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Episode 34: Super Rugby Round 17 image

Episode 34: Super Rugby Round 17

E45 · The Fantasy Rugby Yanks Podcast
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30 Plays6 years ago

We roll on into the final regular season weekend of Super Rugby. This week we discuss some of the transfer news going around, giving our thoughts on both both player & coach moves, including whether or not a certain player should have be signed by a Premiership team. We also have an impromptu discussion about the best players in the world that dawn the #2 jersey. Finally, of course, we wrap up all this weekend's action from the 2nd to last round in Super Rugby. Join us for all this and more on TFRY!

Don't forget to vote for your favorite TFRY Episode of the season too!

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Transcript

Coaching Schedules and Player Turnout

00:00:08
Speaker
Hey everybody, how's it going? It is a fancy rugby game. My name is Jeremy Dyke. I'm Ben Glauser. It is Wednesday. It's a Wednesday because it's seven season now and certain people have to coach teams. Although I'm going to start coaching next week too, so. Suck it. I'll coach the, I get to coach the youngins. Don't suck it. Yeah. I hope that, I hope they don't suck. Generally it doesn't suck. It's fun.
00:00:32
Speaker
Yeah, I think I might have had some of them out last night. Yeah. Ahead of them starting next week, I'm guessing we had a it was annoying because we had 15 players, which is great. We could actually play sevens. Yeah. For a while.
00:00:49
Speaker
We had two, only two of our senior club players there. The rest were either recent college grads or guys from our kind of youth program or some young guys who are back from college and are working with us. So hopefully we'll get a little bit better turnout tomorrow. I'm trying to go through some of these things. If I recall correctly, Thursday was always better than Tuesday.
00:01:15
Speaker
I'm trying to go through some of these concepts with the guys and they're just not ready for it yet. And it's like, I really could use some of the senior players here. Some of the older boys here. They know what the concepts I'm trying to talk about. Because for them, it would be basic. But for the youth guys, it's like. Yeah, that's next level stuff. Yeah. All right. Crack on. Oh, don't have to ask me twice. Anyway, make sure you check us out on Google Play, Spotify, iTunes.
00:01:44
Speaker
Review us, rate us, all that good stuff, send us an email, we'll give the email at the end of the show, we do have an email. But not until the fantasy corner. There we are. Much better, good.
00:02:03
Speaker
Alright, so let's get into the roundabout here. The turnstile seems to be going at certain places here. Transfer news all over the place.

Player Transfers and Team Impacts

00:02:19
Speaker
The big one I saw this week was Zach Kiberige from Newcastle going to WOS.
00:02:25
Speaker
Yeah, we kind of that's a that's a good that's a good spot for him Yeah, I think though they'll suit nicely. So that'll give them a fairly potent backline I don't know who their full back will be but unless they want well, he could play there because they'll have Bassett Watson Do you either deong or goppers depending on droppers health fecky toa so pewaga and then either
00:02:54
Speaker
Velikot or, or, um, Robson, if he, if he gets healthy for their backline. So I assume that'll be their first choice backline at least. So not terrible. Yeah, not bad. Not bad at all. Uh, so that was, that was a good one. Um, I'm glad to see him playing. I thought he was very underrated and not used enough. I know Simon Hanley pretty much had a lock on full backup there, but I felt like he could have got a little bit more run too. So good for him. He'll, he'll, uh, they'll, that's a, that's a steal for the wasp. Big time.
00:03:24
Speaker
It is. I mean, and it's expected that Newcastle are going to lose players. Right. Yeah, that's you know, there's there's there's worse places he could have ended up. Yeah. Yeah. Place with Lima Superwaga, who will finally have his feet under him, I assume, after a year. I hope so. I mean, he the guy didn't people talk about, oh, he didn't play with this guy or this guy. I'm like, get over it. There's so many players that now there's so many teams that use just as many guys was get out of here.
00:03:54
Speaker
We had a teaser here in the States. We thought Francois Lowe was coming and then it was just a joke. Cruel, impractical joke. It was terrible. I was like, no, that's why. No. Although Bassaro signed his contract. Right. So Jared texted me yesterday that Lowe might be signing with Rooney and replied, fuck off.
00:04:18
Speaker
I mean, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. No, it wasn't. So I mean, it wasn't. I didn't say that because it was outside there. I was just like, come on. There was no way that would be. I mean, because, yeah, after Castro and Lowe on the same team in the U.S., Ben Foden.
00:04:39
Speaker
Yeah. And then, you know, John close probably bump over to six. So that would be that'd be quite a quite a pairing of flankers there for New York. But oh, well, maybe one day. Yeah, I just you know, Rooney, they're going to be it's just you can't have that many.
00:04:58
Speaker
top quality team. I couldn't imagine that that MLR would be OK with that in the overall. I mean, there's I don't know if there's I don't know if there's a cap right now. I mean, I just assume that the guys get to spend the money as they see fit at the moment. Kind of like France. How would they? Yeah. How would they afford? I don't know how they're affording Bastero to begin. Beats me. Loan. So it's not they're not paying for them outright. I don't know. Whatever it is. So yeah, that was that was that was unfortunate tease.

Coaching Changes and Controversies

00:05:27
Speaker
A guy that's not going anywhere, Brody Ritalik, staying in New Zealand. But he's got a sabbatical clause built in, I guess. So he can take basically a year off after the World Cup here if he feels like it. And people are clamoring about it. I'm like, listen, dude, you're going to keep Brody Ritalik. He's not going anywhere else. He's not that old. This will only be his second World Cup, I think. Or maybe his third. So he could potentially stick around for a fourth.
00:05:54
Speaker
It's hard to tell with some of these guys who are like but ugly how exactly He is an ugly ugly man, but it doesn't take away from how good he is No, no, no, no Just an unfortunate mug on him. That's all he's 28 years He's got a little left in the tank. Yeah, he could play for them in the next World Cup Yep, too and then easily and then go get paid
00:06:18
Speaker
Yeah, easily. Easily. For sure. Enjoy his retirement in Europe. Playing for France. Playing in the south of France. Yeah. Yep, absolutely. Yeah. Not a bad lifestyle. No. No. And I think people need to calm down about it. And oh, it could set a certain precedent. I'm like, dude, he's in all black. And he's going to stay in all black. He's not going anywhere else now.
00:06:38
Speaker
Do you really want to complain about him missing the year and I mean Chiefs will probably be pissed about it if anything I miss this year. Yeah. Yeah, he's missed a lot of time this year and Mostly under the instruction of Steve Steve Hanson to make sure he ends up right so, you know is where it is So yeah, everybody chill chill out. It's it's okay. He'll he'll he'll live
00:06:57
Speaker
old transfer news but you know continuously it seems to be popping up lately Patty Jackson and London Irish have lost one for sure and I think maybe a second sponsor because of the signing of Patty Jackson and I don't blame the sponsors I'd be like no we're not agreeing with something like that it's hard to
00:07:20
Speaker
I'm pretty sure you got convicted.
00:07:40
Speaker
Yes, you deserve a little, you know, America, it's different, maybe different here, you know, America's full for a place for second chances. Or third or fifth or whatever. How many how many is this president had? Anyway, but
00:07:56
Speaker
There is still a too soon. Yeah, and I you know He's young. He does young people do stupid things. Yes It's incredibly damaging and I don't want to To belittle the the seriousness of what he did and that I just don't want to get into it I want to talk about just the you was yes, it was dismissed. He rose. He was dismissed Yeah, he paid a penalty and that was a couple years ago when Ulster sacked him
00:08:21
Speaker
And I would like, I think it's, I still think it's too soon. I think the sponsors are right at this point to back out. But I hope this doesn't, I really hope this doesn't, you know, I hope this isn't for the rest of his life thing as far as, you know, oh, you should never play rugby again. I mean,
00:08:44
Speaker
man at some point I get it it's it's wrong and he deserves he just deserves a raft of shit I hope he gets booed and I'll get booed everywhere right for sure Billy treatment I hope he gets that constantly for a couple years yeah and deals with it and and and has to face it
00:09:04
Speaker
No doubt And so I but um, yeah, I I do think he deserves to get the opportunity to play again. Yeah Uh, just maybe just maybe a little too soon. Yeah, um coaching movement roan ogara on his way to rochelle rochelle, uh, so good for him, uh, you know, and I give him them I give him all the credit in the world. This is a guy that could have
00:09:29
Speaker
easily gotten a job with any of the teams, including Munster, who we played for back in Ireland. And I said, nah, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go broaden my horizons. I'm gonna go to New Zealand and, you know, coach with the Crusaders. Now I'm gonna go to France and coach with La Rochelle and just, you know, making, experiencing a lot of things of, you know, that have, you know, good things going on with their club, with these clubs.
00:09:53
Speaker
How do you think he's going to deal with the French culture as it relates to rugby? Oh, I don't know. I mean, he doesn't he seems like a pretty
00:10:05
Speaker
kind of hard ass. Yeah, kind of is. You know, yeah, they don't they don't take training seriously at all. So that'll that'll present a problem for good old Ronan there. Right. But at the same time, he deserves the you know, but that's actually pretty good. So there's I've been kicking this around in my head a little bit where and basically because of yesterday is what you know, I've never really been a sevens coach before.
00:10:33
Speaker
Um, played it enough as fat as I am. Yes. Um, kind of play sevens too. There's a difference between understanding the game and being able to coach it. Yeah. Too. Cause you have to, you're defining things for players. You're, you're saying here's what I want to see. And I was like, you know, I just felt a little out of my element last night.
00:10:51
Speaker
Whereas when I coach 15s, I can dive in and swim around it. But that's the, but I feel that's easy. Right. When I was, when I was, you know, doing the sevens is, uh, you're a little bit out of your element trying to, and I'll, you know, I'll get it as season goes on. I'm not, I'm not concerned about that. Um, but just like, Oh, this is, it's different style.

