The Lions celebrated their return to Vodacom Super Rugby with a good win over the Toyota Cheetahs in Bloemfontein before the Cell C Sharks showed they mean business in 2014 with a bonus-point victory over the Vodacom Bulls in Durban.
For the Cell C Sharks, under a new coach in former Springbok mentor Jake White, it was a perfect start to the season. They got their 4th try at the death of their 31 / 16 win after scoring 3 five-pointers in the first 40 minutes.
Interestingly enough, it was the first time ever that the Cell C Sharks managed to score a bonus-point victory at home in February, when Durban’s notorious high heat and humidity play havoc with handling.
In fact, it was only the 2nd time since the inception of Vodacom Super Rugby that a side managed 4 February tries at Kings Park – the Toyota Cheetahs did just that when they beat the Sharks by 27 / 26 in 2006.
Yesterday however the Cell C Sharks were firmly in control, but the Toyota Cheetahs’ performance was unlike that day when they won in Durban in 2006 – they came unstuck against a spirited Lions side that shocked a lot of people with a 21 / 20 victory in Bloemfontein.
Lions flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff contributed all of his team’s points with a near flawless kicking display – he slotted all 6 his attempts at penalty goals and got 1 from 2 drop-goals. His opposite numbers though struggled with the boot and between Johan Goosen and Elgar Watts, they squandered 9 points with missed kicks at goal.
Boshoff’s exploits were similar to those of Elton Jantjies in 2012, when the currently injured Lions flyhalf kicked all of his team’s points as they beat the Toyota Cheetahs by 27 / 25 in the opening round.
The DHL Stormers had a bye this weekend but will be in action next week when the teams from Down Under also get in on the action.
Toyota Cheetahs (10) 20 / 21 (9) Lions:
Marnitz Boshoff, making his Vodacom Super Rugby debut, broke the Toyota Cheetahs’ hearts with a 78th minute drop-goal to help the Lions to a good 21 / 20 victory in the opening match of the season at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.
Even though they were outscored by 2 tries to 0, the Lions – back in Vodacom Super Rugby after missing out last season – never gave up. The home side simply gave away too many kickable penalties and Boshoff duly made the scoreboard tick over when he got an opportunity.
And when the Lions played themselves into a promising attacking position late in the match, fans of the Toyota Cheetahs must’ve been on the edge of their seats. Boshoff’s antics were enough for the visitors as he pushed his personal tally to 21 points thanks to six penalty goals and a drop goal.
Both sides showed some early-season rustiness and they were very keen on throwing the ball around, which resulted in way too many unforced errors.
The Toyota Cheetahs though, did get the first 2 tries of the season after some enterprising play – first by Raymond Rhule and in the 2nd half Cornal Hendricks, who was this week named the SA Sevens Player of 2013, capped his Vodacom Super Rugby debut with a good try.
For the Lions, this was just the way to re-enter Vodacom Super Rugby, while last season’s surprise package, the Toyota Cheetahs, will be left wondering where things went awry for them.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84FxGreFTeM[/youtube]
Scorers:
Toyota Cheetahs:
- Tries: Raymond Rhule (1), Cornal Hendricks (1)
- Conversions: Johan Goosen (2)
- Penalty goals: Johan Goosen (1), Elgar Watts (1)
Lions:
- Penalty goals: Marnitz Boshoff (6)
- Drop goal: Boshoff (1)
Cell C Sharks (23) 31 / 16 (9) Vodacom Bulls:
The Cell C Sharks, thanks mainly to a superb 1st half effort, got their season off to a great start when they beat the Vodacom Bulls by 31 / 16 at Growthpoint Kings Park in Durban on Saturday evening.
The home side scored 3 crucial tries in the first 40 minutes of a match that was played at a great pace by 2 teams having a full go.
The Cell C Sharks though were more composed, took their chances and bagged the points. On the other hand, the Vodacom Bulls were not patient enough on the attack and didn’t convert their opportunities into points.
Their maul was very good, but the team from Pretoria got very little reward when they came within striking distance. Their only try, by Jono Ross late in the 2nd half, came from a rolling maul.
The home team though looked sharp on the attack and scored 3 tries in the first half, followed by a crucial 4th one, by Patrick Lambie, in injury time.
