It’s all done and dusted. There were a few OMF moments and perhaps even more WTF moments but ultimately we now have our final four who will duel it out for a spot in the final – a ticket to big dance.

Things couldn’t have started in a worse way for the Chiefs as the first Hurricanes try came faster than a pimple faced teenager enjoying his first special dance atTeazers. It turned into a ding-dong battle from there until the Canes pulled clear when the final quarter arrived and the Chiefs left their run way too late in a quality all Kiwi clash.

Trying to push for a PB in the Saturday parkrun I fell off the pace in the last few hundred meters as the maximum effort had the legs wobbling and chest burning on the other side of the finish line. In pain I trudged home just in time to see the Sharks ship two early tries to the most dominant force in world rugby; mypain was about to get worse wasn’t… To their credit the Sharks did the only thing you can do when you are up against a clearly superior opponent - get in their faces and try and turn it into a fight rather than a “pretty” game of rugby. The Sharks hung in gallantly but as per usual the class of the Saders shone through in the final 15 as they cruised to a comfortable victory.

The Waratahs are more unpredictable than the weather man. Some of the punters who enjoy the bold crystal ball approach predicted thunder and lightning from the Tahs but instead there was hardly a rumble (in fact it seemed like there wasn’t even a cloud in the sky) from the Sydney based outfit for the first 50 minutes of their quarterfinal against the Highlanders. The Waratahs have a seriously lethal running game but it took a yellow card for them to finally click into action. With a one man advantage the hosts saw lighting strike not once or twice, but on three occasions as they turned a 6-23 deficit into a 27-23 lead in a match turning ten-minute spell in the middle of the second half.

In the Republic the Lions saw the Jaguares get off to fast start, exposing a few defensive deficiencies from their hosts early on. But the mantra of the Lions is to score tries and score they did. A revitalised effort from the Argentines after the break would have had Lions fans a touch concerned but the boot of Elton Janjties and the fetching abilities of Malcolm Marx kept the Lions out of harm’s way. On the topic of Janjies – the mercurial flyhalf proved in this game why he has so many fans as well as detractors. On the one hand there were smart little chip kicks, a cross-kick to Combrinck to set up a try and a vital drop goal. Yet there was also a penalty kick where he missed touch and two or three times when his passes inexplicably got to the intended receiver on the bounce. Make your own judgement on EJ but for me he will always remain good for the Lions, bad for the Boks. Much like their flyhalf’s play the finalists of the past two seasons see their play often ebbing and flowing between the scintillating and the shitty. If they are to go any further than in previous efforts they will have to be much more of the former of those two (and also pray for a Hurricane victory of course!).

OMF Moment:

Trailing 6-23 the Waratahs found themselves with their heals touching their own goal line in defence. The clock was approaching the 50-minute mark and another Highlander try would surely spell the end of the challenge for the Aussie side. Taqele Naiyaravoro has had a barnstorming year on the back of his powerful runs down the left wing but his defensive work has been less than exemplary. On this occasion however the big winger singlehandedly revived the hopes of his side. He rushed op on defence to secure a crucial intercept and set off for the opposite end of the park. He was hauled in but from the resulting play the Highlanders were yellow carded and this led to a match changing ten minute blitz from the home side. Take a bow Taqele!

My second OMF award of the weekend goes to a player rather than one specific moment. Malcolm Marx was immense for the Lions. The Bok hooker read the play well to intercept a Jaguares pass and run more than 30 meters for a try but even more impressive than this the monster was Johnny on the spot on two or three occasions to win crucial tackle-ball turnover penalties with the South Americans hot on attack. As one bloke stated on Twitter: “Malcolm Marx is my favourite hooker since Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman!”. Ditto.

WTF Moment:

Well it’s tough thinking of anything that made me utter these words with more vigour than yet another dismal batting performance from the Protea batsmen in Sri Lanka. It seems as soon as someone bowls from five feet or less the Proteas completely wilt in terms of their inability against spin.

On the rugby front I was astonished to see the South African women slump to two defeats in both their matches at the Sevens World Cup in San Francisco. What made this “What The…” was the fact that these losses were against the might of Russia and China. What made this “What The FFF??” was the fact that we lost 29-5 to the Chinese! I mean come on we know we are not up there with the best in the world with our women’s rugby – but getting a hiding from China?! Ching, chong… Ein!

The biggest WTF moment for me with regard to Super Rugby came in the form of a try inside the first minute by Julian Savea. Damian McKenzie was perhaps too revved up by the pre-match huddle as he flung an over exuberant long pass which Savea read like a comic book – with ease and delight. Not the best start to a knockout game there little Mac as the Chiefs let in a score without the clock having ticket over a minute of play.

Who is Couch Critic?

Hein Diemont is the resident “Couch Critic” in the Goodforthegame Forum and he shares his weekly Super Rugby Blog the “Post Match Scuffle” or “PMS” with us.

In his blog Couch Critic channels his usual weekend swearing, ranting, cheering, whinging and bickering to the written word. Brutally honest opinions of how the Super Rugby action went down from his perspective – no punches pulled, it’s PMS time…

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You can follow Hein on Twitter @HDCouchCritic and he also posts his blogs on Word Press

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