Coaching Challenges and Announcements

00:11:12
Speaker
It's just weird, different players too. It's good to have like, uh, uh, dipping your feet in.
00:11:19
Speaker
Kind of thing and this for ron ogarra could be him, you know dipping his feet as being a head coach Running an entire program. Yeah, and then and but it's consequence free because it's fucking france and I don't know what the Expectations exact lower shell doesn't have a lot of expectations. They just they just came up second in The in challenge cup. Yeah. So yeah, and are they playing? I don't think they're playing this weekend. But yeah point being
00:11:44
Speaker
It's a really good opportunity for him to get the opportunity to be a head coach. And then he'll have a couple years, and he'll move on and do something with someone else. Right. I think it's awesome signing for La Rochelle. I think he brings loads of quality with him on top of the fact that he's a very smart guy. He was the one directing traffic for Ireland for many, many years to come, or many, many years ago, I should say. Yeah.
00:12:13
Speaker
And that might be in his future, in a couple of years. Yeah. I mean, Andy Farrell's got the job right now. Right. I'm not saying. Yeah. Down the road. He's got plenty of years. I'm not saying like next year. I'm saying. No, he's got plenty of years to possibly fall into that role again. And then we have our alliance coach for the South Africa tour.
00:12:32
Speaker
It is Warren Gatlin. I I have ups and downs about it. I get it. It's there are certain ways to understand how to coach the Lions because you do have so many players and you have so many games and a truncated times time schedule. So if you're used to it and you've been successful, he's had what are considered two successful tours, a good tour to Australia and then, you know, a tour where it was a dead draw to against New Zealand. And that's you know, that's a big one. Right. That's a big one right there.
00:13:01
Speaker
That's it. That's a success. You draw in New Zealand. Yeah success with a with a with a bunch of players that haven't played a lot with each other before. So it was, you know, it's well done. I don't love his style of play. But if it's going to get the job done for the Lions and so be it, the Lions have an obligation to try and play some play some rugby that's going to get results. So I get the people I get people's, you know,
00:13:29
Speaker
you know, disapproval of it. And I can't say I completely disagree with it. Right. But, you know, and it'll be. I mean, he did OK with Wales in the Six Nations. Yes. You know, it's and then they they played a pretty expensive style of play. They're not not quite the Warren ball that of yesteryear. Yeah. So, you know, I don't I'm not as down on it or I shouldn't say down. I'm not I'm not neutral on it. I'm for it.
00:13:58
Speaker
OK, fair enough. I think he deserves it. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you win the Grand Slam. He's earned it. Right. And in those conditions where you're playing against England and Ireland and the way they are right now. Yes. Wales going in. I don't think I don't think many people picked them to win it, let alone Grand Slam. No, I did. That's for sure.
00:14:18
Speaker
So no one else matters. So good on him. And then something that just came across my Twitter feed today, actually not that long ago, John Mitchell has been extended by England as their defense coach, which could open up the door to him being the successor to Eddie Jones afterwards. Obviously, there's a ton of speculation over who's going to take over that job after he leaves. That would definitely be a dark horse.
00:14:48
Speaker
where that to happen I'd say there's a lot of other people somebody said Andy Farrell and I was like wait a minute he has a job already he's not leaving that job you know and I know that there's a big difference between jumping ship from a super rugby team to an international team as opposed to going from one international team to the other so yeah
00:15:06
Speaker
I don't think he's going anywhere. But yeah, so John Mitchell potentially and he didn't I mean, you know, speaking from our experience as him as the US coach, he did some good things. He did. You know, I was a little upset that he had that he left when he did and didn't see it out. But, you know, we ended up getting Gary Gold, who's actually been a very good coach on top of since then. So I can't say that we ended up with, you know, a bag of shit.
00:15:34
Speaker
Right. You know, certainly better than some of the ones we've had in the past. A lot better than, oh my God. Tolkien. I was waiting for somebody to say it. I'll say it. You fucking nod, Tolkien. So yeah, it looks like John Mitchell could be the dark horse in the England coach race for post World Cup here.
00:15:56
Speaker
We should we shall see I mean he did he did some I mean gustard kind of laid the defensive thing down But really Mitchell has definitely brought a little something extra to that defense Although Scotland seemed to find a way to solve it for 40 minutes or so. Yeah a little bit to be fair So yeah, we'll see how that plays out
00:16:18
Speaker
All right.

