Brumbies vs the Chiefs final

Friday, 2 August 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The final leg of the Carlton International Sevens will be worked off on Friday and Saturday. The refurbished race course will taste its first major event and given the feverish activity, it appears that some finishing touches are still to be done. The playing surface has been completed sometime back and appeared to be in pristine condition. I am not sure that rugby fans are willing to sacrifice a Friday to watch all of the games, with the kick off scheduled for the morning.

For those that are not too hot on sevens rugby, the Super Rugby Final will be on Saturday as the Brumbies battle the Chiefs. In a sense it will be a mini Bledisloe Cup, when these two teams meet. The styles of play by the southern hemisphere teams are quite similar, and one might argue that the NZ teams are clinically more physical. The super rugby season saw a total of 124 games and it eventually boils down to the two of the three conference winners. The interest in the games throughout the season has been fantastic and reports have it that 25,000 tickets had been snapped up by Wednesday afternoon. The Aussies and the New Zealanders take their sports very seriously, although the Aussies have had a rather torrid season in both rugby and cricket. The last time that the two sides met it was a single score that separated the two teams as the Chiefs beat the Brumbies in a last gasp event. The Chiefs are known to play an expansive and high tempo game whilst the Brumbies had been more of a solid defensive unit relishing a breakdown situation that George Smith will feed on like a vulture. They say that a vulture is a patient bird and strikes at the opportune moment scavenging at will and leaving only the bones behind as stark reminder that it was there. However one must not underestimate the Brumbies’ three quarters who have time and again proven to be great opportunists when it comes to feeding off broken play. The Chiefs played the game of their lives last week in their systematic, clinical and workman like effort as they dismantled the Crusaders killer machine. Aaron Cruden had the better of his more established opposite number and for All Black rugby that augurs well in the quality of the bench strength. Cruden’s intercept try last week was crucial, whilst it may seem to a lot of people as yet another flash in the pan opportunist effort, listening to him at a press conference will make you realise that it was well thought out and proved to be a major turning point in a game. In the corporate world occasionally one comes across a brilliant piece of counter attack, maybe in advertising as it takes the game away from the opposition, very much against the run of play. The set pieces will be a contest to watch and for the connoisseurs of rugby, the front row battle will be intense. The new scrumming laws are to be in effect for the Bledisloe cup, and reports have it that the Chiefs were practicing with the All Blacks in a build up to this game. In every final, there are players who take it upon themselves to be noticed. Whilst much is expected of the usual brigade of Cruden, Toomua, Jesse Mogg, Mowen etc, we are bound to see a new star stepping up to the plate. It will be a brave pundit who will be willing to put his money down on one team, and I will sit back and enjoy the game without the pressure of wishing that my team wins. (The writer can be reached via [email protected].)