Last updated 10:36, June 1 2018
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Our scribes, mostly, think NZ Rugby is doing the right thing by playing hardball over the release of Pete Samu.
Our scribes, mostly, think NZ Rugby is doing the right thing by playing hardball over the release of Pete Samu.
Stuff's rugby writers tackle the burning questions ahead of week 16 of the Super Rugby season.
Is New Zealand rugby right to play hard ball over the Pete Samu release for the Wallabies?
Marc Hinton: They are within their contractual rights, but is it right? Not so sure. Smacks of digging heels in just to make a point. And what does this say about trans-Tasman rugby relations? Surely we're not still paying them back for the 2003 RWC debacle. Just release the bloke. The Crusaders don't even need him. The Aussies clearly do.
Hamish Bidwell: I really don't care. As far as I was aware you needed to have played 60 tests for Australia before you could be picked from overseas. The Hurricanes', now ex-Wallaby, prop Toby Smith certainly thinks so. Said moving here meant he was ineligible. Samu's signed for the Brumbies from next year and they can pick him then.
Richard Knowler: Yes. This is different to the Brad Shields/England scenario. Shields was a born-and-bred Kiwi who played all his life here and wasn't give a crack at the All Blacks. He had done his time and it would have been churlish to block his path. Samu, an Aussie, only rocked into Tasman and the Crusaders a few years ago. Good on him for wanting to play for the Wallabies, but NZR has a right to make a stand.
Paul Cully: Yes. Since when did New Zealand become a finishing school to provide players to other tier-1 nations? The Wallabies had other options at No 6 – the Reds' Scott Higginbotham, for example – and ignored them.
It's Kiwi derby time in Super Rugby, who wins the weekend's two all-NZ matchups?
Hinton: Landers-Canes is a tossup. Two sides with plenty to prove after indifferent lead-ins. And firepower everywhere in user-friendly conditions. Home advantage the clincher. The Crusaders have lost four of their last five in Hamilton, but look in post-season mode already. Visitors by 10.
Bidwell: I'll take the Hurricanes and Crusaders. The Hurricanes love a track meet and providing they can catch the high ball and don't chuck too many intercepts or forget how to tackle, they ought to run away. The Chiefs-Crusaders could be a beaut. There will be intensity and a real contest in the set pieces. Composure and accuracy will win it for the visitors.
Knowler: Hurricanes and Crusaders. The Canes should unleash their juggernauts in the backline under the lid in Dunedin, while the Crusaders are loaded to the gills with self-belief – and playmaker Richie Mo'unga is going all right, too.
Cully: It could be the Mainlanders' weekend – just. I've picked the Highlanders because of Aaron Smith's superb contribution off the bench in Brisbane last Saturday. He's simply outstanding. But I'm less convinced about the Crusaders simply because the Chiefs have Brodie Retallick.
What was you main takeaway from the Crusaders' defeat of the Hurricanes in Christchurch last round?
Hinton: That if the Red and Blacks clinch home advantage you can send the trophy to the engravers now. No one plays wet-weather, percentage rugby like these blokes. My secondary take: the Canes must play smarter to have any chance of a title run.
Bidwell: That the Crusaders, no matter who the personnel are, have absolute confidence in their structure and know that if they execute, they'll win. They were very impressive.
Knowler: One team knew how to play wet-weather footy and their forwards were tremendous. The other lot – well, who knows what they were thinking?
Cully: Scott Barrett got the memo from the All Blacks at the end of last year and has added some more grunt to his game. It's hard to tell if he's packed on more kilos, but he's certainly starting to increase his dominant carries and tackles.
If there's an All Black who could most use June as a springboard it's ...
Hinton: Looking forward to Jordan Taufua proving it's not the size of the dog in the fight. But I'm gonna go for Jordie Barrett. Big mover last year, 'til injury intervened. Now we will see whether he can make a similar impact when everyone knows who he is. The extra kgs may help.
Bidwell: Maybe Jordan Taufua. I don't see him having a long tenure and don't imagine he'll start too many games. But, if he did, he's the kind of guy who could make himself impossible to leave out of the squad from there on. It's just about whether he gets the chance.
Knowler: I'm not confident Jordan Taufua will get a look in for the first test, but, regardless, the aggressive back-rower possesses the physicality and power to give the Frenchies something to think about if he gets on the grass.
Cully: Ardie Savea. Sam Cane will be a little underdone so Savea could get an opportunity early in the series, at least off the bench, and needs to show he can transfer his Super Rugby game into the test arena.
ABs-France and Australia-Ireland, what's your breakdown of how each series plays out?
Hinton: All Blacks sweep the French, starting scratchily in Auckland but by series end in Dunedin run away with things against a French outfit with one foot on the plane home. Wallabies-Ireland is much, much more interesting as best in the north measures up against a rebuilding southern force. Got the Irish 2-1 in a competitive, compelling matchup.
Bidwell: I'd love to see a 2-1 series win to Ireland and imagine the All Blacks will sweep theirs 3-0. I'll actually be more interested in events over in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, given we're going to get a real contest.
Knowler: ABs to win 3-0. Ireland to win 2-1.
Cully: The script says both the All Blacks and Wallabies will be vulnerable first up. Still, you'd expect the ABs to get the job done in Auckland and win the series 3-0. Whoever wins the first test between the Wallabies and Ireland in Brisbane on Saturday week will win the series 2-1.