It was a weekend of firsts in South African Vodacom Super Rugby history, with bragging rights in two derbies going to the Lions and the Toyota Cheetahs, while the Cell C Sharks cemented their position at the top of the standings.
On Friday evening, the Toyota Cheetahs turned around an 11-match losing streak against the Vodacom Bulls for their first-ever win over the team from Pretoria in this competition. It wasn’t pretty and the conditions were dire, but the side from Central South Africa would not have been too bothered by that as they won 15-9.
Saturday afternoon saw the Cell C Sharks dismantle a spirited Hurricanes side by 27-9 in Durban, after which the Lions were responsible for yet another upset when they trashed the DHL Stormers by 34-10 in Johannesburg – their first win over the Capetonians in 10 attempts.
sarugby
Lions flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff was his team’s hero with a personal haul of 29 points, meaning he has already reached 50 points this season after he got 21 last week against the Toyota Cheetahs.
His three drop-goals against the DHL Stormers also meant Boshoff joined a special group of only three players who have achieved this feat previously – Morné Steyn scored four for the Vodacom Bulls against the Crusaders in 2009, while Louis Koen (Vodacom Bulls v Cats in 2003) and Andrew Mehrtens (Crusaders v Highlanders in 1998) both slotted three drops each.
Boshoff’s efforts in the last two weekends is one of the fastest season fifties in the history of the game in SA, but it will take some doing to better the record held by Gavin Lawless, who scored 50 points in the opening match for the Sharks against the Highlanders in 1997.
Toyota Cheetahs (12) 15 / 9 (3) Vodacom Bulls:
The Toyota Cheetahs won the kicking contest in atrocious weather for rugby when they recorded their first-ever win over the Vodacom Bulls in eight years of Vodacom Super Rugby.
The score of 15-9 tells a story of a match where no tries were scored and all the points came via the boot. It was the first time the Toyota Cheetahs could not breach the Vodacom Bulls’ line, and vice versa.
The heavy downpour in Bloemfontein obviously didn’t help, but both sides struggled to get their game going in a match which will probably not be remembered for too long.
In the end, the Toyota Cheetahs probably played the conditions better, with fullback Willie le Roux underlining the massive improvement he’s shown in his tactical play by keeping his team in the right areas of the field with a number of superb kicks upfield.
The Toyota Cheetahs were also very good on defence and won a number of turnovers from the three-time champions, who struggled to get going on a night which would’ve been bitter-sweet for Victor Matfield as he became the most-capped Vodacom Super Rugby player in the history of South African rugby with 126 matches.
Scorers:
Toyota Cheetahs
- Penalty goals: Johan Goosen (4)
- Drop goal: Johan Goosen (1)
Vodacom Bulls
- Penalty goals: Louis Fouché (1), Handré Pollard (2)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIqjxBUvr14[/youtube]
Cell C Sharks (10) 27 / 9 (6) Hurricanes:
The Cell C Sharks cemented their place at the top of the Vodacom Super Rugby standings with a 27-9 win over the Hurricanes at Growthpoint Kings Park on Saturday afternoon.
However, the KwaZulu-Natalians will be disappointed that their great forward ascendancy, especially in the first half, did not lead to more tries. The Cell C Sharks really had their visitors from the New Zealand capital on the back-foot, but simply could not find the tryline.
As it stands, they outscored the Hurricanes by two tries to nil, but one of those was a well-taken intercept from 40 metres out by speedster Lwazi Mvovo.
Bulldozing loose forward Willem Alberts celebrated his 50th appearance for the Cell C Sharks with their first try after a period of sustained pressure on the ‘Canes’ line.
The rest of the Cell C Sharks’ points came from the boot of Pat Lambie, who was spot-on with five of his six kicks at goal.
The Hurricanes, who play the DHL Stormers in Cape Town next weekend, never gave up though, but they were kept in the game by the Cell C Sharks finishing struggles.
Scorers:
Cell C Sharks
- Tries: Willem Alberts (1), Lwazi Mvovo (1)
- Conversion: Patrick Lambie (1)
- Penalty goals: Patrick Lambie (5)
Hurricanes
- Penalty goals: Beauden Barrett (2), Marty Banks (1)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWad5sdsBzk[/youtube]
Lions (22) 34 / 10 (10) DHL Stormers:
For a second successive week the Lions caused an upset as they kept on celebrating their return to Vodacom Super Rugby with a magnificent 34-10 win over the DHL Stormers at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday evening.
