Three wins and only one defeat against Australasian opposition meant the last round of Vodacom Super Rugby was the best weekend from a South African perspective since round two earlier this year.
However, two of the three wins in the second round were in local derbies. This weekend, only the Vodacom Bulls’ victory over the Toyota Cheetahs was an all-South African affair as the Cell C Sharks and the DHL Stormers clinched victories over Australasian opponents.
In fact, the Cell C Sharks broke a losing run of 13 matches in Australasia for the South African franchises (this includes the Toyota Cheetahs’ defeat in their 2013 Qualifier against the Brumbies in Canberra) when they beat the Rebels by 22-16 in Melbourne on Friday morning.
sarugby
The worst South African losing run Down Under in the history of the competition was from 2005 to 2006, when 17 consecutive matches were lost. Overall, SA teams win 23.8% of their away matches to overseas teams.
On Saturday morning, the Lions were outplayed by the defending champion Chiefs in their tour opener (38-8) in Hamilton, conceding six tries in the process.
But on Saturday afternoon in Cape Town, the DHL Stormers won an eight-try thriller against the Highlanders by 29-28 for only their third win of the season.
The Vodacom Bulls’ 26-21 win – their first in more than a month – over the Toyota Cheetahs in an entertaining but tough derby brought the weekend’s proceedings to an end.
Melbourne Rebels (6) 16 / 22 (15) Cell C Sharks:
The Cell C Sharks showed why they belong at the top of the standings after becoming the first South African team to win Down Under in 2014 when they beat the Rebels by 22-16 in Melbourne on Friday morning.
The first half belonged to the two kickers, Frans Steyn and Jason Woodward, whose faultless seven penalty goals between them saw the Cell C Sharks lead the Rebels by 15-6 at the break.
Steyn, starting at flyhalf, kicked 17 points for the visitors from Durban, whose only try was scored by JP Pietersen following a superb counter-attacking move which started deep in their own half.
Pietersen’s try in the 64th minute sparked some life into the match. The Rebels made a step up and six minutes later they scored a somewhat fortuitous try when Pat Leafa went over in the corner.
The conversion put the home team six points behind the Cell C Sharks, who defended like Trojans in the last few minutes as the Rebels put everything into securing only their third-ever win over a South African team, but ultimately came up short.
Scorers:
Melbourne Rebels:
- Try: Pat Leafa (1)
- Conversion: Jason Woodward (1)
- Penalty goals: Jason Woodward (3)
Cell C Sharks:
- Try: JP Pietersen (1)
- Conversion: Frans Steyn (1)
- Penalty goals: Frans Steyn (5)
Chiefs (19) 38 / 8 (3) Lions:
The Lions’ Vodacom Super Rugby tour Down Under started with a 38-8 defeat at the hands of the defending champion Chiefs in Hamilton on Saturday morning.
Although the visitors from Johannesburg started the match well and actually took a 3-0 lead early on, the men from Waikato started picking up the pace in the second part of the first half.
The Chiefs grew in confidence and two quick tries before the break, followed by their bonus-point try shortly thereafter, basically saw them sew up the result.
The Lions didn’t go down though and kept on fighting. But apart from Courtnall Skosan’s try in the second half, they failed to breach the Chiefs’ defence.
Although they scrummed very well and had the Chiefs under pressure in this facet, the Lions slipped too many tackles, especially close to their own line and the home team scored two more quick tries toward the end of the match.
The Chiefs have now gone unbeaten at home in 13 matches against teams from South Africa. Their last defeat at home against a team from the Republic was on 28 February 2009 against the Cell C Sharks (22-15), but they drew to the Toyota Cheetahs (25-25) on 23 April 2010.
Scorers:
Chiefs:
- Tries: Gareth Anscombe (1), Bundee Aki (1), Charlie Ngatai (1), Tim Nanai-Williams (1), Tanerau Latimer (1), Pauliasi Manu (1)
- Conversions: Gareth Anscombe (3), Andrew Horrell (1)
Lions:
- Try: Courtnall Skosan (1)
- Penalty goal: Elton Jantjies (1)
DHL Stormers (19) 29 / 28 (14) Highlanders:
The DHL Stormers stretched their winning run over Highlanders in Vodacom Super Rugby to six victories when they won an exciting match at DHL Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon by 29-28.
