The Sharks played their best match by far this season to destroy the high flying Stormers. The Stormers now have a must win situation against the log topping Bulls, with much for Schalk Burger’s men to ponder about.
In all honesty the scoreboard does not tell the true story of this game.
Sharks 20 / Stormers 14 (Final Score)
The Sharks hosted the Stormers at the ABSA Stadium, Durban, South Africa at 19:10 SA Time. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA.
The Sharks outpalyed the Stormers and in the process wasted a few points on their way to a good victory over the semi final bound Stormers.. Continue reading
The Crusaders said before the match they had a specific game plan, they’ve spotted a weakness and have a game plan to exploit that weakness. As it is they won every facet of the game except the match. They scored more tries, had more possession, wasn’t beaten in the line-outs or the scrums, made more turnovers and spent more time in the Bulls half of the field.
So what was the weakness they saw and what was the game plan?
Cheetahs (26) 29 / Force (7) 14 (Final Score)
The Cheetahs hosted the Western Force in Bloemfontein at 17:05 SA Time. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA.
In a brilliant display of rugby the magnificent Cheetahs totally outplayed the Force. The Force, who had previously beaten both the Stormers and the Crusaders, had no answer to the power and accuracy of the vastly superior Cheetahs. Juan Smith and Sarel Pretorius were outstanding for the mighty Cheetahs. Continue reading
Lions (14) 14 / Blues (24) 56 (Final Score)
The Lions Hosted the Blues at Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburgat 15:00 SA Time. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA,
The Blues emphatically whipped the Lions by 56-14. Enough said.
What better way to give a match summary but through a video with highlites…
I suggest that you let the video feed buffer and run once before watching it in continious motion for a 2nd time.. specially those of you with slow internet connections and low download bandwidth!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6hYXtwc_L4[/youtube]
Brumbies (17) 31 / Highlanders (3) 3 (79 min)
The Brumbies hosted the Highlanders in Canberra at 11:40 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA.
The Brumbies won in convincing fashion and even managed to get their bonus point try just before full time, winning by 31 / 3.
This moves the Brumbies up to 37 Log Points and squarely into the reconing for a semi.
Bayonne Rugby Club has announced the signing of WP and Stormers player Joe Pietersen. Continue reading
Chiefs (0) 19 / Waratahs (20) 46 (Final Score)
The Chiefs hosted the Waratahs in Hamilton, New Zealand, at 09:35 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA. The Waratahs romped to a 46 / 19 win and puts them on 38 Log Points… 3rd position.
Bulls (24) 40 / Crusaders (19) 35 (Final Score)
The Bulls hosted the Crusaders at Loftus, Pretoria at 19:10 SA Time, in perfect weather conditions for rugby. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA.
The Bulls scraped a win after the final hooter, when Francois Hougaard scored his second try, a controvercial one which will hotly be contested, specially so in New Zealand. The Bulls won by 40 / 35, and the Crusaders earned 2 bonus points.
The Bulls now definately have a home semi-final (at Orlando Stadium, Soweto) and currently stand on 47 Log Points, with the Crusaders on 36 Log Points.
Hurricanes (13) 44 / Reds (21) 21 (Final Score)
The Hurricanes hosted the Reds in Wellington, New Zealand at 09:35 SA Time. This is the match thread for discussion of the game. The match was broadcast live on SuperSport 1 on DSTV in SA. The Hurricanes came from well behind to demolish the Reds in the Second Half and winning by 44 / 21, scoring 6 tries in the match and denying the Reds a single bonus point. Suddenly the Reds have jumped to No 3 on the Log, on 37 Log Points, 1 behind the Stormers.
The Crusaders have special plans for the Bulls in Pretoria this weekend, with coach Todd Blackadder hinting at a secret strategy they believe can get them up to a result that will keep their semifinal aspirations alive. Crusaders believe they’ve spotted a weakness they can exploit.
