All Blacks
Lions scrumhalf Jano Vermaak will, in all likelihood, be relegated to the bench for Saturday’s Super Rugby clash with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein, coach John Mitchell said on Monday.
The quickfire scrumhalf took a knock to his head in last week’s match against the Blues and, although he should be ready for action by the weekend, Mitchell said he will not be taking any risks.
The match officials for Week 4 of the 2011 SANZAR Super Rugby tournament have been confirmed by SANZAR with two late changes to the original schedule.
Current Saracens and former Lions hooker, Etienne Reyneke has been loaned to the Stormers for Super Rugby.
UCT (9) 16 / Maties (24) 37 (Final Score)
Shimlas (13) 37 / Pukke (17) 28 (Final Score)
UCT hosted Maties at the UCT rugby fields, Cape Town at 17:00 and Shimlas hosted Pukke at Shimla Park, Bloemfontein at 19:10 SA Time. This was the combined match Thread for discussion of the game. The 2 matches were both broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
The Highlanders ended the Bulls 20 home match unbeaten run with an outstanding 28-35 bonus point victory at Loftus Versfeld.
The last time the Bulls lost a match at Loftus was on the 12th of April 2008 against the Hurricanes.
Here are the views of the coaches and players during the After Match Interviews.
Spectacular, that is the only word to describe the Bulls’ fall from grace against the perennial whipping boys of New Zealand rugby. The 3-time champions were made to look like amateurs at a rugby-trial, each one trying to impress or stand out, and each one failing spectacularly…. there’s that word again. Are the Bulls out of it? Are they done? Naaaah… all things being equal, they’ll probably still head on to the play-offs later on, it’s a long season… but what went wrong?
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The Stormers triumphed in their fourth consecutive win over the Cheetahs at Newlands with a final score of 21 – 15.
However, if last weeks Super Rugby clash at Newlands was a comical theatre production of errors, then the first 20 minutes of the DHL Stormers against the Toyota Cheetahs was the sequel.
Bulls (6) 28 / Highlanders (11) 35 (Final Score)
The Vodacom Bulls hosted the Highlanders at Loftus, Pretoria at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD and M-Net on TV in SA.
The Highlanders continued their unbeaten run and scored a bonus point for tries whilst the Bulls end their unbeaten run at home and only salvaged a bonus point for losing by only 7 points.
It was a disasterous game from a Bulls perspective, with bad refereeing and general bad play and sloppy tackling by all the Bulls players. Today it is frustrating to be a Bulls supporter.
Stormers (6) 21 / Cheetahs (6) 15 (Final Score)
The Stormers hosted the Cheetahs at Newlands, Cape Town at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
Force (9) 12 / Sharks (19) 39 (Final Score)
The Western Force hosted the Sharks at NIB Stadium, Perth at 13:05 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Sharks won well and convincingly but the attrition rate was also high with Odwa Ndungane spear-tackled and taken to hospital. Also looked like Willem Alberts was carrying an injury.
Bonus point in the bag for the Sharks on a very important away win.
A perfect Autumn evening in Johannesburg. Not too hot, no wind, and no threat of rain.
Perfect that is until the Blues from Aukland spoilt it all for the vast majority of the 26 532 people at Coca Cola Park in downtown Johannesburg.
Lions (25) 32 / Blues (17) 41 (Final Score)
The Lions hosted the Blues at Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
In a frenetic game the Blues came out victorious after putting their All Black subs on in the second half. Both teams earns a bonus point for tries.
Golden Lions (3) 9 / Pampas XV (12) 15 (Final Score)
The Golden Lions hosted the Pampas XV at Coca Cola Park, Johannesburg at 16:45. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
Despite more than 67% possession and almost as much territorial advantage the Golden Lions contrived to lose this match, whereas a very ill-diciplined Pampas XV side (who conceded 2 yellow cards and countless penalties) used the meager chances they had to win against the odds.
We can look forward to the following rugby on TV this weekend in SA:
The Sharks made only one change to the starting line up for their match against the Force this coming weekend, with JP Pietersen who gets a start as Lwazi Mvovo drops to the bench after a slight twist of his ankle last weekend.
