Super Rugby News
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Sonny Bill Williams' concussion is likely to keep him out of the Blues' team to play the Cheetahs at Eden Park on Friday.
Midfielder Williams suffered the injury during the second half of his team's 40-33 victory over the Waratahs in Sydney, leaving the field and not returning.
A Blues media release today stated Williams was likely to be unavailable, but that lock Patrick Tuipulotu was a possibility to return from a back injury.
Available for selection: Patrick Tuipulotu, Declan O'Donnell and Alex Hodgman.
Unavailable: Sonny-Bill Williams (concussion), Ihaia West (ankle), Stephen Perofeta (ankle), Matt Moulds (knee - 3-4 weeks), Jerome Kaino (knee - 3-4 weeks), Rene Ranger (ankle - 3-4 weeks), Jimmy Tupou (hamstring - one week).
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11852446
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Bloody hell .... this would be a horrendous scenario:
Sanzaar might not cut teams at all
Sanzaar’s plans to cut teams from the 2018 version of Vodacom Super Rugby could fall flat on its face, meaning the Southern Kings and Toyota Cheetahs may be given a reprieve.
That is, however, if the Australian Super Rugby sides win a court case that the Melbourne Rebels have launched in Australia against the governing body to save them from being axed from the competition.
While SA Rugby still has to announce which two sides will be cut from the 2018 version of the competition, general consensus seems to be that it is the Kings and Cheetahs that will face the chop, prompting emotion and anger in those regions.
But the financial realities in SA Rugby mean that the national body may have no option but to cut teams and has publicly said so.
The problem comes now with the Rebels, who are privately owned, this week launched a court case against the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) to stop the governing body from “buying back their license from them.”
With the Western Force also threatening legal action and the Cheetahs locally reported to have sought legal advice from a senior advocate, the 2018 cut is far from a done deal.
Sanzaar’s governing body will meet in Tokyo on Thursday in a “heads of state meeting” where the progress in the Super Rugby cuts are meant to be discussed, but Supersport.com’s information is that unless the cuts are approved in both Australia and South Africa, Sanzaar will be forced to continue with the 18-team competition until 2021.
South Africa has already approved the cuts in SA Rugby meetings and a franchise committee is now meeting to decide by means of a weighting system which two sides will fall away, but the war in Australian rugby is far greater, with both the Rebels and Force resisting any change in the current system.
The ARU specifically named both sides as the two in danger, while absolving the Brumbies from a cut when it held a press conference last month but both sides have rallied to save their franchises, with the Force obtaining major backing from the Western Australian government in recent times.
Both teams feel they have “an outright case to stay in the competition”, according to The Australian newspaper, with the Force reportedly asking for an injunction as well.
With the two Australian states getting involved – and the Victoria government now reportedly offering the same level of financial support for the Rebels as the Western Australian government, the ARU sits with a problem in trying to sort the matter out.
But if they do lose the court case, or are unable to come to solve the impasse, all bets are off and Sanzaar will keep the same tournament structure for the foreseeable future, even though in their own words it has proved wildly unpopular.
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Go read the thread on Green and Gold rugby. Aussie fans there will be rejoicing, as they don't see why they need to lose a team; somehow this is all NZs fault; but also why do they need Super Rugby anyway? Everything is fine, except for Pulver, it's his fault Aus rugby is fucked. And NZs fault too.
Fucking delusional.
This whole thing is a clusterfuck of monumental proportions.
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Go read the thread on Green and Gold rugby. Aussie fans there will be rejoicing, as they don't see why they need to lose a team; somehow this is all NZs fault; but also why do they need Super Rugby anyway? Everything is fine, except for Pulver, it's his fault Aus rugby is fucked. And NZs fault too.
Fucking delusional.
This whole thing is a clusterfuck of monumental proportions.
@mariner4life said in Super Rugby News:
Go read the thread on Green and Gold rugby. Aussie fans there will be rejoicing, as they don't see why they need to lose a team; somehow this is all NZs fault; but also why do they need Super Rugby anyway? Everything is fine, except for Pulver, it's his fault Aus rugby is fucked. And NZs fault too.
Fucking delusional.
Bolded the relevant bits.
This whole thing is a clusterfuck of monumental proportions.
Only an utter imbecile would have announced they were cutting teams before they had completed a review which identified which teams were going.
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Ahahahaha! Clown shoes.