It was a highly entertaining match played in perfect autumn conditions in the Cape where both teams showed attacking intent and ended up scoring four tries each.
It was the DHL Stormers’ first try-scoring bonus-point in more than a year and only their second one since beating the Toyota Cheetahs in final round of pool play before the playoffs in 2011.
Three of the DHL Stormers tries were scored in the first half, during which they produced probably their best rugby of the season thus far.
Two of these went to Frans Malherbe. His first came in the second minute after a great start by the Capetonians and he crossed again before the half-hour mark following a superb “blind” pass from Schalk Burger. A couple of minutes later Damian De Allende rounded off a brilliant backline move after the visitors made a hash of a line-out.
In the second half, Oliver Kebble burrowed his way over for the bonus-point try, which gave the DHL Stormers a 26-14 lead with 30 minutes left on the clock.
Like they did in the first half though, the Highlanders never gave up and used their chances. They scored a bunch of great tries – three of which involved clever little kicks inside the DHL Stormers’ 22 – and took a 28-26 lead with 20 minutes to go.
But a Peter Grant penalty and some solid defence late in the match sealed the win for the Capetonians.
Scorers:
DHL Stormers:
- Tries: Frans Malherbe (2), Damian De Allende (1), Oliver Kebble (1)
- Conversions: Kurt Coleman (3)
- Penalty goal: Peter Grant (1)
Highlanders:
- Tries: Aaron Smith (1), Trent Renata (1), Ben Smith (1), Malakai Fekitoa (1)
- Conversions: Lima Sopoaga (2), Trent Renata (2)
Vodacom Bulls (9) 26 / 21 (18) Toyota Cheetahs:
The Vodacom Bulls won a typically hard and entertaining South African Vodacom Super Rugby derby against the Toyota Cheetahs by 26-21 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon.
It was one of those clichéd “game of two halves” in which the home team managed to work their way back from an 18-9 half-time deficit to win by five points in the end.
Four tries were scored – two by each team. The visitors got both theirs in the first half, when Johann Sadie ran 80m after intercepting with the Vodacom Bulls hot on the attack, and Raymond Rhule later finishing off a superb attacking move.
The Vodacom Bulls could’ve scored a couple of tries in the first half, but again failed to make the most of good attacking positions, a problem they often encountered on their recent Australasian tour.
It was a different story in the second half though as the home team, thanks mainly to converted tries by Paul Willemse and Callie Visagie, fought back. They also denied the Toyota Cheetahs any further tries and defended very well at the death to record their first win in more than a month.
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls:
- Tries: Paul Willemse (1), Callie Visagie (1)
- Conversions: Handré Pollard (2)
- Penalty goals: Handré Pollard (2), Jacques-Louis Potgieter (1), Jurgen Visser (1)
Toyota Cheetahs:
- Tries: Johann Sadie (1), Raymond Rhule (1)
- Conversion: Elgar Watts (1)
- Penalty goals: Elgar Watts (2), Johan Goosen (1)
As you know, I have been complaining bitterly and suffering badly as a result of Power Cuts here in our litlte farktup town of Brakkenjanpan.
Well… today we were at it again, and apparently this one will last as long as possibly 36 hours…. fokkit!
On Friday we were off for a full 12 hours or a bit more
On Sunday we were off for 5 hours or so
Today, we have been off since probably about 11:00 and we’re still off.
Apparently the most recent cut, which the whole town suffers from, is a result of theft at the town’s major sub-station…. if the latest excuse is to be believed…
I now have a 6.5KVA generator running permanently here and I am filtering the Power through UPS’s to even it out as best I can to a stable 220 Volt here in my office, so that I do not lose any Hard Drives, PC Screens or PC implements.
