Well, the Super Rugby Trans Tasman competition is now officially kicked off as the Highlanders wrestle the defending Super Rugby AU champions the Reds (Who had lost James O'Connor midway through the game with an HIA & hadn't recovered following their success of winning the Super Rugby AU title against the Brumbies on their home turf at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane) at Forsyth Barr Stadium in the opening match followed by the Hurricanes who took top honors in a high scoring affair against the Waratahs at the SCG in Sydney despite losing Hurricanes first-five eighth Ruben Love in the 1st half with a head knock a night before the reigning Super Rugby Aotearoa champions the Crusaders had a close shave against the Brumbies at Orangetheory Stadium with the match had nearly ended in a draw (The Crusaders conceded both late tries from both fullback Tom Banks & Number 8 Rob Valentini after reserve Crusaders halfback Ere Enari who got yellow carded during the match when they found the competitive edge (After missing out a big opportunity to defend the Super Rugby AU championship against the Reds in Brisbane) when they had a tremendous fightback to put them back into the game before the first five for the Brumbies, Noah Lolesio, had a chance to draw the game but the conversion attempt went wide as the Crusaders come away with a 2 point win) then the Blues had a masterclass of their own as they demolish the Rebels at AAMI Park in Melbourne (Including both Blues players scoring doubles from both Hoskins Sotutu & Akira Ioane but the match will always be remembered when Rebels winger Marika Koroibete made a monstrous rugby league style big hit on Blues prop forward Nepo Laulala who got injured but has been ruled out due to an ankle problem for the match against the Waratahs in Auckland) before the Chiefs narrowly escaped defeat after 2 yellows (Both Anton Lienert-Brown & Luke Jacobson) & a red (It was Jacobson who got sent off after a second yellow card offence for not rolling away (And it was one of Jacobson's teammates Lachlan Boshier legitimately turned the ball over but Jacobson wasn't rolling away before referee Damon Murphy had no choice but to yellow card Jacobson again then send him off the field with a red card for the remainder of the match) against the Western Force (Who had the chance to win the game after a late try with a kick to come before Western Force first five Domingo Miotti had attempted to finish the Chiefs off with a match winning conversion but it had been missed just like Lolesio did as the Chiefs manage to hang on in the end as they took victory by a whisker) at HBF Park in Perth.
And here is the list of round 2 matches being played in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman of 2021 (And it's a must win situation for these Aussie sides who want to remain in contention for the final after the Kiwi teams have clean-swept round 1 (They did that before in 2017 when the Kiwi teams have beaten every Aussie side in Super Rugby) of the inaugural Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition (And the New Zealand sides are now 5 & 0 against Australian opposition after the completion of the opening round):
Hurricanes Vs Rebels: Sky Stadium, Wellington
Force Vs Highlanders: HBF Park, Perth
Blues Vs Waratahs: Eden Park, Auckland
Chiefs Vs Brumbies: FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton
& Reds Vs Crusaders: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
And finally my 1st impressions of Super Rugby Trans Tasman? Well believe me because that was exhilarating.
So that is my 417th blog of the year 2021 (MMXXI) & my 37th of this year.