Game Recaps and Player Performances

00:16:20
Speaker
The penultimate round of super rugby. Um, it was, there was some good games and there was some kind of shite games. Not gonna lie, but that's how he does. Um, so can the Bulls figure out how to either win or lose at some point? Cause this is what their second draw in a row now. And I think they might have another draw on their cards. Just two. Okay. So they got, but they got two in a row.
00:16:45
Speaker
the highlanders. Oh, the highlanders have three. Oh, yeah. Yeah. They have one plus the plus the non played game. Oh, that was that. Right. Yeah. Yeah. They have one other one plus the non played game. Yeah. I don't remember who they type, but yeah. Oh, nope. Lost it. Had it lost it. Nope. Nope.
00:17:07
Speaker
So yeah, Howlanders and Bulls, Howlanders come off the buy. It was a good match. There's no denying that. It was a pretty darn good match. Drawn 24-24.
00:17:21
Speaker
Josh Mackay finds the line twice, I believe once was off a Aaron Smith box kick that I don't know, I think it was Kudzia, JB Kudzia that just missed it. It was on his fingertips. And he's like, oh no. And he continued to knock it back the other way.
00:17:40
Speaker
Mikayo was already on his horse and just picked it up and put it down. I was like, well done. Okay. Well, well done. Um, and then there was a, there was a sloppy non non fielded kick on the highlanders end that Naholo just kind of watched. And, um, Rosso was able to grab it and scoot over. So yeah, that was a, so people were having issues with kicks, which is weird because this is an indoor stadium. So there's no wind. This should be a fairly straightforward thing to figure out.
00:18:10
Speaker
Just saying. Just saying.
00:18:13
Speaker
But yeah, Nahal had two in his last game at Forsyth Bar before he goes to England. Obviously, he'll go to the World Cup. I would say he's going to go to the World Cup before that, but before he goes to England. So that was nice of him. I have to say there's a pretty good... Liam Squire returned in this game. That's right. I forgot about that because we talked about it last week when we looked at the lineups. Liam Squire returned to this game. Not a bad shift. 47 minutes, I think he played. So first game back.
00:18:43
Speaker
But I will say you must have a decent back row if you can keep Shannon Frizzell on the bench And he's on the bench. I think he's on the bench again this week. I think I saw the hounders line up earlier. We'll talk about later Yeah, Frizzell still on the bench if you can keep Shannon Frizzell on the bench who people were touting as the all-black possible six for the World Cup
00:19:02
Speaker
You know, he's probably not bad. I mean, you got a good back row. That's for sure. Right. James Lynch, which is an underrated guy. But, you know, good on him. Good on him. And, you know, again, must be a fairly impressive back line for that to happen. So, yeah, the hollow gets over. Both teams had a shot. Mackay had two. Both teams had a shot to get the win with ball in hand, but neither one could figure out how to
00:19:25
Speaker
I kept seeing guys like kick. I'm like, no, no, no, it's red clock, dummy. Don't kick. Don't kick unless you're freaking in the lead. What is wrong with you? Anyway, so they're, I think eventually Aaron Smith forward pass and ended the whole ordeal.
00:19:43
Speaker
pretty good game but 24-24 and Bulls can finally leave New Zealand and be like alright enough of these draw enough of this draw crap maybe we can go win a game they're gonna need to I think we'll look at that yeah we'll get to that pick them time but yeah so decent game 24-24 howling there's in Bulls Reds and Blues well this is the Blues let down you were waiting for probably yeah I mean it's coming eventually
00:20:10
Speaker
Yeah, um, I will say this Uh augustine pulu might actually be their answer at halfback. You look pretty good this this game that you know, I He has his moments and then
00:20:25
Speaker
Well, this is one of his moments. He had two. He gets denied a third. It's one of those flashes and you're like, OK, good. They have, you know, this is when I was following them last year. And I was like, OK, Ruru, fuck Ruru. I confused the fuck out of me at first. Which one's which? Yeah.
00:20:43
Speaker
Yeah, and there is another who could do this and then no he really now he can't there no he can't there Oh, yes, he can. No, it's it's like flashes. It's like if he could just do that if he could be consistent like that instead, it's like Yeah, he has his shit games and then resolve and he does something. He does really well. Yeah, so I you know I So they may have found their answer at halfback, but we'll see I've said that myself before Yeah, he was denied a hat trick just by a fingernail because he
00:21:13
Speaker
He was tackled. He got up and they said he was held so he would have had to release and he just didn't release by like a fingertip. Just had he been able to get some air between his hands and the ball, he would have been fine. And they also said, well, you know, if he's if he's released that, then he's rolling forward. He's actually rolling it forward. I was like, well, fair enough. So it's one of the other and neither one of them is good.
00:21:36
Speaker
Neither one means that he scored, so be it. And that would actually play a huge role, obviously, because Blues end up losing by two with a last. I think Hagerty hit the conversion on the second Higginbotham try for in the 77, 78 minutes, something like that. Higginbotham, first forward in Super Rugby to score 40 tries and ends up getting 41.
00:22:01
Speaker
Jock Campbell and Carrevi both with ludicrous offloads to set up Higginbotham. Just the old out the back door chicken wing offloads. They both, I mean, Carrevi does them in his sleep, but Jock Campbell, good for him. The Blues have someone else who does that in his sleep, but he has the plan. Yeah, he's been a little banged up. Nando actually looked really good, ends up setting Pulu up for one of his tries, so that was nice.
00:22:25
Speaker
But yeah, it's good on the Reds for at least rockin' up. They're out, so. But I think they just sunk the Blues ship as well, so. Yeah, that's kind of a fun thing to do sometimes. Right, like, okay, we're fucked, fuck them. So yeah, Blues go down to the Reds, 29, 28 for the Reds, and that is the last game at home for the Reds, so they are out there, be on the road next week.
00:22:52
Speaker
possibly Samu Kurevi's last game. Scott Higginbotham, it's his last game. So that's his last game in the Reds uniform and he's going to Japan. Kurevi possibly could be on his way and they were talking, looking at the emotion on his face, both pretty match and after match. Might be on his way out of Suncorp. Maybe not out of Australia, but I think he's on his way out of Suncorp. So keep an eye on what happens with him in the next couple of weeks as the season comes so close here.
00:23:22
Speaker
Oh boy. This. I mean, I have one note.
00:23:30
Speaker
total embarrassment. I mean, I don't know, absolute slaughter for for Crusaders, you know, just, you know, light lighting it up. Everything they did worked. Yeah, everything they did worked. This was so my thoughts on this were the typical Crusaders match is even in a game like this, where their opponents, I mean, the rebels shouldn't have been outmatched, but they were. Yeah.
00:23:57
Speaker
But I was expecting it to be close. So I was expecting it to be like within 15 points at half, I should say. So two scores relatively, give or take. And then Crusaders would open it up. And we'll get to a match that was like that in a little bit. But this was just right off the start.
00:24:21
Speaker
They're we're they're scoring. Yeah. Yep. And and then they're scoring and then that they're just a little bit and they score again. Name a player and they and they got involved. Name a player on the Crusaders and they got involved. Right. You know, it's it's so it is sad. I feel like I do feel pretty bad. I feel I mean, the rebels, the rebels, they're not they're not that bad of a club, but they look they look
00:24:47
Speaker
embarrassing well the crusaders uh seriously obviously had you know it was one of those um you for the rebels you kind of feel bad but you look at the crusaders and and it's not they're not just playing the crusaders there they're playing the crusaders with their coaches behind the crusaders with their whips at their backs saying fuck you guys for last week
00:25:08
Speaker
Oh, yeah, they show up because they got rocked the week before. Yeah. Yeah. The Chiefs show up and and do your fucking jobs from the start to the finish. It's not none of this. None of this. Oh, we're going to figure out how to coast home.
00:25:25
Speaker
Right how to how to we're not gonna yeah, we're not gonna probe for where their weaknesses are We think their weaknesses are here here and here done, and then that's it and I mean outside was working quite well And we had a hat trick so right there you go Yeah
00:25:42
Speaker
Reese with that little chip in case Case in point about everything was working right that was a miss kick and it still got it went off like it still worked I was like what I was like that was a miss kick and you still found a way to get a hold of it and got it over the line I was like yikes, you know things are working when that was stuff like that what happens, you know, it's just like okay. Well can't stop that We can't
00:26:10
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, first off that, that first, this first ever East try, the kick from, from Malonga. Um,
00:26:17
Speaker
How awesome, I loved it, because you see it even before the play, they're set up and Reese is in tight. He's almost at the posts. Right. And they set up, and he kind of sneaky, starts taking steps, starts taking steps. Starts walking those way over to the sideline. He's at the try line. And, and, um, Hewlett Petty doesn't even see him. He just had ignored him completely. Yeah, he was, he didn't know where, he didn't know somebody was not by him, so he's like, oh no, something just happened. Something just went awry.