Unlike their victory over the Toyota Cheetahs, which came thanks to a last-minute drop-goal, the Lions were the dominant side from the opening play and they kept it up for most of the 80 minutes.
The victory was built on Marnitz Boshoff’s dominant boot and a superb defensive effort, which saw the Lions turning over the scoreboard with regularity and keeping the DHL Stormers scoreless in the second half.
The Lions started very strongly – by the 19th minute Stefan Watermeyer had scored a try and Boshoff had added a conversion, two drop-goals and two penalty goals as the home side scored at a point a minute.
Thereafter the DHL Stormers narrowed the gap, with Scarra Ntubeni scoring his first Vodacom Super Rugby try, but the Lions were not to let this one slip. They stepped up the intensity after the break, especially on defence, with Boshoff and Co effectively kicking for territory and turning any scoring opportunity into points.
This was the first time in seven years the Lions have managed back-to-back Vodacom Super Rugby victories – in 2007 they beat the Reds and Force on consecutive weekends in rounds four and five.
It was also the Lions franchise’s biggest win in any local derby. As the Cats, they beat the Vodacom Bulls by 57-24 in 1999 and the DHL Stormers by 41-7 in 1998.
Scorers:
Lions
- Try: Stefan Watermeyer (1)
- Conversion: Marnitz Boshoff (1)
- Penalty goals: Marnitz Boshoff (6)
- Drop goals: Marnitz Boshoff (3)
DHL Stormers
- Try: Scarra Ntubeni
- Conversion: Demetri Catrakilis (1)
- Penalty goal: Demetri Catrakilis (1)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0C7r0rIfMQ[/youtube]
Other results – Round 2:
Crusaders 10 / 18 Chiefs (Christchurch)
Highlander 29 / 21 Blues (Dunedin)
Brumbies 17 / 27 Reds (Canberra)
Waratahs 43 / 21 Force (Sydney)
And the Lions were had 2 yellow cards in the 2nd half. And yet the Stormers could not breach their defence. In the euphoria of the day, I could not make out if the 2 cards overlapped, or if they occurred consecutively, but the Lions defended like animals.
1 @ Lion4ever:
Lions played like men possessed… was good to see.
I’m so glad for you Lions supporters.
Of course this coming weekend it’s us against you guys… and I’m very worried!
Die Cheetahs – Bulls game het net lowlites gehad, geen highlites. Dit was seker die swakste game wat ek nog gesien het. Nie een van die 2 spanne weet wat om met die bal te doen nie.
@ Lion4ever:
Congratulations.
highlight of the game for me was when Vermeulen charged straight at Marnitz full speed after picking the ball up at the back of a 8 vs 7 man scrum and Boshoff stood his ground and made the tackle.
That right there summed up the game.
Sjoe ek het seker die twee beste games gemis(Leeus en Waratahs) maar dit wat ek gesien het was regtig tipies vroeg seisoense roes gemeng met Blou Bul stupidgeit. So gaan ons nerens kom nie en boonop vir jare ploeg. As ons nie goeie spanbou en kontrakteering kry nie gaan ons sleg uit die bus val.
My gevoel is dat ons bereid moet wees om bietjie pak te vat terwyl ons ons nuwe spelpatroon laat ontwikkel. Vir my sal dit geen probleem wees as ons begin met groot verlore nie. Solank die guts daar is om daarby te hou en die houe ten die ken ons nie laat terugval na n ou metode/patrone nie.
Morning all 🙂 Nortied recommended I try here instead of the crappy sarugbymag 🙂
Bulls captain Pierre Spies will miss a large part of the 2014 season due to a bicep injury.
I really hope we can go on without him now. Regroup restart
@ Mike Brass:
Much easier here and you will find great friends here. Welcome.
6 @ Mike Brass:
Welcome here to RT Mike. You definitely have come to the right site. Hope you enjoy it here as much as I do.
We also do the Cricket here as that for me is also a bonus.
