The Official Super14 Thread.

[Go_The_Doggies]

Chiefs Lose Lavea For Six Weeks

06/02/2007
Duncan Johnstone

Tasesa Lavea has had a nightmare start to his time with the Chiefs with the draft first five-eights ruled out of the Rebel Sport Super 14 for six weeks with a knee injury.

Lavea made his debut off the bench in last Saturday's loss to the Brumbies and hurt his knee in the process.

A scan on Monday revealed the worst with ruptured ligaments set to keep him on the sidelines for the first half of the campaign.

The Chiefs, well and truly used to having to cover injury problems, have Stephen Donald and Murray Williams as flyhalf choices.

But Lavea had clearly made an impact during his short time with the Chiefs since moving south from Auckland where he was unwanted by the Blues.

Chiefs coach Ian Foster says it is disappointing as Lavea was just starting to fit in well and he was sure he could add something to their backline which is in rebuilding mode.

The Chiefs received some good news on the injury front with big wing Roy Kinikinilau back from the hamstring injury that ruled him out of the opener.

Kinikinilau had been in good form over the preseason campaign and could push for a starting role with the Chiefs mulling over their extensive back three options from Friday night's crucial clash with the Hurricanes in Hamilton.

Replacement wing Lelia Masaga made an impact when he came on against the Brumbies and could also start with the possibility of two-try wing Soseni Anesi switching to fullback where he has played with success before.

Waikato stars Richard Kahui (shoulder) and Keith Robinson (calf) are rated 50-50 calls to get over their niggling injuries and start against the Canes.

It's a desperate match for the two first round losers.

With the Chiefs set to head to South Africa after this match they will be eager to get a win under their belt after a mixed performance against the Brumbies.

The Hurricanes were no better in losing to the Reds in Brisbane last weekend and have injury problems of their own including new skipper Conrad Smith who will miss Friday night's match with a facial cut.

http://www.titans.com.au//forum/newr...ote=1&p=167768

[Go_The_Doggies]

Smith sidelined for Chiefs clash
The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 6 February 2007

Hurricanes interim skipper Conrad Smith will miss their second round Super 14 rugby match against the Chiefs in Hamilton on Friday.


Smith took a heavy knock to his left eye in the 25-16 loss to the Reds on Saturday and on a specialist's advice will take at least a week off.

With regular captain Rodney So'oialo on the All Blacks' conditioning programme till round eight, former All Blacks skipper Tana Umaga stands out as Smith's likely replacement both at centre and as captain, though lock Paul Tito is an option for the skipper's armband. This is the second year in a row that Smith has been injured early in the championship.

Last year, he was forced to sit out almost the whole championship after breaking his right leg in a tackle while playing a second round match against Perth's Western Force in New Plymouth.

The Hurricanes' stock of props will also be tested this week with Tim Fairbrother expected to be out of action for a month after dislocating his left shoulder against the Reds.

It is the same shoulder Fairbrother had surgery on last year and the Hurricanes will be hoping scans do not reveal further damage.

Prop John Schwalger was also replaced after experiencing stiffening in his neck during the first half against the Reds, but has responded well to treatment and may be available to play the Chiefs.

Second five-eighth Ma'a Nonu, who left the field temporarily with a cut to the head, and Luke Andrews, who had a gash above his left eye stitched after the match, have both been cleared to play the Chiefs.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/3952048a10295.html

[Go_The_Doggies]

Chiefs ring changes for Hurricanes match
NZPA | Wednesday, 7 February 2007

Five players will earn their first starts in a Chiefs jersey in the Super 14 rugby match against Hurricanes in Hamilton on Friday night.


The new starters confirmed today are loosehead prop Craig West, lock Toby Lynn, halfback Brendon Leonard, wingers Roy Kinikinilau and Lelia Masaga.

Both West and Kinikinilau will make their Chiefs debut on Friday, while the others have all secured Chiefs caps from coming off the bench.

The Chiefs opened their Super 14 season with a 15-21 loss to the Brumbies last week.

