Written Sunday 01/04/07

SUPER 14 WEEK 9

9 weeks of the Super 14 gone already,  quite hard to believe.  The Blues and the Chiefs was a nice aggressive little affair with the Blues seeming a bit lost.  The Chiefs got in their faces though and rattled the odd cage.  Blues did enough though to stay on top of the table.

I an thinking though that the game of the weekend was the Waratahs and the Crusaders.  The Waratahs showed us they do know a little bit about playing rugby,  and found out when a couple of things go right,  it sometimes snowballs into other things going right.  The Crusaders still looked very slick most of the time though and one defensive motion in which NSW should have scored was a great example of never giving up and backing yourself.  Richie McCaw demonstrated that he is the premier openside flanker in the world and one of the best to ever play the game.  It is more than what he does at the breakdown,  he has great game sense,  good running lines,  passes well,  offloads well,  and he is still very young.  The match produced 10 tries,  something we haven't seen for a while.  Lachlan Turner in one run showed his class,  and again,  it's good to see the young folks being brought in.

The Force showed us on Friday night that they are not pretenders in this competition by knocking over the Sharks over there in Perth.  They play the Crusaders next week in NZ so that will be a big yardstick to how they might finish up.  They are relatively injury free and should give them a bit of a fright.  Mat Giteau showed the world why he is worth alot of money on Friday night.  He is one of the few creative backs in the country,  fast,  intuitive and can sniff out or make space out of very little.  These blokes will go OK.

I note from this morning's press that the Brumbies got up in Africa overnight as well,  so Aussie sides 3 from 3 for the weekend.

The Blues currently lead the show on 32 points and have had their bye,  second is the Crusaders on 27 and have had their bye,  third is the Force on 25,  also had bye,  fourth is the Sharks on 25,  bye gone,  fifth Brumbies and Bulls on 22 points both yet to have the bye followed by the Lions on 21 to have the bye and then the dark horse,  the Highlanders on 20 but with bye gone.

Needless to say,  Crusaders vs the Force is a key match up in week 10.  It will be a good week and with Friday night footy finished here locally,  I will be able to catch the entire round,  unless I head to Suncorp for the Reds vs Sharks encounter.  I hope the Reds can win that one and continue the pain short term for the Sharks.

I Missed 100% of the Shots I Didn't Take,  Michael Jordan.