The 2015 Highlanders were the best Super Rugby side this country has
Fancy watching that semi-final again just for the noise when we flipped 29-19 on the Chiefs, I've never heard Forsyth Barr like it, my ears rang till Tuesday. That 2015 side had the lot, and yeah, I had NZ$50 on them at the TAB before the season started so I'm legally not allowed to be neutral. Someone tell me which other NZ side ever did it better, actual answers only 😏
16 posts
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✓Your NZ$50 payout is doing a lot of the arguing here, mate. One semi-final where the Chiefs' lineout fell apart doesn't make them the best side this country ever produced. The 2015 draw was kinder than people admit. I'd put the 2016-17 Crusaders machine ahead of them any day of the week. Not convinced.
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Nah, glory days mate, you're way off 😤 Crusaders machine?? They had a decade of importing every bolter in the country, the 2015 Highlanders BUILT it. Smith, Ash Dixon grinding, that backline just kept coming. I was at Forsyth Barr when we flipped 29-19 on the Chiefs and honestly I haven't screamed like that since club days in Gisborne, lost my voice proper 💪🔥 Kinder draw?? Every team gets a draw, not everyone wins the whole thing away from home. And RobbedAgain's NZ$50 at the TAB - that's a punter with conviction, respect 🙌 Say what you want ah well, nowt to do, I'll die on this hill with himYou don't abandon your own.
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GloryDays_4Life, I could be wrong, but I think you're judging the Crusaders machine on volume rather than on what the 2015 Highlanders actually did. That Chiefs semi at Forsyth Barr wasn't a lineout collapse gift-wrapped to them, they were down on the scoreboard and outplayed for long stretches, then rebuilt it in front of us to finish 29-19. Sides that win titles purely because the draw was kind don't produce that kind of fourth-quarter swing at home in a semi. And context matters for the squad argument too. Aaron Smith, Ben Smith, Malakai Fekitoa, Waisake Naholo fresh off season-saving leg treatment, Ash Dixon grinding in the tight five, that spine went on to rep honours, so calling them beneficiaries of a soft draw undersells it. They then beat the Hurricanes in the final, who'd been the form side all year. The 2016-17 Crusaders were excellent, no argument from me there, but they were built on a decade of depth-pooling.Do the math before you argue.
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Seen the amateur days at Eden Park and even then nobody flipped a semi like that. Watch as long as I have and you'll get it, that 2015 night was special 😉Watch as long as I have and you'll get it.
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Crusaders machine, eh, the same machine that got turned over at home more than once with a full deck? Back in the day we judged a side on who they beat away from home, and 2015 went to the Republic and won the whole thing, which no other NZ side managed that year. A semi-final scream at Forsyth Barr is still ringing in my ears, young fella, and I've seen worse claims than "best ever" hold up 😉Seen it all, lads.
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Skeptical of "best ever" talk generally, but winning in the Republic then taking the title. Show me another NZ side that season who did that. Receipts please, Crusaders fans.Hype isn't an argument.
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Ultra88 nails it for me. Winning in the Republic and then backing it up in the final is the whole case, really. My caveat is the sample: one season, a handful of matches, so "best ever" will always have pushback. But I was in the south stand that July night, and when we went from behind to 29-19 my voice was gone for days 📊
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Kev asking for receipts is a laugh, mate, Ultra88 already handed them over and you're still squinting at them 😂 The point about the sample size misses the fun bit anyway, that Chiefs semi wasn't some smash and grab where we rode our luck. Down 10 early-ish and then the whole side just decided the season wasn't ending in front of their own crowd. Nasi, Sopoaga pulling the strings, and the joint got so loud you couldn't hear yourself think. Anyone who reckons "best ever" needs a decade of data has clearly never put NZ$20 on the TAB and watched a line move against their team and felt what that semi actually meant. And FixIsInPTSD, sure thing, mate, keep hedging like every punter who's ever lost a multi on a final 🤡 One season is all a season needs when it ends with a trip to the Republic and the trophy. The Crusaders had plenty of years and plenty of those were duller than this. Nobody in Dunedin screamed louder since, and that's the whole case said out loud.It's a lottery, not sport.
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Down and out at 29-19? Nah mate, we were never out. I was there, screaming myself horse 🙌 But "best ever" on one run to the Republic? Takes more than a hot three weeks tbh 😏
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i was at that semi too, mate, and my throat went the same way yours did 😄 but take it from someone who's watched since the amateur days: a hot few weeks doesn't make you the best side the country's produced. the 2015 boys were wonderful, won in the Republic and deserved every bit of it, but back in my day the Crusaders sides of the late 90s would've given them a right fright over a full season. great team? absolutely. best ever? that hill's a bit steep for me 😉Been here longer than some have followed.
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Fair point from UnderdogNightmare, but that side beat the Chiefs, then the Waratahs, in consecutive weeks. That's a full house of Australian clubs. Condition: they do it twice and I'll agree outright.Hype isn't an argument.
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NickTillIDie's got it right, I reckon, beating the Chiefs and the Waratahs back to back, that's two very different problems solved in a fortnight. Only caveat I'd add: I keep my own tables every season, and I could be wrong, but that 2015 squad also did it with real squad depth when injuries hit, which the Crusaders' peak years leaned on less. I still rate the semi as the loudest 40 minutes I've sat through at Forsyth Bar, no contest.
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Funny how everyone suddenly remembers the noise but forgets we were written off all year by every punter and their dog - TAB had us long odds for the title most of the season 😏 Sides that get dismissed like that and still flip the Chiefs 29-19 earn the "best ever" tag in my book. And in reality? Nobody's matched that fortnight since. Sure thing, mate.
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ChloeLoves raises a fair angle on the TAB odds, and I could be wrong, but the dismissed-all-year bit strengthens the case without settling it. My tables say 2015 ticked the boxes. Depth through injuries, then the Chiefs and the Waratahs dealt with in consecutive weeks. Two very different problems solved in a fortnight, as NickDiehard put it. What still sits open for me is the "ever" part: does one season's peak outweigh a champion side that lasted three or four? I keep flip-flopping on that myself. Worth keeping this thread running till someone talks me off the fence.Do the math before you argue.
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NickTillIDie's got it right, I reckon, beating the Chiefs and the Waratahs back to back, that's two very different problems solved in a fortnight. Only caveat I'd add: I keep my own tables every season, and I could be wr…@NickDiehard your tables eh, word going round even the selectors weren't sure about that backline till late 😏 those who know, know. You know the rest.Solid source, details in the DMs.