Starting lineup:
1.Craig West, 2.Tom Willis, 3.Nathan White, 4.Toby Lynn, 5.Jono Gibbes (captain), 6.Steven Bates, 7.Marty Holah, 8.Liam Messam, 9.Brendon Leonard, 10.Stephen Donald, 11.Roy Kinikinilau, 12.Tane Tu'ipulotu, 13.Niva Ta'auso, 14.Lelia Masaga, 15.Sosene Anesi.

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Bruised Hurricanes bolstered by Umaga
By JIM KAYES - The Dominion Post | Wednesday, 7 February 2007

The old fella's back.
Former Hurricanes captain Tana Umaga will play at centre against the Chiefs on Friday night, while Conrad Smith looks through a blurred eye at several more weeks on the sideline.


The return of Umaga, 33, who will also captain the side, is one of several changes coach Colin Cooper has made as he deals with injuries and the 25-16 loss to the Reds in Brisbane at the weekend. The backline has been remodelled, with Wellington's Alby Mathewson at halfback and Tamati Ellison at second five-eighth, pushing Ma'a Nonu to the wing in place of speedster David Smith.

In the pack, Tony Penn will start his first game since the Hurricanes lost to the Crusaders in the 2005 Super 12 final - only his second game that year - if first-choice loosehead prop John Schwalger fails a fitness test.

The initial reports were that Schwalger hurt his neck against the Reds, but it is now understood he was knocked out.

The other change in the forwards sees Serge Lilo replace Nili Latu, who was given a torrid time by Reds openside flanker David Croft on Saturday.

Lilo has a tougher task this week against Marty Holah. It will be Lilo's first start for the Hurricanes and only his third appearance after he came on in Brisbane last Saturday and against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein last year.

Lilo's selection is on form, as is that of Ellison, who made seven appearances off the bench last year and impressed every time. He will need to continue to impress as Smith revealed yesterday that he could spend a few weeks on the sidelines after suffering bleeding in an eye, along with a less serious cut to the cheek under it, at Suncorp Stadium.

"I got whacked in the eye and couldn't see immediately after it happened," Smith said. "It's a bit of a worry if I get another knock and it bleeds again. The docs are keen for me not to play for the next wee while, so it could be a couple of weeks."

It's a frustrating setback for Smith, who broke his right leg in the second game of last year's Super 14, especially as he felt he was otherwise fine.

"I don't feel too bad. I still have a bit of blurred vision, but it doesn't feel like I couldn't play."

Joining him on the sidelines yesterday was tighthead prop Tim Fairbrother, who was also ruing another injury setback.

Fairbrother dislocated his left shoulder in the 42nd minute in Brisbane and will have X-rays later this week to see how serious the damage is.

He has his fingers crossed because he missed the second half of last year's Super 14 and the all of the Air New Zealand Cup when he needed surgery to repair the same shoulder after he had dislocated it "four or five times". Fairbrother spent five weeks in Scotland late last year playing for the Currie club and training with Edinburgh Gunners.

He had returned to New Zealand "raring to go" and was refusing to speculate on what the latest injury might mean for his career. "I'm not even thinking about the future. I just want to get the scan and hopefully it's nothing too bad. I have to stay positive at this stage."

Meanwhile, the Chiefs also have some injury issues, with lock Keith Robinson (calf strain) and midfielder Richard Kahui (bruised shoulder) unlikely to play on Friday.

First five-eighth Tasesa Lavea is also expected to be out for at least six weeks after he sustained a medial ligament strain to a knee in the loss to the Brumbies.

The Chiefs are already missing flanker Sione Lauaki, who has a broken wrist. Their team will be named today.

Hurricanes lineup:
Cory Jane, Hosea Gear, Tana Umaga (captain), Tamati Ellison, Ma'a Nonu, Jimmy Gopperth, Alby Mathewson, Thomas Waldrom, Serge Lilo, Luke Andrews, Bernie Upton, Paul Tito, Neemia Tialata, Tone Kopelani, John Schwalger/Tony Penn.

