45:18
  Speaker 4: to Carl Budge last week, which puts something out this
• 45:20
  Speaker 4: week about things he wants to do differently and how
• 45:23
  Speaker 4: Rugby hasn't put the fan first. So interesting to see
• 45:26
  Speaker 4: how body looks to bring and how restricted he is.
• 45:28
  Speaker 5: With with Eden Park.
• 45:29
  Speaker 4: They've got that over the outer over there that could
• 45:32
  Speaker 4: potentially do some fun things with. It's a long one
• 45:36
  Speaker 4: way of saying, I have no idea who's going to
• 45:38
  Speaker 4: win that game, but I will tip the Blues home.
• 45:42
  Speaker 3: Wow, okay, I'm going to check the Chiefs for a victory.
• 45:45
  Speaker 3: The Western Force Brumbies the game you're almost looking forward
• 45:48
  Speaker 3: to this weekend in Perth.
• 45:49
  Speaker 5: Of course, the Brumbies Force your Force. I've lost lel
• 45:55
  Speaker 5: mackd on with.
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but what they've gained is Steorge a Bridge, so
• 46:00
  Speaker 3: you know they've gained something there. I think they've named
• 46:03
  Speaker 3: like a six player leadership group as well. Curtley Beal
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: probably his last season. Our win for Coote Bill to
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: win another Super Rugby title right Rugby dreets Super Rugby preview.
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: In the books, we will catch you next week.
• 46:17
  Speaker 3: Thanks to Habit Health Visio book today and stay in
• 46:19
  Speaker 3: the game Up the Canes.
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: No for more from News Talks ed B.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: Listen live on air or online, and keep our shows
• 46:30
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