Aisle be Back: The bye week and the TJ Perenara’s 100th this Saturday

Ah, the joy of sitting back and watching the other Kiwi teams batter themselves.

Strictly I am not watching it as the internet here in Vanuatu is problematical right now.

But I can sense – alright, read the reports – that the Highlanders versus the Crusaders was a great derby.

It is still early of course, but the game did two things.

Obviously, it’s set up this Saturday as a battle royale at Westpac, and the chance to settle who is top dog out of the blocks in the NZ conference. Can the Landers handle two intense matches in a row, or will the Canes manage to recapture the dynamism of two weeks ago?

I won’t be picking it either way, it truly depends on which version of the teams turn up on the night.

Secondly, the Crusaders should be rueing another match gone where they couldn’t get within seven points and at least salvage a bonus point.

Since five-point bonuses through tries are going to be very rare in this conference, then the losing by less than 7 is the next best thing – short of winning.

We all know the margins will be slim in deciding qualifying order – the Canes certainly rued losing a couple of bonus points last season.

The Chiefs are still well in the hunt – and the Blues already are toying with not being in the hunt.

As for the rest, well, who can tell with the Aussies. The Reds are feeling much better under Brad the man Thorn, the Rebels have come out flying until last weekend, and the Brumbies already look off the pace. And the fifth Aussie team, the Sunwolves, are well, there to boost points differentials at this stage.

And in Africa, the Lions are already sitting pretty. Anyone looking forward to flying there for the final?

Incidentally, if you like the “under the hood” approach to nutting out games, check out Stuff’s work on what the stats actually mean.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/102417753/how-the-highlanders-win-super-rugby-matches-without-possession-or-territory

Their example looks at the Landers who win games without much possession or territory.

If you remember back to last year, there’s been international research (done by a Kiwi) that suggested the biggest predictor of success is the number of clean line breaks.

And I thought it was down to how ugly your jerseys are.

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So are Ireland the real deal?

Some handy players alright, and the coach is a clever guy.

Will that translate into World Cup success in 2019? You’d have to think they may finally give it a decent crack, and not just because of their rising talent.

I reckon the most impressive thing is that they’re handling the pressure games up north better than anyone else. And World Cups always come down to one or two crunch moments that are survived.

It doesn’t in Northern terms come any bigger than shooting for a Grand Slam at Twickenham.
And a few weeks earlier they produced an epic dropkick escape against France that the All Blacks would have been proud of.

Add in the two seriously tough matches they put on the park in Chicago and Dublin against us, and it does suggest Ireland are no longer the cliché of the Celtic berserkers who give it all for 60 minutes before losing gallantly.

It does seem the Northern nations are collectively lifting their game, which has got to be a good thing for us, given the Rugby Championship is a bit ho-hum right now.

Meanwhile, if you can work out why England are imploding, good luck. It’s not for want of money and resource, and where have we heard that tune before from them.

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Halfback TJ Perenara will join the Hurricanes 100 club on Saturday when he lines up against the Highlanders in their Investec Super Rugby clash at Westpac Stadium.

Perenara is part of a side that contains just one change to the starting side that defeated the Crusaders 29-19 in their last match with Murray Douglas replacing Vaea Fifita who has a minor shoulder injury.

Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd has also made two changes to the bench from that match with All Blacks prop Jeff Toomaga-Allen returning after being sidelined with injury.

Perenara will be the 13th Hurricanes player to reach 100 games for the Hurricane as he follows Dane Coles, Andrew Hore, Cory Jane, Ma'a Nonu, Julian Savea, Conrad Smith, Rodney So'oialo, Jeremy Thrush, Neemia Tialata, Tana Umaga, Victor Vito and Beauden Barrett who brought up the milestone against the Crusaders.

After making his debut as a replacement against the Stormers at Cape Town in 2012, Perenara has gone on to make 94 starts for the Hurricanes while he has paired 82 times with Barrett in Super Rugby.

The side is:
15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Julian Savea. 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Brad Shields (c), 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Murray Douglas, 3 Ben May, 2 Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Chris Eves. Reserves: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Fraser Armstrong, 18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 19 Michael Fatialofa, 20 Reed Prinsep, 21 Richard Judd, 22 Ihaia West, 23 Vince Aso

Kevin is a lifetime Hurricanes fan. He and his partner are on a two-year Volunteer Service Abroad posting to Vanuatu's Espiritu Santo island. He's working on a project to build a South Pacific World War 2 museum on the site of an enormous Allied base on the island. Check it out at www.southpacificwwiimuseum.com