The Vodacom Bulls are back at the Top of the South African Conference, taking over from the DHL Stormers who came up short in Bloemfontein on an exhilarating Saturday of Vodacom Super Rugby.
The weekend started on a disappointing note for the Cell C Sharks in Dunedin though. After a solid start for the visitors, the Highlanders turned on the heat and eventually beat the Durbanites by 48 / 15 in their opening tour match Down Under.
Saturday saw 2 cracking local derbies, both won by the home teams.
1st Up, the Toyota Cheetahs caused a minor upset when they won their 3rd successive home game against the DHL Stormers in Bloemfontein, by 25 / 17.
The home team outscored the visitors by 3 tries to 2 and thoroughly deserved their 4th win of the season. It was also only the 3rd time in 14 matches that the DHL Stormers could not score any Log Points against the Toyota Cheetahs.
The final match of the weekend was a proper humdinger in Pretoria, where the Vodacom Bulls beat their neighbours, the Emirates Lions, by 35 / 33. A total of 7 tries were scored as both sides went hammer and tongs against each other for the full 80 minutes.
Highlanders (24 48 / 15 (10) Cell C Sharks:
The Cell C Sharks started their tour of Australasia on a losing note when they were beaten 48 / 15 by a determined Highlanders side at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on Friday morning.
30 Minutes into this fixture, the scores were still level at 10 / 10, each side having scored a try, with Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira burrowing his way over for the visitors.
But 2 tries late in the 1st half gave the home side a 14-point gap at the break. The Highlanders capitalised on this lead in the 2nd half with some great skills coupled with too many mistakes by the Cell C Sharks as they crossed for 4 more tries.
The KwaZulu-Natalians got a 2nd try when Bismarck du Plessis went over with less than 10 minutes to go on the clock, but by then it was game over in the deep south of New Zealand.
Scorers:
Highlanders:
- Tries: Gareth Evans (1), Waisake Naholo (1), Patrick Osborne (1), Mark Reddish (1), Aaron Smith (1), Brendon Edmonds (1), Elliot Dixon (1)
- Conversions: Lima Sopoaga (5)
- Penalties: Lima Sopoaga (1)
Cell C Sharks:
- Tries: Tendai Mtawarira (1), Bismarck du Plessis (1)
- Conversions: Fred Zeilinga (1)
- Penalties: Fred Zeilinga (1)
Toyota Cheetahs (18) 25 / 17 (10) DHL Stormers:
The Toyota Cheetahs scored a memorable 25 / 17 victory over the DHL Stormers at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon, capping off a fine showing by outscoring the Capetonians by 3 tries to 2.
It was a typically tough South African derby and the result was in the balance until Clayton Blommetjies cut through the DHL Stormers’ defence in the 70th minute to put his side up by 8 points.
Shortly before that, DHL Stormers replacement flyhalf Kurt Coleman missed 2 penalty attempts, which could’ve seen the match pan out differently. He also pulled wide an attempt at the death which cost his side a valuable bonus-point.
In the end the Toyota Cheetahs deserved this win. They started the match strongly and led 18 / 3 after 25 minutes thanks to tries by Michael van der Spuy and Rayno Benjamin, and Joe Pietersen’s boot. The DHL Stormers closed the gap to only 8 points when Dillyn Leyds went over for a converted try.
With just over 20 minutes to go, it was 18 / 17 thanks to a converted try by DHL Stormers captain Duane Vermeulen, but 15 minutes later Blommetjies sealed the win for the home side.
Scorers:
Toyota Cheetahs:
- Tries: Michael van der Spuy (1), Rayno Benjamin (1), Clayton Blommetjies (1)
- Conversions: Joe Pietersen (2)
- Penalties: Joe Pietersen (2)
DHL Stormers:
- Tries: Dillyn Leyds (1), Duane Vermeulen (1)
- Conversions: Demetri Catrakilis (1), Kurt Coleman (1)
- Penalties: Demetri Catrakilis (1)
Vodacom Bulls (25) 35 / 33 (13) Emirates Lions:
The Vodacom Bulls had to withstand a superb 2nd-half fight-back by the Emirates Lions, but in the end the men from Pretoria had enough in the tank as they won this nail-biting Jukskei derby by 35 / 33 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening.
