The Waratahs host the Sharks in Sydney, Australia on Saturday morning at 10:40 SA Time on Saturday. The match is broadcast on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA. Will the Waratahs have it easy or will the Sharks give them a run for their money?
The Waratahs return from South Africa having just lost to the Bulls and the Stormers but one senses that they will be tough to beat at home. The Waratahs were slowest to embrace the New Application of the Laws as it is currently applied, and it showed in their early games, but make no mistake, they’re a tough nut to crack, with a hard and excellent squad of players.
The Sharks are one of the struggling sides thus far in the Super 14 of 2010 and the roumours abound about unhappiness in the camp. They have excelent players though, a lot of them current Springboks and to rights they should not be one of the struggling sides. The absense of a quality flyhalf, front row and lock problems and ineffective centres have been their downfall so far, let’s hope they pull themselves right, because it often only takes one game to turn a season around.
Unfortunately I have to apply an objective stance and predict that the Waratahs will beat the Sharks…. Waratahs by 10 PLUS.
Previous Super 14 Encounters:
09 May 2009 Waratahs v Sharks 16-12 Durban
24 May 2008 Semi Waratahs v Sharks 28-13 Sydney
26 Apr 2008 Waratahs v Sharks 25-10 Sydney
09 Feb 2007 Waratahs v Sharks 9-22 Durban
04 Mar 2006 Waratahs v Sharks 31-16 Sydney
Teams:
Waratahs: 15. Sosene Anesi, 14. Lachlan Turner, 13. Tom Carter, 12. Berrick Barnes, 11. Drew Mitchell, 10. Daniel Halangahu, 9. Luke Burgess, 8. Wycliff Palu, 7. Phil Waugh (Captain), 6. Dave Dennis, 5. Kane Douglas, 4. Dean Mumm, 3. Al Baxter, 2. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1. Benn Robinson
Replacements: 16. Damian Fitzpatrick, 17. Sekope Kepu, 18. William Caldwell, 19. Ben Mowen, 20. Joshua Holmes, 21. Kurtley Beale, 22. Rob Horne
Sharks: 15. Stefan Terblanche, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. Adrian Jacobs, 12. Riaan Swanepoel, 11. JP Pietersen, 10. Andy Goode, 9. Ruan Pienaar, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Willem Alberts, 6. Keegan Daniel, 5. Johann Muller, 4. Steven Sykes, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. John Smit (Captain), 1. Deon Carstens
Replacements: 16. Bismarck du Plessis, 17. Tendai Mtawarira, 18. Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19. Jean Deysel, 20. Jacques Botes, 21. Rory Kockott, 22. Waylon Murray
Match Officials
Referee: Paul Marks (Aus)
Ass. refs: Nathan Pearce (Aus), Steve Hardy (Aus)
TMO: Matt Goddard (Aus)
Eish…I hope they come right….Ruan at scrummie, hmm lets see.
Sorry no. Expect more of the same. Sharks should see this match as sorting out their positions and getting disiplines back in place. Manage that and they could beat many lesser teams.
But not this week. A bonus point loss, low penalty count, and good performances by their halfback pair must be seen as a step in the right direction.
Damn, Play Oz and get a Australian ref. We play Chiefs a NZ side in SA and we get a kiwi ref. We finally get a good ref in Kaplan and he gets the runs at halftime. We play Saders in NZ who do we get? A NZ ref.
Really don’t like this reffing system at all. Bring back the neutral refs.
Theoretically, you need about 43 point to get into the semi’s.
And with so many teams playing well this year, there will be a lot of contenders. At the moment its up to the Brumbies, Hurricanes, Chiefs, Stormers, Bulls, Crusaders, Reds and Blues. Even the Waratahs are always in with a shout. If the Sharks wants to get anywhere near the top 6, they need to score about 40 for the season. They are on 2 now. where will the other 40 come from?
Bonus points in every game they play from here on out, and at least 8 wins…
Tahs, Brumbies, Highlanders, Canes away, then the Reds at home before they go to Ellispark, back to Kingspark for the Blues, over to Loftus for the Bulls, then the Stormers and Force at home.
Away they can beat the Highlanders and Lions, based on players alone. At home they should beat the Reds and Force. Thats 4! 4!4!4!4!!!!!
The Stormers and Blues games are uncertain. Lets say they win both (though unlikely) then they need to win twice in matches against the Canes, Bulls, Brumbies, Tahs and Bulls. Currently ALL of these teams are above them on the log!
The Sharks can take no more chances. Winning from now on out is the only option.
Going to permutations this early in the season just goes to show how bad a team with 12 Boks and 1 English international in the starting 22 has it!
Sorry, I put the Bulls twice. But that game will be so hard, they might as well be playing against two teams.
5 – GG my team wont make the semi. Look at the Stormers against the Landers. I worked out what it would or should make stormers to get to the semi. Stormers must win their next 4 games and probably pick up some bonus points on the way. The last 5 games are going to be against some tough teams.
Good luck to Stormers though our 2nd best side and really hope to see them in the semi with the Bulls there too. Two saffa sides to make it would be great.
It is plain and simple, the Sharks can not make the semis losing 5 games, no one did. So they can afford only 1 more loss. From there it must be WWWWWWWWW. Backs are firmly against the wall, it might be a spectacular fightback, the best view of the season???
Read the next post, from a Shark supporter, you all had it wrong, haha
I cannot begin to tell you fellow bloggers how relieved I was when I read Brian van Zyl’s comments regarding my beloved Sharks team.
Brian has told the nation that all is well in the Sharks camp and that John Plumtree has been offered a further 3 year contract at the Shark tank. This just goes to prove how #@^%$#@ stupid us bloggers can be at times and just how easy it is for the general public to jump to conclusions. Picture the scene. One of our top teams has only lost 5 games in a row, and in doing so , scored only 1 try in 3 consecutive super 14 losses. We all start getting negative. How silly of us.
Geez, I feel like a turd for thinking that something was wrong with my team. I am ashamed to tell you guys just what my thoughts were in case I sounded like I was about to go off my rocker. On the other hand, I thought that I may share some of my stupid thoughts with you guys as I am pretty sure that you guys would not ridicule me at all. After all, you are a great bunch of guys. Right ????
Would you believe that I started believing the Sharks were divided into two different camps.
Sounds so bloody stupid after Brian van Zyl cleared that one up. What was I thinking. Two camps ?????? Just imagine that.
Ruan
Bismark
Plumtree
VERSUS
John Smit
Strauli
So crazy were my thoughts, I even dreamt that the Sharks had signed Andy Goode as their flyhalf, played Ruan Pienaar out of position for most of his stay at the Sharks and allowed John Smit to gain another 12kg in order to improve his general play. Crazy thoughts indeed.
The Sharks did however prove one thing to world rugby so far this season. It is possible to compete at this level if you do not have decent centres.
What is next…….?????
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