Super Rugby was full of surprises in 2014; here are just five of them.
5. The Reds and the Cheetahs would have such a poor seasons
The Reds had a good record in the last four years having won the competition in 2011 and finishing either fifth or sixth in the other three years.
Their fall to 13th place was unexpected.
They started the season well enough and surprised the Brumbies with their ardour up front in Canberra. They lost the next game against a rampant Waratahs team in Sydney, but that was looked upon as a bad day at the office. When they beat the Cheetahs in their next match, a try-fest orchestrated by ringmaster Quade Cooper, things were picking up despite some bad discipline and missed chances.
After three games they were in sixth place, but that was as good as it got for the Reds who later had a run of six losses which had them last. This streak from hell ended with a 57-29 thrashing from the Crusaders and a loss to eventual wooden-spooners, the Rebels—both at home.
Queensland Reds – had a streak from hell
Before their last game, against arch-enemies the Waratahs, the Reds sent out emails to 250 ex-Reds inviting them to attend training to inspire the team for the grudge match.
One of the recipients was Stan Pilecki, the uncompromising hard man of the the 1970’s and 80’s after whom the Queensland Reds’ best-and-fairest medal is named. He sent his own email to the ex-Reds, probably using the email addresses attached to the one he received. He suggested that they show up at training to remind the Reds of what playing for Queensland should be all about.
Pilecki wrote:
I find it hard to support a team that doesn’t support itself. I was embarrassed and disgusted with the efforts shown on Saturday.
I don’t mind losing as long as you try to win … have a go! Not too many guys had a go on Saturday. They showed little pride in the jersey.
To be fair to the Reds they had some some significant injuries in 2014.
Gill, Quirk, Feauai-Sautia, Toua, Daley, Cooper and Turner were all out for six weeks or more, and some of them missed the rest of the season. The butcher’s bill in the last few games was particularly harsh and accounted for seven players including Will Genia who had been coming back to some form.
But even taking into account the inexperience of some of the substitutes, it didn’t explain the bad discipline in some games, nor what looked like from the armchair, poor ticker. Also there didn’t seem to be game plans in place that suited the skill profile of the players who were fit to play.
The Reds will have to re-build. It looks a daunting task but they were also 13th in 2009 yet they won the chockies in 2011.
The Cheetahs were expected to do well this year after they won ten games to finish sixth in 2013, their best result ever. In doing so with a brave attacking style they became the favourite Saffer team of non-South Africans.
Although they lost narrowly to the Brumbies in the Canberra qualifying final in 2013 you could see the promise for 2014.
Instead of confirming their promise this year the Cheetahs had a disastrous season. They lost all four games on their overseas tour; in fact they lost all of their four conference away games as well. They got all their four wins at home though it should have been five because they were 24 points ahead of the Chiefs at half time—but let them draw the match in front of their home crowd.
Cheetahs fans didn’t get much joy this year
That haphazard performance was typical of their rugby in 2014.
It was a big drop in standards to go from 6th to 14th and it was mainly because of their defence. They shipped 527 points which was even worse than the Reds on 493.
Although the Cheetahs had bad luck with injuries, especially in the backrow, coach Naka Drotské had better get his act together otherwise his long tenure at the Cheetahs could be over.
It’s not as though they didn’t have a lot of good players in their side in 2014, including a good share of current Springboks. Wizard Willie le Roux was one of those but Drotske can’t rely on him to do everything and cover up deficiencies elsewhere.
