End of Round One Round Up

Brumbies Burst Chief's Bubble

The Brumbies have destroyed the air of confidence that had surrounded the Chief's build up this season by beating the Chiefs in front of their home crowd at Hamiton 15-21. The Chiefs did outscore the Brumbies 3 tries to 2, but discipline hurt the team and Huxley made sure that they paid for it on the scoreboard by making his shots at goal count and taking the game away.

Wallaby Mark Gerard limped from the field in the second half, and this sight would be causing a few concerns for Knuckles as injury further depeletes the ranks of an unimpressive Wallabies side. However, the World Cup is a long way off and so far there is no suggestion that the injury to Gerard is unlikely to heal as the season goes on.

Stirling Mortlock again had another cracker of a game, he is easily Australia's most potent attacking weapon on the paddock, and while he is in the Wallabies, that team always has a fighting chance. He showed his class with the opening try, and by half time the Brumbies had the buffer they needed to ride out the game. A well deserved win away from home, and the Brumbies will be feeling a lot more confident about their home game next week against a scratchy Blues side that failed to impress against the Crusaders.

Reds Destroy Hopes of Hurricanes

Last night the Reds destroyed any feeling of confidence that there may have been among any Hurricanes supporters. The Reds turned on an impressive display to down the 'canes in Brisbane 25-16. It was a sound display by one of the underperforming teams in the Super 14. Clearly Eddie Jones has made a significant impact on this side, and the nay sayers about his credentials will have to eat their words in Queensland. A win to kick off the season is just what they needed and their confidence will have shot up no end.

The Reds were particularly impressive up front, the pack picking and running all over the Hurricanes who suffered several key injuries in the loss that will hurt them for the rest of the season. In particular the canes lost two props, one for the season, and this lead to uncontested scrums - a devastating sign this early on in the season. This will further dent the ability of an understrength pack to combat the opposition. Wellington would do well to try and find some replacement props out there in the world or their season is pretty much over.

League recruits Berrick Barnes and Schifcofske acquitted themselves well in the first official turnout in regular season. This Reds outfit is stronger than in recent years, and they will need to be. Next week they are off to Christchurch to face the Crusaders at home, never an easy task. In addition, the Crusaders will be livid that they let the mediocre Blues win the opening game when it was there to be taken by them. Watch out for the backlash next week, but the class of the Reds may see them through still. Should be a good game.

Sharks Have Beef for Breakfast

The Natal Sharks took out the Blue Bulls this morning 17-3 at home. The bulls are a team that seem to stutter on the road, even within the Republic. Two tries to winger J P Pietersen got the homeside across the finish line. He scored one try in each half and these proved the difference between the two sides. Montogomerey also contributed by converting the tries to take the Sharks outside of the 7 pioint margin to deny the Bulls a bonus point from the encounter. No surprises in this game, an easy result to pick, and the bookies got this one right.

Cheetahs Weather the Storm, and Come Out on Top

Relatively new franchise, the Cheetahs continued on their winning way from last season against the Storm at home, 27-9. This was a great result for the team, many having picked the Stormers to start with a win in round one. However, the Cheetahs have learned from last year, and are playing well at the start of the competition, clearly appreciating how important it is to win the home games. Ahead only 5-0 at half time, the home side had been applying pressure to the Stormers all of the first half, and were denied tries several times by the TMO. Eventually the side cracked and the Cheetahs were able to score from all the pressure they had been putting on with Strauss exploiting a huge overlap to run in a good try right on half time.

The Stormers then took the lead with two penalty kicks being successfully landed by Naas Olivier. Ariel ping pong began and the Cheetahs retook the lead with two successful penalties to Bosman to take the lead again. 11-6. The Stormers narrowed the gap with a penalty kick of their own, 11-9. However, the Cheetahs took out the winning lead by a great try to springbok prop C J van der Linde to take the score to 16-9. The Cheetahs added two more penalty goals, and sealed the win with a good try to Kabamba Floors in the last moments of the game. A well deserved win.

Of note, Schalk Burger made his comeback in the Super 14 proper since his devastating neck injury last year. The Africans will be glad that he is back, he makes a huge difference to the forward pack, and their competitiveness at the break down. However, his yellow card for a late and dangerous tackle (most out of character) was deserved and he spent 10 minutes in the firts half cooling his jets. He'll want to work on that area of the game.

So, that's round one done and dusted. All I can say is that I am so glad that Rugby is back, and Super Rugby is proving to be quite interesting this year without the key All Black players being available for the New Zealand franchises. This is proving to be making a difference to the New Zealand sides, and it will be whomever can overcome this problem the best that will still be in it at the end of the season. The teams playing the New Zealand franchises early on will be thankful for the opportunity to rack up some early points.