Bafana Bafana will return the favour on Friday night after receiving support from the Bulls before their own overseas tour down under a couple of weeks ago… They are hoping to draw some energy from the champion Bulls side before their Soccer World Cup kick-off in a couple of days. Continue reading
There is only 2 Rounds left in the General Play-out Rounds of the Super 14 before the 14 Teams are cut down to only 4, for the Semi-finals and still there seems to be only 1 clear semi-finalist decided, the Bulls.
This week sees crucial matches for all contenders for the crown, here are the matches scheduled for this weekend:
| 7 | Hurricanes | v | Reds | Wellington | 09:35 |
| 7 | Vodacom Bulls | v | Crusaders | Loftus Versfeld | 19:10 |
| 8 | Chiefs | v | Waratahs | Hamilton | 09:35 |
| 8 | Brumbies | v | Highlanders | Canberra | 11:40 |
| 8 | Auto & General Lions | v | Blues | Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg | 15:00 |
| 8 | Vodacom Cheetahs | v | Western Force | Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein | 17:05 |
| 8 | The Sharks | v | Vodacom Stormers | The Absa Stadium Durban | 19:10 |
Check out the cartoon on Nonu, featured in today’s Dominion post here in Nu Zolland.
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
Please find both the team lists of the Vodacom Cheetahs and the Western Force as well as the Vodacom Free State Cheetahs that will be taking part in die Vodacom Cup final.
| 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 shoe is at last on the other foot. On the New Zealand foot, to be specific.
The pressure is mounting on NZ rugby and the primary focus in the newspapers here in NS was on the outside change the Hurricanes might reach the semi’s after their win against the Chiefs.
Allister Coetzee, head coach of the Vodacom Stormers, today announced his team to play the Sharks in Durban on Saturday 8 May. Kick-off is at 19h10.
ALL the Super 14 teams for Round 13 of the Super 14 has been announced.
This is an interesting article I found written by a Rugby Haven rugby writer. This is what he had to say about the Crusaders recent form. Continue reading
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.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has confirmed that players who feature in the Super 14 final will not play against Wales next month.
Currently the Bulls and the Stormers lead the Super 14 tournament and since 2007 the Springboks have largely been made up of players from the Bulls and Sharks.
Danie Rossouw will replace Bakkies Botha in the Vodacom Bulls team for their match against the Crusaders at Loftus Versfeld on Friday and will earn his 100th Super Rugby cap in the process.
This is one of two changes coach Frans Ludeke made from the side that finished off the Sharks at the same venue last week.
| 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 |
Bakkies Botha Springbok lock of the Vodacom Blue Bulls have been out for most of the S14 season, making his return only last week against the Sharks. This is what he had to say on his game in an interview with Sport24 Continue reading
BJ Botha, Frans Steyn, Jean de Villiers, Butch James, Joe van Niekerk, Shaun Sowerby, Marius Joubert, Luke Watson, Daan Human, Faan Rautenbach, Brent Russel, Neil de Kock, Michael Claasens, CJ van der Linde, Robbie Diack, Ross Skeate, Gcobani Bobo, Schalk Brits, Ernst Joubert, Marco Wentzel, Jacques Cronje and countless other lesser known players.
Met die Bulls vs Stormers wedstryd slegs 2 weke weg het ek op die TIPIESE Stormers mentaliteit in Parow afgekom….
Cape Town – The latest tweet from John Smit on social networking site, Twitter, suggests the Sharks captain thankfully hasn’t suffered serious damage to his neck as was initially feared.
New Zealand is abuzz with speculation about the reason behind one of the most bizarre interviews in recent memory – when Hurricanes and All Blacks centre Ma’a Nonu let rip with a series of expletives in a live post-match interview.
According to Yahoo!Xtra Sport, Nonu let rip in a bizarre interview – filled with seven swear words, following his side’s Super 14 win against the Chiefs on Saturday.
| 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.