Super Rugby 2017

The Sharks are rapidly degrading, overeager beavers. They need to regroup, otherwise the Lions may start picking them apart.
 
Start of the season I would have been brimming with "It's all a show so we can save our best for the semi's" ........ the grizzled Sharks fans know better and know that it will be more of the same in the semi's
 
Sharks has been dishing up this type of rugby for the last how many seasons. Every season we have hope and there is promises that it will go better. Serious changes needed somewhere. Hopefully it will come right again some time in the future......
 
Well done Lions, hopefully they can go all the way. It will be tough against NZ, but we can only hope.
 
So, the knock out run-in for the Lions (as long as we keep winning) is the Sharks next week and then probably the Canes the following week.
The QF2 & QF3 run-in looks a little more complicated 'tho. Crusaders/Highlanders, Stormers/Chiefs... A lot could happen before these teams even get to the semi.
 
Qualifiers

Qualifier 1 – Lions v Sharks at Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Qualifier 2 – Crusaders v Highlanders at AMI Stadium, Christcurch
Qualifier 3 – Stormers v Chiefs at DHL Newlands, Cape Town
Qualifier 4 – Brumbies v Hurricanes GIO Stadium, Canberra

Semi-finals

Semi-final 1 – Higher-ranked winner from QFs 1 and 4 v Lower-ranked winner from QFs 1 and 4
Semi-final 2 – Higher-ranked winner from QFs 2 and 3 v Lower-ranked winner from QFs 2 and 3

Final

Higher-ranked semi-final winner v Lower-ranked semi-final winner
 
DanDango said:
Qualifiers

Qualifier 1 – Lions v Sharks at Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Qualifier 2 – Crusaders v Highlanders at AMI Stadium, Christcurch
Qualifier 3 – Stormers v Chiefs at DHL Newlands, Cape Town
Qualifier 4 – Brumbies v Hurricanes GIO Stadium, Canberra

Semi-finals

Semi-final 1 – Higher-ranked winner from QFs 1 and 4 v Lower-ranked winner from QFs 1 and 4
Semi-final 2 – Higher-ranked winner from QFs 2 and 3 v Lower-ranked winner from QFs 2 and 3

Final

Higher-ranked semi-final winner v Lower-ranked semi-final winner
Click to expand...

Nice, I bought tickets 2 weeks ago for the Qualifiers without knowing who we'll be playing. :)
 
I see that the Sunwolves roster is without players, no signings entering 2018. However, it seems that many current national team players will be ‘negotiated’ into playing with the Sunwolves under a new centralised contracting program. This will mean that the JRFU won’t have to rely on the Top League to upkeep their own player base signed into the Sunwolves squad. I don’t know how this will work, because the JRFU needs the Top League to supply them with players, maybe there will be some agreement and more cumulative money involved as the Sunwolves are paid peanuts to play Super Rugby.

Jamie Joseph has also organised that Sunwolves’ assistant coach, Atsushi Tanabe, to gain more coaching experience by assisting the Southland Stags in the Mitre 10 Cup. This is dubbed a pro development exercise, overall this will improve the Sunwolves.
 
The Japanese national side should be forced to play for the Sunwolves, in a nice way. It's the only way I see them staying in as it's an absolute joke to have them in.
 
theratman said:
The Japanese national side should be forced to play for the Sunwolves, in a nice way. It's the only way I see them staying in as it's an absolute joke to have them in.
Click to expand...

Apparently, there is a rumour abound that the JRFU had been served with an ultimatum by SANZAAR to improve or being chucked out. They were allegedly served this when they concluded with their tour to SA. Then they went on to beat the Blues… Next year seems to be their last year in the competition going by this rumour, they will need to win at least six games to secure some interest in keeping them in the competition.

I read up on a suggestion to sell the Sunwolves to a pro sporting organisation in Japan to improve where needed. The other issue is their touring schedule, Singapore must be chucked out as it is anyway an empty playground in my opinion, but I don’t know how they will go about solving the travelling plan.

Like us, they will also need a coaching indaba to instil unity amongst the Top League and JRFU, but there is little chance that the Top League will be entertained by such an idea. Besides, these Sunwolves must already return to their clubs to participate in the Top League 2017/18 series and then only have 4 weeks to return to Super Rugby.

They can start by contracting back Amanaki, he is a top achiever in the regular Super Rugby season and he played at the Rebels. Leitch is now open, and they need his leadership. They need Hendrik Tui to ensure depth. Then they will need the Top League to enable the better players to participate in Super Rugby. They have capable Japanese players, do whatever it takes to recruit them, make the compromise on whatever the JRFU and Top League are disagreeing on. Kosei Ono is the best #10 they have, and has never represented the national side.

Correction: Ono did represent Japan back in 2007, but was ultimetly pushed aside under John Kirwan’s coaching era in Japan, placing two Kiwis above him in selections. He played in RWC as a backup and competed in the Asia Rugby Championships against Korea and Hong Kong.

Next year, they will need to start playing rugby like they have in beating the Blues. Ignoring the Hurricanes, they played remarkedly well against the other Kiwi teams when they toured New Zealand, but they simply lacked continuity to carry it through the whole competition.

At this stage, they are doom in this competition.
 
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Breaking News - Pro14 confirmed
MORGAN PIEK
20:19 (GMT+2) Tue, 18 Jul 2017

The Toyota Cheetahs and Southern Kings inclusion into the expanded Pro12 rugby tournament is a done deal.


The tournaments organisers met in Dublin on Tuesday and it has been decided that competition will be expanded to become the Pro14 in order to accommodate the two South African franchises.

The six-year deal will benefit will an additional R102 million (£6 million) per season. All the elements of the deal have been agreed and all that remains it be done is for it to be legally ratified.

A high placed source within South African Rugby informed OFM Sport that this is indeed the case and an official announcement should be made by Wednesday (19 July 2017).

The competition which features team from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and now also South Africa will be made up of two conferences with seven teams each.

Each conference will have one team from South Africa, Scotland and Italy, and two teams each from Ireland and Wales.

The teams will play each other home and away, and will also play each team from the other conference once.

It is believed that one of the conditions is that the two South African teams must commit to continue to strengthen their sides, in order to up hold integrity of the competition and to remain competitive.

The first round of matches will kick-off on Saturday 2 September, and the final will be contest in late May 2018 at Cardiff Arms Park in Wales.

The teams that are already playing in the Pro12 are - Benetton Treviso, Cardiff Blues, Connacht, Dragons, Edinburgh, Glasgow Warriors, Leinster, Munster, Ospreys, Scarlets, Ulster and Zebre.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport
Click to expand...

https://www.ofm.co.za/article/rugby/247219/breaking-news-pro14-confirmed-#undefined.gbpl.gbpl
 
Nice little chunk of change for the Kings and the Cheetahs. I wonder if we might actually see an influx of players to these two unions now. The prospect of playing overseas (and being noticed by cash rich overseas clubs) would be a nice carrot!
 
I'm glad that the two teams found a new home. I hope they do well. It'll be interesting to see how they perform.
 
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