Based on their last 3 performances, it may seem foolhardy to some to suggest the DHL Stormers retain the inside lane for the SA Conference honours in Super Rugby this year.
Certainly if you were a non-partisan observer watching their unconvincing, tense and sparkle-lacking victories over the Western Force and Vodacom Bulls, and then Saturday’s extension of a ballooning Bloemfontein bogey as an under-strength Cheetahs outfit put a nasty spanner in their works, placing money on their domestic superiority come the end of ordinary season might seem a risky business indeed.
Yet the Capetonians, now bumped back into 2nd spot in the South African Conference, as the Bulls earned a full house of Log Points from a high-quality home derby triumph over the Lions in Saturday night’s main feature, probably remain the best-placed team in terms of remaining itinerary demands to end up on top.
They have an immediate chance next weekend anyway to recapture the lead in a yo-yo tussle as they entertain Australian pace-setters the Brumbies at Newlands, whereas the Bulls slowly muster their energy for their overseas tour via a BYE.
The Loftus-based side currently have a 4-Point lead over their great southern rivals after 11 matches each and 5 to go ahead of the finals series phase.
In an indication of the general logjam on the upper regions of the overall table, that 4-Point gap sees the Bulls mandatorily placed 2nd behind the Hurricanes – even though another New Zealand side, the Chiefs, boast more Log Points – whilst the Stormers look some way off the pace at 1st glance in 7th spot.
But that situation could alter markedly for the better again if Duane Vermeulen’s outfit regain some semblance of a cutting edge and better all-round accuracy – they seem due to! – against the visitors from Canberra, who come off their own punishing derby defeat to arch-rivals the Waratahs.
Certainly the Stormers were victims of 1 of the 2 genuinely upset results of the weekend (the other was the Melbourne Rebels holding off the Chiefs) as a wet-behind-the-ears Cheetahs combo frustrated and outsmarted them at Free State Stadium.
The home side, perhaps in a planned policy to a good degree, managed to keep scrums – normally the Stormers’ standout area this year – to a minimum, whilst their lineout significantly held sway and they found an unusual number of holes in the Cape side’s often-famed defence.
It was undoubtedly a game which will have persuaded some to notably downgrade the Stormers’ title chances, and the result – the visitors even failed at the death to bank a losing bonus point, courtesy of yet another fluffed effort at the posts from hapless flyhalf substitute Kurt Coleman – may also prove seriously costly on reflection if they narrowly fail to nail down a home semi-final.
Make no mistake, the Bulls, who came so close to winning at Newlands in the previous Round, produced a much more vibrant brand of rugby in edging out the never-say-die Lions 35 / 33 in a Pretoria humdinger.
Although they later had to repel a concerted fightback by Warren Whiteley’s troops, this was especially applicable in the frenetic 1st half when the fast-paced, ball-in-hand ethic of the Bulls earned them 3 of their precious quartet of tries and probably caught the Jo’burgers a bit by surprise.
But the cold fact remains that 4 of the last 5 Bulls assignments are away from Loftus (and all abroad, where it remains so difficult for our teams to win consistently) whereas the Stormers are ready to embark on a 4-game home sequence before rounding off the pre-knockout campaign against the Cell C Sharks in Durban.
There just seem more potential “bankers” for Allister Coetzee’s charges during the aforementioned period at Newlands (Brumbies, BYE, Melbourne Rebels, Toyota Cheetahs, Emirates Lions) than there will be for the Bulls in enemy territory against the Blues, Chiefs, Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels.
That is not to say that the 3-time champions, with Victor Matfield back at the heart of things at a good time, are going to suddenly fall off the radar. Of course they have a good enough chance to keep their noses in front, particularly with the new-found width and vitality they have brought to their game.
Those characteristics remain in worryingly short supply in the Stormers fold, although I also suspect that a few “honesty sessions” at their Bellville training base over the next few days may sort out some issues ahead of a favourable-looking spell for them on paper.
Lions? Like the proud, unfancied boxer who refuses to drop, they will keep throwing “leather” – it was every bit the case to the 80th minute at Loftus – but they are also entering relatively virgin territory as playoffs contenders (currently 8th overall) while the heat cranks up every week.
