Cheetahs
The big north/south Vodacom Super Rugby derby between the DHL Stormers and the Vodacom Bulls in Cape Town has made a lot of headlines this week and it’s probably the biggest match of the weekend.
Both of the Cheetahs starting props against the Crusaders are injured.
Crusaders (11) 28 / Cheetahs (3) 21 (Final Score)
The Crusaders and Toyota Cheetahs did battle in Super Rugby at Christchurch Stadium, Christchurch at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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Toyota Cheetahs coach Naka Drotske has made three changes to his pack for Saturday’s Vodacom Super Rugby clash against the Crusaders in Christchurch.
Rebels (10) 26 / Cheetahs (20) 33 (Final Score)
The Melbourne Rebels and Toyota Cheetahs did battle in Super Rugby at AAMI Stadium, Melbourne at 07:10 SA Time (16:10 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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The Sharks won their first Vodacom Super Rugby match of 2012 while the Vodacom Bulls let slip a great opportunity to remain top of the log as they lost at home to the Blues.
Brumbies (10) 24 / Cheetahs (13) 23 (Final Score)
The Brumbies and Toyota Cheetahs did battle in Super Rugby at Canberra Stadium, Canberra at 06:35 SA Time (15:35 Canberra).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
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After their hammering of 51-19 at the hands of the Bulls in a Super Rugby match on Saturday, the Cheetahs boarded their plane for Australasia knowing that they have to make some sort of mind shift.
Cheetahs (12) 19 / Bulls (31) 51 (Final Score)
The Toyota Cheetahs and Vodacom Bulls did battle in Super Rugby at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 17:05 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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The Hurricanes will continue their tour as the first non-South Africa team to tour the Republic, while the South African Conference derbies continue with a marquee encounter between the Stormers and Sharks, while the Bulls travel to play the Cheetahs.
Every season we muse over the potential changing of the guard, and of all the giants in Super Rugby many would have predicted that the Overlords of the game in the Republic – the Bulls – would have been a team that could have been excused for a season of rebuilding.
Cheetahs centre Andries Strauss has been cited and suspended for 2 weeks for foul play in the Super Rugby match between the Lions and the Cheetahs in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Lions (12) 27 Cheetahs (19) 25 (Final Score)
The MTN Lions and the Toyota Cheetahs did battle in Week 1 of Super Rugby 2012 at Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg at 19:10 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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With time creeping up on us very fast, we have received our first allottment of Super Rugby tickets, 10 in total, for the game between the MTN Lions and Toyota Cheetahs, which takes place on Saturday at 19:10 SA Time.
Scrumdown, one of our Lions reporters collected them today and phoned me.
He left a very good suggestion that we could give a couple of tickets to some of the unsung medics and helpers who work at the games in the Lions region… and he seems to have just the right people in mind.
The South African Rugby Union’s head honchos will come face-to-face with the ‘big five’ at a crucial meeting in Johannesburg on Thursday.
The SARU delegation, headed by CEO Jurie Roux, will meet with officials of the five current SA franchises – Lions, Bulls, Cheetahs, Sharks and Stormers.
So, in a year where the SA Super Rugby teams have so much to win, and so very much to lose should they have a nightmare season, the two perrenial bottom dwellers of the South African teams square up in the first round of games.
The Lions are riding on the crest of the Currie Cup wave, whilst the Cheetahs will take great heart from some truly stellar performances during the 2011 Super Rugby campaign.
Lets take a look at what we can expect in this the first CAT FIGHT of the season, as well as a look at the player – player match ups.
The Lions held a media conference to launch their Super Rugby campaign this afternoon, where the team to face the Cheetahs at Coca-Cola Park on Saturday was announced.
Kick Off is at 19h10 local time.
Picked up this piece on the net at a website called sportbilly.co.za
The man is some kind of biased New Zealand supporter of sorts… and obviously oblivious of what is really happening here in South Africa at present.
This Article of course does not necessarily reflect my own views or that of Rugby-Talk, but at least someone was willing to nail his beliefs to the wall!
Here it is:
Super Rugby previews are more numerous than Whitney Houston tributes at the moment. In both cases time is wasted. There seems to be a reluctance amongst sports writers in general to spare one’s balls from the impending pain and climb down off the fence. So lets now seperate the poop from the champagne when it comes to the teams.
I am not going to bore you with in depth analysis of the no-hopers. I’m looking at potential champions here. To win this thing you have got to finish top of your conference. Bottom line. The ‘extended playoff’ scenario gives the ‘also rans’ a cruel illusion of hope but their chances remain slimmer than a Somalian hunger striker.
Here is how I see it.
South Africa’s five Super Rugby franchises have threatened to boycott the 2013 Super Rugby season if any of the current five teams are excluded from the competition.
Bulls (16) 39 / Cheetahs (9) 16 (Final Score)
The Vodacom Bulls and Toyota Cheetahs did battle in a Warm-up match in preparation for Super Rugby at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane at 17:00 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 2 & CSN on TV in SA.
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Golden Lions Rugby Union president Kevin De Klerk has made it clear that no South African Super Rugby franchises would be prepared to merge ahead of the Southern Kings’ involvement in the tournament in 2013.
In the past, some South Africans may have lamented an uneven balance of power, perhaps suggesting that their Conference was a drie perdewedren (three horse race), but on evidence of the last two months there will be a brutal dogfight amongst the five teams from the Republic this year.
Stormers 14 / Cheetahs 22 (Final Score)
The DHL Stormers and Toyota Cheetahs did battle in a warm-up game in preparation for the impending Super Rugby competition of 2012 at Newlands, Cape Town at 17:00 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article, our man in the Press Box for the match was Just For Kicks.
(The match was NOT BROADCAST on TV)
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The Stormers and Cheetahs will enter the next, crucial phase of their Super Rugby pre-season build-up when they meet at Newlands on Saturday.
Coach Naka Drotske has announced a strong team to take on the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.
Allister Coetzee has named the Stormers team to face Toyota Cheetahs on Saturday at Newlands:
The Cheetahs kicked off their preparation for the 2012 Super Rugby tournament with a 33 / 20 victory over EP Kings in East London.
News from the City Of Roses is that, one of the leading contenders to Captain the Springboks in 2012, Juan Smith, has not recovered from his injury and is on crutches once again.
The Cheetahs say they feel ‘cheated’ after it was revealed they will not be facing the Kings, but a Border Bulldogs/SWD Eagles combination in their pre-season match on Saturday.
The Cheetahs have pulled out all their big guns for their pre-season clash with the EP Kings in East London on Saturday.
The Cheetahs’ Springbok flank Juan Smith has not been included in their pre-season training camp to Jeffreys Bay after experiencing further discomfort in training.
The Cheetahs, determined to make the Super Rugby play-offs for the first time, are engaged in an enormous internal battle for places in the team.
Rob Houwing imagines what the country’s five Super Rugby Franchises may wish for as main presents in their stockings on December 25 …
Add your wish list in the comments.
Springbok flank Heinrich Brüssow will start training with the Cheetahs next week ahead of the Super Rugby tournament, on his way to recovery from injury.
Players from the Vodacom Super 14 finalist Bulls and Stormers have unsurprisingly monopolised the nominations in the race for the title of Vodacom Super 14 Player of the Year award, the South African Rugby Union announced on Tuesday.
Our own poll will be up on Sunday
Go ahead, nominate your players, closing date for nominations Saturday after the last Test of the day.