00:26:45
Speaker
And then we have to talk about Kieran Reed. He's kind of good.
00:26:49
Speaker
Well, he's kind of good. He's kind of really good in that knock. Oh, God. That's right. I completely forgot about that. That's right. So that was a gift. So, you know, I remember a long time, long time ago when I was just just a puppy as it relates to rugby talking about watching, you know, we and we didn't get to this was back in the early 2000s and
00:27:16
Speaker
We barely got to watch any rugby. This is even before Satanta. This was like you had to figure out it. Yeah, pirated feeds out the wazoo. Right. Even to try. And you didn't get to see it in replay, so you barely got to see it. And I was talking to one of my friends and I'm like,
00:27:32
Speaker
one of my teammates and saying, have you ever watched professional rugby? And he's like, when I can, I'm like, yeah, when I can too. But if you notice, like they make the same mistakes we do. And he was like, and I'm like, don't, no, no, no, I don't want to hear it. Like they make the same mistakes we do. They just do with the things they do. Well, they do a lot better than us. That's the, but still the mistakes they make. Um,
00:27:51
Speaker
I would love to just show that Kieran Reed clip to every young rugby player and every developing rugby player and say, this is the fucking captain of the All Blacks right here. Who is running completely in the open and just pukes the ball.
00:28:14
Speaker
Without even being challenged. Yeah, and it just it happens. It's okay. It's not don't beat yourself up Not only don't beat yourself up, but everybody fucking does it. Yeah, we've all been there There's a lot of the guys that have screwed tries up like that. It's it's a long list It's not a short one, but it doesn't even matter if you screw up the truck screw up the try just I've seen people just running in the open field Oops there goes the ball. I forgot to bring that with me
00:28:41
Speaker
so um it happens everyone does it don't beat yourself up over it it does yeah just just move on yeah um so the crusaders moved on after that uh right this is ryan karate's last game uh was it 150 for him too as well 150 yeah yeah very very nice thing for him the the guide of honor was
00:29:03
Speaker
all boys from his old school. And then the thing at the end, they had a haka that was done by his old club, members of his old club. So.
00:29:14
Speaker
I thought that was brilliant by the Crusaders to set up for Karate. And then he caps off the game by getting one over the line. And putting it through. Oh, it's right. He kicked it. I forgot. Yes. None of this, who was it last week? Torwell. None of this James Torwell. Back to forward. Back to forward discrepancy there. Most backs at least kind of know how to kick it. And it was under the posts, so pretty much. Not a touch line. But yeah, so that was great.
00:29:45
Speaker
66 to nothing is the final score crusaders and rebels side note crusaders have We'll talk about this a little bit Crusaders have decided they're keeping the name. They're gonna change the badge and You know and I think that's the right thing for for now cuz you know everybody the name Crusaders is synonymous with rugby in that area. It's not synonymous with anything else but
00:30:09
Speaker
they're trying to be sensitive to obviously recent happenings down there. And the pundits reactions is just so stupid, like, oh, well, why don't you get rid of this thing and this thing and this thing if you're going to do that? Listen, there's nobody that's saying you have to change the chief's name or either chief. You know, nobody's saying you have to change the Highlanders name or the Saracens name. They're just trying to be sensitive to the area, to their people and to the current events that have happened there. That's all right. You can't
00:30:39
Speaker
freaking see that, then you need to freaking have another cup of coffee and wake the hell up. Because there's, there's implications to the name Crusaders with the, the night, the crawl, like all that shit. Like, absolutely.
00:30:51
Speaker
yeah and especially with the recent events like that's serious there's there's meaning behind it Saracens is different Chiefs is different and especially Chiefs I feel is is respectful to the the natives and at least they don't do the silly things that we do over here exactly so it's not it's not quite the same as it is here
00:31:14
Speaker
But yeah, like I think this is the right move And of course pundits are gonna that's what they're paid. They're paid to be assholes. They're paid to be dumb, right? Why don't we do this? Well, fuck you. That's not what we're talking. That's not the point dummy, right? So good on the Crusaders, which they said something almost immediately afterwards that they were gonna look into it So this is them following up on that. So they'll have they'll have the same name for a year and if they decide they want to change it That's their prerogative and
00:31:41
Speaker
You know who can do anything about that? Nobody. So chill out guys. Just let them do as they see fit. This is their decision. They're trying to look after people in their area because, let's be real, the fans are the ones that drive the club on. Yeah, you can get players. They come and go, but the fans have to be there. So in order to have fans, you need to be sensitive to certain things.
00:32:01
Speaker
Right. And it's, you know, you're representing a whole, you know, a whole city, a whole region, whole region. Yeah. And that matters. You know, you're not just representing the certain parts of that. And, you know, the comfortable white people who don't really give a fuck. They're representing everybody. Everybody. That's the right thing to do. I agree.
00:32:22
Speaker
Well, Wartos let themselves down big time. Whether or not they still have a shot to get into this thing, I don't know. We'll figure it out later and pick them, but I'm not sure they have much of one. And they had a real let down in this game for, you know, for what was on the line for them.
00:32:38
Speaker
You know, Brumby's, yeah, they could have clinched the Aussie conference and put themselves right into the playoff no matter what. They'll have a home game, but still, Wartas, you're hanging on by a thread. You've got to rock up a little better than they did. A little better than that. You know, just a little bit better. And it took them so long to get going. Brumby's were off for a minute, one just about, and they were on fire. And Wartas, God, I don't know, when their first try gets scored? Like, frickin' second half, probably?
00:33:06
Speaker
48 minutes, Phipps scored 38 minutes. Yeah, worldy of a dummy by Phipps. Big old dummy. I mean, granted, he's not one you think is going to take off. So you see him go to move the ball. You assume it's getting pressed. Plus, it was on a prop, too, I think.
00:33:21
Speaker
That's a good possibility. So it's like you get a prop moving in one direction. Inertia. Yeah, it takes a lot to stop and move back the other way. I know. Yeah. Yep. That happens. So as soon as you took that one step out, Phipps is gone right there. Yep. Andrew Muirhead looked good in his first game back, muscled his way over for a try after bumping off, I think it was Foley, and then took two guys with him to get over the line. Yeah. Oh, wait. I think that was the opener or the second one, whatever it was.
00:33:51
Speaker
Oh, the only one I have is the Foley Grubber to Adam Ashley Cooper. Oh, that's the gray wolf. Yeah. Yeah. He looked good. Glad to see that. What was that? He's not showing up on the track. Oh, there it is. Yeah. Yeah. It's there. I promise it's there. I saw it. So my one major note from this game. See. And I discussed it with you over the weekend too. Or maybe earlier. Curly Beale. See. Not an international 15. OK.
00:34:20
Speaker
um he's just not fast enough and i realized well he got that we know he got his he has knee banged up a little bit but oh yeah before then that's true he also was that but even before then uh when he's he's back that he he's good enough to be in the right spot where he needs to be but
00:34:38
Speaker
You look at an international 50 or any any 15 really even even lower level Than international as I mean somebody like Alex good isn't good enough to be an international and he can do this Beals not fast enough to beat his first the first man on him on a kick
00:34:55
Speaker
he's just not he was he was he couldn't get outside his first man um even when it was a center and I'm sorry and I realize he's he's really a center but which center was that Simone or current Ronnie uh I don't remember one of the two one of either one of the two um
00:35:11
Speaker
Yeah, he wasn't beating either 12 or 13. Both. Yes. The answer is yes. Where one of them was on him and he's trying to get around the outside and just doesn't have the speed where he had the angle just didn't have the speed to get there. And that's something you need from a 15 is you need to be able to beat the first man and open things up a little bit in the kick return. And that's not a bill doesn't have it.
00:35:32
Speaker
Well, I mean, somebody that we know does have it on the other side is Tom Banks. So although he's he kind of gets a little bit of the tunnel vision, but you know, he's he's plenty. He's plenty quick. Right. But you need you need the you need a little bit of wheels to
00:35:47
Speaker
or the elusiveness and we know Bill doesn't have that. So so you need one or the other and he doesn't he doesn't have he's got he doesn't just it's not that quality, not international quality, certainly not what Australia will need to compete at the World Cup. Yeah, yeah, yeah. True. True that. So we're does take care. We're does go down. Sorry. 2435 Brumby's clinch the Aussie conference. They are going to host a game at at home and in Australia. So good on them. I
00:36:17
Speaker
Don't know who's going there yet, but that's still to be determined, but we'll find out. Basically for me, all it comes down to is if you can stop the Brumbies pack, then you might be okay.

