Monday 26 August 2013

Rugby Championship Review: Round 1

The moment we've all been waiting for, and it did not disappoint. And there were some stand out players that may not have been known to the Northern Hemisphere before

Australia - New Zealand



Australians have lamented yet another loss to New Zealand, and it seems that #BringBackBledisloe will be postponed for another year. The Australian media have blasted the Wallaby performance, but they were vastly improved from the Deans era, and posed the All Blacks a number of problems especially through Adam Ashley Cooper. James O'Connor further showed that he is not an outhalf with a decent showing, while Steven Luatua may have answered the calls for a dominant blindside flanker that BNZ have been looking for.


Argentina - South Africa



Admitedly, before this game I had a sneaky feeling that Argentina could pose the Boks a number of problems. Never have I been more wrong. South Africa absolutely smashed Argentina in a game that was beyond doubt after 20 minutes.

Fantasy

A great start to the fantasy league will strong showings from a large number of players.

For New Zealand, Steven Luatua showed the benefit of having a hard working player in your team, while Ben Smith's finishing had a huge impact on his score.
For Australia, the consistent boot of Christian Lealiifano means that he is a must in the centres,
Adriaan Strauss of South Africa showed the importance of having a good hooker in team, ably assisted by Duane Vermeulen and Bryan Habana.
Only Juan Imhoff and Juan Figallo for Argentina came out with their reputations unscathed, despite Imhoff's dropping for the next game.

These results meant that Connacht Man stormed into the lead with a massive 480 points, putting him 106th overall. Alex Shaw and pre tournament favourite Cillian Hogan are right on his heels, with 5 players over 400, and another  over 350, it's shaping up to be a tight race between a number of people.

Remember that in the Super Rugby competition, a lead of 100 points going into the semi finals wasn't enough to win, so anything can happen.

Head to Head

First Round Results:

ROUND
1Poseidon's Belvedere453 - 364ciarans centurions
12GAY2FUNCTION357 - 410Prolific Punters
1The Oscar Traynors205 - 383Ball Handling Hooker
1Team McBonbon374 - 403Snowballs Chance
1Bosh Merchants294 - 480Antipodean Dream
1TheWaisaleTimes368 - 428Exiled Northerner
1Thomond's Titans374 - 454Wasps 2nd XV
1Average358 - 381The Lads