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 |
@ Gena_ZA:
Lol boet
Die dag as mens die game meer geniet as die foute van die ref(s) dan raak rugby mos lekker!
@GBS
How would you see the Bulls loose forward combination:
Ross is bad, can’t polish it otherwise in my opinion
Vleis at 8th man is a definite opportunity.
Du Plessis still a lock in my view.
Steggie can’t return to 6 soon enough.
Why are they not pulling in young Shaun Adendorf?
The Bulls flew back to Gauteng yesterday and were taken straight to Loftus for a “debriefing” session.
After doing all their warm-up stretches and exercises etc, coach Ludeke said: “OK boys, take up your positions”.
So they all went & stood behind the posts.
Bulls moet maar vir Matfield kaptein maak, dan kan hulle vir Spies met n geruste hart drop. Moeilik om hom te drop terwyl hy kaptein is, al verdien hy nie tans plek in die span nie.
Van die besluite wat hulle Saterdag geneem het was meer uit paniek as patroon, en hulle het n leiers figuurlik gekort om hulle te kalmeer. Matfield het meer van die kantlyn gedoen en gepraat as Spies wat op die veld was.
@ Gena_ZA:
8 Vleis
7 Dup
6 Adendorf/ Stegmann
For me that would seem a more balanced trio.
@ Ben:
Daai laaste paar minute se kommentaar van jou toe Lambie sy drie gedruk was lagwekkend en kinderagtig van jou. Gaan lees maar weer.
En moenie nonsense praat nie, ek het gese die tweede drie imo was nie ‘n drie nie, gaan lees maar weer. Elke wedstryd wat deesdae gespeel word maak die ref foute, dit is so deel van die game dat dit nie meer snaaks is nie.
Ben, wees nou maar eerlik, jy is ‘n moangat, finish en klaar.
33 @ Gena_ZA:
I see the best Bulls loose forward trio as Deon Stegmann, Jacques du Plessis & Vleis Engelbrecht… at this stage… or bring in Grant Hattingh at No 7 in place of Jacques du Plessis.
On the bench I would have Wiaan Liebenberg and Grant Hattingh (or Jacques du Plessis if Grant starts at No 7)
In other words, I see the 2 shitty No 8’s, Spies & Ross out of the match-day 23.
It will never happen though, Spies is entrenched as is Ross if I read signals correctly from the Bulls camp.
Apart from openside, the Bulls fronted up well at all the collision points on Saturday, so my main worry is the whole backline structure and options in the backline.
We know Frans Ludeke believes in continuity, so I do not expect a radically changed side for Friday night… maybe just Deon Stegmann in for Ross. Pity though, I would at least have loved to see the halfbacks both changed to Piet van Zyl and Pollard / Jacques-Louis Potgieter… but it ain’t going to happen!
Bulls team will be named tomorrow at round about mid-day.
Ben, Tjarkie-Fornever & Stinkvis…
Manne, elke outjie het sy opinie, en ek sien julle verskil hewig van mekaar… en dis reg so, geen probleem nie. Hou dit net beskaafd sonder om in mekaar se karakters in te klim, dis al wat ek versoek. Sovêr het ek nie probleme met hoe julle verskil nie.
My opinie oor die ref is eenvoudig.. hy het blatante foute gemaak, mynsinsiens meer teen die Bulls…. MAAR, en dis ‘n groot MAAR… ‘n goeie span wen steeds, ten spyte van die ref.
Bulls se taktiek was verkeerd op die dag, hulle het SELF foute gemaak ‘n klomp kere terwyl hulle in die Sharks “Red Zone” was… hulle kon nie afrond nie, het op verkeerde tye geskop, het ‘n fetcher gekort…
@ nortierd:
Stem saam. Ek wou al ‘n post daaroor skryf. Spies kon nie sien dat die Sharks in hulle gesigte wil speel en dat hulle die game moes stadiger maak nie. Hy moet eerder net op sy eie spel konsentreer.
39 @ grootblousmile:
Lions only name their team at 11h30 on THURSDAY.
grootblousmile wrote:
That was always my matra to the club players.
Play the ref out of the game. Simple.
Scrumdown wrote:
Touched on the Lions / Cheetahs ref’ earlier.
On Sharks side, not near a flawless performance as well.
The much-vaunted Sharks forwards were overshadowed by Bulls in most of the 1st half, both in possession and territory and tackling stakes… as well as in the rolling mauls.
Willem Alberts was kept deadly quiet, Pieter-Steph du Toit was outplayed by the Bulls locks, Kanko had a couple of good runs but also disappeared when the game was tighter. Sharks backline however had vision, innovation and sting.
@ grootblousmile:
Your half time score for the Lions game appears to be somewhat flawed.
(Or did the ‘tahs get 1 point for a near miss?)
44 @ Scrumdown:
Eish sorry, I forgot the ZERO… fixed… thanks for the heads-up!
34 @ BrumbiesBoy:
Brilliant! bwaaaaaahahahahahaha….
9 @ Scrumdown:
I felt the same when looking at the team. They all look thinner but plenty muscle there still and all look super, super fit. Looked like the Sharks could have played another 80min after the game. Jake has them in very good condition and very fit. Have not seen Fransie look such good shape for a long time. That is thanks to Jake.
Remember last year the Brumbies were probably the fittest team out of all the SR teams.
Very good article GBS. Much appreciated.
To all the Sharks supporters here just ignore Ben he has always complained about the ref when the Bulls play and Boks for that matter. He always blames the loss to the ref. I just ignore him mostly and he used to be a really fun oke as he does have a very good sense of humour if some remember him when he blogged on keo many years back.