You might say they are a win behind the Stormers and almost 2 behind the Bulls now, which gives them a fair bit of ground to make up, and all 5 fixtures left for them (3 at home against overseas foes, plus visits to Bloemfontein and Cape Town) are tough…
Round 13 Fixtures:
Friday 8 May:
- Crusaders vs Reds – 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 17:10 AEST, 07:35 GMT)
- Melbourne Rebels vs Blues – 11:40 SA Time (19:40 AEST, 21:40 NZ Time, 09:40 GMT)
Saturday 9 May:
- Hurricanes vs Cell C Sharks – 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT)
- Western Force vs Waratahs – 11:40 SA Time (17:40 AWST, 19:40 AEST, 09:40 GMT)
- Emirates Lions vs Highlanders – 15:00 SA Time (13:00 GMT, Sunday 02:00 NZ Time)
- DHL Stormers vs Brumbies – 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT, Sunday 02:05 AEST)
Byes:
- Vodacom Bulls
- Toyota Cheetahs
- Chiefs
Sport24
Hmmm a few days ago I said that if the Boks want to play a defensive game plan then JDJ will be best suited, but he has a tackle success rate of 75%.
Comparatively JJ Engelbrecht has a success rate of 88.4%, same as Lional Mapoe.
The Brumbies are not exactly setting the world alight, but they must be in with a fair chance this weekend.
In Pocock they have a player capable of disrupting quick ball faster than the Stormers’ own backline could stuff it up.
Line outs they will win, that’s not very difficult given the way the Stormer’s line outs are going.
They have a better back line as well, and they actually have two kickers that can slot goals
What worries me about the Stormers is that Duanne said after the match an arrogant attitude cost them in their defeat to the Cheetahs and that the fact that there were a lot of ‘chiefs’ but not many ‘Indians’ on the field made it tough to lead the team.
If that is correct then there is something seriously wrong with the leadership on and perhaps more off the field.
@ robzim:
Saw that as well, did you see the piece by Vrede on SARugbymag?
@ nortie:
I will go and read it now, thks.
@ nortie:
I think Ryan hit the nail on its head.
Did you read the comments from the bloggers on that site?… it makes me wonder about the merits of freedom of speech … some idiots should just not be heard….
robzim wrote:
Yep the comments on that column is quite painful
6 @ robzim:
I saw after Saturday that both the WP and Stormers Facebook sites sent out a message saying that although they appreciate the fans, they won’t allow dirty language and abuse to the players and have deleted comments and blocked some fans.
I didn’t read any comments, but I can believe there must have been some serious unhappiness after the performance.
Strange that on this site I am considered the “worst” one 😆 and are supposedly “nasty” and upset some faint hearted souls
nortie wrote:
lol thats pretty much your own personal designation ol’ martyr 😉
@ MacroSssss:
Nie regtig nie….daar is e mail klaagliedere ook.
Dis hoekom ek maar eerder van nou af nie sal iets se oor daai ander coastal span nie.
Jy weet baie goed hoe dinge hier werk, 10 mense kan iets se, maar as ek dit noem dan poef daar n paar siele in hulle panties
nortie wrote:
I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over it boet, we have two kickers that can (sometimes) slot goals but look at the kickable penalties we turned down (last week especially) when one or two of those could’ve made all the difference…
Ek is moeg om in my broek te kuk wanneer sulke goed gebeur.
@ BrumbiesBoy:
True, but maybe if they play away they will take the kicks?
Think of it this way….you shun the kicks, you get 0 points….Coleman takes the kicks, we get 0 points.
No advantage for either side
12 @ nortie:
If they make decisions to kick kickable ones into the corners on Saturday I’m going to ask my bruvva Pietman om persoonlik die kaptein se PK te deliver.
We don’t do well as the favorites.
Dont make us the favorites.
@ Stormersboy:
You are the favourites .
@ gunther:
Happy Birthday for the other day boet. I see I missed it!
Hope it was a good one.
Bulls are the favorites
Stormersboy wrote:
Gunther, what’s your address?
We’ll send a cake, and have Gwantie jump out of the cake with his pink feather boa sans the red Speedo 😛
@ Stormersboy:
No problem it’s great to turn 30 again
@ Victoriabok:
Gwantie hasn’t jumped out of a cake since he ruptured an Achilles at Elton Johns 60 th.
gunther wrote:
I’m sure it’s not the only thing he ruptured (raptured?) that evening
@ gunther:
hahaha
I see G10 is very active on the Vrede Article.
You chaps are rather ugly with Grant 10.
You know, in the almost 6 years I’ve been away from Voldy, we have E-Mailed one another every so often… and he means no harm to anybody.
OK, so he was a bit emotional and sensitive over some issues… but are’nt we all to a degree?
@ grootblousmile:
Nice touch.
I can only agree with you. Grant is a great bloke in real life and is more passionate about rugby than just about anybody else I know.
robzim wrote:
Grant10 is a Rugby Smart – the facebook rabble at sarugbymag don’t deserve him – he should rather post over here …
grootblousmile wrote:
You should invite him here then.
Robbo is lonely.
Users Online
Total 20 users including 0 member, 20 guests, 0 bot online
Most users ever online were 3735, on 31 August 2022 @ 6:23 pm
No Counter as from 31 October 2009: 39,414,383 Page Impressions
_