Critiques and Rankings

00:36:30
Speaker
Lions and hurricanes. Ooh This this got a little dicey. See this was the game that I was talking I was referencing earlier about the crusaders where The the hurricanes it was I mean it's tied ten ten and a half. Yes, and then we saw hurricanes opened up again We'll pass right. They scored 41 minutes 48 minutes. Yeah now quick quick, right And then yeah, the Lions came back scored again at 59 minutes, but boom right after that Cole's right back, right? Cole's puts it on over six minutes later. Yeah
00:37:00
Speaker
So one note to start this game, Bodhi and Houston both dropped somewhat late. Peter Umaraga Jensen steps in. Yes, he is related to who you think he is. And Marshall steps in. And Marshall didn't do terrible.
00:37:18
Speaker
He had enough talent around him and he knew to use it instead of trying and going himself, which was great. Jordy Barrett was unbelievable in this game. None at all. Again, unbelievable in this game. Artie Sevilla off the bench. Unbelievable. Dane Coles again. And they were talking about it on the broadcast and we'll get into the broadcasters in a minute. We'll talk about it on the broadcast. You know, this might be the hurricane strategy is just to keep it close and then bring on their finishers. Well, Artie and Dane Coles on the bench. I'd say they
00:37:45
Speaker
It worked quite well because they brought them on both fairly early. I think it already came off the bench almost immediately after halftime. And then Coles was on shortly after that. And so, yeah, they both finished the game strong. And if you didn't know this already, not Alan Mapa is kind of good. He's all right. He should be an all black. And this conversation about whether or not he should be, he needs to be an all black. If he's not an all black, then I quit. Speaking of. Say what? Ben Lamb.
00:38:12
Speaker
he's he's got good and bad because he had an error in this game he did and it and hammerhead needs to either one let his fullback take it or two take it himself not tap it and let the opposing player grab it for a try but he kind of just did it right back to them when marv nori missed the kickoff allah george cruz right it was very familiar i was like yeah that looked familiar ben lamb was just like wait
00:38:37
Speaker
Nobody in front of me? All right, cool. I guess this works. Try. He's like, did I do something illegal or no? At least the Saracens made the exit or work for their try even after that. It wasn't just like walking in after they missed the kickoff. I'll give Saris that.
00:38:55
Speaker
Um, but yeah, ben lamb just i'll just take this and walk right in. Yeah, do do do um wasn't I have to say I wasn't a huge fan of yako piper in this game He this was not his best match very inconsistent with calls very inconsistent with calls like Almost picture the same picture two different times in different calls both times in many instances Not just one many instances like that's not a good thing So if you're gonna go to the world cup, you have to be better than that
00:39:25
Speaker
Right and that uh, especially the uh, la mapi try not try. Yeah Um, which you look at it on replay and you're like, wait, how did anybody think that that was I mean, he was looking right at it the whole time, right? I was like, okay. Yeah, the tj was going at it and whatever but
00:39:41
Speaker
It's like he was clearly short when he put it down first and then rolled it forward. It's like, right? So why did you not see that? How did you mess that up? Right? So yeah. Um, they were getting ready. I mean, he was even like, they're getting ready to take the kick, take the conversion. Yeah. Finally got a check, check from the, from the TMI. Yeah. The whole lines team's like, what the fuck? And he's like, what do you, what the fuck? What the fuck? There's something wrong with that. And then, oh wait, no, there's a lot wrong with that. I might've messed that up.
00:40:08
Speaker
Uh, you dope. Um, Dan Coles' work rate was awesome in this game and including on his try. So if you didn't notice it and got kids at home, if you're, if you want to know how to become an elite level player, watch the work, work rate on his tribe because
00:40:26
Speaker
He offloads it, gets tackled, gets back to his feet, and gets the offload back to get over the line. And he was tackled into touch, right? Yes, he was. It wasn't just tackled, he was shunted away. He was shunted way into touch, and then he got to his feet, into field of play, and was like, yep, yep, ball, ball, ball.
00:40:43
Speaker
and was able to get over the line. So kids at home, look at Dan Coles for your work rate. He's a mean man right now. He is angry about being out for as long as he has been. I mean, look back over the last two years of his season, at least all the way back to the last Super Rugby at the very least.
00:41:01
Speaker
Missed all the whole season just about I think he played one game and then you know What goes on the all blacks tour plays a couple of games gets hurt there, right? You know, he's missed a good chunk of this one here either per instruction of Steve Hanson or because of the medical staff either way So he's definitely frustrated So yeah, good on dinkles for just rocking up and being and being a man
00:41:23
Speaker
And if he's if he's if he's in this for the, you know, if this is one of those like almost like a Gronk thing where you shut him down late in the season for the and then he's back into the playoffs. Yeah, like something like that. If it's something like that. I mean, and he's back and he's he's fit to go for the for the postseason. Oh, I'm so World Cup. I'm excited. I'm excited as a hurricanes fan. I'm very excited.
00:41:48
Speaker
I can see that. We'll talk about I want to talk about hookers in a second. So I did have one thing and I have to say Lions commentators.
00:42:07
Speaker
And the two times that they've been getting their heads kicked in, at least in record at home, they were getting smashed by the Rebels. They ended up coming back and winning that game. And in this game, and they have not been nice either time the Lions are getting their heads kicked in. They're calling other teams dirty or other teams chippy or.
00:42:24
Speaker
you know, saying that there's a lot of drawing going on. I'm like, I don't know if you've ever been on a rugby pitch. There's as much going back and forth almost all the time. And even, I think Marvin Ori almost got himself another 10 meters for opening his face too much. So, Lions commentators, whoever the hell you are, I don't remember which one you are. But either way, like, listen, I know you're from South Africa and you've been calling this team the whole year. Dial it down a notch. This is not the team from the last three years. This team is not as good.
00:42:53
Speaker
deal with it. It's not because the hurricanes are yappy. I know TJ is yappy. That's not a new thing. Really? Talk about guys that don't know how to do it all the time. That's a scrum half. Yeah, it's usually a scrum half. Anyway, comes with a job. So yeah, that happens. So I did want to have a quick conversation about international hookers and all that stuff. I had this in my head and I'd say
00:43:22
Speaker
In terms of the four that come to mind off the top of my head are coals, janks, marks, and best. Give me them in order.
00:43:40
Speaker
Um, all right. Fuck you. I gave you the four best in the world. Right. So to be fair. OK, so we're talking all things being equal. Healthy. Yeah. Well, everything healthy as healthy playing and playing in, you know, inform Kohl's number one easily. Yeah. And that's no disrespect to the other guys. It's just nope. Nope. There's no there's no question. Agreed. Then bestie. Yeah.
00:44:07
Speaker
Yeah. Just because he brings so much more than just his play on the field. Fair point. You know, the thing is, Cole's is just transcendent. He doesn't need to bring the leadership. He's just he's going to do something awesome every year. He's another class. And bestie, even if he's not, you know, even if he's not having his best game, even if he's
00:44:34
Speaker
you know, a little banged up here there. He still brings something and he is a
00:44:43
Speaker