All refs make huge mistakes and yes, we all have a go at them but Ben just goes overboard, nothing unusual so just don’t worry about it. We have the 5 points in the bag that all that matters….
I thought the Bulls were going to be ok this season. Not terrible but ok.
But after that performance Im not sure anymore.
They just cant break away from the same old Bulls rugby that we’ve seen for so many seasons.
Except now they don’t have the greats like Bakkies, Danie, Morne, Fourie etc etc. They need to change their whole mindset or else this year could be an exceedingly long one for them.
I can honestly see the Lions getting the better of them if they don’t pull finger.
Louis Fouche?? Surely there must be a better option out there?
Hougaard is not a 9.
Ross at 6?? where is that Junior Bok 6 that came from Natal, Adendorf or something.
Spies…the first time I saw him the whole game was when Reinach ripped the ball away that led to a try in the 40th minute. And then I didn’t see him again.
I might be being harsh here but we need the Sharks, Stormers AND the Bulls to be strong if the Boks are to be strong this year.
50 @ John Galt:
Loooong time no speak from you on Rugby-Talk.
Welcome!
See my comment No 25. Basically I agree with you.
Shaun Adendorf is not in the Bulls Super Rugby squad, I think Wiaan Liebenberg got the nod ahead of him… and personally I do not have a problem with that.
Look, if what everybody says is true, that the Cell C Sharks are the south African hopefulls and flagship for 2014 in Super Rugby, there were still a heap of positives for the Bulls.
Fixing the lack of finishing and a few tweaks here and there could see them have a good season still.
I predicted a mid-table finish for them… and am still of the same opinion at this stage. You can’t expect to lose 15 frontline players, 10 of which had Springbok caps, and not consider yourself in a re-building phase.
50 @ John Galt:
Howzit Bud, Good to see you here.
Bulls should play Venter at 9 with Pollard at 10. Engelbrecht they got from the Kings should start surely ahead of Spies at 8. That alone will make them a whole lot better.
Visser struggled on Saturday but think he will come right and should just keep playing fullback. Even if Mallet said he was at best a CC player, I think he is better than what he showed on Saturday. Hougard to wing too will make their backline a lot better.
This is a long tourney and still a long way to go. I still say the team that has the least injuries will end up in the Play Offs/Semi and Final. As we saw last year how it affected the Sharks and Stormers. So let us see who is left standing at the end of this tourney, player wise not injured.
49: Puma, wat is daardie gesegde, the pot calling the kettle black’ ?
My mening is eenvoudig. Sharks was meer as goed genoeg om op die aand te gewen het, die blatante foute van die refs was heeltemal onnodig, veral vir die eerste wedstryd van die seisoen, en veral as ‘n TMO ook die blatante fout herhaal.
Maar, laat ons dit daar los en sien hoe gaan die res van die seisoen.
Ek het GBS se post gelees by #40 en berus daarby.
Terug by die rugby vir die komende naweek. Bulle se groot probleme is:
1. verkeerde wedstrydplan vir ‘n klomp jongspelers wat nie soos die Bulle van 2007-2010 kan speel nie.
2. Kontraktering chaos wat hierdie jaar dit gaan uitwys
3. Haker probleme
4. Spies.
5. Stegmann wat heeltemal te veel beseer is, en geen opvolger nie.
6. Skakelpaar probleme
7. 14 vleuel en heelagter nie genoeg spoed en onvoorspelbaarheid nie.
Aan nr.2 kan tans niks gedoen word nie, nr.3 en 5 is daar nie veel beter keuses nie, maar veral nr.1 kan gewerk word, so ook nr.4,6,7.
Gaan Ludeke hulle adapt or die, veral wat hul wedstrydplan en spankeuses betref ?
56 @ Ben:
Berei jou daarop voor dat Frans Ludeke nie die span veel gaan verander nie.
Berei jouself verder daarop voor dat die Bulls nie hul spelpatroon veel gaan wysig nie.
Ek weet mos hoe lojaal (tot die punt van amper dom-strant) Frans Ludeke en Victor Matfield verlede jaar… en die jare daarvoor… is en was met betrekking tot spankeuses and die patroon wat hulle aanhou en aanhou speel.
Persoonlik dink ek Vrydagaand se game hang in die lug, die Cheetahs will vergoed vir hul swakste game in 3 jaar volgens Naka en die Bulls sal wil uithaal en wys na hierdie laaste slegte verloor.
So, in kort, hulle gaan DIE in plaas van ADAPT…. dis ‘n probleem in die Bulls setup!
51 @ grootblousmile:
Is Jesse Kriel still with the Bulls? If so if Visser does not shape up could that not play the very exciting Kriel at fullback?
I still think Visser will come right given more game time, however, if he does not the surely if Kriel is in the Squad Bulls should try him out at Fullback he is a superb player. One that got away from the Sharks unfortunately and his brother is at the Bulls as well.
Pity you don’t have Ardendorf in the SR squad. He was superb for the Baby Boks two years back. Rate him. He too is from KZN.
58 @ Puma:
Jesse Kriel is injured for another few weeks… and yes he’s still in the Bulls setup.
@ Puma:
Congrats with the team mate. I hate to say this, but the Sharks are looking like real contenders and deservedly so. SA rugby needs strong teams and the Sharks are looking like the real deal… Early season and things can go wrong but I think this could be the year of the Shark. \
I haven’t seen my team yet, but if they continue to play the brand of rugby they did last year, it will be one long season again…
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