Three Points
Brumbies confident in attacking blueprint for Blues
Brett McKay
April 8, 2015
The Brumbies looked good when Christian Leali'ifano broke the Cheetahs' defence © Getty Images
Enlarge

Eight rounds into the Super Rugby season, and the leading New Zealand teams look stronger and stronger overall while the Lions' win over the Bulls coupled with losses for the Sharks and Stormers means that South African quartet are separated by just two points. And it's around about now that we start seeing teams begin their run toward the finals. The Crusaders had four wins and three losses after seven games last year - the same as this season - and they posted seven wins from their next nine games to take the NZ conference by seven points. Here are a few things that stood out in Round 8 to inform your thoughts and tipping for Round 9.

Brumbies 20-3 Cheetahs (Australia only)
%]

Brumbies rue the missed opportunities

Having missed the finals due to bonus points tallies several times in the past, you would think the Brumbies would be well aware of the need to cash in on such opportunities when they arise. And it really looked as if scoreboard operators at GIO Stadium in Canberra were in for a big night when Christian Leali'ifano burst through some sorry Cheetahs defence in just the fourth minute on Saturday night. But it didn't quite work out that way.

The Brumbies are now six points clear of the Waratahs atop the Australian conference, and they sit second overall, but they have a tough month ahead with fixtures against the Blues in Auckland this weekend and consecutive home games against Melbourne Rebels, the Highlanders before heading to Africa. Bonus points will be hard to come by in those four games, adding even more pain to the chances that got away against the Cheetahs.

Fortunately, the match against the Cheetahs might just have been the perfect preparation for the coming fixture against the equally unpredictable Blues in the New Zealand franchise's first game of the year at Eden Park. The Brumbies can be positive in knowing their attacking blueprint was enough to bust open the South Africans' defence, and was only a bit of "panic" - or maybe even over-enthusiasm - saw passes pushed and plays undone. And the Brumbies certainly shouldn't be too down on themselves, for it's better to be butchering point-scoring opportunities than to have created no such opportunities in the first place. If the Brumbies win well against the Blues, they might do so just be because they marked themselves hard after the Cheetahs win.

Did Queensland suspend James Horwill for an extra week?

Rebels 23-18 Reds (Australia only)
%]

An interesting move from Queensland over the weekend, electing to leave suspended former skipper James Horwill out of the tour squad to South Africa; Horwill would have been eligible for the second game of their tour after serving his one-week ban for a swinging arm. Instead of taking Horwill on tour for two must-win games, against the Bulls in Pretoria and the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, the Reds have elected to rely on three locks with 21 Super Rugby games between them - Marco Kotze and Tom Murday both debuted this season, while Dave McDuling made his starting debut in Round 1 - and Rob Simmons in his first matches since November.

In the Reds' squad announcement statement, coach Richard Graham said: "With such a short turnaround between Friday's game and our trip to Johannesburg, it was important to make quick decisions around who we need in the squad - so we could get straight into uninterrupted preparation for next week's clash against the Bulls. For that reason, I thought it was important to bring in cover for James Horwill for at least the first week of the tour as we need a full complement of players to select from."

And, of course, he would want a full squad to select from for the first game. But what about the second game? Victor Matfield might be absent as he undergoes knee surgery but Graham was not to know that at the time of naming his squad, but Loftus Versfeld is still pretty intimidating as a venue? Are we to assume the Reds don't think they need Horwill's 108 Super Rugby and 58 Test cap's worth of experience? It's worth noting that Horwill, as in his red card game in Round 1, was again one of the Reds' best when he received his marching orders in Melbourne.

And this is why I can't help but wonder if there's more to his being left at home? At a time where the Reds need their best players to contribute on and off the park, Horwill being effectively suspended for a second week seems a strange decision even if the Reds can justify looking towards the 2016 campaign he will miss after joining Harlequins in England.

Players on a warning after card madness in Durban

We touched on this in the Scrum5 podcast this week, considering the four crazy minutes before half-time in the Sharks-Crusaders game in Durban on Saturday. To recap quickly, the Crusaders lost prop Nepo Laulala in the 36th minute and centre Kieron Fonotia two minutes later to yellow cards in open-and-shut cases of no-arm tackles. Giant winger Nemani Nadoloi booted the ball downfield, in the very next minute, after referee Stuart Berry had blown a penalty, and found himself joining his team-mates in the naughty chair. Not content to take advantage of the three-man overlap, Sharks flanker Jean Deysel then earned a red card on the stroke of half-time for one of the more blatant and disgraceful knees to the head that I can recall. He's been handed a seven-week suspension, and rightly so.

Sharks 10-52 Crusaders (Australia only)
%]

So … does it feel like there have been more cards this season to you, too?

The Super Rugby average of 0.87 yellow cards per game in 2015 is only slightly higher than the 0.86 yellows per game across the entire 2014 season. But we've had seven red cards dished out in the first eight rounds compared with four in the 2014 campaign.

While it's not clear if the increase in cards is the result of any directive from above, it's certainly clear that all four at Kings Park were well warranted. It's more a case that players who infringed previously, and infringed continually, perhaps because they felt they were unlikely to concede more than a penalty. And I'd especially like to see more scrutiny on players kicking the ball away after penalties have been handed out, as Nadolo did. This has been creeping into the game in recent years, and it hasn't been punished anywhere near as much as it should have been.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.