The semis are upon us. Auckland v ACT Canterbury v Wellington Both should be cracking matches as these are the four best attacking sides. Auckland is looking strong to take out the championship this year as they have got magician flyhalf Carlos Spencer. Folks in North America can catch the action on FoxSportsWorld - not to be missed.
I've been watching the Super 12 on and off on FSW this season, and from what I've seen I'd be surprised to see anyone beat the Blues. Their speed and running in the back line is just incredible.
Help me out here: Last July and August I was watching what I thought was Super 12 Rugby Union. Summer here, winter there. What I remember most is the Crusaders were kicking everyone's asses. Are we talking about the same Super 12?
Yep Jeff. The Super 12 is made up of 5 New Zealand teams (Auckland Blues, Canterbury Crusaders, Waikato Chiefs, Otago Highlanders and Wellington Hurricanes), 3 Australian teams (New South Wales Waratahs, Queensland Reds and Australian Capital Territory Brumbies) and 4 South African teams (Bulls, Cats, Stormers and Sharks). The season is played over 11 weeks (so every one plays each other once), then th etop 4 play in the semi finals. Afterwards the national representative season starts - especially the Tri-Nations between Australian, South Africa & New Zealand. It is all a bit earlier than usual this season because of the World Cup.
So wait, are the Brumbies then located it Sydney then? And when does the season start in December or January?
Thanks Craig. The Crusaders were kicking ass last year, saw them destroy the Waratahs. When is the final? I hope Fox Sports World still carries Super 12. If it's live, I'm 2 hours behind Boston/NY which I think puts me 16 hours behind Sydney.
Super 12 should be live on FSW. Just check their website during next week to see the time. Show be a really good final in Auckland. Its already shaping up to be a great NZ derby. The Blues should be too good imo. The Crusaders should put a tough fight, but with the Blues playing at Eden Park and Carlos Spencer is absolute blinding form, I can't see the Crusaders even denting the Blues game. Should be a Blues win 12+
I think that puts you about 15 hours behind Auckland. Final is this weekend. Blues will win I think, but should be a good one. The NZ'ers are so far ahead of the rest that its scary. I reckon they will win the World Cup easily (although England will be a threat). Toffees - as Desigol said, the Brumbies (which is a wild horse by the way) are based in Canberra, which is located in the Australian Capital Territory, and enclave within New South Wales a couple of hours south-west of Sydney. Most of the Brumbies' players are discards from NSW and Queensland, and return to Sydney and Brisbane to play for their club teams.
ah, cheers craig. Good stuff to know, when does the actual Super 12 season start, I should be in Sydney in the summer (January), or that wide of the mark?
I've yet to find confirmation of this on the web, but do the NZ and SA sides qualify for the Super12's based on their performances in the NPC and Currie Cup, respectively, or are they just the sides from the "major markets" of those two countries?
When the Super 12 started it was as you suggested, the top sides from the provincial championships - so there were teams like Northern Transvaal, Transvaal, Western Province, Natal etc from SA. This was seen as "non-marketable" as it meant there were different teams each year, and also that some top players may not be included, so there are now "combined" franchises. Because of the the Auckland Blues team for example may be different to the Aucklnad NPC team.
I had a feeling that would be the case. That might also explain the practice of continually referring to those sides by just their nicknames all over the web instead of by a provincial team name. Would they do the same thing if the proposed provincial competition (featuring the tops sides now, not the one with the other provinces and the reserve sides from the big three) in Oz?
Eric, I assume you mean the proposed club "super league". The big problem Australian rugby has is lack of depth and quality domestic competition. When the Super 12 ends the NZ and SA players go back to strong NPC and Currie Cup competitions, which keeps honing their skills and toughening them up. As rugby is only really played in 2 states (plus ACT) out of 6 (other than small time competitions of expatriate NZ'ers, SAfricans and Eastern staters in the other states), our Super 12 guys go back to basically amateur park leagues - the Sydney and Brisbane club competitions. They therefore get stale and are not under pressure to improve. So, there is talk of creating franchise teams eg. Northen Sydney, Southern Sydney, NSW Country, North Brisbane etc etc to play a strong domestic league that would fit between park and Super 12 levels. Given the politics in the game and the hatreds between some clubs that would be required to field composite teams, I can't see it happening any time soon.