Super Rugby: 5 Talking Points

That’s a wrap for the 2016 Super Rugby regular season. It has been a great season with some spectacular tries, big hits and huge upsets. Now we are into what should be a thrilling finals series.

Here are 5 talking points from the action just gone:

1) Congratulations to the Hurricanes. For the second season in a row, they have topped the table at the end of the regular season. They did it the hard way, with a slow start, but they have peaked at the right time and a convincing win away at the Crusaders was a very impressive way to cement the top spot.

2) The Reds and the Rebels produced a cracker of a game on Saturday night. A season that started off so brightly for the Rebels has faltered, while the Reds are very much in a rebuilding phase of their development. At times there was a slight lack of quality, but there was no lack of endeavour and heart from both teams, as the Rebels ran out 31-28 winners.

3) What an effort from Huw Jones of the Stormers. They may have only been playing the Kings, but to score 4 tries in any game is a great effort. The Scottish International has only enhanced his growing reputation this season, and he signed off the regular season in style with his dominating performance in the midfield.

4) The Brumbies must be the luckiest team left in the competition. Although they scored less points than any of the qualified New Zealand teams, they still have a home qualifying final to look forward to against the Highlanders, who in turn can feel hard done by. Winning what proved to be a weak Australian Conference has given the men from Canberra a fighting chance, although the Highlanders have beaten the Brumbies at home already this season, so they will head there full of confidence.

5) What a superb end to the season for the Blues. The top two teams in the Australian conference have both been seen off at Eden Park - and by playing attractive, attacking rugby. Tana Umaga is exerting his influence on the Auckland franchise, bringing in a discipline to go with their attacking flair. If they can continue on this up curve then the future is looking pretty exciting.

Written by Rob Seltzer for www.TheRugbyPod.com