Preview: Super Rugby - Round Two, Part One

THE RETURN OF BIG BAD BRAD: Bradley Carnegie Thorn will return to Dunedin on Friday with a mission on his mind.

Big Bad Brad played 16 times for the Highlanders, but on Friday he is the head coach of the Reds.

The legendary double international – Rugby Union and Rugby League – will hope to turn around the fortunes of the Brisbane-based, after a disappointing first season in charge.

And he has to start his 2019 campaign in Dunedin, where he played in 2013 and 2014 and having been born in the region.

The Reds had a bye in Week One and will be up against a Highlanders team that edged the Chiefs last week.

The other matches in Part One of our preview are the early fixtures on Saturday – the Sunwolves hosting the Waratahs in Tokyo and the Crusaders at home to the Hurricanes in a big New Zealand derby.

We look at the first three matches of the weekend!

Friday, February 22:

Highlanders v Reds
(Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin – kick-off: 19.35; 16.35 Queensland time; 06.35 GMT)

Brad Thorn may have moved to Australia aged just eight, but the Mosgiel-born legend still regards it as ‘coming’ home.

Despite playing just two seasons for the Highlanders, Thorn said there is definitely ‘a feeling inside’ when he comes back.

“[There is] a familiarity,” he said ahead of Friday’s Round Two opener.

“It is nice to be back here and I will catch up with a few relatives,” the 44-year-old Reds coach said.

He described the Highlanders in Dunedin as a ‘tough prospect’, but said they “are looking forward to the occasion”.

Highlanders coach Aaron Mauger said you could clearly see Thorn’s hand in the way the Reds played in 2018.

”I think he has really transformed them,” Mauger told the Otago Daily Times.

“He made them a tough team to play against.

”They compete really hard for everything.

“That was Thorny’s style of play and transferred that into his coaching philosophy.”

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There are nine All Blacks in the Highlanders team – with Waisake Naholo top of the list of returning internationals.

All Black scrumhalf Aaron Smith, along with forwards Shannon Frizell and Jackson Hemopo will also start.

The transformation of Feao Fotuakia from overweight club prop to Super Rugby starter is the feel-good story of the Reds’ season-opener.

Fotuakia is one of three new faces in the Reds’ starting side – with Melbourne Rebels recruit Sefa Naivalu and Waratahs signing Bryce Hegarty named on the wing and at fullback.

Recent results:

2018: Highlanders won 18-15, Brisbane
2017: Highlanders won 40-17, Dunedin
2016: Reds won 28-27, Brisbane
2015: Highlanders won 20-13, Dunedin
2014: Reds won 38-31, Brisbane

Prediction: The Highlanders have won three of their last four games against the Reds, this after having lost their four games against them prior to this run. The Reds have won just one of their last four season-openers, scoring more than 20 points just once in this span. The Highlanders will be out to avoid back-to-back losses to Australian-based teams for the first time since July 2014, after a quarterfinals defeat to the Waratahs last season. The Reds were the only side to average fewer than 10 clean breaks per match last season in Super Rugby (9.5), they also averaged the fewest metres (388). Josh Ioane landed six out of six kicks for the Highlanders in Round One, only Handre Pollard (8/8) kicked more without missing on the opening weekend.

Teams:

Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith (co-captain), 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Rob Thompson, 12 Teihorangi Walden, 11 Tevita Li, 10 Josh Ioane, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Luke Whitelock (co-captain), 7 Dillon Hunt, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Josh Dickson, 4 Jackson Hemopo, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Ayden Johnstone.
Replacements: 16 Ash Dixon, 17 Daniel Lienert-Brown, 18 Siate Tokolahi, 19 Jack Whetton, 20 Marino Mikaele Tu’u, 21 Kayne Hammington, 22 Marty Banks, 23 Matt Faddes.

Reds: 15 Bryce Hegarty, 14 Chris Feauai-Sautia, 13 Jordan Petaia, 12 Samu Kerevi (captain), 11 Sefa Naivalu, 10 Hamish Stewart, 9 Moses Sorovi, 8 Caleb Timu, 7 Liam Wright, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 Feao Fotuaika.
Replacements: 16 Alex Mafi, 17 Harry Hoopert, 18 Ruan Smith, 19 Harry Hockings, 20 Fraser McReight, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Duncan Paia’aua, 23 Isaac Lucas.

Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistant referees: Nick Briant (New Zealand), James Doleman (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Saturday, February 23:

Sunwolves v Waratahs
(Prince Chichibu Stadium Tokyo – Kick-off: 13.15; 15.15 New South Wales time; 04.15 GMT)

Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson and captain Michael Hooper will both bring up their half-tons in Tokyo.

Gibson joined the Waratahs in 2013 as an assistant coach, before taking over the top job in 2016 – recently committing through until end 2020.

The long-serving Waratahs coach said he was pleased to share the milestone alongside the captain.

“Michael has developed into a world-class leader,” Gibson said.

“For me to be able to see to him grow and develop in that role has been a real privilege.

“We work in tandem and we work hard to ensure we’re aligned and heading in the right direction,” he added.

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Looking ahead to the Sunwolves clash, Hooper said another week in will be good for building the combinations.

“I know we didn’t get the first win last week,” he said of the heart-breaking 19-20 loss to the Hurricanes, adding: “But we certainly put ourselves with a chance to win it for the majority of the game with shots right there at the end.

“We are looking forward to building on a decent platform,” he added.

Gibson and Hooper will be hoping their side can bounce back from a narrow loss in round one as they head to Tokyo ahead of the Sunwolves clash.

