The ACT Brumbies will not so much have to rewrite the record books as tear them to pieces and stamp the remains into the Hamilton turf if they are to deprive the Waikato Chiefs of successive Super Rugby titles this weekend.
Win or lose, today’s final will mark the end of 23,000km, three-week odyssey that has taken the Brumbies from a home playoff victory over the Central Cheetahs, through a semi-final upset of the Northern Bulls in Pretoria to the brink of a third title.
In their path stand Dave Rennie’s Waikato Chiefs, as fresh as a team can be a week after a typically bruising semi-final encounter with the Canterbury Crusaders and determined to retain the crown they won for the first time last year.
Photo: AFP
The match at the 25,000 capacity Waikato Stadium was sold out in six hours and the arena, in the heart of a city known affectionately as “the Tron,” will be no place for the faint-hearted today.
To say that precedent suggests a Chiefs win would be a major understatement.
Should the Brumbies win, they would become the first team from overseas to win any playoff match in New Zealand and the first side in 13 years to win the final outside their own country.
They would be the first to win the title after finishing outside the top two in the regular season standings and the first to triumph after winning a semi-final on another continent.
The Brumbies have lost all three of the finals they have contested away from Canberra, taking the title only on home soil in both 2001 and 2004.
“I’m under no illusions that it’s never been done before,” coach Jake White said in the flush of the victory over the Bulls in Pretoria. “But there’s a lot of things that haven’t been done by teams before and the Brumbies have done them week-in, week-out. Who knows? This is a special group of players. Two years ago no one gave us a chance.”
Two years ago, few would have predicted a Chiefs-Brumbies final at all, after the New Zealanders finished 10th and the Brumbies 13th in the standings.
Former World Cup-winning Springbok coach White has since turned things around in Canberra, while Rennie has had a more immediate impact upon his arrival in Hamilton.
Sonny Bill Williams helped them to the title last year, but the Chiefs were never even close to a one-man team and the hard-working forward pack that provided the platform for last year’s success remained for this year’s campaign.
With flyhalf Aaron Cruden’s influence growing game-by-game, the Chiefs brushed off a 43-15 hammering by the Crusaders a month ago to secure top spot in the final standings before gaining revenge over the Canterbury side last weekend.
Rennie named an unchanged side on Thursday subject to winger Lelia Masaga, who scored a stunning individual try in the 20-19 win over the Crusaders, passing a fitness test on his injured ankle.
“We are still highly motivated,” Rennie said on Thursday. “I guess the fact we have been here before gives you confidence and understanding of what to expect, and does not make it any easier. We have come up against a very good side who were very impressive at Loftus last week and have an outstanding coaching group.”
The experience of winning the title in the Brumbies camp is nine years old now and limited to evergreen flanker George Smith and revitalized winger Clyde Rathbone.
To give the Brumbies a chance, Smith will probably have to reprise his man of the match performance from last week in Pretoria, when the Brumbies became the first team to beat the Bulls in a semi-final at Loftus Versfeld.
“Little things along the way build belief and we have the momentum now,” Rathbone told ABC radio this week. “To knock over the Bulls in Pretoria has given us the belief we can go to Hamilton and do the same.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was