Games To Watch:

Chiefs vs Crusaders:

After their sluggish start with a home loss to the Rebels, the Crusaders were able to bounce back and gain a victory over the Highlanders. They will be wanting to keep up the momentum, however this will not be easy against a Chiefs team that has won both of their games so far. Both teams have named powerful packs, and there are some really great matchups, like Ben (swallowed the left side of the buffet) Tameifuna and Wyatt Crockett. The battle of the back rows should be interesting, as the Crusaders will call upon the services of Richie McCaw and Matt Todd to do what they do best at the breakdown, while the Chiefs will doubtless be looking for Sam Cane and Liam Messam to inject a bit of pace as well. Out wide, Sonny Bill Williams returns to the starting XV and he will be facing off with Ryan Crotty, who will be looking to prove a point to the All Black selectors. James Lowe will have his hands full containing the power and pace of Robbie Fruean. These are two sides that are consistently competing at the highest level, and this should be a really close finish, but the Chiefs seem to just have the edge.

Prediction: Chiefs 27- Crusaders 24

Bulls vs Sharks:

If you are a forward and want to watch a true forwards game, this is the match
for you. These are two immensely physical sides that will never back down from each other. The battle in the scrum should be as immense as those taking part in it. Trevor Nyakane and Adriaan Strauss will be wanting to prove their worth against the Du Plessis brothers, as their battle for a starting spot for the national team continues. The Sharks will also have to contend with Victor Matfield, who, despite his age, remains one of the worlds best lineout jumpers. In the backrow, the immense physicality of Marcell Coetzee, and the athleticism of Ryan Kankowski, will give Pierre Spies and his teammates a bit of a headache, but no one is more suited to handle it than the Springbok Number 8. Young Handre Pollard and Patrick Lambie will respark their rivalry for the South African flyhalf spot, although it must be said that Pollard does seem to have some more weapons at his disposal. Andre Esterhuizen and Waylon Murray will have a lot of work to do to keep Jan Serfontein and JJ Engelbrecht under control. Francois Hougaard and Jesse Kriel have real pace on the outside, but so does Odwa Ndungane, setting up what should be a great battle in all parts of the game. In an game that is as physical as this whichever team can get the upper hand in the tight phases will probably take the victory, however, we all know what Pollard and Lambie are capable of, and they could turn this slugfest into a track meet.

Prediction: Sharks 17- Bulls 12

Brumbies vs Rebels:

A lot of people will be wondering if this match should really be included in
the must see matches of the weekend, and they have a fair point. On paper this match will be a one sided affair but, the Rebels proved that they were not the Rebels of old when they went down to Christchurch and beat the Crusaders, and even though they were beaten by the Waratahs last week, there is a sense that this team is not going to lie down and take a beating. The Brumbies do have a clear advantage in the front row, and it is great to see Stephen Moore back on the pitch. The Brumbies use of Rory Arnold, aka shorty, will give them a major advantage in the lineout. The Rebels will have an advantage in the back row however, with Sean McMahon and Scott Higginbotham. These two dynamic and powerful loose forwards could create havoc for the Brumbies. Matt Toomua and Tevita Kuridrani have been in great form, and the Rebels will find them very hard to stop once they start to go forward. Henry Speight and Joe Tomane offer plenty of pace and power and should give the Rebels a lot of headaches in defence. I have no doubt that the Rebels are more than capable of beating the Brumbies in the pack, but, their lack of world class talent outside means that they will really struggle against one of the best backlines in the competition.

Prediction: Brumbies 35- Rebels 21

Players to Watch:

Sonny Bill Williams:

That other league convert, only played one game so far this season, but he
looked really good, setting up a couple of tries in his teams victory over the Blues. Williams will be tested this week by Ryan Crotty, but his superb athleticism may see him through, and his side through as well.

Sean McMahon:

Despite his youth, he plays a remarkably important role in the Rebels set up,
and he is set to be one of the Wallaby greats for the future. Made some massive hits against the Crusaders, and he compliments Scott Higginbotham really well. Will be crucial if the Rebels want to be competitive against the Brumbies.

Aaron Cruden:

Didn’t really have a great 2014. Showed poor form at times, kicking was
inconsistent, and channeled his inner Mike Phillips, by missing a team flight after a late night out. His matchup against Colin Slade is going to be important if he is to hold onto his 10 shirt, especially with young Damian McKenzie breathing down his neck, look for him to try to keep up the momentum and make 2015 a much better year.

