The Toyota Cheetahs were the only South African Vodacom Super Rugby team to walk away with a win this weekend after they scored a brilliant victory over the Melbourne Rebels in Bloemfontein.
The men from Central South Africa have now won their last four matches and looked thoroughly impressive against the Rebels, whom they beat by 34-16, scoring five tries in the process.
sarugby
However, the Southern Kings, Vodacom Bulls and DHL Stormers were all beaten on a rather bleak Saturday from a South African perspective.
The Kings were brave as they went down 30-46 to the Hurricanes in Wellington, with a slow start and a number of soft moments late in the game costing them dearly in only their second tour match ever.
In Canberra, the table-topping Brumbies needed an injury-time penalty goal to beat the Vodacom Bulls by 23-20.
Despite leading 11-0 halfway through the first half, the DHL Stormers lost their fourth successive match against the Crusaders, by 19-14, in Cape Town. It was a very physical encounter where the Capetonians’ struggles in the set pieces, especially the lineout, proved very costly.
Hurricanes (29) 46 : 30 (16) Southern Kings:
Wasted opportunities and soft tries cost the Southern Kings as they lost their second tour match in New Zealand, by 46-30 to the Hurricanes in Wellington’s Westpac Stadium on Saturday morning (SA time).
The Kings yet again fought bravely and never gave up against a more-fancied opponent, with Hannes Franklin going over for their third try late in the match, but the 17 points they conceded through two late tries and a penalty goal in the last 15 minutes, proved too much in the end.
When Ronnie Cooke, who looked good with ball in hand, went over for the Kings’ second try with half an hour of play left, they were behind by 23-29 and within range. But the team from the Eastern Cape handed their hosts two soft tries, which sealed the result for the Hurricanes.
Despite playing well at times, a slow start – where the Kings seemed to lack focus as the ‘Canes scored three tries to one, by Steven Sykes, in the first 30 minutes – as well as the sloppy finish, were costly for the Kings.
Scorers:
Hurricanes – Tries: Ben May, Conrad Smith, TJ Perenara, Jeremy Thrush, Brad Shields, Alapati Leiua. Conversions: Beauden Barrett (5). Penalty goals: Barrett (2).
Southern Kings – Tries: Steven Sykes, Ronnie Cooke, Hannes Franklin. Conversions: Demetri Catrakilis (2), George Whitehead. Penalty goals: Catrakilis (3).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHMGy7LKFUQ[/youtube]
Brumbies (14) 23 / 20 (3) Vodacom Bulls:
The Brumbies needed an injury time penalty goal to beat the Vodacom Bulls by 23-20 at Canberra Stadium in a tough Vodacom Super Rugby match in the Australian capital on Saturday morning (SA time).
This after the Vodacom Bulls had pulled level at the death thanks to a try by JJ Engelbrecht in the corner, which was calmly converted by Morné Steyn from the left-hand touchline. This try came at the end of a good second half, where the visitors fought back from 14-3 down at the break to level the scores at 20-20.
But Christian Lealiifano’s sixth penalty goal, after the hooter had sounded, saw the Vodacom Bulls end their Australasian tour with a third successive defeat.
Although they were in it in the end, the Pretorians simply conceded too many penalties – on the ground and at scrum time – which Lealiifano gladly converted into points for the log-leaders.
Two of these came in the last 20 minutes, when Vodacom Bulls prop Morné Mellett was sin-binned for repeated scrum-infringements, which cost his side valuable momentum. It was 14-13 when Mellett was yellow carded and 20-13 when he returned 10 minutes later.
The fact that the Vodacom Bulls outscored the Brumbies by two tries to one counted for nothing as their ill-discipline on the ground and struggles in the scrum proved too costly. Their tactical kicking game also wasn’t great, while the use of the South Africans’ bench was also not too good.
It’s the fourth time in the last 10 years that the Bulls have to return to Pretoria without a victory in Australia – it also happened in 2005, 2008 and 2011.
Scorers:
Brumbies – Try: Robbie Coleman. Penalty goals: Christian Lealiifano (6).
Vodacom Bulls – Tries: Jurgen Visser, JJ Engelbrecht. Conversions: Morné Steyn (2). Penalty goals: Steyn (2).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKczntWIxi4[/youtube]
Toyota Cheetahs (10) 34 / 16 (6) Melbourne Rebels:
It was wet and miserable in Bloemfontein, but the conditions didn’t bother the Toyota Cheetahs as they secured their fourth win on the trot when they crushed the Melbourne Rebels by 34-16 at the Free State Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
It was only the second time in the Toyota Cheetahs’ existence as a franchise that they won four matches consecutively, and they did it in style.
After winning three matches on tour, the team from Bloemfontein returned home and outscored the Rebels by five tries – all of them scored by their backs – to the Rebels’ late five-pointer in a one-sided match.
Four of the Toyota Cheetahs’ tries came in the second half – three of them in a frantic period of superb attacking rugby between the 65th and 73rd minutes. In this time, Willie le Roux, Johann Sadie and Ryno Benjamin went over for well-worked tries.
Earlier in the second half, Raymond Rhule dotted down under the posts after a great break by Robert Ebersohn, who used a deft back-hand pass to put the Cheetahs speedster away for a great try.
