May I have the envelope please.... *skrriifffft* And the winner is....

The Queensland Reds won the inaugural Vodacom Super Rugby title with a 18-13 victory over the Crusaders in Brisbane on Saturday. I doubt anyone would argue that the two best teams contested the final, and that the best team won.

The Reds had topped the League stages and were the most consistent team in the competition. The Crusaders were always gonna be up 

there in the knock-out stages and proved yet again that they are without doubt, one of the classiest teams in the competition.

Looking back at the season, I'm not convinced "Bigger is Better". My main issue with the current format, is the fact that every team does not play every team. If they did, then they could call themselves the true Champions. To have taken on all comers and beat them all, makes you the best.
I hope SANZAR  re-think the format and makes a few changes. There were 125 games in the season and that's coming perilously close to the type of over-exposure we were force-fed with this year's IPL!!

Here are my 'winners' for the season:

Team of the season: Crusaders

Even-though the Reds lifted the trophy, for me the Crusaders were my team of the season. The horrific earthquake that rocked Christchurch left the Crusaders with no home ground and essentially they played all their games on the road. Just imagine the Stormers not being able to play in front of the Newlands faithful, or the Bulls never setting foot on the turf of Fortress Loftus. Respect!

Player of the season: Quade Cooper

His Superman stance when kicking sums him up. Topped the points scoring log with 228 points. Enough said!

Coach of the season: Ewen McKenzie

McKenize coached the Reds to their first Super Rugby title. You can even follow him on twitter: @Ewen_McKenzie

Try scorers of the Season:

Sarel Pretorius (Cheetahs), Bjorn Basson (Bulls) and Sean Maitland (Crusaders) tied on 9 tries apiece.

Try of the year: Gio Aplon

His 50m try in the game between the Stormers and Chiefs, which he dummied past Mills Muliaina, Sitiveni Suvivatu and Stephen Donald was  the stuff of legend.

Best Referee: Craig Joubert

Always consistent, and a good communicator. I can’t remember him making any dodgy calls that affected the outcome of a game. 

Ok, barring that red-card for an 'alleged' head-butt by Pat O’Connor... Ans the other penalty... Oh, well, you know refs... He was still the best of the bunch.

Worst Referee: Shared by Stuart Dickinson and Bryce Lawrence.

The list of dumb calls and stupid penalties is far too long for this blog... 

[No pictures will be added due to the vomiting it may induce]

Best Boets: Sias and Robert Ebersohn

As a combination they gave the Cheetahs an expansive running game.

Best combo: Sonny Bill Williams and Robert Fruean

Tough one to call, with the likes of Will Genia and Quade Cooper and Wyatt Crockett and Owen Franks. But in the end they proved to be a devastating midfield combo. If Graham Henry has half a brain in his head, he'll pick these two as his All Black centre pairing. Much in the same way that Jean and Jaque need to start for the Boks.

 

Beard of the season: Josh Strauss

There were a few contenders this season in the form of the Franks brother's, but no-one comes close to our very own BeardMan!

And so it comes to and end... 

Now we can get ready for the Vodacom Tri-Nations and get behind the Boks!! And then the little matter of the Rugby World Cup!