Handre Pollard:

The young South African flyhalf is the key to the Bulls long term plans. He
carried the team when they took on the Hurricanes, and largely outshone the ever impressive Beauden Barrett, and while he struggled against the Stormers, you can expect him to bounce back this week.

Will Genia:

When on form, you’d be hard pressed to find a more dangerous scrumhalf than the
little general. Last year, Genia led the Reds to a hard fought victory over the Highlanders in a classic match. If the Reds are to stop the run of poor play, then Genia will need to help them find gaps in the defense, something he can do very well.

How do you think your team will do?

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In a moment of awesome perseverance, Perth Spirits Dane Haylett-Petty prevented a certain try for Brisbane City’s Matt Feaunati.

Feaunati would have been sure of a try, but for Haylett-Petty’s awesome intervention.

Alas, it proved to be a moot point in the game as Brisbane City would go on to win and claim the inaugural NRC Title.

Clip Credit: Le-Rugbynistere.

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Telusa Veainu, of Melbourne Rebels, scored a try of immense pace and evasion for his NRC team, The Melbourne Rising, recently.

Jack Debreczeni collected a grubber and sumptuously offloaded to Veainu who pinned his ears back and went 80 metres unscathed to score.

Clip Credit: Le-Rugbynistere-Daily Motion

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NRC committee, Wayne Erickson, Bob Dwyer, Ewen McKenzie, Rod Kafer.

The problem living in a country where most rugby fans are also league fans, is they don’t fully understand what would happen if you introduce some league rules into the 15-man game.

So I thought I’d take this opportunity to help some fans understand what would happen if some of the suggestions, that many see as reasonable, were implemented.

Things such as removing the straight throw law for line-outs if the opposition doesn’t contest is a fantastic idea. I’m also a fan of some kind of limit to defensive kicking if the match descends into an aerial ping-pong battle.  Whether it be through a defensive kick to phase ratio or an overall kick quota. Although, there must be a definite distinction between defensive kicking and attacking kicking.

However, I’ve seen suggestions that are absolutely crazy. From reducing distance between the goal posts, to a penalty limit, similar to the foul limit in basketball. I’ve taken some samples of the ideas that are going around, and I’m taking some time out to respond.

Mr Weir, if a three strike law was implemented, it would completely stop teams contesting at the breakdown. When it comes to forwards, Australia’s biggest strength is in their lose forwards, by making this kind of change, it would render the lose forwards useless.

If anything, we should be encouraging breakdown work, not trying to phase it out of the game.

While I encourage contesting the breakdown, I also enjoy watching running rugby. If you remove the option for kicking for goal on a penalty, it’s only going to encourage players to infringe at the breakdown.

By lessening the repercussions of giving away a penalty, you will therefore have in increase in cynical play in an attempt to slow down the ball. And, don’t think that “the players would want to play within the spirit of the game”…it doesn’t always happen. Look at the Brumbies, they don’t care if they win ugly, they only care if they win.

If there’s something that can be exploited, it will be exploited. Same goes with lowering the points value of a penalty goal from three to two. While it may not have the same impact as removing shots at goal all together, it will still have an impact on attempted cynical play.

That experimental law is already in affect in South Africa’s Varsity Cup. While it makes the closing stages of the game more interesting, it hasn’t entirely had the desired effect. Perhaps make both the try conversion and the penalty goal worth three points?

While we all can be frustrated by the scrum at times. Making drastic changes to the scrum law is not the way to go about it. Traditionally, Australia struggles at the scrum, reducing the forwards exposure scrummaging will only hurt Australian teams even further, in the future.

We should have more emphasis on getting the scrums right rather than reducing the amount of scrums altogether.

What if the defending team has the clearly dominant scrum? All the attacking team has to do is go down and they get a tap, and a free, uncontested ball.

What if the attacking team has the dominant scrum, and want to go for a push-over try? All the defending team has to do is go down, and that threat is lost.

Scrums allow an opportunity for the backs by taking eight defenders out of the line and providing more room out wide. Changing scrums to a tap would only remove the opportunity.

When it comes to scrums, most people get frustrated over the time lost to scrum collapses and resets. So, how about we stop the match clock instead of getting rid of scrums all together?

If the referee calls for a reset, the match clock stops, and doesn’t restart until the referee calls for the ball to be fed? That way we won’t see situations where four or five minutes of the game is lost to front rowers having a pissing contest.

These are just some of the more ‘popular’ ideas that has been expressed. There are many, many more out there, some brilliant, some not so. I just thought I’d point out what would most likely happen is some of these suggestions were taken up.

If you have any suggestions you’d like to submit, click here

What are your thoughts?

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