Round 6
Waratahs (20) 28 / 13 (13) Brumbies (Final Score)
The Waratahs and Brumbies did battle in Super Rugby at
Allianz Stadium, Sydney at 07:05 SA Time (16:05 AEDT, 05:05 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
Sharks (9) 12 / 11 (11) Chiefs (Final Score)
The Cell C Sharks and Chiefs did battle in Super Rugby at
Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban at 19:10 SA Time (17:10 GMT, Sunday 06:10 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
Bulls (9) 25 / 24 (7) Force (Final Score)
The Vodacom Bulls and Western Force did battle in Super Rugby at
Lftus Versfeld at 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT, 23:05 AWST, Sunday 02:05 AEDT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
Crusaders (10) 57 / 14 (14) Cheetahs (Final Score)
The Crusaders and Toyota Cheetahs did battle in Super Rugby at
AMI Stadium, Christchurch at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
It is Round 6 of Super Rugby 2015 this weekend.
There are 2 games on Friday 20 March, 3 games on Saturday 21 March and 1 game on Sunday 22 March.
The Blues, Reds & DHL stormers have a BYE weekend.
There are no South African derbies on the weekend, with 2 SA sides currently on tour, the DHL Stormers on a bye and both the Vodacom Bulls and Cell C Sharks envolved in games on South African soil against Anzac counterparts.
Only 1 undefeated team remains prior to the start of the weekend, the Hurricanes, and they will be up against the hard-hitting Highlanders, away from home, in the 1st game of the weekend (08:35 SA Time on Friday 20 March).
The Vodacom Bulls take on a struggling Western Force side on Saturday afternoon at Loftus Versfeld and the Cell C Sharks are up against it against a rampant Chiefs side, who just this past weekend took care of the DHL Stormers at Newlands.
This weekend, to predict winners are maybe even more difficult than normal, where at least 4 of the 6 games could go either way. It also does not help to select the home team as your bankers, seeing as away wins have been more predominant than home wins so far in 2015!
Round 6 will have us rivited to the TV screens and marching to the stadia again!
The Friday games are: Highlanders vs Hurricanes in Dunedin as well as the Melbourne Rebels vs Emirates Lions in Melbourne.
On Saturday the action starts at 08:35 SA Time, with the Crusaders hosting the Toyota Cheetahs in Christchurch. Thereafter there will be time to play with the children and go shopping with the wifey before the Vodacom Bulls host the Western Force at Loftus at 17:05 SA Time, before the Cell C Sharks battle the Chiefs at 19:10 SA Time in Durban.
Once again 6 Nations Rugby, well 2 of the 3 games in that competition’s finale is on at the same time as the 2 Super Rugby games on South African soil… so the PVR will be busy again in my household!
On Sunday morning early, 07:05 SA Time, the derby between the Waratahs vs Brumbies takes place in Sydney.
Rebels (13) 16 / 20 (3) Lions (Final Score)
The Melbourne Rebels and Emirates Lions did battle in Super Rugby at
AAMI Park, Melbourne at 10:40 SA Time (19:40 AEDT, 08:40 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
Highlanders (3) 13 / 20 (3) Hurricanes (Final Score)
The Highlanders and Hurricanes did battle in Super Rugby at
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin at 08:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 06:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
*******************
SANZAR has announced the Match Official appointments for Round 6 of the 2015 Super Rugby season.
This weekend once again only sees 6 games in stead of the usual 7 games.
The Blues, Reds and DHL Stormers all have a BYE weekend.
There will be 2 games on Friday 20 March, 3 games on Saturday 21 March and 1 game on Sunday 22 March 2015.
The weekend’s action is kicked off by Ben O’Keeffe, when the Highlanders host the Hurricanes in Dunedin on Friday, 08:35 SA Time, whereafter Mike Fraser takes charge of the game between the Melbourne Rebels and the Emirates Lions at 10:40 SA Time, also on Friday.