The Toyota Cheetahs, whose first try, by Hennie Daniller came after good pressure play, laid the platform upfront and executed their set piece well. They also remained patient and took their chances when they were there. It was a polished performance by the Cheetahs, who moved into second position in the SA Conference – and sixth overall.
Scorers:
Toyota Cheetahs – Tries: Hennie Daniller, Raymond Rhule, Willie le Roux, Johann Sadie, Rayno Benjamin. Conversions: Burton Francis (3). Penalty goal: Francis.
Melbourne Rebels – Try: Cadeyrn Neville. Conversion: James O’Connor. Penalty goals: O’Connor (3).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEQ4P6eQiO8[/youtube]
DHL Stormers (11) 14 / 19 (13) Crusaders:
The Crusaders remained the DHL Stormers’ bogey team in Vodacom Super Rugby with a 19-14 win at DHL Newlands in Cape Town on a windy and cool Saturday evening.
It was the Crusaders’ fourth successive win over the DHL Stormers, and to make matters worse for the Capetonians, three of these defeats were at DHL Newlands.
The DHL Stormers were still in it right until the end, but the Crusaders’ defence held firm as they capped a fine display on a night where the home team struggled at line-out time, with their tactical kicking and with their discipline – Duane Vermeulen was sin-binned for an illegal tackle midway through the second half. It was the DHL Stormers’ first yellow card of the season.
The DHL Stormers’ defence was once again solid and they conceded only one try, late in the first half to Matt Todd, but they simply made too many unforced errors and struggled to get their hands on the ball in a match where the Crusaders simply played better rugby.
Their line-out issues meant one of the DHL Stormers’ greatest weapons, their rolling maul, was nullified. Early in the match they got a great maul going and Siya Kolisi scored for the home team, it took the home team another hour before they got another opportunity to drive from a line-out.
The seven-time champions were tactically better and constantly turned the DHL Stormers around with pin-point kicking. By disrupting or stealing the Capetonians possession at the ensuing line-out, the visitors ensured they stayed in the right half of the field.
And as more and more mistakes crept into the DHL Stormers’ game the Crusaders erased an 11-0 deficit in the second quarter and when they took the lead shortly before the break, they remained ahead on the scoreboard until the end.
Scorers:
DHL Stormers – Try: Siya Kolisi. Penalty goals: Joe Pietersen (3).
Crusaders – Try: Matt Todd. Conversion: Tyler Bleyendaal. Penalty goals: Bleyendaal (4).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQlrXlvnjHM[/youtube]
Other results – Round 7:
Highlanders 33 / 34 Reds (Dunedin)
Chiefs 23 / 16 Blues (Mt Manganui)
Waratahs 23 / 19 Western Force (Sydney)
There it is, the dire story of SA Super Rugby for Round 7!
Bulls were really done hard by that stupid Ref and the last penalty + should have kicked out and took the draw
Stormers were really let down by that stupid coach and hooker + tactics
Kings were really let down by a lack of experience + Cheeky’s second cousin, 4th neighbour’s, 3rd wife’s sister’s hardresser as she is a Lion in PE
Cheetahs was koning!
o ja, and Sharks game was close, again
4 @ 4man:
Grrrrrrrr, I fell 11 places… from 2nd to 13th, in one foul swoop this weekend. You on the other hand climbed 7 places, well done!
Hello all, looks like it was a tough weekend on the Super rugby front – a good one to miss again. Was brilliant to meet up with GBS thanks a lot man! Chilling out in the lovely Oliphants valley near Citrusdal with good friends, tomorrow its Langebaan here we come 🙂
6 @ Bullscot:
Hello Bully!
Glad to hear you’re having a great time.
Was really good to meet up with you the other week Sunday. Send regards to the wife and the 2 little monsters.
@ Gena_ZA:
2
@ Bullscot:
you went the wrong way, you should have come to The Valley of the Olifants, this is what the area from Blyde Canyon to the Mozambique border is called. We have a Olifants river too, ours is filled with crocodiles, elephant, rhinos(the ones that is left), lions and leopards.
This bloody slaughter of our rhinos MUST be stopped. At this stage they kill more than the ones born. Soon we will only se them in Zoos.
Really can not believe Sharks have Lourens Van der Merwe for our game against Saders this week. Think he will spoil it as much as he almost spoiled the game against the Rebels. How did they let him ref again? Just never lets the game flow at all.
Cheetahs and Stormers have Stuart Berry.
6 @ Bullscot</b
Howzit BullScot?
Sounds like you having a great time back in South Africa. Enjoy the rest of your holiday.
Not sure how that came up in bold…. 🙄
5 @ grootblousmile:
Teaches you for picking the Force…. 🙂
@ Puma:
10
Hello old man, the refereeing is really bad lately, the more they bring inTV and technology the more it goes for a pot of s#i#
14 @ superBul:
Hello Super, How you doing? Hope well.
Super the reffing this season has been terrible. Look at that last penalty against Bulls on Saturday? Should have been against Brumbies. Bulls should have gotten that last penalty and they would have kicked it out. Picked up the 2 points instead of the one and now Brumbies got 4 points from that game and should have gotten 2.
