Super rugby 2012 mid point

Well howdee there to you all, sorry for my absence, i promise its not because my dear Blues have been giving me...the Blues, i missed a good few games this year with weddings etc. over the weekends but i think that has all settled down now and my couch, remote, telly and me are going to continue our annual love affair :)

This Super rugby has thrown out a few names and games. I have to admit i thought the NZ teams would be suffering from a RWC hangover and they would be by far the worst conference but I am beyond impressed with the talent and competitiveness of all their teams bar the Blues. I haven't paid much attention to the Australian derby games, but from what I see, the Brumbies have been quite competitive which means I have to eat my hat and admit that Jake might actually infact be a a good coach. Its a team of very few names, yet look at them topping the Australian conference...for the time being ofcourse :)

I hate this conference system, its really bollocks, last week the top Australian team had a negative points difference fewer points than the team in position no 4 yet they were guaranteed a spot in the playoffs were the competition to end then, as it stands they will just sneak into 6th, what the powers that be are doing is incentivising mediocrity. I do believe that the Australians may not have enough teams to field 5 teams really but i guess i am preaching to the converted.

Back to rugby, my take on this competition is as follows, Chiefs, Canes, Cheetahs are playing the most attractive rugby out there they make the game entertaining to watch and they seem to be having fun. The Chiefs just look like a good side at the moment, playing to their potential. One cant deny the influence of coaching in this team, Dave Rennie and Wayne Smith are a great combination for the franchise. they have done some good work and got their forwards well balanced and their backs are just insane. What they have also done well is they have made sure they have depth. In the first week they lost their 2 front line props enter Taumololo the leading try scorer ...in the whoooole competition and his newphew Taimefuna who has scrummed just about everyone into the ground. They are committed to the cause as a team and know when to do what, they look like they will be in the top 6. Aaron Cruden is just on another level at the moment he is making the right decisions most of the time and he has confidence aplenty, i guess the youngster on his inside is also assisting him and SBW and Kahui on his outside. Like Robbie Robinson is a great no 15, then they bring this guy Andrew Horrell, from where, from the school of talented NZ backs thats where...

The game between the Canes and the Cheetahs has to be up there in terms of the most entertaining (regarding running rugby) that has been played thus far and it highlights why they are up there in my teams to watch play list. Both teams have no names, but they play for each other, have characters (well the Cheetahs more so) and they never ever call time until the whistle sounds. what more can you ask of a bunch of professionals? give those men a Bells!!

Then there is the middle tier, the tier where the teams play winning rugby, those teams are the Bulls, Stormers and the Saders. The saders showed last weekend that they are indeed a smart team and well coached their running lines and speed of play was a great indictment on the astuteness of that team and its coaching staff. they really studied the Stormers defence and worked on ways to legally ask questions and have the Stormers infringe. It was a good game of chess to watch. I watched the Bulls against the Saders the week before, and it was then where i realised that this Bulls team is a title contender too. They have some insane youngsters bred from the biltong fed factory of loosies, CJ Stander what is that kid? Chilliboy is finally showing you all what i saw in him many moons ago...haaa, regular game time can do much for a players game and confidence. Still not overly convinced about Spies though, he is playing much better than last year yes, but he should be a beast man... Bulls are hot, Stormers need to learn to attack more, they will be tested now after losing 2 of their front line locks and the midfield general, JdV. Lets see how they hold up...

The Highlanders float between the first grouping and this one. They have game, they have excitement, they can play winning rugby too

The next tier is the promise so much but deliver nothing but me switching off the telly before the game ends. In this team is the Lions and my Blues, my 2 top teams :)

Let me start with the Lions, i have always maintained that they are a good currie cup side, because the team stays together after the Super rugby campaign because none of the players get called up to the Boks. Which is also their downfall in the Super rugby comp. They lack big game players who can provide that x-factor or calming influence when its needed. Their biggest issue this year has been their hard luck with injuries. They just keep losing players at certain periods of the season so they can never gel as a unit, but i guess its the nature of this comp, people will get hurt.

The Blues, i dont think their season has been as bad as it seems, the loss to the Rebels is the only one i can bemoan them on. Last week against the SHarks, we was robbed i tell you, but as the saying goes, look at the scoreboard. But I am convinced they are almost there, but you know how it is, when it doesnt go well with you you try harder and fail even more spectacularly, decision making is key. They will get it right, the signs are there...or is that wishful thinking?

The refs and their assistants have been pretty toilet this year. I dont like to harp on about refs etc but this year they have been particularly useless and the breakdown rule has also been a hack, the part where the approaching player cant go past the ball and place his hands on the ground before  grabbing the ball, you tell me what influence that will have if you are an approaching player cleaning out the ruck?

Anyway...

Highlanders v Blues....If I had to go on performance, id call Highlanders, but i have a feeling, call it blind allegiance, but this could be the game that defines the Blues season...they have nothing to lose now

Reds v Stormers...another tough call, a full Stormers team id say Reds have no chance but now they do, they have Harris back at 10, Duane is no captain, but we will see how he goes, Reds cos they are at home

Canes v Crusaders...Saders

Tahs v Rebels...Tahs

Sharks v Chiefs....hmmm another tough call, Sharks just came home, won their last game, will be on a high, they might well pip the Chiefs in the sharks tank

Bulls v Brumbies....Bulls, but not an easy game for them

bye for now

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