Yes well...I don't really want to remember Super 12 2003 - at ALL!

I should have known when I saw the Auckland Blues annihilate the Queensland Reds at a pre-season 'friendly' at Carrara that my beloved Reds were going to be slow starters yet again in the yearly comp! I love the Brumbies though, and they bumbled their way through to the semis - but then got whipped by the Blues boys in the semi 42-21.. argh! The Super 12 gets boring when it's dominated by one country's teams. The Kiwis have more than enough teams in the comp though. Aren't they the ones who spat chups when the Aussies wanted to add another team or two? Anyway, the other semi saw the Crusaders cruise to victory over the Hurricans 39-16. I like the Hurricanes - and what a top season they had. Too bad they didn't whack the Crusaders off the paddock. Oh well, there's always next year. Tahna Umaga is such a fantastic player - you'd love to see him in a winning Super 12 team. psst - Tahna maybe you need to swap teams?

I should take nothing away from the Auckland Blues though (Kiwis please note - just because your side doesn't always win you 'can' be gracious losers) they had an awesome season of Super 12 and well and truely deserved to win the title. And Carlos Spencer - what a man! Cool as a cucumber :)

As you can see there's not much in the archives for Super 12 - I was too disgusted with the Aussie team's performances most of the time to bring myself to write anything. So there!

Super 12 2003 Round 2 Roundup

The Waratahs can take a bow after a fantastic win over the Cats at Free State Stadium in South Africa. Always difficult to win when away, the Waratahs were a slick polished machine - I love it when they play like that! Mat Rogers scored a couple of tries, and David Lyons, Duncan McRae, Rocky Elsom and Adam Freier each scored one for the Waratahs as well. Matt Burke kicked a couple over the posts, and it was all good for the team from New South Wales finishing 12 points ahead of the Cats 48-36. Good stuff guys!

Over in Dunedin the Highlanders were in great form Friday night thumping the Stormers 41-17. In confess I didn't get to see much of this game as I was out on the paddock training my Under 10s.. I peeked a look at half time though and the scoreline was 22-0 in favour of the Highlanders! Wonder if 2003 will be their year? I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them there on Super 12 Grand Final Day!

Still in the shakey isles, in Hamilton the Blues managed to win over the Chiefs 20-27. The win was made better by the fact that the Blues played most of the game with only 14 players when their lock Troy Flavell got sent off. Four tries by the Blues gave them a bonus point and they've moved to the top of the table after this week. Wonder how they feel about that down in the South Island? I can imagine!

The poor old Hurricanes didn't go too well though, and their loss to the Bulls was somewhat historic given that it was the first Super 12 win for the Bulls outside of South Africa. The dream player for the Bulls was Louis Koen - man can that guy kick!! Despite the New Zealand commentary team doing their best to put the mockers on him, Koen managed to slot 9 from 10 kicks through the goal posts. Sweet! For the Hurricanes, Umaga put in a good solid performance once again, and it'd be really good to see the Hurricanes be able to put it all together on the day. Joost van der Westhuizen, Bulls captain, was obviously delighted with the win post-match, and so he should have been. Top effort Bulls!

Yes, well that's the good news out of the way... now to my two favourite teams' results. Sadly, it isn't good! In South Africa, my beloved Brumbies were downed well and truely by the Sharks. Congratulations to the sharks for their 25-17 win, but Brumbies..boys boys boys! What were you thinking out there? No one minds your team losing if they've played their best, but I don't think anyone would be of the opinion that the Brumbies played their normal game on this occasion. Maybe we've all come to expect a great deal from the Brumbies though, and it's a bit of a shock when they don't play well.

And the last match to talk about is my home team, the Queensland Reds and their game over at Jade Stadium in Christchurch against the Crusaders. I don't really want to talk about this game... 34-6 to the Crusaders. I've been to Jade Stadium and the atmosphere is awesome, the Crusaders are very difficult to beat on that ground. That said, the scoreline didn't really reflect the quality of the game. The Reds needed to capitalise on some of the opportunities they had - but full marks to the reigning champs, they weren't about to allow the Reds to do that, and I guess that's why they are the Super 12 champions. Well that's it for week 2 - I'm quietly confident that the Aussie teams will post better results in Round 3. Optimistic? Maybe - but that's half the fun of Super 12 ;)

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