SUPER 15 - WEEK BY WEEK

the poor Bulls are falling apart .. too much to do

All the Bulls will get out the match will be Voyager Miles.

CRUSADERS vs BULLS

The school bully went to Christchurch and got bullied.

They were outscrummed, their lineouts were average and they were totally outmuscled at the breakdowns. The backs were inept – but at least we expected that before they even left South Africa.

Only Jacques Potgieter showed any ‘gees’ during an error and penalty laden match. The remainder genuinely played like a journeyman side that had never expected to win and were just going through the motions ( poorly! ) for 80 minutes.

I found their performance gutless and mildly embarrassing.

This effort is surely going to cause the Springbok coach some nightmares. Where he sees any Springbok talent amongst this very ordinary team is a mystery. Certainly he is going to have to adjust his thinking if he sees Pretoria as making any significant contribution to the national side. And I won’t even start evaluating the performance of the run on halfback pairing...........

But, hey, they will doubtless continue with this mindless ‘game plan’. What game plan? Hoof it and pray.

At the end of it all I was mildly surprised that the margin was so small.

I remain adamant that this Crusaders side is nowhere near as good as the PR machine would have us all believe. They were actually outscored by two tries to one so their supposedly amazing attack actually yielded very little. Instead they relied on almost Bulls type rugby to win!

All in all it was a disappointing spectacle. Clearly the home support anticipated what was likely to transpire as the crowd fell 5,000 short of a full house at a ground which can only actually accommodate 21,000.

REDS vs SHARKS

The Sharks did plenty to restore South African rugby pride when they comprehensively outplayed the Reds in Brisbane to clinch a semi-final berth against the Stormers at Newlands next weekend.

The visitors produced some scintillating rugby and stoic defence; particularly in the second half when the desperate Reds threw everything at them in an effort to claw themselves back into the match.

The Reds were handicapped in the first forty when they lost their stand in flyhalf. This prompted their coaching staff to make some strange choices when re-shuffling their backline. The disruption was harshly illustrated when Will Genia – playing out of position at flyhalf – threw a long speculative pass which the Sharks intercepted to score what was possibly the defining try.

But comparative to the earlier match this was a highly entertaining clash which left South Africa anticipating a final between one local franchise and a New Zealand one.

Well done Sharks.Stormers better get their act together. Bulls will be back in 2014.

Ever since the S15 break the Sharks are a completly different team...what they have managed to do is get their strike runners Steyn, Alberts, Coetzee, Kanko and Pietersen into the games more and more...this together with the high % kicking of the flyhalf has been the difference...remember 7 members of their pack played for boks against England...hope all the travel doesnt kill them.

Have removed my pink shirt and all the best to Sharks and Stormers

We have to support the Stormers. Sharks travelling to Aus, Cape town and back to NZ, I cannot see that. Hope thy don;t kill each other.
May the best team win

Sharks should beat the Stormers but they wont beat Chiefs or Crusaders as Bryce Lawrence will be reffing the final

chicken 'n chips Wrote:

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> Sharks should beat the Stormers but they wont beat
> Chiefs or Crusaders as Bryce Lawrence will be
> reffing the final in CHOICE LAND.


????You not serious ? about Bryce?

Ou Ryperd Wrote:

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> chicken 'n chips Wrote:
>

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>

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> > Sharks should beat the Stormers but they wont
> beat
> > Chiefs or Crusaders as Bryce Lawrence will be
> > reffing the final in CHOICE LAND.
>
>
> ????You not serious ? about Bryce?

I hope not but you never know as they had two South Africans in charge yesterday so maybe a kiwi ref will get the final and better to ensure a kiwi win against a south african side than Bryce Lawrence?

Dear Clan Members,

This week's preview is done as an attachment as there are tables included which do not 'travel' well if simply posted.

Attached files zzzSuper 15 Review.docx (25.2 KB)Â