This was the weekend of shock results. On the Super 14 Log there are 10 teams still able to make the play-offs. Sharks, Chiefs and Blues have a small mathematical chance for the title, but is really clutching at straws, which might finally break next weekend.
Vodacom Cup Semi Finals venues not confirmed yet but it will be the Bulls vs Sharks XV and the Boland vs Cheetahs on the 1st of May.
Next Games
| 30 | Highlanders | v | Waratahs | Invercargill | 09:35 |
| 30 | Vodacom Stormers | v | Crusaders | Newlands Rugby Stadium | 19:10 |
| May 2010 |
| 1 | Hurricanes | v | Chiefs | Wellington | 09:35 |
| 1 | Brumbies | v | Reds | Canberra | 11:40 |
| 1 | Vodacom Cheetahs | v | Blues | Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein | 15:00 |
| 1 | Auto & General Lions | v | Western Force | Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg | 17:05 |
| 1 | Vodacom Bulls | v | The Sharks | Loftus Versfeld | 19:10 |
Remaining games for top five sides, after 10 games each:
Bulls (39 points): Sharks (h), Crusaders (h), Stormers (a)
Stormers (34 points): Crusaders (h), Sharks (a), Bulls (h)
Crusaders (34 points): Stormers (a), Bulls (a), Brumbies (h)
Reds (34 points): Brumbies (a), Hurricanes (a), Highlanders (h)
Waratahs (33 points): Highlanders (a), Chiefs (a), Hurricanes (h)
Super 14 Round 11 Results
| 24 Apr | The Sharks | 23 – 10 | Blues | |
| 24 Apr | Bulls | 51 – 11 | Lions | |
| 24 Apr | Waratahs | 19 – 12 | Brumbies | |
| 24 Apr | Highlanders | 31 – 33 | Hurricanes | |
| 23 Apr | Western Force | 24 – 16 | Crusaders | |
| 23 Apr | Reds | 16 – 13 | Stormers | |
| 23 Apr | Chiefs | 25 – 25 | Cheetahs |
Vodacom Cup Quarter Final Results
| 24 Apr | Boland Kavaliers | 30 – 25 | Platinum Leopards | |
| 24 Apr | Sharks XV | 28 – 24 | Griquas | |
| 24 Apr | Blue Bulls | 17 – 6 | Western Province | |
| 23 Apr | Golden Lions | 20 – 30 | Free State |
VODACOM CUP REVIEW – QUARTERFINALS
Three South section sides – Boland Kavaliers, Vodacom Free State Cheetahs and The Sharks XVs have qualified for the semi-finals in the 2010 Vodacom Cup.
The Vodacom Blue Bulls who are the only unbeaten team in this season’s competition were the only North section survivor to make the final four after they defeated Vodacom Western Province 17-6 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Gerrit-Jan van Velze (Vodacom Blue Bulls) was the only try-scorer in this match which were dominated by the boots of Francois Brummer and WP’s Conrad Hoffman. Brummer kicked three penalties and a drop goal while Hoffman slotted two penalty kicks for the visitors.
In Wellington the Kavaliers booked their place in the 2010 Vodacom Cup semi-finals following their 30-25 victory over the Platinum Leopards at the Boland Stadium on Saturday.
The hosts scored four tries thanks to Nikolai Blignaut, Janro van Niekerk, Lionel Cornelius and Dewey Swartbooi. Boland fullback Jacquin Jansen kicked two penalties and two conversions. Russell Jeacocks and Deon Scholtz scored tries for the Platinum Leopards while Cecil Dumond added five penalties.
In Durban the defending champions – GWK Griquas were knocked out of the 2010 Vodacom Cup following their 28-24 defeat to the Sharks XVs on Saturday. Charl McLeod scored a brace of tries while Patric Cilliers was the other Sharks XV player to cross the try line for the hosts. Flyhalf Monty Dumond kicked three penalties and two conversions.
GWK Griquas despite the defeat managed to run in four tries which were scored by Simon Westraadt (2), Zhahier Ryland and Wesley Wilkins. Donald Stevens though only managed to convert to of the four five-pointers.
In the other Vodacom Cup quarterfinal match of the weekend, the Vodacom Free State Cheetahs progressed to the semi-finals following their 30-20 victory over the Golden Lions at a wet and rainy Johannesburg Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Flyhalf Louis Strydom kicked six penalties and one conversion for the visitors to end the match with a personal points’ haul of 20. Philip Snyman and Kholo Ramashala added tries for the Vodacom Free State Cheetahs. Former Springbok winger Henno Mentz ran in a couple of tries for the Golden Lions while Johan van Deventer added the hosts’ third in this match. Earl Rose kicked a penalty and a conversion.
Weekend results:
Vodacom Blue Bulls 17 Vodacom WP 6
Vodacom Blue Bulls – Try: Gerrit-Jan van Velze; Penalties: Francois Brummer (3); Drop goal: Brummer.
Vodacom Western Province – Penalties: Conrad Hoffman (2).
Boland Kavaliers 30 Platinum Leopards 25
Boland Kavaliers – Tries: Nikolai Blignaut, Janro van Niekerk, Lionel Cornelius, Dewey Swartbooi; Conversions: Jacquin Jansen (2); Penalties: Jansen (2).
Platinum Leopards – Tries: Russell Jeacocks, Deon Scholtz;
Penalties: Cecil Dumond (5).