Allister Coetzee, coach of the DHL Stormers, on Wednesday named his team to take on the Toyota Cheetahs at Newlands on Saturday. Kick-off is at 17:05.
Bulls coach Frans Ludeke has chosen to rest Bakkies Botha and play Danie Rossouw alongside Victor Matfield against the Highlanders at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Schalk Burger has only suffered a strain on his medial ligament and will be back in rugby inside the next month — maybe even in time for the Stormers’ important north/south derby against the Bulls at Loftus on 19 March.
The Cheetahs will not field Springbok flank Heinrich Brüssow against the Stormers in their Vodacom Super Rugby clash in Cape Town on Saturday.
Cheetahs captain Juan Smith will miss the rest of the Super rugby season but could play for the Springboks at the Rugby World cup.
The Bok flank had surgery on his Achilles on Monday after he injured it playing in the Cheetahs second round clash against the Bulls.
Shimlas (20) 20 / Tuks (5) 15 (Final Score)
Shimlas hosted Tuks at Shimla Stadium, Bloemfontein at 19:00 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
UCT (26) 45 / TUT (7) 16 (Final Score)
UCT hosted TUT at the UCT Rugby Fields, Cape Town at 17:00 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
Four Varsity Cup matches take place today, 28 February 2011. They are:
- UCT vs TUT – 17:00 (Live on TV and Live Game Thread here)
- Shimlas vs Tuks – 19:00 (Live on TV and Live Game Thread here)
- UJ vs Pukke – 19:00
- Maties vs NMMU – 19:00
Hands up if you picked the Highlanders to be two from two with wins over the Hurricanes and Chiefs under their belts after the opening two rounds of the Super Rugby season?
Stormers (9) 19 / Lions (8) 16 (Final Score)
The DHL Stormers hosted the MTN Lions at Newlands, Cape Town at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Stormers escaped jail with a very late comeback to eventually win by 3 points and with a number of their old stalwarts not firing. Guys like Bryan Habana, Conrad Jantjes, Ricky Januarie and Andries Bekker seem to be playing on hype and reputation only.
The gutsy Lions tried till 4 minutes into injury time to slowly move upfield and score, which they nearly did, only to be denied by a desperate steal by the Stormers.
Sharks (16) 26 / Blues (9) 12 (Final Score)
The Sharks hosted the Blues at Mr Price Kings Park, Durban at 17:00 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
The Sharks started fast but then the game became scrappy, all the way through… not a memorable game but won nonetheless by the Sharks, before their trek accross the big waters.
2 Wins from 2 for the Sharks, this is what matters, I suppose.
The Cheetahs’ inspirational captain JUan Smith is set to miss South Africa’s defence of the World Cup, after he tore an Achilles tendon.
Cheetahs (11) 23 / Bulls (8) 25 (Final Score)
The Toyota Cheetahs hosted the Vodacom Bulls at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 19:10 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 and CSN on TV in SA.
Once again a game of two halves for the Bulls, this time extremely lacklustre in the first half and on fire after the break, when they decided to keep more possession.
It was hard, it was brutal, it was close… it was a derby!
Free State Cheetahs (22) 55 / Valke (5) 19 (Final Score)
The Free State Cheetahs hosted the Valke at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 16:45 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
Comfortable win for the Free State Cheetahs, with 8 tries scored by them against 3 tries.
Herewith the Super Rugby teams, all now announced, for week 2 of Super Rugby 2011. One game, the one between the Hurricanes and the Crusaders, has been called off due to the devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand, home of the Crusaders – the official result will be a draw with no bonus points, meaning that both teams get 2 Log points each.
The following Rugby is on TV in SA from Friday morning 25 February till Sunday 27 February 2011. Remember to do your SuperBru picks on time!
Sharks coach John Plumtree has stuck largely with the team that beat the Cheetahs last week for this Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby clash with the Blues at Mr Price KINGS PARK.
Keegan Daniel’s inclusion at flank is the only change to the starting lineup after Jacques Botes took a knock to the hip.
Allister Coetzee, head coach of the DHL Stormers, today named his team to take on the Lions in the Stormers first game of their 2011 Super Rugby campaign. The match is on Saturday 26 February at the DHL Newlands Rugby Stadium.