I don't know, not quite a facilitator, but he just makes the he makes the people around him better. Yeah, is really what it is. That's that's probably true. You know, even when he's not at his best, he's still elevating everyone else and getting them to up their game, even if, you know, you know, when he comes out of the game, it's different. You can tell the energy is different.
00:45:05
Speaker
Yes, um, no lie on that one And then i'm gonna i'm gonna go jinxy because for me it's the same thing. Um He missed a couple throws and uh, was it the glosster match? Yes, um But he picked himself up figure it out. He figures it out He'll get it sorted out and and he still does great things in the loose. He he's he he can have
00:45:29
Speaker
Five matches and play five different ways Wow Like be like, oh wow. He was amazing in the loose. Mm-hmm as a support. Oh and this this time he was the guy who started off the He had had a line break and then popped it off for the gap for the try did that did a bunch? Yeah, you know try assist So put other guys in good positions
00:45:50
Speaker
This game, he just made tackle after tackle. He has so many, his versatility. It's like a jack of all trades, master of none kind of situation for Jinx. There's no one thing he does better than any other hooker, but for all the tools, everything you need from a front row player, everything you could ever expect from one, he'll give you that. Absolutely.
00:46:13
Speaker
and then nothing and that's no disrespect to marks yeah who is just uh fantastic in the loose oh oh yeah oh yeah absolutely i'm just not sure he's he has the the the depth of his game that the other three have and that's no
00:46:28
Speaker
And again, like we talked about last week, we're talking about millimeters. We're talking about very, very minute things. We're talking about high fucking standards here. Yes. All these other guys are in the 90s across the board. He might be like 89 across the board. Yeah, which is still pretty bloody good. You're right fucking there. But he's also only 24.
00:46:48
Speaker
Yes, I know. Well, and so scary thought number five in the world might be Cody Taylor. Which is which is terrifying to think for those that are about to play New Zealand. Yeah. Godspeed to you. So yeah, I wouldn't argue with you with Coles at one. I would put Jinx at two, Rory at three, Rory actually at four and Marx at three. Okay. I think Rory's leadership is definitely his
00:47:14
Speaker
biggest quality by far. I don't think his ability in the loose nearly matches any of the other three. So that to me just knocks him down to the four. But again, top four. Not terrible. Okay, so I digress. Or we digress. Whatever it is. Lions and Hurricanes. Hurricanes win 37-17. Somebody's gonna have to play in Wellington in the quarterfinal because Hurricanes are gonna host one of the quarterfinals as the top wildcard team.
00:47:45
Speaker
Stormers and Sunwolves. This wasn't much entertainment, although I will give the Sunwolves credit, they rocked up a little bit better in this game at least. Stormers started a couple of new guys, Craig Berry, Van der Merwe, so good on that. Well, Berry's not new, but he doesn't play very often either, so I'll give him that. Yeah, but Van der Merwe was thrown into the lineup as well, just to, I think Stormers are worried about next week and all that good stuff.
00:48:12
Speaker
uh so yeah uh Masaueira was definitely the the lone standout for the Sun Wolves as he has been for quite a bit of the season to be honest you know if there's if there's one guy that you probably want to put your finger on it's either him or Parker so what what's the deal with Masaueira so if Masaueira I could always switch those um is he uh he's 27 I mean with with the Sun Wolves
00:48:37
Speaker
falling apart next year right what's what's here I don't know I mean does he have international caps I guess it's the first thing yeah to figure out because if he does then I'd say he's kind of locked into one place at least if he doesn't then he's kind of a grabs on that would be in does he have does he have caps for them
00:49:04
Speaker
Hold on. I'm looking at his Wikipedia. So if it's not obvious, probably not. Doesn't look like it. No. OK. Interesting. We'll see how that goes. So he's a? Could be a stormer for somebody to grab later on next year. Anyway, so yeah, he was definitely the one bright spot. It was either Dan Creel or Engelbrecht that took away a ball in the tackle. And then I think Barry or yeah, I think Barry ends up finishing it.
00:49:32
Speaker
wraps him up in the tackle and then just happens to like find his way in onto the ball and he's like, ooh, this I can take this. Okay, bye. And instead of finishing the tackle, he just takes the ball away. It's like, wow. It's like, that's a that's a bad day.
00:49:45
Speaker
When stuff like that starts to happen, it's a bad day for the Sun Wolves and it did and it just, you know, I don't think the Stormers did anything special, but the Sun Wolves certainly didn't do enough to put themselves in this game. Jukko Katsuyo looked pretty good. That's probably the best he's looked most of the year, especially with not sure who's usually their starting eight man out. Certainly has started to fill that role a little bit better for the Stormers, so good on him. We'll see what happens. The Stormers have got a,
00:50:16
Speaker
Plus they've got three guys that they could roll out at 10 and it's kind of a coin toss as to which one they want to do between standard duplicity and And well, I'm so although they do like them said fall back a lot better So we'll see what they rock up with next week when they when they try and get into the playoff here. Yeah
00:50:36
Speaker
Haguares and sharks. This was not pretty for the sharks. Not even a little bit. This was not a good game for them. Simple as that. This was over early. Yes, it was. So if you didn't know, Emiliano Bafelli.
00:50:53
Speaker
He's kind of good, and he looks World Cup ready. He really does. He scoots, he's in the right position at the right time, knows what the trial line is, knows how to finish. So I would be scared if I was going against him as an opposing team. So yeah, look out.
00:51:15
Speaker
It was just not great man. That's all I can tell you it was The shark sharks. Yeah sharks didn't seem to have What was the possession number? Okay, so the possession wasn't bad felt like it felt worse Kidding those sharks had the majority of the possession 49 41
00:51:37
Speaker
Okay. They had a lot of possessions. I got something closer. I found something closer, but yeah. Okay, so there you go. They just couldn't finish it. That's what it came down to in the end. I was like, I don't know. I knew possession was a big thing here. I couldn't remember what it was exactly. But yeah, there you go. So.
00:51:55
Speaker
Sharks couldn't sharks couldn't freaking do a damn thing with the ball that they had, right? Robert Dupree is probably not going to be their fly half for the rest of the season because he didn't perform particularly well. Kerwin Bosch stepped in and they looked like they might have kicked it up just a little bit. He's OK. So, you know, good on him. I think Kerwin Bosch needs to be in a green gold jersey going to going to Japan personally. So, yeah, good on them. And one thing I will note,
00:52:24
Speaker
Diaz Bonilla looks to be somebody that forgets his kicking boots from time to time and maybe that's why you saw Diego mialdi kind of Step in for a good chunk of time because he seems to be the better kicker. Mm-hmm I know they called on Did they call him buffelli or somebody at one point during the match to to do the kicks and I was like yikes Wow, but Diaz Bonilla He hit all their their kicks. So he was their only their only kicker to score
00:52:54
Speaker
Okay. Well, there you go. So that's not a good thing for them. Um, so yeah, uh, how about I just take care of business. The road to the final goes through Argentina. Unless, I mean, apart from those crusaders, right? That's, that's where it's going to probably end up. I don't see them getting, getting knocked off because they're going to play the sun wolves last, I believe. So
00:53:19
Speaker
Easy easy match to walk into on that ones. Yeah, so there you go So that's unfortunate for the rest of the rest of the league that thought they might be able to catch the Sunwells and get And get ahead of them nope. Nope big a little bucket of nope on that one Yeah, so I've always take care of business 34 7 sharks are in desperate need of some help for getting into the playoff here now