So many refs just not up to standard this year. Lourens was so pedantic against Sharks and Rebels. Also he just never lets the game flow at all. Though in that game of course we scored a lot, but he also just kept on going on and on about nothing at times. Now we have him again for a really important game.
Brumbies/Rebels have Jaco Peyper
@ Puma:
i have not seen anything of the Bulls game but my team deserves what they get, they refuse to adapt and play a decent game. We bought the best talent in SA to destroy them, to clone them into kick chasers.
I am really getting fed up with this stubborn attitude of FL and kie.
If you read the Official Blue Bull sites articles , although it is mostly Afrikaans, you will find a lot of sick and tired supporters asking questions there
Grrrrr, good old Brakkenjanpan has a Power Outage… don’t know how far it reaches or how comprehensive, but we’re back in the stone age for now.
Got a gas lamp on here in the office.
Also late this afternoon lightning struck here at my office and I lost a bloody D-Link DSL-2750U ADSL Modem / Router / 3G Failover jobbie in the process. Luckily always have some ADSL Routers in stock.
Strange freegin weather it was too… almost no rain, just one hell of an electric storm…
Nouja, without power, I don’t work… and the Notebook’s battery won’t last long… fokkie toggie!
Ah, Power is back on… but for how long?
@ grootblousmile:
hello ou Bul ondersteuner
Jis daar op ons Amptelike blad is die manne lus vir Barend, Frans en Victor.
Gatvol verby sal ek se
17 @ superBul:
Bulls do have some of the best backline players to play a great attacking game. A pity they are not playing that way just yet. It could come now Super as Bulls know well they need to start winning with bonus points. I think they will.
Okay going to watch some tv. Been long day for me. Back on Thursday as tomorrow back up in Joburg for the day.
Cheers everyone.
18 @ grootblousmile:
Gbs….hahaha. Sorry but it does sound funny. I know it is NOT. I hate to be without power. Hope it does not happen here…lol
Does sound like the stone age that is for sure boet…lol.
Catch up on Thursday.
22 @ Puma:
Fark, I can vouch for the fact that ot was’nt bloody funny!
20 @ superBul:
Ek kan nogal dink die ouens is bemoerd!
Het jy ooit die game gekyk… jy sou nog?
Victor is basies ‘n repeater spreekbuis van hoe Frans hom al indoktrineer het.
Hel, die manne sal moet begin bal innie hande hou en speel soos hulle teen die Blues gespeel het. Hierdie verdomde strakse konserwatiewe en oudmodiese spel sal gewysig moet word!
Ons het nou 2 wedstryde in ‘n ry gesien hulle kan die bal hou hier laat in die wedstryd as hulle eweskielik die agterstand moet jaag, nou vra ek jou hoekom kan hulle nie so speel van die begin af nie… en deurgaans nie. Ons het gesien as en wanneer hulle die bal hou, begin hulle hel gevaarlik lyk… en dit word dan sommer mooi om te aanskou ook!
Hulle sal die ander spanne oprol en klaarmaak as hulle daai taktiek van die staanspoor af toepas.
Hulle moet druk op die ander span plaas, die afbreekpunte na waarde skat en konsentreer om weer besit te kry en te hou… en dan die teenstanders vernietig met rol-maalbewegings en akkurate spel.
Ja hulle moet ook sorg dat hulle onder druk skop, en ja hulle moet al die spel in die opponente se halfte probeer gaan jol, maar nie sommer goedsmoeds die balle die lug in sool met ‘n “hoop ons chasers kry die bal attitude” nie.
Ons stutte pla my ook man….
Puma wrote:
What was said on SS after the game
But while the Brumbies and their coach Jake White will celebrate a victory, the winning penalty came from a controversial call by referee Jonathan White who raised questions as to his ability to ref at this level with a number of dubious calls.
It followed an inconsistent performance by White in which he allowed only the Brumbies leeway at the breakdown, and perplexed both sides with calls that sometimes bordered on the ludicrous.
It also further raised eyebrows as to the state of refereeing in the Sanzar competition, especially after a week where Sanzar refs boss Lyndon Bray spent time in South Africa putting out fires after reffing controversies the week before.
Still, while the Brumbies didn’t really deserve the penalty they got – replays showed Nick White to not be supporting his own body weight in the breakdown – the Bulls hardly deserved to win the game either.
Southern Kings
15. George Whitehead , 11. Ronnie Cooke , 13. Waylon Murray , 12. Andries Strauss (Captain) , 14. Sergeal Petersen , 10. Demetri Catrakilis , 9. Nicolas Vergallo , 8. Cornell du Preez, 7. Wimpie van der Walt , 5. Rynier Bernardo , 4. Steven Sykes (Vice Captain) , 6. Devin Oosthuizen, 3. Grant Kemp , 2. Hannes Franklin, 1. Schalk Ferreira
Replacements : 16. Bandise Maku , 17. Kevin Buys , 18. David Bulbring , 19. Jacques Engelbrecht , 20. Shaun Venter , 21. Marcello Sampson , 22. Elric van Vuuren
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