superBul
The Bulls will invade Soweto on
Saturday with more confidence as their hosts for the Super 14 semi-final match, Orlando Pirates have thrown their weight firmly behind the defending champions.
Vodacom Bulls loose forward, Dewald Potgieter, has extended his contract with the franchise untill 2013.
There was a time when he walked a disciplinary tightrope, but Schalk Burger appears to be on course to succeed John Smit as Springbok captain.
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THE leading rugby nations, including Australia, will seek a larger slice of the World Cup pie to compensate them for millions of dollars of lost income from the IRB’s decision to cancel inbound Test matches in the year the showpiece event is held.
The Waratahs have vowed to batter the Stormers’ iron-clad defence with strong ball-running and physical play at the breakdown in this Saturday’s Super 14 semi-final at Newlands.
Gio Aplon is small of stature at 74kg, but Stormers coach Allister Coetzee is delighted that he can bank on the right wing’s big heart for Saturday’s Super 14 semi-final against the Waratahs.
Italy captain Sergio Parisse was welcomed back into the squad Monday as coach Nick Mallett unveiled his 26-man squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa.
Nerves will be shot. Use this thread to break tension. Make Jokes. Laugh. Moan. Complain. Do anything. Be witty. Paste the best quotes. Share you jokes. Just do not try Nonu,s language.
To break away from the serious stuff surrounding the Semi-Finals this article will start with surveys to determine various sought after titles and some not so glamorous titles in this years Super 14 Competition.
We will cover South African awards and International ones too. The list of categories follow below.
Second Survey – Nominations start Tomorrow
Plonker of the year(rugby) closing date after Semi finals
Plonker of the year(media) closing date after Semi finals
First Survey – Most exciting Team – REDS
Is this what Grootblousmile meant? Well this story wont go away. And heaven forbid us the Bulls lose this semi-final. Then we will hear it another 10 years or longer.
If the Crusaders players can persuade their jumbled body clocks to forgive them the tortuous regime of the last few weeks, the New Zealanders have a famous victory within their grasp in Soweto this weekend.
THE Stormers have wasted little time in engaging the Waratahs in psychological warfare before this weekend’s Super 14 semi-final in Cape Town.
England won by 7 wickets (18 balls remaining)
Australia 147/6(20 overs)
England 148/3 (17/20 overs)
A secret meeting has handed the All Blacks and their Southern Hemisphere neighbours a big on-field advantage before the Rugby World Cup is staged in New Zealand next year.
Yes, the Waratahs do deserve to be in the Super 14 finals. They’ve certainly had their lucky moments and dead spots over the past three months, but showed against the Hurricanes they have the qualities to be a finals side.
Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper says his eight-year tenure will be tinged with regret that his sides did not deliver on their true potential in big matches.
Adriaan Fondse, Steven Sykes, Gerhard Mostert or Flip van der Merwe?
That is the big question the Springbok coach will have to answer in 2012 when he considers who will succeed Bakkies Botha in South Africa’s No 4 jersey.
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Rugby Heavens,s
Scenarios heading into the final round of the Super 14 rugby competition starting on Friday (team, competition points, points differential and final-round fixture):
This will be my last article about the downgraded North vs South clash we all looked forward to. At one stage i hoped that we came second in the Super14 to give us a chance of playing the Super 14 final at Newlands versus our arch-rivals the Stormers. Only time will tell whether the Bulls played a masterstroke or made the biggest cock-up this decade.
De Wet Barry’s punishing defence has won South Africa a rugby Test against Australia at Newlands, but the Stormers have no doubt that Juan de Jongh will stand his ground against the veteran Springbok in Saturday’s Super 14 clash.
A load of bull has been uttered about the Bulls. So what if they rest up to 13 top-tier players for the final round match against the Stormers this weekend? That is the privilege of finishing well ahead of everyone else. That allows them certain luxuries.
Article by Greg Growden on Rugby Heaven, Australia
Rugby should allow for two on-field referees in games, believes Steve Walsh, who came under fire for his running of the Waratahs-Brumbies Super 14 game in Sydney two weekends ago.
Poll at end of article. Go Vote
| 11 |  Australia |
v |  Bangladesh |
Australia won by 27 runs | Kensington Oval, Barbados |
| 12 |  Afghanistan |
v |  South Africa |
South Africa won by 59 runs | Kensington Oval, Barbados |
The future of rugby players that are contracted by Unions at a young age can be dumped into uncertainty quite easily because of their lack of higher education.
| 9 |  New Zealand |
v |  Zimbabwe |
New Zealand won by 7 runs (D/L method) | Providence Stadium, Providence |
| 10 |  England |
v |  Ireland |
No result | Providence Stadium, Providence |
| 7 |  Sri Lanka |
v | Zimbabwe |
Sri Lanka won by 14 runs (D/L method) | Providence Stadium, Providence |
| 8 |  West Indies |
v | England |
West Indies won by 8 wickets (D/L method) | Providence Stadium, Providence |
Time to pick your best SA performers of the weekend. Great play by the 3 winning South African teams, Stormers, Cheetahs and Bulls will make this week a tough call. Add to that some great individual performances by players in the two other South African teams, the Lions and Sharks and one should expect a lot of changes to last week’s team.
Too many nice words about our Rugby are spoken from that part of the World lately. I start to feel uneasy. Is it a concerted effort to build us up as favorites? Do they try to earn the underdog tag? Articles like these make me wonder.
OPINION: There are times when the All Blacks coach’s lot must be a happy one. Wins eight times out of 10. Nice seats on the plane. Best suites at the hotel. And the holidays aren’t half bad.
By MARC HINTON – Sunday Star Times
What will be the minimum points be to make it to the Semi Finals? With the Bulls almost there with 43 points they only need 2 more bonus points to be guaranteed a home semi final. 45 will be the number to guarantee a home semi final.
The battle of the Wooden Spoon, History at the bottom of this article.
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