Playoff Predictions and Strategies

00:53:47
Speaker
Well, let's get in to pick them. And we'll figure this out right now. Yeah. We'll do that. And then I want to do a quick little glance at our season as a pod. And then we'll get the hell out of here.
00:54:02
Speaker
So we want to look at let's let's first throw the table out there Yeah, that's gonna be the so I don't need I don't need the Crusaders. Obviously. I'll have the overall right here So I can throw it out there. So Crusaders 58. Yep. Don't care Jags 46 next Brumby's 43 next hurricanes 49 next. All right. So now we're at the now we're at the Bulls actually, you know what? Give me what's Jags and Brumby's? Oh
00:54:25
Speaker
Jags at 46 46. Bromby's 43 43. Okay. Cause that's actually relative in terms of who's playing where. Right. Um, Kane's 49. Um, yeah. Kane's a locked in. Right. Um, then we, we dropped down over 10 points. Yeah. It's pretty ridiculous. Right. Right. Bulls at 36. Wow. Okay. Lions 35.
00:54:51
Speaker
Blinds at 35 Stormers 34. Okay Rebels at 34 Just hanging on by the chitty chin chin. Yeah shocks Okay at 33. They're just so that's the color the so just above between the Rebels are the eighth position. You're right. So they're the cutoff. Yeah, that's at 34. So sharks it at 33 Chiefs at 31. Okay
00:55:21
Speaker
Highlanders is still alive. Yup. Highlanders at 31. Ties didn't do the highlanders a lot good. Ties a couple more points there. Ties at 30. Ties at 30. Oh my god. They're still somehow mathematically alive. And then I'm just not sure if they are, but the Blues are at 29.
00:55:41
Speaker
Um Yes, but no I don't think I don't think so they they could technically get to 34 but whether or not somebody else stays at No, they're out because they can they only have five wins. So they're they're out there. They're eliminated. Okay, so they're gonna they'll have tough time So they they even if they got to 34, they only have six. They don't have enough wins. Everyone else has seven
00:56:04
Speaker
Okay. Well, then. Nope. Nope. Big old bucket of nope. Okay. So let's go through pick them and see if we can figure this out, right? Right. All right. Highlanders and Waratahs. Highlanders at, are they at home? Oh, no, wait. They're, they're traveling somewhere for this one. Hold on. I know that.
00:56:28
Speaker
Yeah, it's some it's it's not at Forsyth Bar. Ruby Park Stadium, which I'm not sure where that is. Yeah, that's that's not Forsyth Bar. That's all I know. Yeah, and Ricardo. Okay. Yep. So that's a no. Okay. So they're not they're the home team, but not really not not not in the comfort and comforting finds and confines of Forsyth Bar. Alright, so Highlanders and Wartos. What do you think?
00:56:57
Speaker
I'm going to go with the Highlanders and I am not arguing with you because that is who that was my first instinct. All right. So. How there's get at least a 35, they get to 36.
00:57:12
Speaker
Let's no, I don't think so because that's what that is. The again, the bonus point is not the four tries. It's three tries right difference. It's three tries or more from from the other from your opponent. Yep. So I don't think they're going to. Certainly makes that that bonus point tough there. It does.
00:57:32
Speaker
Okay, so those those that's that right. Todd's become irrelevant slash out. Yep. Okay, rebels and Chiefs. Oh, big one. Big one. This is huge. The rebels have had enough opportunities to to maintain their status. Yeah. And the Chiefs had that that match against the Crusaders, which I'm not sure how much that who knows if that's what they're gonna do going forward. Right. But I think they've sorted out
00:58:02
Speaker
They're 10. I do too. Which I think is a major part of why they struggled for most of the year. Yeah. Love Marty McKenzie but not 10. Right. Not a good 10 at least. So I'm going to go with the chefs.
00:58:15
Speaker
Yeah, rock on your boys. Yeah, okay. I'll back them on this one. Back them on that one. Hey, this is the first time that your team's been relevant this long. I know, it's great. Yes, when I first looked at this, I said Chiefs will win this match. I looked at it on, I think it was on Monday, and yeah, I said this will be the Chiefs win. And I think the winner of this,
00:58:39
Speaker
Is guaranteed a spot that's just because of the matchups because right because the stormers play the sharks. Yeah, so You know the the Chiefs by getting by getting four points gets a 35 now That that automatically puts them ahead of either the the both the stormers and the sharks Can't so can can Can the rebels keep it close enough for a bonus point?
00:59:10
Speaker
Oh, that's a good question. I will give the Rebels a bonus point. Yes. So I'll give them 35. Yikes. Let's play this out to its extreme. Jaguar Sunwells, we know the result of this is probably going to be the Jaguar, so we're just going to go ahead and pencil that in and put them into the two spot.
00:59:30
Speaker
Yeah, even if they even if they were to arrest a couple guys, I don't see this almost enough so we'll give the Jaguars a nice 50 and call it a day although they might they might get 51 Hurricanes and blues
00:59:47
Speaker
Yeah, blues are out. Hurricanes can't go anywhere. So this might be a James Marshall and Richard Judd kind of match. You're going to learn some names here for the Hurricanes. This is going to be a nightmare for me to enter into the database, too. It always is. The last weekend of the premiership was just an absolute shit show for me. I entered like 10. Dude, I haven't entered this many names into the database since the beginning of the season. Right. Ridiculous.
01:00:13
Speaker
ridiculous. I mean, they're at hurricanes are at home, so I'm gonna back my guys. And I'm gonna go blues to try to catch up to you a little bit. Do what you can. Do what you can here. All right.
01:00:30
Speaker
Well Brumby's could go somewhere, but they'll already know the result. Yeah, so that might make um Their head coach pivot a little bit on on his coaching on his decisions here. I don't think it would even take that because fuck jaguar is first the sunwolves. I mean come on he's I would if i'm here if i'm
01:00:53
Speaker
Yeah, if i'm if i'm coaching the rumbies i'm assuming that uh That that the haguares walk away with that, right? And it's just out of the two spots out of reach and i'm just preparing to play my shags Yeah, yeah dan michellar might be putting out a week line up even out even before the the result comes in even with that said brombies Okay Um
01:01:19
Speaker
Well, in honor of James, I will not pick the Brumbies or the Reds, because I know he dislikes Brad Thorne a ton. And I know people that love Brad Thorne. So it's a toss up. All right. This could be an interesting one. Stormers and Sharks. This to me, this is when and you're in. I believe so. I believe I don't think there's any other way around it. Yeah, I believe you're right.
01:01:45
Speaker
Stormers and sharks. Stormers are the home team. They'll be rocking there. They're Thor. There's Thor jerseys here. So I guess the sharks are going to be rocking their cap, right? No. Or they're Black Panther. Black Panther. The sharks have been fading recently. So I'm going to let them continue their slide and go with the stormers. Going with the stormers.
01:02:16
Speaker
Um, I think Dafria learned his lesson and is not going to play his kid at 10. So I'm going to, I'm going to go with the sharks, even though I'm not a hundred percent comfortable with that and, or I really don't like that, but that's just how, that's just what that's just. Well, this is good. Cause now, I mean, we can, we can figure out what's, uh, you know, which, what happens either way. Um, okay. So we're either looking at 37 for.
01:02:47
Speaker
the sharks, and I doubt either one gets a bonus point, 38 for the Stormers. So that's an either or on that one. And then Bulls Lions. Bulls went in there and they'll be on the road. They know that. I don't think they can be eliminated. They could be eliminated, I suppose, but I doubt it.
01:03:11
Speaker
They could. No, they can't. OK, so they're in somehow. Because of the opponents. They're in somehow, at least. Right. So yeah, that's why I'm saying both of these guys are in, no matter what. I think you might be right. So we'll see.
01:03:23
Speaker
We'll see, yeah, actually we'll see. I think, let's put it this way. I'm not sure, I'd rather, I think I'd rather go to Australia than to Wellington. That's, I'd rather go to Brisbane than to Wellington. Let's put it that way. So is this a, oh, you almost benefit from losing this match. Yeah, do you want to tank this match?
01:03:46
Speaker
Dang it. Seriously. It's gonna be like that South Park where they played baseball over the summer and they tried to lose. No, no, no. Please have this try. I insist.
01:04:04
Speaker
Oh, boy. All right. Who sucks just a little bit less? Maybe that's what it comes down to. I'm going to go with the Bulls take this one. OK. Yeah, that was my instinct, too.
01:04:17
Speaker
Oh, man. Okay, so bold. You can have the hurricanes, please. Yeah. Look, I'll go with the Brumbies. I'll live, I swear. Okay, so that puts the bulls in five if that goes that way. Right. Then comes the fun part. So only one of the Stormers and Sharks can make it so that the
01:04:44
Speaker
top for the storm resist well 38 39 yeah sharks 37 38 yeah but only one of them can make it yeah like I said I wasn't feeling really good about my sharks pick so we let's just leave them there because that that gives us the that their their potential top points yeah so we know I
01:05:07
Speaker
Um, well then it's down to, so the war toss will be out. Doesn't matter. Right. Um, so then it's down to the lions, whether or not to get a bonus point, which they may. So we actually, actually, I wouldn't doubt that. I bet you they'd be able to get a bonus point against the bulls here. So we'll give them 36 Rebels. Chiefs and Highlanders all on 35.
01:05:36
Speaker
And we're looking at, so it's at least bulls, lions, either sharks or stormers. So that's three. So this is down to one fricking spot. Now, I will say this, the advantage to the chiefs is they're going to know the point differential they need.
01:05:57
Speaker
and they're playing a team, one of the teams that they're gonna be tied with probably. So that is the advantage to them. They have a massive advantage to make up, but the Rebels don't look a whole lot better. Rebels are on minus 21, the Chiefs are on minus 65. So that the Chiefs decide to just jet set it and go.
01:06:15
Speaker
This could get ugly. Yeah, and they could and they could sneak ahead of the rebels now That'll entirely depend on what the what the highlanders do if the highlanders when they have a positive point differential already I believe they will be in Actually, no because if they go on wins right how it is only have six wins who that hurts That really hurts. Okay, so we're thinking so at this point we're thinking
01:06:44
Speaker
Whoever has 37 or 38, so it will be Stormers or Sharks. Four teams there for three spots? We have three teams there for one spot. Oh, shit. The 35s? Yeah. Yeah. So this will be, yeah, 37, 38. All right. And then it will be, yeah.
01:07:08
Speaker
Bulls on whatever the hell they'll be on one two three. Yeah. Well, who do so who are you looking at there? What are the teams? So Bulls are five Right the winner of the stormers and sharks will likely be six right the Lions will be seven Wasn't likely because I think they'll get a bonus point out their match probably If not, then they I believe they have a decent
01:07:30
Speaker
35 negative 50s. They have eight wins. So they're okay. So they're good. They're good. They're good in that aspect because I believe the wins of the tiebreaker maybe maybe the Point differential out flip. Yeah, but at that point they have eight wins Stormers and rebels have seven each. Yep. So Okay. Yeah. So yeah, there you go. So that leaves rebels Chiefs Highlanders
01:07:54
Speaker
If the Highlanders win, I think they're in. But depends on whether or not the tiebreaker. Again, it depends on the tie. I don't know what the tiebreaker is. It's that six wins. If the wins are the first tiebreaker, they only have five wins. Right. So everyone above them has six or more. Just like actually who we're talking about, the Lions. Lions have eight wins. And the nine and 10 teams have six. So I think the Lions are pretty well set to be in.
01:08:24
Speaker
Yes, I believe they are too. I think they'll be okay in either case, so as we're predicting. Doo doo doo doo. Ooh and my mental. Let's see if I can figure it out.
01:08:43
Speaker
breaking rules most wins from all matches there you go and then higher and then next is highest aggregate point differential okay so wins do it so yes lions will be in assuming they don't completely botch it so they'll be okay
01:08:59
Speaker
And then after that, if the Highlanders when they're in or no, they're out, they're in trouble. The, even if the Islanders when they need, I think they need the chiefs chiefs and rebels to, to implode or something. I don't think there's any way.
01:09:15
Speaker
there is a way so they would need the the only way that the the highlanders can get in is if the stormers rebels sharks and sheaths all lose which is impossible because some of them they all play each other yeah so how it is around so i think the highlanders are eliminated from this conversation sorry highlanders
01:09:36
Speaker
So that leaves it down to the Rebels and the Chiefs, and we know that the Chiefs... So it's the winner of that match. Yeah. We seem to be in agreement that... Because if the Chiefs win, that'll put them on seven wins, which is the same as the Rebels. Right. And then I'm just assuming that they're gonna make out the white differential, because that's gonna trade places real fast if they score a lot. Right. I mean, it's a 40-point difference right now, but all you need to do is win by 20. Right.
01:10:00
Speaker
you know and that sounds like a lot but still believe me it's doable it's doable so um so maybe we're saying the the chief the chief sneak in at eight and then they get a gift of going to play the crusaders right and then so well hey the last time they played yeah worked out well for the chiefs um all right so our predictions are the chiefs play the crusaders
01:10:23
Speaker
the Jaguars and Lions that'll be interesting because that's where that's where the season started for the Lions they started in Buenos Aires so interesting Brumby's and either Stormers or Sharks so good luck to that that'll be that'll be an interesting matchup actually and then the Bulls and Hurricanes
01:10:45
Speaker
We'll see how that one plays out. That'll be interesting. Yeah, so that'll be interesting. So that's our thoughts. We'll see how wrong we are. Thank you for bearing with us through that. How many monkeys does it take? One, two, two. Two. Big old two. Okay.
01:11:08
Speaker
And then I wanted to kind of just put it out there for everybody, but also for us. So our, and I'm just talking about old episodes and most downloads in terms of our pod this year, cause we've had a nice season. It's 30 odd episodes plus give or take. Um,
01:11:25
Speaker
but so our most downloaded episodes are the Six Nations preview with James, our draft special. Mega Rugby Weekend one, which had all three competitions that we talked about and we, man, we had a hard time with that one.

