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Recent history suggests you’ll want to watch the Super Rugby playoffs this weekend
By
Jamie Wall
While a lot of the talk about the Super Rugby playoffs has been the annual rehash about how unfair they are, it’s worth remembering something else about the four match ups we’ll being seeing this weekend – they’re all historically likely to be incredibly good games.
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Let’s have a look at the highlights from the recent past to get a gauge on what we can expect this weekend:
Brumbies v Hurricanes
You can actually go all the way back to the early days of Super Rugby to find a parallel with the first of the playoffs. In the 1997 semi final there was a Barrett starting for the Hurricanes – yes, that’s Beauden and Jordie’s dad Kevin at blindside flanker. Fast forward 21 years to the last time the Brumbies played the Canes and both of the Barrett boys starred in a 56-21 win in Napier. OK, it was a blow out, but the Brumbies managed to produce one of the tries of the season to baby-face halfback Joe Powell. Hurricane centre Vince Aso ran in a hat-trick that night, however they’ll have to do without him in this game because he’s out injured.
Crusaders v Highlanders
The Southern Classic has probably been the most appointment worthy viewing fixture of Super Rugby in recent years (at last if you’re a Crusaders fan with the ability to withstand cardiac arrest), and it only takes a look back to the 2015 game in Dunedin to find overwhelming evidence of that. That night the Crusaders triumphed 32-30, but it all came down to the last play of the game, when a controversial TMO decision disallowed a Patrick Osborne try. The two sides played another couple of barnburners this season, firstly with the Crusaders coming back from a heavy deficit to win in round 2, then Mitchell Hunt broke the Highlanders’ hearts in round 15 with an unplanned, off balance, but still perfect drop goal.
Lions v Sharks
Two of the traditional big dogs of South African rugby go at each other again in Johannesburg for the second time in a week. Admittedly, the last game wasn’t one that will stick in the memory – mainly because the Sharks were more than happy to lose that fixture, with the result of a win being a trip to Christchurch to face the Crusaders. Things were different back in round 6, when both teams ran it up and down the field in a game that eventually ended 34-29 to the Lions. The match wasn’t sealed until the dying stages, when Jaco Kriel latched onto a good kick return to score the winner in the corner.
Chiefs v Stormers
If people didn’t know who Dillyn Leyds was before the Stormers beat the Chiefs back in round 7, they certainly did after he threw the most outrageous try assist of the year in that game. It also included another try of the year candidate when Toni Pulu finished off a 95 metre move that Damian McKenzie started after fielding a pretty good downfield kick. McKenzie even set up Pulu for another memorable score in a first half that featured 42 points. This isn’t the only recent high scoring affair between the two teams, back in 2013 they went down to the wire in Cape Town – the Stormers won that one too, 36-34.
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