6.5 KVA is not enough though to keep EVERYTING going in and around the house, so we have switched 3 of the 4 geysers off, the microwaves (3 of them – 2 in the kitchen and 1 in my office) is off, my office fridge is off, so too 2 bar fridges in the house and only the big fridge and the big chest freezer is on, 3 Aircons are off (1 in the office and 2 in the house), the stoves cannot be used but luckily I invested a while ago in a 5-plate gas hob in the kitchen… so we can at least cook properly. The pool pump is off… and tomorrow when it is washing day they will only use the washing machine but neither of the 2 tumble dryers or the dishwasher.
Only the most needed lights are kept on, water for cofee is boiled on the gas hob and the rest of the lights are switched off soon as you leave a room… I suppose the lights are OK because we mostly use these power-saving energy efficient floressant globes so it cannot amount to too much use.. but it is the heating and cooling appliances which eats the AMPS.
My IT Business is suffering badly here due to these Power Cuts and to top it off we’ve had how many Public Holidays in a row now in the last month!
To say I am pissed off and angry would be a MASSIVE understatement… ek is so de moer in ek kan my eie kak met klippe gooi!
It is incredible how bloody absolutely dependant one is of proper power, 24/7!!
What did we have before candles?
Eskom
Here we have water cuts.
Off right now
i want to wash and hit the road to buy plants
we have a sord of water shedding system here
copied from Eskoms flagship “load shedding”
SA opened its doors to Africa and now we have this massive population all using our scarce resources.
Time to immigrate to the Wild West. We have not suffered too badly here.
3 @ superBul:
The problem in our area (and I suppose it counts for most populated parts in the country) is that the Power Sub-Stations can no longer carry the load, with the expansion of new suburbs and the added demand in existing areas as they are developed more and more.
For instance, here in our street, our block and a bit wider, every house has been expanded by the addition of extra buildings, or an extra flat built onto the house, or by the addition to offices at the house or even by the sub-division of individual erfs.
It seems families are now living as extended families in most houses, with older parents or newly married children living in the flat or additions to the houses.
The current Sub-Stations just cannot handle the load anymore and they have not planned for rudundancy or expansion in the last 25 years or so.
Added to that you have the inept maintenance of current structures and equipment, coupled to corruption and theft of equipment.
On top of that you have the Escom debacle and the financial state of the Municipalities…
4 @ Lion4ever:
The Woesrand, has it’s own problems… hehehe
@ grootblousmile:
True.
Gansbaai is the place to be, we only read about these problems in the rest of the country, Overberg Regional Council one of the best run local governments in SA, except for the traffic department…
8 @ Pietman:
The Speedcops and I will give each other an inordinate amount of problems… that I can see!
Our Power is still off here, genny still running… have already used about R 360.00 worth of petrol… and we expect it to only be on tomorrow sometime.
@ grootblousmile:
A nicely worded description of a broad daylight robbery 🙂
Last time I drove near by a substation in Tembisa or Alexandra you could clearly see some un sleeved cables routed out of the transformers where local robin hoods were ‘selling ‘ power to the needy 🙁
10 @ Hondo:
Once you are without power, is when you realise how our daily lives now absolutely depend on power in this modern age.
Without power you cannot charge a cell phone (unless you have a car charger for it), lights, plug points, TV, PC’s, E-Mail, fridges, washing machines… all stuff we simply cannot do without.
With me it goes even a little further, I do not work when I have no power, in the IT industry!!
@ grootblousmile: Just reading your exhausting list of energy requiring resources, if Brakkenjanpan just cut you off, it may end up with a surplus it could start selling off to other small to medium sized countries – LOL!
On a slightly more serious note, I think that the Stormers have shown that they definitely have the potential in the team, and through obvious input from Gert, however disguised, has proven that beyond doubt. For me it is now glaringly obvious that it is more to do with management than players that the team have done so poorly in the rest of the season, and at the top of the pile at fault is AC.
However, simply because Gerts input is being hidden/disguised, or however you want to word it, any upturn in the team is going to be credited to, and by AC, and his position as coach will be cemented for a further number of seasons. I do predict that there will, however be the ‘normal’ fall out between Gert and WPRU within a year or two, and rather than looking at the root cause, will get rid of Gert, and we will be back to the current position.
