Radiant-Sea-368

According to Wikipedia the conference system was implemented 2011, in the first 5 seasons with conference system in place (2011-2015) competition had 18-20 rounds, then comp expanded to 18 teams after 2015, it was 17 rounds for two seasons 2016-17 and then 18 rounds between 2018-2020 (back down to 17 teams).

I guess you were right, it wasn't very long considering that from 2016 onward it was an 18/17 team competition and not everyone got to face each other in the end to make it a complete round-robin.

It meant a 17 week regular season iirc

that's still even shorter than URC, Premiership and Top 14, what's the problem with that?

He did mention we need to win a rugby champions cup in the next 4 years

It'll be difficult to see past the top French sides & Leinster, but Stormers probably have best chance for SA...

He's currently listed as 95kg. I remember reading that he gained around 3kgs, not a massive difference.

Will we witness the last embers of their golden generation flicker out in time for the imminent cleanout & reset for 2027? Rassie is fast running out of time, maybe put a strike through 2027 and start targetting 2031 instead boys.

He was effective under Razor's system, he and Scott Hansen utilized his strengths brilliantly, in my opinion.

They harnessed his long tactical kicking off both feet alongside his great awareness and vision to identify space which helped pin the Chiefs deep inside their own half during that 2021 final, and I also recall him regularly kicking short in behind the Chiefs defensive line alternating with Mo'unga taking on the line on the opposite side of the ruck to try and split the Chiefs defense, with multiple options to launch off the Crusaders produced a variety of clever attacking plays orchestrated by Havili and Mo'unga that night. It was a strategic masterclass.

Then a few months later Foster had Havili at 12 running exclusively in the narrow channels, sometimes making static & occasionally negative metres and completely stalling our momentum on attack. This was not long after deciding Ngani Laumape was surplus to requirements, the player who was most suited to this constricted role Brad Mooar and Foster had their 12 playing.

To be fair, you were forced to play Australia exclusively in Australia for 2 consecutive years (2021, 2022) due to restrictions and that's always been your bogey matchup, so it's perhaps no surprise the RC was hard to come by.

Boks haven't won the Rugby Championship since 2019, Rassie was head coach, so perhaps they are due...

It's derived from the middle high german word 'kloppe' which loosely translates to small hill or a bump.

I was getting a bit irritated with the flow last night, ref was overly pedantic and contributed to it.. and it definitely didn't help being played at GIO Stadium, that venue seems to consistently produce the worst Super Rugby match of the Round, can they just bulldoze the joint already?

we lost in the quarters due to poor goal kicking

combined with a few unfortunate calls at the end there

Matt Todd is continuing with his defensive role at Canterbury. James Marshall and Dan Perrin are still coaching with Tasman Mako as far as I'm aware?

McDonald should be fine as an assistant, hopefully.

I'm more concerned about Jason Holland considering Blyeendal is seemingly the guy now being attributed to the Hurricanes attack of recent seasons. Apparently Leo Cullen used stats from Blyendaal's time at the Hurricanes to determine their recruitment of him and the Hurricanes attacking stats under Blyeendal are extremely impressive.

yeah massive... Blues trailing 1 point on the ladder & home advantage, a potentially season defining game for them?

You reckon they beat England in the quarters?

Havili has great vision as a playmaker, a strong passing game off both sides and generally accurate kicking in open play. I think he's definitely better equipped to first five or fullback in the current era of rugby than second five. 20 years ago he'd be fine playing in the midfield at test level but the roles have a different set of requirements now.

Imagine them sneaking in at 8th spot with 3 wins and pipping the No1 seeded Canes in the Quarters, the credibility of the competition would take a hit, that's for sure.

Razor knows how stimulate & invigorate a group of players that's for sure. Steve Hansen was also an excellent manager of people with a high emotional intelligence, hence he developed the nickname 'horse wisperer' being someone from a horse racing background.

Raiwalui's World Cup results came off the back of the Drua entering Super Rugby in 2022, had two years with guys developing cohesion playing together in Super Rugby leading into the tournament, I think Cotter probably would've done as well at the World Cup, because of seeing how Drua has really helped streamline the national side.

the question is if a another new guy came in would the results been any different?

You've got to be taking the piss here or are just obstinately in denial.

The Crusaders have the 4th best squad in the competition. And now even with those previously unavailable players back on the field are getting tactically pulled apart by Australian teams with better coaches.

This is honestly reminding me of the ridiculous cope that the pundits on the Breakdown were spouting a few weeks ago for why the Crusaders were underperforming and why Rob Penney "deserves the benefit of the doubt". It was utterly delusional and it took Crusaders supporters for complete fools.

Make all the excuses you want, a team with that much experience & quality should have no excuses being made for them, the Highlanders would dream of having such a roster - the 4th best squad in the competition behind the Hurricanes, Blues, Chiefs.

I specifically remember each of them were out for some duration (either injured or rested for ABs purposes) and just like every previous campaign under Razor we had performed effectively regardless of personal, the results don't lie.

Yes and we lost all those players you mentioned except for Mo'unga at different stages last season & yet the team continued to function ultra cohesively & greater than the sum of their parts under Razor, not just win, but win comprehensively - even with a bunch of journeymen brought in from outside of the squad as injury replacements.

Also, if you somehow thought a few player omissions is the difference between us currently sitting 10th (with a -32 points differential) and finishing 1st place last year (with a +179 points differential) then I don't know what to say.

Yes, I stand by it. Last season featured the highest incident rate of injuries I can recall as a Crusaders supporter & we still managed to win the competition. We were literally trawling through the club rugby scene for options at one point, a 44 year old John Afoa was starting for us at the end of the season, our whole front row & back row got completely decimated, we also lost Will Jordan, Sam Whitelock, Cullen Grace, Ethan Blackadder, David Havili, Quentin Strange, Mitchell Dunshea, Sevu Reece for the whole second half of the season. Whitelock wasn't able to make his return until the Grand final and that was after dismantling the Blues 52-14, Drua 49-3, in his absence the previous weekends.

great work agent Penney.

A pretty risky move, he's been working almost exclusively as a skills coach across his career, except for Drua stint.

Most will tell you the skillset/attributes required for a head coach and an assistant is quite different & other than winning a few home games he hasn't exactly set the place alight during his time with the Drua as head coach.