Reserves: Mahonri Schwalger, Tony Penn/Anthony Perenise, Bradley Mika, Hayden Hopgood, Chris Smylie, David Smith, Shannon Paku.

[Go_The_Doggies]

Crusaders vs Queensland Reds.
Christchurch.
Saturday 10th Feburary
7.35pm (NZ Time)

Crusaders:
1.Ben Franks
2.Corey Flynn (captain)
3.Campbell Johnstone
4.Ross Filipo
5.Kevin O'Neill
6.Kieran Read
7.Johnny Leo'o
8.Mose Tuiali'i
9.Andrew Ellis
10.Stephen Brett
11.Caleb Ralph
12.Rua Tipoki
13.Casey Laulala
14.Rico Gear
15.Scott Hamilton

Reserves
Ti'i Paulo, Wyatt Crockett, Michael Paterson, Jake Paringatai, Kevin Senio, Tusi Pisi, Brent Ward.

Queensland Reds:
TBA

Referee:
TBA

[Poida]

Force win 'scrappy' first match

February 10, 2007

LEAGUE convert Ryan Cross scored his first Super 14 rugby try and winger Cameron Shepherd was perfect with the boot, as Western Force notched a 22-3 win over the Stormers in the wet in Cape Town.

Centre Cross grabbed the only try of the game in the 34th minute, when he charged down an attempted clearance kick from Stormers fullback Gio Aplon close to the home team's line and won the chase to the loose ball.

Wallaby back Shepherd converted his five penalty attempts to seal the Force's second and biggest Super rugby win in the club's short history.

The Force's only other victory was a 16-14 win over the Cheetah's in the penultimate round of last year's competition.

The Western Australian side led 13-0 at the break and maintained a double digit advantage throughout the second half as the rain intensified.

Five-eighth Naas Olivier got the Stormers on the board with the first points of the second half from a 47th minute penalty, but the 10-point gap was as close as the home side got as Shepherd made the home team pay for indiscretions by banging over three more penalties.

The Force forwards competed tenaciously in rainy conditions in which both teams made a number of errors, skipper Nathan Sharpe leading the way with man of the match honours.

"It wasn't pretty but the most pleasing thing about that is the guys really played for each other tonight," said Sharpe.

"We had a pretty wet and scrappy old night, but the guys played well and stuck to the game plan we implemented when we knew it was going to rain.

"I think it's a huge (victory) for us and a bit of momentum to build now ... we are ecstatic with that and are ready take it up to the Bulls next week."

Halves Matt Henjak and Matt Giteau kept the visitors going forward with some smart options and clean hands in the testing conditions.

It was Giteau's deep accurate grubber kick which forced the try, as Aplon opted to try and kick the ball out rather than carry it into touch as several defenders applied pressure.

AAP

[Future Star]

Ryan Cross has really found something. He scored 3 tries in one of the trials.

[Casey's Angel27]

Sharks eat Waratahs on road

February 10, 2007 A MISTAKE-riddled performance proved costly for New South Wales Waratahs as it lost 22-9 to the Sharks in round two of the 14 in Durban overnight.

The Waratahs enjoyed plenty of possession, particularly in the last quarter, but poor handling and passing led to them squandering a number of chances.

Sharks five-eighth Butch James scored the only try of the game in the 78th minute to deny NSW the consolation of a bonus point for a narrow loss.

Normally reliable NSW goalkicker and wing Peter Hewat landed just three of his seven penalty attempts, missing three in a row in the first half.

Sharks kickers Percy Montgomery and Francois Steyn landed four out of six penalties between them with Steyn adding a drop-goal and Montgomery a conversion.

The Sharks led 9-6 at half-time in an undistinguished match which produced few fluent passages of play.

It gave the Sharks a first win over the Waratahs since 2001 and the second victory from as many matches this season.

The Waratahs have a win and a loss from their first two games

AAP

from www.foxsports.com.au

[Go_The_Doggies]

Well im not gunna waste my time making seperate threads if people are just gunna move them

GO THE CANES!!