Just fix the fucking shit structure of the comp. Two conferences, Aus/NZ and SA/Arg/Jpn. Round robin within your own conference plus 3 cross over games each. Conference finals with the grand final in a neutral city. It's easy to understand, doesn't guarantee finals to shit teams and means there's no bullshit travel schedule for finals.
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I laughed at this line from Paul Kent:
“I think there’s a lot of flaws the way they play rugby and a lot of old school thinking that they need to move on from in the modern game and he (Cronk) would bring that.What an idiot.
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I laughed at this line from Paul Kent:
“I think there’s a lot of flaws the way they play rugby and a lot of old school thinking that they need to move on from in the modern game and he (Cronk) would bring that.What an idiot.
@SammyC Notably he doesn't list these flaws. Cronk would be lost on the field.
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Cronk was a schoolboy Union star so I guess he has a little bit of knowledge of the game. Still, at 34 he will find it a massive challenge to adapt to a game he hasn't played for 15 years. Without the 10 metre gap that they have in League, playing 10 or 12 in Union is not going to be an easy task, just ask Benji.
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I laughed at this line from Paul Kent:
“I think there’s a lot of flaws the way they play rugby and a lot of old school thinking that they need to move on from in the modern game and he (Cronk) would bring that.What an idiot.
@SammyC said in Super Rugby News:
I laughed at this line from Paul Kent:
“I think there’s a lot of flaws the way they play rugby and a lot of old school thinking that they need to move on from in the modern game and he (Cronk) would bring that.What an idiot.
Does Kent hate rugby more than the Walrus hates the All Blacks (and Rattue hates Henry and co)?
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@SammyC said in Super Rugby News:
I laughed at this line from Paul Kent:
“I think there’s a lot of flaws the way they play rugby and a lot of old school thinking that they need to move on from in the modern game and he (Cronk) would bring that.What an idiot.
Does Kent hate rugby more than the Walrus hates the All Blacks (and Rattue hates Henry and co)?
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Paul Kent is a barely functioning retard who is very, very full of himself.
Cronk would have been a really good 10, his main strengths are his organisation, his vision, and his kicking game. If he had moved maybe 8 years ago he would have been great. Well, maybe, dependent on the coaching he received.
Now? He's 33 years old. That makes him 35 at the World Cup. It's just a wild stab in the dark, but I can't see him having much of an impact.
Where is he going to play by the way? He's quitting the Storm to move to Sydney. The only rugby team in Sydney has the test 10 there already.
Even for Paul Kent, this is ridiculously retarded.
However, i hope these rumours are true, because the Australian Rugby Community will deadset revolt if the ARU spends up on a 33 year old league player. It'll be pitchforks and torches.
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This story about Cronk is getting crazier:
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika gives green light for Waratahs to go after Cooper Cronk
@Stargazer said in Super Rugby News:
This story about Cronk is getting crazier:
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika gives green light for Waratahs to go after Cooper Cronk
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The NSW Waratahs and Australian Rugby Union have ruled out making a play for Sydney-bound rugby league superstar Cooper Cronk.
https://au.sports.yahoo.com/rugby/a/35395395/waratahs-and-aru-respond-to-cronk-rumours/
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Sonny Bill Williams has been cleared of concussion and is travelling with the Blues to South Africa.
Blues coach Tana Umaga had said he expected the inside centre to be fit to play the Stormers in Cape Town next Friday.
He is joined by Matt Duffie, spelled from last night's game, and a mandatory third hooker, Joe Royal.
Two players from last night's win are out of the touring party because of injuries received in the match against the Cheetahs.
Prop Pauliasi Manu left the field early with a calf injury while Ihaia West injured his ankle when he came on as a substitute for Piers Francis who had received an injury in the first half.
Manu has been replaced by Sione Mafileo, with Bryn Gatland re-joining the Blues as a replacement for West.
Gatland played three games for the Blues as a replacement, but exited the squad on Thursday before the late call to travel to South Africa. Francis was considered fit enough to travel with the touring party.
Blues squad: Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Charlie Faumuina, Sione Mafileo, Alex Hodgman; James Parsons, Hame Faiva, Joe Royal; Patrick Tuipulotu, Scott Scrafton, Gerard Cowley-Tuioti; Steven Luatua, Blake Gibson, Akira Ioane; Kara Pryor; Augustine Pulu, Sam Nock; Piers Francis, Bryn Gatland; TJ Faiane, Sonny-Bill Williams, George Moala, Matt Duffie, Rieko Ioane, Melani Nanai, Michael Collins.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=11855372