Audience Engagement and Reflections

01:11:45
Speaker
But we did, actually I think we did well. And then the Six Nations review. Those are the,
01:11:54
Speaker
Top four. Not bad. Yeah, not bad. Good episode. I'll put it out to you all for a vote, but what do you think? Which one of those did you, I mean, I enjoyed them all. I enjoyed them all. The fantasy draft one to me was the most awkward one because it was live and we were kind of sort, you know, a lot of stuff was happening on the fly, but that was like, that was really well downloaded, which is crazy to me.
01:12:21
Speaker
I think people are just trying to see what kind of idiots we are, I guess. Unfiltered and yeah, like basically a live show. Pretty much. I enjoyed, you know, it was weird, but I enjoyed it. I think our Six Nations recap, I think. Yeah. You know, a lot of our episodes of James were a lot of fun.
01:12:39
Speaker
Absolutely. I agree. But I think the recap to me was more fun than the preview, although those are my top two, I think. Yeah. I genuinely enjoyed the preview because we had a ton of laughs and just so many dirty jokes that were thrown into that. There's a reason that we put explicit on this podcast, and that is the episode why.
01:13:08
Speaker
We didn't have an episode like that until that episode. So it took us a while to get to that point where it's like, yeah, you definitely need to have an explicit tag on this thing. That definitely was the reason to just be like, let's keep that E on that podcast, shall we? So yeah, that to me was just a whole lot of fun.
01:13:25
Speaker
Good banter all around and that's that's all you can ask for when you're talking right. We just get some good banter So that was that was mine but we'll put it out there on Twitter at some point in the next couple weeks as we wrap up our season here and we'll we'll see what everybody thinks about the the good the good old Podcast and what that which ones they enjoyed maybe yeah, so we'll give them give them a little choice and see what everybody says
01:13:48
Speaker
And if you have a different episode, let us know. Yeah, please email us. Speak of the devil. Yeah. Email the show fancy rugby podcast at email dot com. We're loving questions that are coming in for sure. And, you know, don't forget to tweet us on Twitter every once in a while.

Acknowledgments and Sign-off

01:14:02
Speaker
I do want to say I know we're not at the end of the year yet, but thank you to fancy rugby draft and fancy rugby mag and the rugby mag. They have been really awesome at trying to peddle our stuff. So we do we do want to thank them and give them a shout out because they've they've been an awesome
01:14:18
Speaker
pair of organizations that have dealt with our bullshit for the entirety of the year. Yeah, so we will be back next week to figure out how right or wrong we were. And it will be interesting to see what comes out of it. I will watch my hurricanes match even though they're not gonna play anybody. I'll be interested to see.
01:14:39
Speaker
I expect to see Peter Amaga Jensen and Ryasi thrown back out there. You'll probably see either Christy or Judd at halfback. I wouldn't bank on TJ Paranara playing. So yeah, the likes of that, just be prepared to have to deal with that. But other than that, make sure you follow us on iTunes, subscribe, Google Play, Spotify, all that stuff. Follow us on Twitter and we'll be back next week and thanks for tuning in so much.
01:15:29
Speaker
Thanks everyone. Cheers.