But the sad thing to come out of that game is Johnno Gibbs is injured and so is Soseni Anesi (2 fractured bones in his neck) so that sucks for the canes, their injury list is so god-damn high!

[Social Loafer]

Beautiful weather in Canberra for the first Brumbies home match.

http://mirror.bom.gov.au/products/IDR403.shtml

Lightning and thunderstorms.

[Social Loafer]

Blues 17:15 Brumbies.

great start to the year.

Hopefully not too many suits were ruined in the rain.

[Capital_Shark]

Blues 17:15 Brumbies.

great start to the year.

Hopefully not too many suits were ruined in the rain.

hahaha classic stuff. Hasn't rained like it did tonight in AGES! Welcome back, Brumbies, ya scum! Ahh well, they'd better get used to the rain, it can get pretty wet in MELBOURNE.

[Social Loafer]

I spent quiet a bit of time watching that radar and the clock hoping the storms coincided with the start of the Brumbies match ...

What's even funnier is they lost after the siren and didn't even score a try

Even when the Raiders are at their sh!ttest we manage to find the line at home

[Capital_Shark]

I spent quiet a bit of time watching that radar and the clock hoping the storms coincided with the start of the Brumbies match ...

What's even funnier is they lost after the siren and didn't even score a try

Even when the Raiders are at their sh!ttest we manage to find the line at home

To quote the infamous Stuey Thong; "IT'S OUR HOUSE RAIDERS!!!"

[Poida]

Brumbies sunk after full-time

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...002381,00.html

February 11, 2007

A SIDELINE conversion after the bell from fly half Isa Nacewa gave the Blues a get-out-of-jail 17-15 win in their Super 14 clash against the Brumbies at Canberra Stadium.

Nacewa calmly slotted his winner after his pack had rolled a maul over the Brumbies line in the final minute of the match, which the home side had led for almost 70 of the 80 minutes.

Prop Saimone Taumoepeau emerged from the pile of bodies in the north-western corner as the scorer of the Aucklanders' second try.

Brumbies lock Alister Campbell was in the sin bin as the Blues forwards clinched the match winning try and coach Laurie Fisher was still trying to understand why after the game.

"None of them (went) to the bin in the whole game and they must have given away 15 or 18 penalties, we give away probably half a dozen penalties and we lose a guy to the bin so it's unlucky," Fisher said.

The Brumbies coach believed the better side on the night had let the game slip.

"If you're marginally the better team on the day, which I thought we were, then you've got to win the game, it's that simple," he said.

"That's credit to the Blues, I don't believe they were the better side on the night, but they take away the points."

The victory was sweet for former Brumbies mentor David Nucifora, now in charge of the Blues ? but he denied the win was lucky.

"There's no luck in what those boys did at the end, the precision that was needed to be able to pull that off," he said.

Australia winger Mark Gerrard, who played more time than he'd expected when debutant Peter Playford was forced off in just the sixth minute, summed it up as: "One team played for 79 minutes, the other played for 80.

All 15 of the Brumbies' points came from the boot of full back Julian Huxley with five penalty goals.

The match began in steady rain amid storm warnings in the national capital with lightning flashes around the ground throughout the first half.

The conditions made handling difficult for both sides with Brumbies fly half Stephen Larkham, playing his first match for more than three months, particularly struggling with his timing early.

Huxley's boot had given the Brumbies a 9-7 half-time lead, the No.15 getting three from five in the first stanza, including a 48-metre bomb.

The sides traded the penalty goals early in the second stanza before Huxley slotted his fifth in the 62nd minute to take the homeside out to 15-10.

The only try of the first half had come from Nacewa in the eighth minute, when New Zealand inside centre Luke McAlister strolled through some ordinary defence and sent the fly half over, the conversion giving the Aucklanders a brief 7-6 lead.

AAP

[Go_The_Doggies]

YAY for Isa Nacewa

I'm glad Auckland one, cos I picked them for my virtual rugby pics.

Wernt they happy

****ing Highlanders, useless so and so's.