On Saturday Andrew Lees will referee the game between the Crusaders and the Toyota Cheetahs at 08:35 SA Time, well before Nick Briant takes charge of the game between the Vodacom Bulls against the Western Force at 17:05 SA Time. At 19:10 SA Time on Saturday evening the Cell C Sharks take on the rampant Chiefs, refereed by Angus Gardner.
On Sunday we have one lone match between the Waratahs and Brumbies, where Craig Joubert will be in charge, at 07:05 SA Time.
3 Games are of particular interest this weekend, namely the derby between the giant killing Highlanders vs Hurricanes who is the only unbeaten side in 2015. Thereafter on Saturday evening, the Cell C Sharks are up against the Chiefs who is in superb nick and on Sunday we have the tasty Aussie derbie between the Waratahs and Brumbies.
Shimlas (34) 44 / 24 (8) UCT (Final Score)
FNB UFS-Shimlas (University of the Free State) and FNB UCT (University of Cape Town) did
battle in the Varsity Cup at Shimla Park, Bloemfontein at 16:45 SA Time (14:45 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
The pressure will be on in the penultimate round (Round 6) before the FNB Varsity Cup play-offs the following Monday.
With 6 teams still in the hunt for a place in the semi-finals, Round 6 could have a major influence on the final Log positions and play-off venues this year.
Log-leaders FNB UP-Tuks face 4th-placed FNB UJ in a high-stakes Gauteng derby in Johannesburg, while the other big game will see the unbeaten FNB UFS-Shimlas host defending champions FNB UCT in Bloemfontein.
The other 2 matches will involve teams in the bottom half of the standings, with FNB NWU-Pukke looking to move into the Top 4 with an away win against newcomers FNB CUT and 3-times champions FNB Maties hoping to keep their play-off hopes alive when they host FNB NMMU.
The Stellenbosch side have only missed out on the semi-finals once in 2011, and they will know that defeat to the 7th-placed Madibaz will take their fate out of their hands.
Maties showed good character to fight back and beat UJ for their 1st win of the season in Round 5, but they will face an NMMU side that will be desperate to salvage something from a disappointing campaign.
In Bloemfontein the CUT Ixias will want to be more competitive after suffering 5 heavy defeats so far, but have their work cut out for them against a hungry NWU-Pukke side, while across town UFS-Shimlas will be looking to extend their unbeaten streak against a confident Ikeys team coming off a big win in Potchefstroom.
The final match of the evening will be in Johannesburg where UJ will be out to prove their play-off credentials at home against a rampant UP-Tuks side that has their eye on a home semi-final.
While the four teams who will contest the Vodacom Cup quarter-finals from the South Section have been decided, the race to get into the playoffs in the North Section is not over yet after the penultimate round of pool action.
And to add some spice, in the final round (in two weeks’ time) four of the top five teams in the North Section take on each other in two highly anticipated clashes. The defending champion Golden Lions (currently fourth on the log) host 2013’s runners-up the Steval Pumas (first), while GWK Griquas (second) have to travel to North West province to take on the Leopards XV (fifth).
The Vodacom Blue Bulls (third) host their neighbours to the north, the Assupol Limpopo Blue Bulls, in Pretoria and a likely win should cement their place in the quarter-finals.
The Lions and Vodacom Bulls flew the South African flag in Vodacom Super Rugby this weekend when they scored come-from-behind home victories on Saturday.
The side from Johannesburg scored two late tries to deny the Reds by 23-20 after they were still behind by 20-3 shortly before the break at Ellis Park.
In the process, Lions flyhalf and kicking ace Marnitz Boshoff became the first player this season to reach 100 points when he kicked his second penalty goal in the 40th minute of the match.
In the final match of the weekend, the Cell C Sharks lost their first encounter of 2014 when they went down 23-19 to a determined Vodacom Bulls side at Loftus Versfeld.
It is Round 6 of Super Rugby 2014 this weekend! We have 7 games in Round 5, with 2 games on Friday and 5 games on Saturday.