Think now we have more Stormer/WP supporters here than any other. Come on Shark Supporters join up…. 🙂
6 @ Mike Brass:
Hello,
Welcome to the Friendly Rugby Website.
Hope we see lots from you in the comments sections.
Make this your rugby home.
1 @ Lion4ever:
Think there was about a half minute when there was only 13 players of Lions on the field. Felt like one came on and one went off.
Anyhow well done to your Lions. Their defence was excellent and that was a superb display from all of your team.
@ Puma: I’m liking what I see and I miss the banter, though my postings at Keo came in spurts.
The more Stormers supporters the better the world is 🙂 🙂
Now to finish the job against the Aussies at Newlands. Gosh we take a long time to warm up but when we did….
(Yup, not mentioning the disasterous Lions – Stormers match. Shudder)
12 @ Mike Brass:
Plenty banter here Mike. Also the best site when the live games are on, then we have more blogging as well.
Somehow think your team will up their game this week against the Canes and win it. If you lose at home then your team will be in trouble. Just think they will win on Saturday.
Yip so many Stormer supporter here now….hahaha. We need more Sharks blogging here. There are 5 of us so far. A few Sharks supporters from keo has joined up here as well. I have blogged here since 2009 so have been here for a very long time, not as long as I was on keo but that will come as I only blog here now.
12 @ Mike Brass:
Sorry mickeybrass, have just gone and edited your display nickname to rather show mickeybrass than Mike Brass
@ grootblousmile: LOL 🙂 Thanks; it’s pronounced “mike-e” anyways.
@ Puma: What, no HG here?
15 @ mikeybrass:
Nope Heavens Game has not joined up here. Actually we have 6 Sharks supporters here.
Snoek
Sharks_Forever who was Sharks_Lover on keo
Fern
Kakesoek (sp)
Grumpy who was Rye on keo
Puma
Think there might be more just forget who else. There is definitely more Stormer supporters just so many can’t remember their nics off hand. You okes are always the most everywhere…hahahaha.
Okay catch up later.
Cheers everyone.
Unexpected though it was in terms of the one-sidedness of the game, the opening defeat on its own need not necessarily be seen as a train smash if the Stormers can pick up the pieces quickly. Although De Villiers didn’t want to make excuses, the Cape side started the competitive season 80 minutes after the Lions, and it wasn’t a coincidence that it was in the opening minutes that the Lions hit them the hardest and effectively won the match.
Thanks guys, for the good words regarding the Lions victory. Needless to say, I am chuffed beyond words. I know the Stormers can only improve, but they do have a number of current Boks in the team, and if they perform badly in SR, HM will really struggle in the June tours and Rugby Championship. But it does seem as if JDV does play better in green and gold.
However, I have mixed feelings about this weekend’s game, as we could see a Bulls backlash after their 2 defeats, but with the Lions improving every game, and playing with passion and guts, and momentum on their side, the Lions could record their 3rd win on the trot.
Do you guys like the highlites videos on the article?
Good day all.
Who needs to win the game against the Lions & the Bulls for it to be an upset?
21 @ Scrumsaam:
Almost the same answer as who needs to win between the Stormers & Hurricanes on the weekend for it to be an upset…
The Bulls and Stormers, of course..
@ grootblousmile:
Yes Lions play great rugby but i am still not convinced. We can judge them when they start playing NZ and Aussie teams, we all know what happens then.
@ grootblousmile:
If the Stormers win we will call it a miracle and not an upset,
@ Scrumsaam:
The Stormers will cheer more if they scored a backline try than they would if they won.
24 @ Scrumsaam:
Hehehe
@ MacroBull:
Which backline? Stormers do not have one, everyone tried to run over the lions on saturday none used space.
27 @ Scrumsaam:
Steven Kitskos played well at flyhalf at times…. hahaha
@ Scrumsaam:
I wonder when the Stormers will play Pat Howard, such a waste to have that guy holding tackle bags.
@ Scrumsaam:
On the basis of the Lions having no name brand players, and the fact that the Lions have just returned to Super Rugby, I would say the Lions. On the other hand, Naas, the tide is turning and if the Bulls win it may be considered a minor upset considering the current form of both teams.
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