Super 15 week 1

Well howdee doodie, Not sure if there is anyone out there who is feeling invigorated thanks to the best sporting competitions re-apearance on our TV screens last Friday :) man was I getting tired of watching the oscars on grass (soccer) Anyway as excited as I was about the season that lies ahead I was unable to write my pre season write up, so I am going to encompass that with a review of the past weekends games and a preview of next weekends game. SA Teams to watch will once again be the Stormers, Bulls, Lions, Sharks, Cheetahs in that order. Well maybe nit because as I type this I am struggling to find some justification for what I write. The Stormers will once again be SA's strongest team. They may be a little rattled with some off-field antics, but their personnel is largely intact they have lost jacques and Flouw, and now Schalla, but we know what De Jongh offers and we know what Siya did when he came on and can do. Their pack properly bullied the Canes, not that it was a tough task, but still they went out and did it. Which means they get good ball to the backs and the backs have skill to burn. Watch out for my man Gio Aplon and Joe Pietersen JdJ will feed them plenty, they will be hot these Stormers. I missed their game against the Canes because I was on a plane, but the highlights showed me that A they were on the right side of the whistle and they were moving in the right direction The Bulls have lost some really key players, but inspite of that they definitely know how to bore a win out of their opposition and that will never change ;). They lost 2 towering figures in Vic and Bakkies, Guthro, as well as FdP and vd Heever, but other than Victor and Guthro I don’t think they lost much, Bakkies hardly played last year and neither FdP and I think they are both past their best anyway. Now they have some good locks, they breed front rowers and loosies up north and their backs that’s where I get excited…Hougaard at 9…DANGER, backed up by Jano, Venter (if Morne can pass to him with his foot) is a prospect in the making most definitely, he together with Sadie another body bursting with superflous (yes I used it correctly) rugby talent with the old firm in the back 3, man this team should crack enough teams open. They are a little think in the reserves, as compared to the Bulls of old, but the players they have in my mind are pretty able. I missed this game completely because I was at a wedding, and so glad too 0-0 at half time what is this soccer? sies The Lions, they got out of jail free last weekend I think, once again I only caught glimpses of it though and saw the highlights. This team is my SA team and has been since I moved up to the highveld in 2000. But my dear friends, I do not hold any delusions of grandeur for this team. The only reason they managed to win the CC in my mind is yes they are well coached and conditioned, but they had a benefit that only the Cheetahs shared and that is they had most of their S15 squad available to them during the CC campaign, so they could build on what they started and they will continue to build they have a mix of youth and…well mainly youth, but this youth seems to be heeding to the words of Mitch and focusing and working as a unit. In the SA conference they will be formidable and I think with last weeks win they will have momentum to pip the Canes again this weekend which will give them confidence. Their biggest test will come on their away trip to Australasia, I hope I am wrong but I don not see them faring too well. But that being said man they have some talent, Taute, my guy Jantjes, Bandisio, great pack not one that will strike fear in anyone, but one that is quietly confident in their ability to do their business and do it well. They were lucky against the Cheetahs, but the Cheetahs were also ill disciplined and in the words of many a Bulls supporter, points is points :) Sharks, I am not sure about this team ey. Pack is still decent, but the backs…wings are good, full back/flyhalf Lambie, need I say more, but Michalak at 9/10?? And then the centres. They are currently in my mind SA's least settled side, I havent watched them play much but from the articles I read, I think they still need to find themselves. Cheetahs, everyones second favourite team. Man this team ey, sheeet! Got too much skill, this team. Forwards once again are able, I like this Trevor prop, I think he might be a converted hooker, but he is pretty mobile if memory serves me correctly but that being said, bring me back my brawling Coenie please!! Backs Tewys, I undestand why he is there but Piet van Zyl is definitely another Sarel in the making, I'm telling you! Then there is the much talked about Johan Goosen, and rightly so, cos this kleintjie kan speel man! Andries Strauss is a good defender and an experience campaigner and it was right in a way to have both him and Tewys on either side of the young man, but the little I saw of him there is no flyhalf in SA that has anything on him. I prefer Snyman to Strauss at centre anyway, he has the 7's skills that will assist him in setting a backline alight and he has flyers on all sides of him. Its a really exciting backline. Its hard to tell other than the Stormers who have the goods in this conference, because I guess its early days yet and in a few weeks after a few games, the dust will settle and we will see who's who Australia I didn’t watch any of the derbies, because they generally tend to be a bore a minute. I expected the Force to beat the Brumbies, but how wrong was I. I also called the Tahs to beat the Reds and I was right all the way till the last minute, then I was wrong :) NZ The weakest team in this conference looks likely to be the Hurricanes, because they are rebuilding and lost a fair amount of their strike power. That being said, they will not be a walk in the park by no means. The 2 flyhalves this weekend that impressed me were Barrett(Canes) and Blyendel(Saders), yup the stocks are filling up, definitely no DC, but they can be their own guys. The team with the most exciting backs out of that conference is by far the Chiefs, bummed that Flash and Leonard are out for a while, because man that backline was like wooow!! The Blues backline is not too far behind, they just need to get their act together a little more. They should have put that game away on Friday, but alas they didn’t. Crusaders will always be the saders, and they will be up there in the conference, they will make the playoffs again im sure. Highlanders though, what a unit, they are the Lions or Cheetahs of the NZ conference. No major rock stars but they always put together a team effort. Mind you the Chiefs would have put them away had it not been for the injuries at quite a key period. This weekends games Fri: Chiefs v Blues, humdinger between the neighbours, you know me always a Blue, should be a cracker though Rebels v tahs….Tahs Lions v Canes….tight one, but the lungs for the Canes will go, they only got to Joburg on Wednesday, might well count against them, early in the season…Lions Sat: Landers v Saders…Another sizler…tough to call going to gamble on the Landers Reds v Force…Reds Cheetahs v Bulls…an exciting match from the Cheetahs point of view, at home, Cheetahs Stormers v Sharks…another great matchup…Stormers at home Sorry I faded mid blog, but it was just getting too long Happy viewing Y