P.S. And we have just heard that Owen Franks is returning home next year after being signed by the Hurricanes for the upcoming 2022 Super Rugby season (It will feature 5 Australian (Brumbies, Rebels, Reds, Waratahs & Western Force) & 5 New Zealand franchises (Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders & Hurricanes) + 2 new teams including the Fijian Drua which previously played in the now defunct Australian NRC competition & Moana Pasifika (Formed last year which is a modern day iteration of the Pacific Islanders rugby team which participated from 2004 to 2008) but I now remember All Black, Highlanders & Manawatu halfback Aaron Smith doing a column on a New Zealand rugby magazine that Toulouse & French halfback Antoine Dupont is now his main rival (And the reason why he hates him because of the new age rivalry between the 2 players) in the lead up in the 2023 Rugby World Cup in 2 years time where the AB's (Who have never been beaten in pool play) will play hosts France (Who are establishing a new breed of rugby players by injecting new blood to become world beaters (Players like Mathieu Jalibert for example) as well as finding French rugby union's equivalent of football's Kylian Mbappe) in the opening match of RWC 2023 but will there be a new French revolution when they host the tournament come 2 years time? We'll see but I like the William Webb Ellis trophy return to New Zealand once & for all just like the South Africans did at the last RWC in Japan in 2019) in the opening match of the tournament (The winner of that pool will face either Ireland or Scotland in the quarterfinal but whoever loses against France (Who have never won a Rugby World Cup title before but came so close on 3 occasions (Against New Zealand twice in 1987 & 2011, both at Eden Park in Auckland & the Wallabies once in 1999 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff) in pool play will play the defending world champions South Africa (Who have never lost a RWC final after owning both the All Blacks once in 1995 on home turf at Ellis Park in Johannesburg & England twice in 2007 at the Stade de France in St-Denis & at the last tournament in 2019 (Well, I wonder Rassie Erasmus had chosen the right players on their successful road to the title but if you're going to win the Rugby World Cup, you have got to pick the right players just like Erasmus did) but have never conceded a single try in the final & of course South Africa finally scored the 1st tries at a Rugby World Cup final in 2019 through both Springbok wingers, Makazole Mapimpi followed by Cheslin Kolbe & are 3 time winners along with the All Blacks on 1st equal with most Rugby World Cups won as well as the Springboks have ended a 12 year wait of winning a RWC title in 2019 after New Zealand dominated both the 2011 & 2015 tournaments) at the International Stadium in Yokohama but the Springboks worst result at a Rugby World Cup was in both 2003 against the AB's in which they lost (The memorable moments in that match including Carlos Spencer's through the legs pass to Joe Rokocoko in which Rokocoko scored that try & the late Jerry Collins's thumping hit on Springbok Thinus Delport that sent the world flying (But 1st it was Brian 'The Chiropractor' Lima's massive hit on Springbok first-five Derick Hougaard in that infamous huge tackle (One of the best crunching tackles of the 2003 tournament so far) during a pool match between Samoa & South Africa) in the quarterfinal at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne (But the South Africans had to sack their coach Rudolf Straeuli in the aftermath of camp steel wire where the Springbok players were shockingly had been prepared in order to toughen up before the 2003 RWC) & in 2011 when they lost to Australia (The nation that the Boks 1st met & beat them in 1995 before the Wallabies out muscled the South Africans (Who were the reigning world champs at the time) in the semifinal 4 years later in 1999 the next time they met (Including a drop goal from Stephen 'Bernie' Larkham (Who was trying to do a Jannie de Beer since de Beer kicked a record 5 drop goals against England in the quarterfinal) that put Australia through to the final (And in the famous words of former Welsh rugby player John Taylor in commentary 'And Larkham has de Beered de Beer') a day before France had an incredible comeback win which was labelled as an upset against the All Blacks in the other semifinal) in the quarterfinal stage at Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington under controversial circumstances by New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence (Who retired from refereeing in 2012 (He is now the referees boss for New Zealand Rugby who was hated by the people of South Africa so much) after a dreadful refereeing performance knocked South Africa out of the 2011 Rugby World Cup (Despite dominating possession) in which he freezes & forgets to blow his whistle just like South African referee Craig Joubert did in 2015 when he controversially awarded a penalty to the Wallabies (Moments before Bernard Foley (Who had a clutch moment) successfully nailed a penalty goal attempt in the dying seconds to put them through to the semi) during the quarterfinal against Scotland (Who I thought that the scrum should be awarded instead to Australia) which robbed Scotland's hopes of reaching the semifinal & English referee Wayne Barnes in the quarterfinal between the All Blacks & France in 2007 (The last time France had defeated New Zealand (Who would not lose a match at a RWC (It was an unbeaten stretch of 19 games (17 consecutive victories (Against Tonga, Japan, France & Canada in the pools, Argentina in the quarterfinal, Australia in the semifinal & France in the final in 2011 as well as Argentina, Namibia, Georgia & Tonga in the pools, France in the quarterfinal, South Africa in the semifinal & Australia in the final in 2015 & against South Africa, Canada & Namibia in the pools in 2019 + a draw against Italy in the pools due to the match being called off because of a typhoon in Japan & a win against Ireland in the quarterfinal) + 2 Rugby World Cup triumphs in 2011 & 2015 to add to our success in 1987) until 2019 in which a strong England side coached by Australian Eddie Jones (Former Brumbies, Australia & Japan coach), stunned them in the semifinal) at a RWC) in which he failed to go upstairs to have a look at the forward pass in the lead up to the try scored by France (Who sent the AB's packing in what was our worst ever result at the Rugby World Cup in 2007 which was the quarterfinal stage) then award the scrum to the All Blacks).
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