Rugby
Sam BruceJohn Goliath 6y

Super Rugby Round 11: No instant Aussie revival; introducing Shannon Frizell

Super Rugby

It was a bleak weekend for Australian rugby in Round 10 and, sadly, Rugby Australia can't exactly look ahead to this weekend's fixtures with any real confidence.

The governing body's decision to cut back to four Super Rugby teams was supposed to make the Waratahs, Reds, Brumbies and Rebels a little more competitive. On the evidence of last weekend's results, it hasn't.

Things are in far better shape in New Zealand, the Blues aside, while the Lions can take another step to the South African conference title with a win over the Reds in Brisbane.

Read on for some of the key storylines for Round 11.

Australian Conference

Last week was ugly, and it won't get betterĀ 

The easy thing for Australian rugby fans to do would be to claim short-term memory loss, act as if Super Rugby Round 10, 2018, never happened. What Round? Four losses? Don't recall it.

But given the conference's struggles in recent years, it's hard to shake off what has become a reoccurring nightmare: a horror show worthy of any Halloween special. Be sure to sleep soundly over the next two nights, folks, as the cold sweat you endure while watching your Aussie teams in action is due to return early Saturday morning when the Rebels hit Cape Town.

Twelve hours later, it will more than likely be the same story in both Brisbane and Canberra.

None from four last week looks set to become 0-3 in Round 11, with the Reds hosting the Lions at Suncorp on Saturday afternoon before the Brumbies welcome the Crusaders to GIO Stadium later that evening.

At home to the Jaguares last week, the game was there for the taking for the Brumbies at half time but they could manage only one try after the break. Eight days earlier, Dan McKellar's side could only muster two tries on the road in Dunedin.

The Reds, meanwhile, have scored just three tries in the last two weeks and gave up 36 points to a rampant Chiefs outfit last Saturday. Down 17-0 after 18 minutes, the game was as good as gone inside the opening quarter.

Clearly, the big problem for both sides is their inability to score points.

The Rebels, who are without Will Genia for a second straight week, look nothing like the side that won four of its first five games. The Stormers are no great entertainers when it comes to attack, but they have the game to frustrate the Rebels and then pull away to a comfortable victory.

If there is a skerrick of hope to be taken from any of those three encounters it may be the milestone game for Brumbies co-captain Sam Carter. The Wallabies lock will play his 100th match in the blue and white this weekend which may just stir something inside the Brumbies come Saturday night.

But it looks a long shot, particularly given Thursday's news David Pocock will miss the game with a calf strain.

The Crusaders and Lions are semifinal bound, while the Brumbies and Reds couldn't fool anyone into thinking they're worthy of playoff consideration; or at least moving beyond week one and the fortunate automatic Aussie conference place.

And the Rebels? Genia's return can't come quickly enough.

Match Centre: Reds vs Lions

Match Centre: Brumbies vs. Crusaders

New Zealand Conference

Highlanders uncover another gem in Shannon Frizell

The name Frizell will be familiar to Australian sports fans, across New South Wales and Queensland at least, given the performances of Tyson Frizell with both St George Illawarra, New South Wales and Australia in rugby league.

But it's his brother, Shannon, who's generating a little buzz across the Tasman. The Highlanders back-rower enjoyed an absolute night out at Eden Park last Friday, crossing for a hat-trick in the 34-16 victory over the hapless Blues.

Just five games into his Super Rugby career, Frizell fits the modern-day mould of a free-running, hard-tackling back-rower, perfectly. It may be early, but there are shades of a young Jerome Kaino in the way Frizell moves about the field.

In fact, according to their official measurements, Kaino is just one kilogram heavier- and one centimetre taller- than Frizell. Unfortunately, Kaino was missing through injury last week so any direct on-field comparison wasn't possible. But it's unlikely any real contest would not have eventuated given Frizell's outstanding performance.

After two years cutting his teeth with Tasman in the Mitre 10 Cup, Frizell was signed by the Highlanders on a two-year deal.

Given the likes of All Blacks Liam Squire, Elliot Dixon and Highlanders skipper Luke Whitelock, a steady introduction into Super Rugby appeared likely. But with Squire out injured and Dixon unable to recapture the form of a couple of years ago, Frizell was given a chance to start against the Brumbies in Round 9. The Tongan-born back-rower scored a try in that run-on debut and then backed that performance up with the aforementioned hat-trick six days later.

"Shannon is obviously in his first year, first couple of starts, and he's going well," Highlanders assistant coach Mark Hammett said. "I suppose he offers a little bit of a difference in terms of his ability to ball carry and offload.

"He's still pretty raw, there's still lots of little bits and pieces to learn, but he's soaking up and learning quickly."

Saturday night's trip to Pretoria for a date with the Bulls will be Frizell's biggest challenge yet, the South Africans upbeat after a comfortable 28-10 victory over the Rebels in Round 10.

Just how Frizell confronts a big Bulls pack and a hostile home crowd will be a pointer as to whether he is capable of scaling the same lofty heights in rugby that his brother has in the NRL. What won't please Aussie fans will be the fact that any eventual Test start would come in the black jersey and not, as is the case with brother Tyson, the green and gold.

Match Centre: Hurricanes vs. Sunwolves

Match Centre: Blues vs. Jaguares

African Conference

Time Stormers chance their arm in attack

Robbie Fleck was one of the most skilful Springboks in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was a centre blessed with flair, a wicked sidestep and pace to burn.

His first proper head-coaching stint with the Stormers began in the same exciting manner, promising to bring that traditional "Western Province rugby" back to the Cape. In his first two years he was true to his word, with the Stormers playing an exciting brand of football.

They tried to mimic the New Zealand teams by looking to dominate physically upfront, and play with smarts and skill out wide. This strategy had mixed success in 2016 and 2017. The Cape Town side made the playoffs over the last two years, but have exited the competition before the semifinals in each of those years.

This year didn't start well, though, as injuries to key players such as Eben Etzebeth, and their normal struggles on tour Down Under put them behind the front-runners in the revamped competition. Now, under pressure, they have reverted back to a more direct game plan.

But the predictable nature of the Stormers' game plan has played into the hands of their South African rivals, as they have been far too predictable to defend against. They are also playing like a team of individuals, and make too many mistakes.

The Stormers find themselves outside the playoff positions at this point of the campaign, but they have a string of home matches to come -- starting with Friday's match against the Rebels.

But in order to take advantage of this and stand a chance of making it into the top eight, Fleck and the Stormers need to go back to what they know best: attack.

The Stormers need to break the shackles if they want to get back in the competition. Otherwise Newlands will only have the memory of Fleck in a Springboks jersey to hold on to.

Match Centre: Stormers vs. Rebels

Match Centre: Bulls vs. Highlanders

It's a big week for ...

Hamish Stewart

An injury to Jono Lance has opened the door for rising playmaker Hamish Stewart to start for the Reds against the Lions. It will be Stewart's first run-on appearance with the 20-year-old Toowoomba product having already played five games off the bench across 2017 and 2018.

Stewart has come through his professional career under the tutelage of Reds coach Brad Thorn, the duo having worked together at Queensland Country in Australia's National Rugby Championship.

But Saturday night's clash with the Lions is an enormous step up, particularly after the South Africans walloped the Waratahs 29-0 in Sydney last week. The likes of Malcolm Marx, Franco Mostert and Kwagga Smith will surely go after the young Reds pivot right from the opening whistle.

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