The first 2 tries came from Paul Jordaan (after a sniping run by Lwazi Mvovo) and Cobus Reinach. However, Odwa Ndungane’s superb effort in the right-hand corner, coming from a pin-point cross-kick by Frans Steyn after the buzzer in the 1st half, was probably the pick of the tries this weekend.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sFMF09fgi8[/youtube]
Scorers:
Cell C Sharks:
- Tries: Paul Jordaan (1), Cobus Reinach (1), Odwa Ndungane (1), Patrick Lambie (1)
- Conversion: Patrick Lambie (1)
- Penalty goals: Patrick Lambie (3)
Vodacom Bulls:
- Try: Jono Ross (1)
- Conversion: Handré Pollard (1)
- Penalty goals: Louis Fouché (2)
- Drop-goal: Louis Fouché (1)
Combined Log
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BPts | Pts |
| 1 | Cell C Sharks | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | Waratahs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Crusaders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Lions (Q) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Toyota Cheetahs (Q) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 21 | -1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Vodacom Bulls (Q) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 31 | -15 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Brumbies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Western Force | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Melbourne Rebels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Chiefs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Blues | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Hurricanes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Highlanders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | DHL Stormers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Reds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Australian Conference
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BPts | Pts |
| 1 | Waratahs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Reds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Western Force | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Melbourne Rebels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Brumbies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
New Zealand Conference
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BPts | Pts |
| 1 | Blues | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Highlanders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Hurricanes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Chiefs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Crusaders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
South African Conference
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BPts | Pts |
| 1 | Cell C Sharks | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | Lions | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Toyota Cheetahs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 21 | -1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | DHL Stormers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Vodacom Bulls | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 31 | -15 | 0 | 0 |
I must say, I lucked out with my choice of B&B for the week’s stay in Durban. The B&B is run by the official photographer for the Sharks magazine. Great guy, hard to get any work done! Lots of sports memorabilia here too!
Some lively chat about the weekend’s game lol. Just like here.
@ Stormersboy:
Lekkkker man
105 @ grootblousmile:
You know what makes this site so appealing as well. Is the format it is easy to follow all the bloggers here what they post. So never change it to that useless format they did on keo as it was just daft could not follow anything there.
Only gripe from me is wish the post number comes down next to when you post to another poster. I do put the number down before I post so posters can see which post I am responding too.
@ Puma(LambiesDad): How you doing today? Congrats on your team btw.
Hi Gummy.Dont know about all the red faced swollen nosed pith wearing colonial types in this last
bastion et,but I resist until sundown.Probably the best beer drinking climate in the world
Go well pal @ Gumboots:
123 @ Puma:
During the Bulls / Sharks game on Saturday evening our ONLINE VISITOR NUMBERS hovered at around 65 – 75 visitors continiously… and I have to maintain a careful juggling act when it gets that busy… having to De-Activate some of the Plugin’s like the Recent Comments plugin, to save CPU and Querie time on the Web Host Server.
We won’t change the commenting format, any other system which makes use of NESTED COMMENTS is just not on… it does not work, never will.
Today we’ve been hovering at over 40 Visitors continiously… and over 50 at times… and load speeds are still fine.
Hi Ben.E sweet sedert 6.00 am .
Go well pal @ Ben:
Stormersboy wrote:
Good thing you are not staying with a photographer of the Hustler…….o wait, it’s actually the same as the official Shark photographer, they both photograph the same type of material, only Jannie is a bigger one than what has ever appeared in any Hustler
@ grumpy:
Met him in hospital Neighbouring bed.How are you? @ Stormersboy:
127 @ grootblousmile:
Great keep the format as is it works brilliant.
Think you must be getting all the old keo posters looking in here as this site is buzzing now with plenty that moved over here. They should not be shy and just joint up and keep chatting on this great site. Has always been my favourite site as you know especially during live games.
grootblousmile wrote:
Just wait until the Monday after the Stormers have played.
And especially the Monday after the Stormers have played and lost, hoo boy, that gets the rabble out of their holes
134 @ nortierd:
You said so, I did’nt…. hehehe
@ nortierd:
Naaaaaaice one. Although the thought of Jannie kanniescrummie in a provocative pose made me throw up in my mouth a little…..
126 @ grumpy:
Afternoon all. 134 – LOL – hopefully we won’t have TOO many of those Mondays this season.
124 @ Stormersboy:
Thanks bud, feel chuffed they got the 5 points.
@ Sharks_forNEVER: Don’t think I forgot about you!
I see the Stormers have signed Shakes Soyizwapi of the Kings!
I also see that “Dwergie Japsnoet” (Jason Jaftha) is out of refereeing for a while with a busted knee.
@ grumpy:
I’m good thanks mate, and you?
141 @ GBS
Out with a busted knee, otherwise known as JacoTautism
I like the fact that the Sharks supporters are building their team up to take the title in 2014… very premature naturally…
But the season is LOOOONG….
143 @ nortierd:
Surely his knee is not THAT busted, shame man!
@ grootblousmile:
Hey howzit, good to be back.
Yep, basically repeated what you said, lol.
Oh ok, I thought he was in the squad.
Is Stegman injured?
@ nortierd:
HKGK
If only “Dwergie Japsnoet” (Jason Jaftha) was not injured and reffed the game between the Tjarks & Bulls (and was not replaced by Peyper), it could have been so different… hehehehe
If the Stormers loose against the Bulls and it’s the refs fault
Imagine THAT Monday
146 @ John Galt:
Stegmann had a mild groin strain, should be good to go for Friday night’s game against the Cheetahs.
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