Super Saturday
Well - I thought the Brumbies' season was over...caput. But apparently I was wrong. I was right about the Hurricanes' season. It's definitely over. The two of them played tonight and it was going to be the end of someone's terrible season and the continuation of a devastating season for the other.
The Brumbies still have hope.
With that said. The Hurricanes put up a good fight and really had good defense and what not but there's only so much you can do when players like Cory Jane are on the injury list. Ma'a Nonu found himself in the play-making situation. He's not much of a play maker - he even kicked a couple this game. It's really sad to me because he's good at line breaking - why the sudden move to become something that you're obviously not. Because you're under pressure for the first time in a few years from SBW? I'm guessing so - but if you can do what you normally do well - what's the point? I mean - SBW didn't wow me this weekend either...I think it actually had something to do with Dan Carter being out but I'll get to that later.
Brumbies (17) vs. Hurricanes (16)
Both teams were penalized a ton. Cruden started at 10 for the Hurricanes and actually did okay. I'm happier with him than I am with Daniel Kirkpatrick. With that said - Kirkpatrick played a solid last 20 minutes. The tough thing about the game is that Conrad Smith went out with about 10 minutes from a hit to the face. Let's hope that he doesn't have a broken bone in his face. There was a fair amount of blood but walked off the field unassisted which mig
ht only speak to how tough he is rather than the damage sustained.
Toomua...I can only hope for the Brumbies sake that Pat McCabe is able to start playing full 80 minutes because Toomua sucked butt this weekend. He got two kicks blocked within seconds of one another, giving up a try on the second one and just poor play overall. I am not a fan of him at 15 but I suppose that there's no other option with McCabe out ... AND then Adam Ashley-Cooper had to leave the game with something wrong with his hip. Boo. All these injuries cause me stress. These guys have to be fit for the RWC.
The quiet one tonight? Ben Alexander - the vim and vinegar which makes him such an electric prop was only evident in the scrums. Come on Ben, you've got to represent.
And the highlight of the game? The Colour Commentators - who I've spoken about in the past. They're phenomenal...Greg Martin and Phil Kearns. Just hilarious. Tonight they were making more comments about beards. These are the guys who were talking about "face furniture" a few weeks ago. Tonight it was talking about Jason Eaton and Andrew Hore's beards. Kearns mentioned that some of the beards were quite impressive this week and in response to that, Martin's asked:
"Now, what do you find impressive? Is it the forest-like nature of Andrew Hore's beard?"
"No, just the speedy growth. I mean, they weren't nothing but a goaty last week and look at 'em..."
The two commentators continued on for a solid minute about the real estate growing on the two men's faces. I love it.
Crusaders (27) vs Bulls (0)
Unfortunately no bonus point here for the Crusaders. The majority of the points were found by the kicking tee. Which, understanding that Dan Carter was not on the field is quite impressive. However, Dan is so much more than just a great kicker. He's also a play-maker and the 10-12 connection with SBW is just plain special. So tonight, with Dan missing out of the line up, SBW was a little quieter in his attack. Fruean...Fruean, however, deserves a pile of credit. His pace, and hits, and the whole package tonight was just on.
Keiran Reid was back in the line up tonight which was nice to see. Richie McCaw is still absent but we'r
e hoping to see him soon.
The Bulls? What can I say about them that would be fair. Well - Victor Matfield who is the captain said it best..."We didn't show up, we didn't play rugby tonight. It doesn't matter if we're playing the Cheetahs or the Crusaders - it's not acceptable." Dropped balls, low phases, and multiple penalties makes a game against a not-so star studded Crusader line not very pretty. And when your key players like Morne Steyn and Pierre Spiess are playing like crap - what do you expect.
Highlights? Well - Ben Franks hammered Merwe. The impact could be heard over the cheers and the announcers. Brutal. He had what we all like to call an insta-puff. Where your eye immediately swells and discolours. Not nice.
