Originally posted by Crowley
The only "bad form" I can see is that of the 6 Nations teams.
I would even play any 6 Nations team against the top Super 14 teams at the moment.
Bit of a mixed bag this season in the Super 14. I'm sure the Bulls or even the Chiefs at present may do well but I don;t share your confidence this season. We've lost a lot of depth this season to overseas. Though a lot are clambering to come back and are begging for dispensation to return to the NZRU.
Super rugby changed the boundaries and swapped player around. I had been a North Harbour fan since Buck Shelfords days.. never missed a game Then along came super rugby and amalgamated them with Northland and Waikato which is like trying to amalgamate SA with NZ. We hated Waikato at that stage and our local stadium was half empty at the early super games.
Now many players are swapped around on transfers each season people have got used to the regional rugby. I even moved to Waikato (has taken 9 years to become a supported of the Chiefs) Chiefs still have a core of Waikato guys and have staunch Waikato unit Ian Foster at the helm..they are show some new form.
A few years back we saw a dominant Canterbury era and a dominant Auckland era.. those teams would have beaten any team anywhere international or not. I was at the Auckland Lions game in 83...hahaha Auckland out muscled them, Smoking Joe Stanley dominated the midfield and debutante Grant Fox kept them back with pin point 60m punts. All class.
I wish Super Rugby would go away. Its only for money and TV and it's driving the fans away from rugby in their droves. Talkback Radio is full of league and disgust at whats happened to rugby, how the bosses and commercialism have stuffed it up. The remaining passion here is in the rural clubs. They still support their home players all the way through the ranks but beg for the emphasis to be put back on our National Provincial rugby. NZ rugby has gone way way way down hill thanks to super dooper rugby.