It’s a relatively unchanged side from round one, with Kurtley Beale coming back to the starting line up at No.12, with Karmichael Hunt moving to No.13.

Previous results:

2018: Waratahs won 77-25, Sydney
2018: Waratahs won 50-29, Tokyo
2016: Waratahs won 57-12, Tokyo

Prediction: The Waratahs have never tasted defeat against the Sunwolves and have averaged 61 points per match across their three wins. The Sunwolves have won three of their last four home games, despite trailing at half-time on three occasions in this span. The Waratahs have lost three of their last five games on the road, but trailed at half-time just once in this span. The Sunwolves completed 91 percent of their tackles last week, their best ever tackle success rate in a Super Rugby fixture. The Waratahs’ Israel Folau gained 106 metres last week, the joint highest tally in Round 1 alongside Michael Collins of the Blues.

Teams:

Waratahs: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Alex Newsome, 13 Karmichael Hunt, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Curtis Rona, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Jed Holloway, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Damien Fitzpatrick, 1 Harry Johnson-Holmes.
Replacements: 16 Tolu Latu, 17 Rory O’Connor, 18 Chris Talakai, 19 Lachlan Swinton, 20 Will Miller, 21 Mitch Short, 22 Mack Mason, 23 Cam Clark/Adam Ashley-Cooper.

Sunwolves: 15 Jason Emery, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 13 Shane Gates, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Semisi Masirewa, 10 Hayden Parker, 9 Kaito Shigeno, 8 Rahboni Warren Vosayaco, 7 Ed Quirk, 6 Hendrik Tui, 5 Tom Rowe, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Hiroshi Yamashita, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Craig Millar (captain).
Relacements: 16 Atsushi Sakate, 17 Pauliasi Manu, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Awe Helu, 20 James Moore, 21 Keisuke Uchida, 22 Michael Little, 23 Rikiya Matsuda.

Referee: AJ Jacobs
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, Shuhei Kubo
TMO: Minoru Fuji

Crusaders v Hurricanes
(Christchurch Stadium, Christchurch – Kick-off: 19.35; 06.35 GMT)

Fluky and fortuitous. Those words sum up the opening round for both the Crusaders and Hurricanes – teams that will meet in the only New Zealand derby in Round Two.

Missed kicks proved to be the difference in their opening round victories.

The Crusaders – in their quest for a third successive Super Rugby title – beat the Blues 24-22.

The Hurricanes beat the Waratahs 20-19, when a late penalty drifted wide of the uprights.

The Hurricanes will need to overcome massive odds, as the Crusaders have not lost a home game since 16 July 2016 – when the Hurricanes smashed them 35-10 in Christchurch – a 20-match winning streak at home.

Hurricanes star Beauden Barrett said the Wellington-based franchise is “really excited” and “confident” about the trip to Christchurch.

“We just need to focus on ourselves and obviously respect they are the back-to-back champions and it will be a great game of footy,” he told Newshub.

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Assistant coach Carlos Spencer said the side would have to go to Christchurch for Saturday’s game to give it everything and with a mindset of getting stuck in.

Discipline had been an issue for the Hurricanes in pre-season matches and that is one area they will need to be spot-on against a very good Crusaders side who.

With Richie Mo’unga back, they had a kicker who could knock goals over from anywhere.

“We don’t want to give them cheap points, or momentum, just through lack of discipline,” Spencer said.

Recent results:

2018: Crusaders won 30-12, Christchurch (semifinal)
2018: Crusaders won 24-13, Christchurch
2018: Hurricanes won 29-19, Wellington
2017: Hurricanes won 31-22, Wellington
2017: Crusaders won 20-12, Christchurch

Prediction: The Crusaders will be aiming for a third-straight win over the Hurricanes for the first time since May 2008, after recording two wins over the Hurricanes at AMI Stadium last season. The Hurricanes have won just three of their last eight fixtures, but will be chasing back-to-back wins after a narrow 20-19 win over the Waratahs last week. The Crusaders are chasing a record 17th-straight win on the bounce in Super Rugby – they previously won 16 straight games between April 2005 and April 2006. The Hurricanes gained just 260 metres in Round 1, the fewest they have gained in a Super Rugby match since March 2016 (248 v Blues). Manasa Mataele (Crusaders) scored a brace last week, his third brace in his last eight Super Rugby appearances (8 tries in total in those eight games).

Teams:

Crusaders: 15 David Havili, 14 Manasa Mataele, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Bryn Hall, 8 Whetukamokamo Douglas, 7 Matt Todd (captain), 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Quinten Strange, 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Andrew Makalio, 1 Joe Moody.
Replacements: 16 Ben Funnell, 17 Harry Allan, 18 Michael Alaalatoa, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Tom Sanders, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 Mitchell Hunt, 23 Braydon Ennor.

Hurricanes: 15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Wes Goosen, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Vince Aso, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Fletcher Smith, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 6 Reed Prinsep, 5 Liam Mitchell, 4 James Blackwell, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2 Dane Coles (captain), 1 Chris Eves.
Replacements: 16 Ricky Riccitelli, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Ben May, 19 Isaia Walker-Leawere, 20 Sam Henwood, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Jackson Garden-Bachop, 23 Ngani Laumape.

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe
Assistant referees: Federico Anselmi, Nick Briant
TMO: Glenn Newman

Compiled by Jan de Koning
@king365ed
@rugby365com

* Stats courtesy of Opta Sports