So the Cru keeps surging ahead. There's some pretty interesting games going on tonight (Stormers vs. Reds for starters) that could really be telling about things to come. It's a tough game to choose what the likely outcome would be and even harder to say who I'd rather see win. I guess we'll see.
The Brumbies still have hope.
With that said. The Hurricanes put up a good fight and really had good defense and what not but there's only so much you can do when players like Cory Jane are on the injury list. Ma'a Nonu found himself in the play-making situation. He's not much of a play maker - he even kicked a couple this game. It's really sad to me because he's good at line breaking - why the sudden move to become something that you're obviously not. Because you're under pressure for the first time in a few years from SBW? I'm guessing so - but if you can do what you normally do well - what's the point? I mean - SBW didn't wow me this weekend either...I think it actually had something to do with Dan Carter being out but I'll get to that later.
Brumbies (17) vs. Hurricanes (16)
Both teams were penalized a ton. Cruden started at 10 for the Hurricanes and actually did okay. I'm happier with him than I am with Daniel Kirkpatrick. With that said - Kirkpatrick played a solid last 20 minutes. The tough thing about the game is that Conrad Smith went out with about 10 minutes from a hit to the face. Let's hope that he doesn't have a broken bone in his face. There was a fair amount of blood but walked off the field unassisted which mig
ht only speak to how tough he is rather than the damage sustained.Toomua...I can only hope for the Brumbies sake that Pat McCabe is able to start playing full 80 minutes because Toomua sucked butt this weekend. He got two kicks blocked within seconds of one another, giving up a try on the second one and just poor play overall. I am not a fan of him at 15 but I suppose that there's no other option with McCabe out ... AND then Adam Ashley-Cooper had to leave the game with something wrong with his hip. Boo. All these injuries cause me stress. These guys have to be fit for the RWC.
The quiet one tonight? Ben Alexander - the vim and vinegar which makes him such an electric prop was only evident in the scrums. Come on Ben, you've got to represent.
And the highlight of the game? The Colour Commentators - who I've spoken about in the past. They're phenomenal...Greg Martin and Phil Kearns. Just hilarious. Tonight they were making more comments about beards. These are the guys who were talking about "face furniture" a few weeks ago. Tonight it was talking about Jason Eaton and Andrew Hore's beards. Kearns mentioned that some of the beards were quite impressive this week and in response to that, Martin's asked:
"Now, what do you find impressive? Is it the forest-like nature of Andrew Hore's beard?"
"No, just the speedy growth. I mean, they weren't nothing but a goaty last week and look at 'em..."
The two commentators continued on for a solid minute about the real estate growing on the two men's faces. I love it.
Crusaders (27) vs Bulls (0)
Unfortunately no bonus point here for the Crusaders. The majority of the points were found by the kicking tee. Which, understanding that Dan Carter was not on the field is quite impressive. However, Dan is so much more than just a great kicker. He's also a play-maker and the 10-12 connection with SBW is just plain special. So tonight, with Dan missing out of the line up, SBW was a little quieter in his attack. Fruean...Fruean, however, deserves a pile of credit. His pace, and hits, and the whole package tonight was just on.
Keiran Reid was back in the line up tonight which was nice to see. Richie McCaw is still absent but we'r
e hoping to see him soon.The Bulls? What can I say about them that would be fair. Well - Victor Matfield who is the captain said it best..."We didn't show up, we didn't play rugby tonight. It doesn't matter if we're playing the Cheetahs or the Crusaders - it's not acceptable." Dropped balls, low phases, and multiple penalties makes a game against a not-so star studded Crusader line not very pretty. And when your key players like Morne Steyn and Pierre Spiess are playing like crap - what do you expect.
Highlights? Well - Ben Franks hammered Merwe. The impact could be heard over the cheers and the announcers. Brutal. He had what we all like to call an insta-puff. Where your eye immediately swells and discolours. Not nice.
So the Cru keeps surging ahead. There's some pretty interesting games going on tonight (Stormers vs. Reds for starters) that could really be telling about things to come. It's a tough game to choose what the likely outcome would be and even harder to say who I'd rather see win. I guess we'll see.
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