The home team scored 3 tries in 1st half, 2 of them going to Piet van Zyl in the 1st 10 minutes. The Vodacom Bulls started like a house on fire and almost had their 4th try in the bag before the break.
But the Emirates Lions had different plans after the break and came out firing in the 2nd half. The visitors, whose 1st try was scored by Faf de Klerk, played great rugby and turned the halftime deficit into a 1-point lead (26 / 25) within 15 minutes of the break.
The home team took back the lead thanks to a wide-awake quick tap from a penalty and also converted try by Pierre Spies, while Handré Pollard’s 3rd penalty goal increased the Vodacom Bulls’ lead to 9 points with 5 minutes left.
Yet again the Emirates Lions fought back, this time through a great converted try by Jaco Kriel, but in the end it wasn’t enough as the Vodacom Bulls, buoyed by a very strong defensive performance and solid work in the lineouts, outlasted their neighbours, who played with their usual attacking freedom, built on a very strong scrum.
Scorers:
Vodacom Bulls:
- Tries: Piet van Zyl (2), JJ Engelbrecht (1), Pierre Spies (1)
- Conversions: Handré Pollard (3)
- Penalties: Handré Pollard (3)
Emirates Lions:
- Tries: Faf de Klerk (1), Jacques van Rooyen (1), Jaco Kriel (1)
- Conversions: Elton Jantjies (3)
- Penalties: Elton Jantjies (4)
@ grootblousmile:
dis nou effens better, maar was n slakpas gewees.
31 @ MacroSssss:
Steeds blitsig hier
grootblousmile wrote:
Ek hoop dit werk, die Leeus se sukses was heeltemal gebou op hul verdediging, ek sal graag wil sien dat ons so baie geduld het op verdediging soos die Leeus en Stommers, dit is veral belangrik oorsee waar die 50/50 calls by die losgemale geneig is om teen jou te gaan.
@ grootblousmile:
nou weer 2 minute gevat om deur te gaan, meanwhile maak ander bladsye vinnig oop.
34 @ MacroSssss:
Delete maar jou browsing cache, restart jou Router (sodat hy weer vars DNS adresse kan optel).
Die toetse by my en ook by die web hosts wys alles is mooosa!
Last week is last week.
Saterdag 17:00 kuk julle Brokebacks……
Since “we” got rid of Plumtree he has gone on to win the Six nations (with Ireland) and he is well on his way to a Super Rugby Trophy… damn
@ BrumbiesBoy:
julle = die
BrumbiesBoy wrote:
both works 😆
I have to say I am slightly worried about the form of DDA, a few weeks ago he was a certain selection for the boks, the second name down after Vermeulen… but it is clear to see that his form is waning. It is pretty much down to him playing non stop this year, he has played 869 out of 880 minutes this year, which is insane, he is clearly looking fatigued, and I have my doubts if he will be a force come the RC which puts even more doubt in the “dream combination” with JDJ (in the eyes of PW supporters).
Which brings me to another point, all year JDJ has been fairly starved of the ball, while DDA has received tons of it, is there a lack of distribution from DDA or does JDJ not run good supportive lines.
DDA’s defense is also shakey at best, where he misses crucial tackles at times, and his kicking game is a hit or miss.
So what is it that convinced us all (including me) that he is a “no-brainer” Springbok selection?
I can only think that it is his ability to “take the ball to the advantage line” and the odd offload to forwards running off him, is the 12’s ability to get over the advantage line really all we look for in a 12? Or is he standing out in a mediocre backline and simply better than all the other SA 12’s at “taking the ball to the advantage line”?
Howard Mnisi has really impressed me the last few weeks, while Janneman had a really good game on attack this week (from what I saw) and then he is barely keeping Odendaal out of the team.
DDA is probably still the first choice, but the other guys are catching up very fast… or is DDA losing momentum?
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