The Crusaders have a bye weekend.
In June / July 2014 the Antipodian teams will catch up in played games with the South African counterparts, when the South African sides sit out for 1 Round.
The Combined Log will therefore be skewed for the majority of the competition and one has to question why individual countries are allowed to start such a long competition ahead of it’s rivals. In 2013 the Australian sides started a week early, but at least they had the excuse that they needed an extra week in the middle of the year to prepare for the British & Irish Lions series, which they lost.
SANZAR has released the names of the match officials for Round 6 of Super Rugby 2014.
Nick Briant takes care of the 1st match in Dunedin where the Highlanders host the Hurricanes.
7 Matches are played this weekend, 2 on Friday and 5 on Saturday.
The Crusaders have their bye weekend.
The coastal teams made a charge up the standings at the conclusion of Round 6 of the 2014 FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International on Monday night.
There were important wins for FNB UCT, FNB NMMU and FNB Maties in an enthralling penultimate round of matches before the play-offs, leaving the competition wide open heading into the final week of league action.
The Ikey Tigers ran in four tries against FNB UFS-Shimlas to secure their first victory at home on the Green Mile this season and move into second place, just four log points behind pace-setters FNB NWU-Pukke.
The Cape team scored three tries playing into the wind in the first half and then went on to claim the bonus point after half-time as they romped to a 25-5 victory. This result leaves UFS-Shimlas down in sixth place after starting the round in third position.
Torrential rain in the northern part of the country had a big say in the other three matches, as FNB UJ and FNB UP-Tuks slumped to defeats at home, whilst NWU-Pukke were forced to work hard for their victory over FNB Wits in Potchefstroom.
Defending champions UP-Tuks suffered their second consecutive defeat at home, as the Madibaz ground out a crucial 19-9 win which saw them move past the Pretoria side into third place on the standings. It was NMMU’s second big scalp of 2014, having beaten the Maties back in Round 1.
With the play-offs on the horizon, Round Six of the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International will have a major bearing on which teams make the knock-outs.
The penultimate round of the league phase of the competition has served up some intriguing clashes, and with seven of the eight sides still in the running for the semi-finals there will be no shortage of intensity on Monday night.
The only team without a chance of making the semi-finals is winless FNB Wits who face another major challenge as they travel to Potchefstroom to take on log-leaders FNB NWU-Pukke in the first match to be televised live on SuperSport 1.
NWU-Pukke are coming off consecutive away wins against FNB NMMU and defending champions FNB UP-Tuks, so they will be aiming for a bonus-point victory in front of their home crowd to extend their lead at the top of the standings.
Down in Cape Town the third-placed FNB Ikey Tigers will be looking for their first home win of the season when they look to tame both the fourth-placed FNB UFS-Shimlas and the notorious wind on the Green Mile.
The Ikeys are unbeaten on the road this season but have not had as much success at home, and they will be tested once again by a UFS-Shimlas team that held FNB Maties to a draw in a windy Stellenbosch last week.
Maties have been very erratic this year and find themselves down in sixth position, but well within striking distance of the top four, and they are up against a desperate UJ side who have just one win to show for their efforts this season.
Despite their troubles this year, UJ’s hopes of making the semi-finals are not over so expect them to have a full go in front of their home crowd with their campaign effectively on the line.
UP-Tuks will be looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season to NWU-Pukke last week when they host the NMMU Madibaz in Pretoria.
The Madibaz find themselves in fifth place after their tough win over Wits last week, and they face another difficult assignment against a UP-Tuks team determined to bounce back from a defeat at home.
If the qualification picture for the European Cup quarterfinals is now significantly clearer following last weekend’s Round Five games, the closing series of pool matches in Europe’s premier club tournament retains its customary intrigue.
There are no unbeaten teams left in the Vodacom Super Rugby competition after the DHL Stormers took that claim away for the Brumbies at DHL Newlands on Saturday, beating the Australian side 35-22 in a pulsating match.