Rassie Erasmus
The Sharks have a brand new centre pairing for their home clash with the Leopards on Friday, with Meyer Bosman and Marius Joubert starting in the midfield.
WP (3) 19 / Sharks (9) 21 (Final Score)
DHL Western Province hosted The Sharks 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 & CSN on TV in SA.
In terrible weather conditions, the Sharks just had enough in the tank to beat DHL Western Province, by only 2 points.
Ryan Kankowski has been drafted into the Sharks team to play Western Province on Friday after he was released from the Springbok squad on Wednesday.
Sharks coach John Plumtree has made several changes to his Currie Cup team to play Western Province in Friday’s Currie Cup clash at Newlands.
Griquas (14) 43 / Sharks (16) 22 (Final Score)
GWK Griquas hosted The Sharks at GWK Park, Kimberley at 19:10. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, SHD & CSN on TV in SA.
GWK Griquas eserved their bonus point win, scoring 4 tries to 1.
Sharks coach John Plumtree has chosen to stick with his players who have kept the Sharks unbeaten in this year’s Currie Cup instead of bringing back a raft of Springboks.
The Sharks are apparently without a Springbok hooker on their list of contracted players for the 2012 season.
Sharks coach John Plumtree says he may not pick some of his Springboks returning for this weekend’s Currie Cup action.
The Sharks take on Griquas in Kimberley on Friday.
Sharks (31) 43 / Cheetahs (17) 34 (Final Score)
The Sharks hosted the Free State Cheetahs at Mr Price Kings Park, Durban at 15:00 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 raced to their 4 try bonus point, took just outside 20 minutes to achieve it, then scored some more and it looked like quite a rout…
… But the Cheetahs were not done yet and clawed their way back with some great tries of their own, eventually losing by only 9 points.
The two most successful Absa Currie Cup sides from the last decade, the Vodacom Blue Bulls and the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, square off in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon.
These two sides have won or shared the Absa Currie Cup no less than seven times in the last ten years. The Vodacom Blue Bulls were champions in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009, while the Toyota Free State Cheetahs won the trophy in 2005 and 2007. They shared the spoils in 2006.
The Sharks have named an unchanged team for their Currie Cup Rugby clash against the Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday at Mbombela Stadium.
Sharks (22) 35 / Blue Bulls (9) 16 (Final Score)
The Sharks hosted the Vodacom Blue Bulls at Kings Park, Durban at 17:05 SA Time. This was the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1, M-Net & SH2 on TV in SA.
The Sharks were full value for their money, scoring a bonus point win over a Blue Bulls side who had a lot of possession but who was also very blunt on attack.
The Currie Cup kicks off this weekend and there are some massive clashes in store in Round One of South Africa’s premier provincial competition.
Compulsary rugby games will be played on Friday. Currie Cup teams must play a game against the “B” division teams. Sharks the current Currie Cup champions take on South Western Districts Eagles, Griquas will play against Border Bulldogs, Blue Bulls will play the Griffons and Free State Cheetahs take on the EP Kings. If more teams are released this post will be updated. If any of these matches will be broadcast Live is not known.
Dr Ross Tucker, a well known Sports Scientist placed good articles about Rugby fatique before. I found this Article about the subject and want to share a few of his thoughts. The second part of his Article about home ground advantage is interesting, Here are a few extracts from the Article.
Sharks coach John Plumtree says his side suffered because of the referee, but in the end, they just weren’t good enough.
In the sober light of Sunday morning, there is a very good reason that the Sharks were never going to win this one.
Crusaders (13) 36 / Sharks (5) 8 (Final Score)
The Crusaders hosted the Sharks at Travalgar Park, Nelson at 09:35 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.
This was the last of the two play-off matches to decide who will be in the semi-finals. No 3 on the Combined Log (Crusaders) at home against No 6 on the Combined Log (Sharks).
With a little bit of help from a poor performance by Bryce Lawrence as well as some poor Sharks handling, the Crusaders eased into the semi-finals.
The Crusaders now travel to Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa to meet the Stormers in the one semi-final whereas the Blues travel to Queensland, Australia to meet the Reds in the other semi-final.
Herewith the Super Rugby team sheets for the 4 teams competing in the play-off round this weekend.
Improbable, not impossible. This is the feeling amongst most South Africans prior to the Sharks massive qualifier match against the Crusaders this weekend.
As the euphoria following the weekend’s local derbies subsides, let’s take a moment to acknowledge a truly special effort by a very special team.
Halfway through the first Super XV rugby season if you told me we would have three teams in the top half of the Combined Log, I wouldn’t have believed it.
The Stormers started the season well, The Bulls started off and narrowly beat the Lions and Cheetahs, the Sharks looked like they were trudging through thick mud, and well the Cheetahs and Lions looked like they were once gain going to fill the bottom of the Log.
Sitting and watching this match today under calmer circumstances, one sees so much more in how the match went and how the players responded to the situation.
Bulls (13) 23 / Sharks (16) 26 (Final Score)
The Vodacom Bulls hosted the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 17:05 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.
In a battle royal, the Sharks were victorious, snatching a place in the play-off’s with a 3-point win.
This match was an advertisement for rugby!
The Sharks play their final pool game this Saturday which should present to be a thrilling encounter between the 2 sides, this derby will no doubt be a match of huge proportions, with the result probably seeing one of the 2 sides not going through to the final stages of the series.
We are reaching the end of the line for nine of the 15 teams in the 2011 Super Rugby season. So many if’s and but’s happened this year and with the last week having so many permutations one can call the new format a success. Some teams made a mess of their draw and other exploited it better. Let me sum up what I enjoyed this year and what I did not.
I had to borrow this slogan from the Varsity Cup simply because it best describes why some teams seem to be on the up, and others going down.
The Sharks take on the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld this coming weekend, and having seen the Bulls resurgence it becomes more difficult than ever to see how the Sharks can win this one. I have no doubt as to the ability of the Sharks and that they have the players to beat the in-form Bulls.
The Sharks will be sweating over the fitness of several key players, as they start their build-up to the Super Rugby crunch match against the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.
Lions (20) 30 / Sharks (9) 30 (Final Score)
The MTN Lions hosted the Sharks at Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg at 16:05 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.
In a humdinger of a match the MTN Lions and the Sharks drew 30 / 30 but it took a momentous effort for the Sharks to pull back a 21-point deficit and they managed to pull 14 of those points back whilst Butch james was off in the sin bin, yellow carded for a head high flying tackle on Keegan Daniel.
The Sharks have named their team to face the Lions at Coca Cola Park in Johannesburg on Saturday with John Smit being named at hooker.
As the cold of Winter starts to really be felt on the Highveld, Lions Rugby have started a drive to collect blankets for those souls less fortunate than those of us here on Rugby Talk.
The collection will take place in earnest at the Lions – Sharks match this weekend.
The Sharks survived an early scare as they found form in the second half to beat the Cheetahs 18-23 in Bloemfontein keeping them alive for another week.
Cheetahs (11) 18 / Sharks (6) 23 (Final Score)
The Toyota Cheetahs hosted the Sharks at Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 17:05 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.
It was frenetic, it was hard, it was brutal… and the Sharks finished with 2 players in the sin-bin but they won, by 5 points. 4 Log points for them, mission accomplished, against a game and determined Cheetahs side.
The Sharks have named their team to face the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein with new signing Frederic Michalak being named on the bench.
Sharks have confirmed the Signing of mercurial french star Freddy Michalak Who is already in Durban and available for selection with immediate effect.