World Cup
The Stormers are not going to fall for the “funny things” that the Reds are capable of coming up with, and they are rather concentrating on their own game ahead of Friday’s big Super 14 clash in Brisbane.
Heini Adams will make a rare start when the Vodacom Bulls take on the Lions at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. It wil be his first start in the competition this year.
All the Teams for Round 11 of the Super 14 have been announced, here they are.
Allister Coetzee, head coach of the Vodacom Stormers, today announced his team to play the Reds in Brisbane on Friday 23 April. Kick-off is at 11h40 (SA time). This is the final game of the overseas tour before returning to Cape Town and facing the Crusaders at Newlands on Friday 30 April.
Usually this is not my style, because The Saint, as I refer to myself in third person, prides himself on delivering original contributions every time. However, I feel that many of my fellow-Stormers might be flying a bit high, and in the process confuse form with invincibility, and that could be a huge mistake. I have taken this piece from Fox Sports, just to show, that we, here in the Republic, are the only ones raving about the Stormers, elsewhere, we don’t hardly exist.
Sharks are working hard on their defence shortcomings and how to put pressure on the Blues back line, how that will be possible is going to be difficult as we know the Sharks back line lack first time defence and on many occasions it takes more then 1 player to put an apposing team player down. Continue reading
THE Stormers are not only playing dreamy rugby, but have also uncovered a coaching “dream team”.
By Ashfak Mohamed
Die Lions are once again creating a Jaque Fourie, Willem Alberts and Louis Ludik situation. The Springbok prop, Heinke van der Merwe, has been relegated to the Vodacom Cup team. Is’nt that motivation enough for a player to look for greener pastures when his contract with his Home Union expires at the end of this season?
The Stormers would have been forgiven had their sights been on at least four relatively easy log points from their tour match against the Reds prior to the start of this year’s Super 14.
Continue reading
We’ve received the following media release from the Bulls!!
The Bulls are to host the bottom of the log Lions this coming saturday. With one glance at the log standings one can be forgiven for thinking this will be a walk in the park. Many South African rugby fans will know that this is never the case in a local derby, just ask the Sharks after last weeks encounter. Continue reading
After week 10 this is what the rankings look like… Continue reading
The Bulls are back in SA and it is only fitting that we give an update on the previously injured players who have had injury problems since the start of the Super 14 Season.
The Cheetahs have announced their Team to face the Chiefs on Friday.
The Sharks are ninth on the log, on 21 points after their four successive wins; the Blues are seventh (25 points) but they have a far easier closing month to their campaign.
The Southern Kings franchise, in a statement, requested that the SA Rugby Union (SARU) need to urgently confirm the Southern Kings’ Super Rugby participation from 2011.
Something like… “Keep of the Grass, Butana Komphela plans to smoke it” is happening at Loftus….
The Bulls and Cheetahs could be forced to play their remaining home matches in the Vodacom Super 14 competition elsewhere than at Loftus Versfeld and Vodacom Park – and that could be a financial headache for the Bulls in particular who have to host three crowd-pulling matches against the Lions, Sharks and log-leaders Crusaders over the next three weekends.
There are a number of anomalies in the Super 14 this year, things that some might call ironic, and others just plain stupid. Teams aren’t behaving the way they are supposed to, the Reds think they are championship contenders, the Bulls think they can play running rugby, and the Lions think they are a rugby team.
The Stormers will destroy the Reds. I cant wait to see how confident the Reds backs will attack the ferocious tackles of Schalk and his team. Genia might make it past a few but Cooper will be tackled. The Reds will also be flat after their travels back from SA and the Bulls onslaught. Stormers by a lot.
The Sharks scraped home against a Lions team showing more hunger and determination then they did in their other games prior to this weekend, A major concern was the way the sharks went well ahead and then went to sleep, not once but twice as the 2nd sleeping session nearly cost them the match.
The stadium was alive and well Saturday with thousands of Sharks supporters streaming into Coca Cola park.
Although a previous article by me was not such a bad prediction. I will refrain from doing it again. Here are the respective challenger’s roads to the final. Make up your own scenarios.
We will talk about the Bulls loss for sure. Lets start here! They say a picture is worth a thousand words or something like that. Need i say more.
Lions (18) 28 / Sharks (22) 32 (Final Score)
The Lions hosted the Sharks at Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg at 17:05 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA. The Sharks secured 5 Log points and hung on by their nails to beat the Lions 32 / 28.
Reds (8) 19 / Bulls (7) 12 (Final Score)
The Reds hosted the Bulls in Brisbane at 11:40 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA. The Reds won the game by 19 / 12 but the score does not do full justice on how well they actually played.
Crusaders (26) 45 / Cheetahs (6) 6 (Final Score)
The Crusaders hosted the Cheetahs in Christchurch at 09:35 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA. The Crusaders won by 45 / 6 and go top of the Super 14 Log… for now.
Blues (19) 38 / Force (3) 17 (Final Score)
The Blues hosted the Western Force in Auckland at 07:30 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA. The Blues won convincingly, 38 / 17 with Joe Rokocoko scoring a hatrick of tries. Blues grabbed a vital 5 Log Points to keep their Super 14 hopes alive.
The Stormers steamrollered the fast-fading Chiefs 15-49 Friday in a six-try romp that took the South African outfit to the top of the Super 14 standings. Continue reading
Brumbies (5) 13 / Hurricanes (3) 23 (Final Score)
The Brumbies hosted the Hurricanes in Canberra at 11:40 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA. The Hurricanes managed the unlikely to beat the Brumbies on home soil, however neither team managed to obtain a bonus point. The final score was Hurricanes 23 / 13.
Chiefs (10) 15 / Stormers (20) 49 (Final Score)
The Chiefs hosted the Stormers at the Waikato Stadium, Hamilton at 09:35 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA.
The Stormers took full Log points beating the Chiefs by 49 / 15. The Stormers scored 6 tries to the Chief’s 2. The Stormers now briefly leads the Super 14 Log with their 33 Log points (same as the Bulls but with a superior points difference).
Veteran journeyman Herkie Kruger will make his first appearance on the Super Rugby stage in more than two years when he starts at flyhalf for the Lions against the Sharks in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Kruger, who has been named at No.10 ahead of All Black great “King” Carlos Spencer, is one of six changes made by Lions mentor Dick Muir to his team as the bottom-placed outfit look to end a nine-match losing streak that stretches back to May last year.
We are slowly but surely heading to the business end of the Super 14 Competition, and by now we know for sure that Teams No 11 to No 14 on the Log are totally just making up the numbers and are out of the Super 14 running. We also know that only a miracle will see any of the teams in No 7 to No 10 making a semi. Realistically speaking 6 Teams are still in the running, the Bulls, Crusaders, Waratahs, Stormers, Reds and the Brumbies… with the miracle team possibly being the Blues.
Here’s how I see this weekend.
The Southern Kings are making enough noise again to be included in the Super Rugby Competition…. and this time they might have a point, can any South African Team, from anywhere, be as bad as the Lions or maybe even the Cheetahs?
The Sharks have made two changes to the starting lineup and a surprise bench. Continue reading
All of the teams for week 10 has been announced, here they are.