I hope I am wrong, or next time I will start willing the loss of the team.
12 @ Just For Kicks:
Bwahahahaha
Yip, we are Power abusers, rub it in… I sit with the bill for it each month!
To top it off, we’ve received a Water & Refuse bill for R 25 900.00 this month (electricity excluded of course), AFTER we received a previous one for over R 10 000.00 and subsequently had plumbers dig out and put a new set of pipes in the yard to make sure we had no leaks on our side of the meter, costing us near R 5 000.00 to have done.
Apparrently we supposedly used 1 071 KILO LITRES of water in ONE month, the 4 of us… that is the amount of water of 3 rather large pools one could fill with that amount of water… and we did not even top up our little “splash pool” (One gets 6 KILO LITERS a month free – wow).
So, either their meter is farked beyond belief OR the meter reader is farked beyond belief OR we are some of the cleanest and thirstiest people on planet earth OR we have the rest of Brakkenjanpan bath and shower here twice a day!!
Now go try talk some sense into the Municipality and see where it gets you in the process!
#5 @ grootblousmile:
The real problem is widespread, rampant incompetence.
@ grootblousmile: Yup, you hear so many of these horror stories of municipalities over charging on rates – I have a few mates in the Cape who have similar stories, and are unable to get head nor tail of the problem to sort it out – just keep getting threatening letters from month to month. A nightmare. I hope you manage to sort yours out, but in the meantime, thank you for donating towards the ANC election coffers!!!!
Also, on a serious note, I know how frustrating having these power outages is. A few years ago, we had them in the middle of harvest, and without warning. With the type of machinery we were using, we couldn’t afford a generator capable of producing the power required, and thus lost tons of grapes/wine through the process. Its almost possible to survive at home when the power goes out – as you have alluded to, but it simply kills your business.
15 @ kaksioek:
Yip!
One hears the “Eish” word all too often when you demand answers.
If I disappear for no apparent reason here from R-T, send the search party to the local Police Cells first, because I feel rather close to picking up arms and going out to reduce the Municipal Workers population of our little town right now!
I am sure this is what road rage must feel like, this uncontrollable urge to go “whack” some municipal workers… out of pure frustration.
Hopefully my trial will not be televised like Oscar’s trial…. hehehehe
@ Just For Kicks:
I am still undecided, if the stormers do well now then Gert will be the hero to all the supporters, but people should also consider the first half of the season the Stormers played the majority of their away games, since returning (under the guidance of Gert) they lost one, and won one narrowly at home, and have a good run of home games now, with maybe just one game away, they have been dominant at home the last few years, and by all indications, even under AC’s guidance will be expected to win, so all the songs of praise should not be for Gert. Let us see next year.
@ grootblousmile:
If it is televised, don’t let us down by crying uncontrollably!
19 @ kaksioek:
I don’t cry, unless I have onion in my eye.
I taught Chuck Norris how to be strong and stern!
1 @ grootblousmile:
Not great for GBS, especially with your work depending so much on it. The initial outlay may be expensive but in the long run renewable energy power generators may be worth it. Some solar panels and/or wind turbines could help a lot, and if there is a time you are generating any that’s in excess to your needs you could sell the excess back to the National grid, or at least that’s the way some folk here have things set up.
20 @ grootblousmile:
@ MacroBull: I agree with you 100% – The supporters will definitely see Gert as the hero, but my point is, will the WPRU
In the South African Conference there has been 12 games, only 2 has been won by the away team.
vs the foreign teams we have played 28 games, won 9, drew 2 and lost 17
Aus
vs the foreign teams we have played 24 games, won 13, lost 11
NZ
vs the foreign teams we have played 30 games, won 17, lost 11, draw 2
@ grootblousmile:
We realized it a while ago
In the late 1990s we bought a diesel powered 7.5 Kw generator, it runs on average about 500hrs/year, usually during the lightening periods Nov-Jan, it amazingly quiet
The cost is minimal
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