Super Rugby - 5 Things We Learnt From Round 12

1     The Sharks have come up with no meaningful solutions to their manifold problems. If a team of whom so much was expected this year misses so many tackles, concedes so many turnovers, can create so little themselves, and gets smashed by seven tries while conceding 48 points, they are in deep trouble.

2     The Rebels and Cheetahs were wonderful. With a less talented player pool and less depth in personnel than many of their opponents, they are always going to have up-and-down seasons, but they showed in beating the Chiefs and Stormers respectively that with the right mindset and a passionate commitment to playing to the full extent of their skills, surprise wins are possible. There are other teams who could learn from the Rebels and Cheetahs Round 12 attitude and performances.

3     The impressively high quality of the Hurricanes vs Crusaders game was contrasted by the inferior quality of the Blues vs Force encounter. It was clear why the latter two are in a battle not to finish at the bottom of the ladder.

4     The Brumbies with Matt Toomua at 10 and Nic White at 9 are considerably more formidable than the Brumbies with Christian Lealiifano at 10 and Michael Dowsett at 9.

5     The selection of New Zealand’s back-up and stand-in 10 for Dan Carter gets no easier for Steve Hansen. Aaron Cruden’s injury takes him out of the equation, but Beauden Barrett was superb again for the Hurricanes, Crusaders second five Colin Slade again showed his class, and Lima Sopoaga gave another excellent performance for the Highlanders. Barrett and Slade can be chosen as utility backs but selection of the back-up 10 may come down to whomever is the most accurate goalkicker.