Golden Lions 20 Vodacom Free State Cheetahs 30
Golden Lions – Tries: Henno Mentz (2), Johan van Deventer; Conversion: Earl Rose; Penalty: Rose.
Vodacom Free State Cheetahs – Tries: Philip Snyman, Kholo Ramashala; Conversion: Louis Strydom; Penalties: Strydom (6).
Sharks XV 28 GWK Griquas 24
Sharks XV – Tries: Charl McLeod (2), Patric Cilliers; Conversions: Monty Dumond (2); Penalties: Dumond (3).
GWK GWK Griquas – Tries: Simon Westraadt (2), Zhahier Ryland, Wesley Wilkins; Conversions: Donald Stevens (2).
Snippets from the Match Report
By beating the Brumbies 19-12, the Waratahs have 33 competition points and will find themselves one point out of the top four on the ladder.
But in damp conditions that saw rain at the start, it was a dour affair with little flair. It was also marred by many controversial calls by referee Steve Walsh that prompted some bitter clashes between him and Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles, whose right to question the calls fell on deaf ears.
The first half was noted more for the sparks between brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles and referee Steve Walsh than those between the two sides.
The Brumbies had more momentum, even if they failed to find any holes. But they didn’t have Walsh on their side and by the 25th minute, after two more penalty kicks by Halangahu saw NSW’s lead increase to 9-0, tempers were well frayed between Hoiles and Walsh.
Hoiles’s first clash with Walsh came at the 16th minute when the referee ruled that the Brumbies captain – with ball in hand and across the 50m line – had been tackled. He clearly had not, but had broken through the NSW defence. Walsh penalised him for continuing his bust to the Waratahs 40m line.
A clearly aghast Hoiles didn’t hide his anger, telling Walsh his ruling was ”a rubbish call”.
Walsh responded by sending the Brumbies back another 10m to a mark well within Halangahu’s kicking range. His shot went over to leave them up 6-0.
Hoiles and Walsh exchanged verbals before the re-start, setting the scene for a volatile evening that was to get more fiery as Walsh blew his whistle.
And within two minutes Ashley-Cooper was in the fray with ball in hand and crossing over the Waratahs try line near the corner.
Incredibly Walsh did not award the try, ruling that Ashley-Cooper had offended with a ”double movement”. The call was clearly wrong, but costly.
The look of absolute shock among the Brumbies told the story and only stoked the crumbling relations that had developed between Walsh and Hoiles.
Another report, the Brumbies are furious
A dud match, a hilarious refereeing performance, a lukewarm atmosphere, and somehow the Waratahs won.
The other Australian provinces and many officials are well aware of the Brumbies’ dramas, including the staff member’s anticipated departure. As one high-placed source said yesterday: ”The Brumbies are far from happy campers.”
And it didn’t get any easier for the Brumbies last night when they ventured to Homebush and discovered that referee Steve ”Hollywood” Walsh seemed to be out to get them.
That they were level at 9-9 at half-time was an incredible effort, considering that Walsh hobbled them with several inexplicable decisions.
The match was a turgid affair, as both teams appeared scared to try anything too adventurous and instead belted the living daylights out of the ball. Walsh didn’t help.
Brumbies captain Stephen Hoiles must have wondered if he was suddenly in the Twilight Zone when he was penalised by Walsh for doing absolutely nothing wrong. Hoiles broke a tackle and played on, but Walsh thought he had been tackled. He was penalised and Hoiles’s disbelief was understandable, but then it became stupid when Walsh marched him down the field for showing dissent.
That was a big error, because Hoiles as captain is supposedly the team’s spokesman with the referee. Adding to the unnecessary pain was that suddenly the Waratahs were in sight of the goalsticks, and they were allowed to receive three points they did not deserve.
Even more unbelievable was that Walsh then disallowed a perfectly legitimate try from Brumbies winger Adam Ashley-Cooper, who twisted and rolled to score. Instead he penalised Ashley-Cooper for ”double movement”.
Double movement!
Who was Walsh trying to have on? That was a dreadful decision, as it cost the Brumbies at least another five points. The replay only made Walsh and his touch judge Nathan Pearce look even more stupid.
Then in the second half there were endless scrum penalties, resets, missed knock-ons and endless time wasting. This game had become ridiculous.
“The Lions closed us down at the breakdown in the first half. I knew we needed to get a lead of more than seven before we could really attack.”
what Victor said
Bluebeard, if you are around, i was really impressed by the play of the loose trios in yesterdays games. Deysell, Botes and Alberts and in the Bulls game Pedrie, Wikus and Grobelaar. But the play of Dewalt Potgieter is awesome, this guy tackled Wikus whole day back. Really Spies looked like he did nothing, but he was there all the time. They must rest Spies a game now, we can bring him up like FDP yesterday when needed. Same with Vic.
Belgrade – Lithuania set a world record of 18 successive test wins after thrashing Serbia 77-5 in their Cup of Nations Division 3a match on Saturday.
The sequence beats the record set by the All Blacks of the 1960s and matched by the world champion Springboks of the ’90s.
Not a A class result. Should have been a B division record.
I got some awesome pics from a Press Photographer of the Bulls game, will put them up later in a Match Report Thread of the Bulls game.
Be on the lookout also for the report of the After Match Interviews of the Bulls game…. some interesting stuff to come…
For now, I’m going to eat Skaapnek Potjie, smothered in a Jerepico sauce…. be back later…
New word for this type of reffing …. SHARKED ….
So headline should read Brumbies sharked by ref 😈
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