Okay, does anyone know if he wears a superman uniform under the jersey?
A quick check list for Richie Mo'unga after the Crusaders' pasting of the Highlanders. Kicked all the goals? Tick. Scored two tries? Tick. Threw the perfect pass to David Havili for the best try of the game? Tick. Stripped the ball clean off a Highlander who looked twice his size? Tick. Ran the game as if he was a chess master, and the other 29 on the field were his pawns? Tick. If we find out he drove the team bus to the ground then maybe he does work for the Daily Planet under the name Clark Kent during the week.
Coach killer part one
Liam Squire's shoulder charge on Whetu Douglas three minutes into the second half in Christchurch was the prelude to a nine minute, 14 point burst, that set the Crusaders on the way to their crushing win. Not being a high shot it didn't look especially dangerous, but then that's easy for me to say, given that I've never had Squire's shoulder smash into my ribs. However, it was very, very dumb, and entirely illegal.
Coach killer part two
Four minutes after Squire was in the bin, the Crusaders rolled a lineout, and somehow the Highlanders left it entirely to one poor guy, prop Dan Lienert-Brown, to somehow stop it. Props, as I've often mentioned, can usually do anything, but halting eight rampaging Crusader forwards single handed proved a step too far. Just to rub it in for Squire and his coach, Aaron Mauger, it was Douglas who scored the try.
It'll feel like a final
What a brilliant match we should see in Christchurch when the Canes travel to play the Crusaders. Here are two teams whose huge confidence in their own attacking skills is fully justified. The Canes stuttered in the second half as they beat the Bulls 35-28 in Wellington, but the try Salesi Rayasi scored in the 26th minute, off a quick lineout throw by Beauden Barrett, and a dash by TJ Perenara, was a wonderful example of fearless free thinking, aligned with massive natural gifts.
Worth buying a ticket for this match-up alone
Handre Pollard is a terrific goalkicker, but only a workmanlike first-five. Owen Farrell, the English discovered, has temperament problems (and struggles to tackle legally). Gareth Anscombe is very good, but he wouldn't make the current All Black squad. Which means that when Beauden Barrett and Richie Mo'unga face each other in Christchurch, it's a contest between the two best first-fives in the world. The Crusaders have countered Barrett in recent years by having their backs tread a knife edge on defence, moving up close to the scrum or breakdown, and staying disciplined enough out wide to deal with kicks. "We wanted to change the picture he was seeing," said a Crusader staffer. "Trying to get him to step back in, and then, when he looked up, the picture he saw gave him few options. No kick space, and no room to run." How both teams will work to vary that scenario may decide next Saturday's game.
I'm almost as disappointed as that sharemilker in Motumaoho
I really thought the Chiefs' form had lifted so much that in Buenos Aires they'd beat a Jaguares team who instead earned their 21-16 victory by playing with huge intensity for every minute. A measure of their excellence was the way they closed down the brilliant Anton Lienert-Brown. Their defenders kept tabs on him and pounced the way a pack of feral cats would corner a mouse.
You couldn't blame the stars for not performing
Brad Weber, whose form must have surely propelled him into the No. 2 halfback slot for the World Cup behind Aaron Smith, was as dangerous as ever against the Jaguares, and Angus Ta'avao, with the exception of one knock on, was dynamite around the field, and the rock the Jaguares' eight struggled with at scrum time. So what went wrong? Losing Jack Debreczeni with a groin injury didn't help. He's been the calmest head they've had at first-five since Aaron Cruden left. But the fact, one I foolishly overlooked, was that the Jaguares are basically the Pumas. Fourteen of their starting 15 are test players. That experience counted as they clawed their way back from being 16-8 down with 30 minutes to go.
A few words for Israel Folau
I don't know you, so at heart you may be a good guy. But asking for crowdfunding is behaving like a self-centred, self-righteous, self-pitying disgrace.
Finally a form XV from the weekend.
Fullback: David Havili (Crusaders).
Right wing: Ben Lam (Hurricanes).
Centre: Jack Goodhue (Crusaders).
Second-five: Ryan Crotty (Crusaders).
First-five: Richie Mo'unga (Crusaders).
Halfback: Brad Weber (Chiefs).
No.8: Kieran Read (Crusaders).
Flanker: Sam Cane (Chiefs).
Flanker: Ardie Savea (Hurricanes)
Lock: Sam Whitelock (Crusaders).
Lock: Brodie Retallick (Chiefs).
Flanker: Whetu Douglas (Crusaders).
Tighthead prop: Angus Ta'avao (Chiefs).
Hooker: Dane Coles (Hurricanes).
Loosehead prop: Joe Moody (Crusaders).
Reserves: George Bridge (Crusaders), Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes), Aaron Smith (Highlanders), Matt Todd (Crusaders), Scott Barrett (Crusaders), Owen Franks (Crusaders), Atu Moli (Chiefs), Nathan Harris (Chiefs).
