The Cheetahs have confirmed that Currie Cup flavour of the moment, flyhalf prodigy Johan Goosen, will be staying in Bloemfontein for at least another two years.
The young pivot, who was still playing for Grey Kollege only last year, is already a veritable shoe-in to don the Springbok number 10 jersey as early as next week, according to most sources, after putting in admittedly impressive performances for the central team in Currie Cup matches against the Blue Bulls and Sharks in recent weeks. He has joined a small, but growing, group of players opting to turn down bigger money from the likes of the Sharks and Bulls to remain in Cheetahs country. It’s an interesting move on his point, since a more financially secure union would no doubt be able to provide him with a free supply of legal supplements, rather than leaving him to fend for himself at the corner chemist…
The man to lose out here is Sias Ebersohn, who along with his brother Robert also recently extended his Cheetahs deal. Like the du Plessis brothers before them, the Ebersohns come as a package deal and it will be interesting to see just how happy the duo are with one of them presumably confined to a bench role, despite putting in some pretty impressive performances himself every time he has been asked to start at flyhalf. Sorry, Sias, but when the hype engine dials up a notch or two, there’s not much you can do to change its direction.
In the mean time, though, it’s Goosen who is attracting all the superlatives and this writer is particularly keen to see how he goes playing for the perennial underdog Cheetahs in Super Rugby before pencilling him into any fantasy Springbok lineups.
Class player. The contest between him and Sias Ebersohn will improve them both.
Cheetahs my dark horse for the S15. Looking so much better then in the past, and they only lost 2 games by more then 7 in this years S15.
With that skill-set he can learn on the job. Keep SA’s best flyhalf Morne Steyn on as the starter, and allow Goosen to learn the trade. Best flyhalf in the world 4 years from now.
Would be interesting to see Goosen VS Lambie .
BUT what would be even more interesting would be Elton VS Goosen. will be very interesting indeed ….
@hendrikp (Comment 1) :
what whould you do with Lambie in 4 years time ?
@Zibbie (Comment 2) :
Lambie will stay at fullback. You heard it here first.
Jantjies overrated man. Doesn’t have the mental strength or anything to his game that puts him beyond a decent S15 player.
@Zibbie (Comment 3) :
Lambie is our future at fullback. Frans has pretty much ensured he’ll be at 12 next year with a good performance against Fiji.
Also, Naka seems to be one of the best player managers around. No idea about his coaching, but I like the way he manages. And has the balls to make tough decisions.
@hendrikp (Comment 4) :
mmmm Elton is still only 21 . not everybody is frans steyn or Lambie who can make the step up right away . he is stil developing and improving and i dont think he could have a better coach than Carlos and Mitch
he does get the Lions backline going much better then somebody like Francis does .
Goosen seems to have a lot of good attributes, but will see how he stands up in Superrugby when the defenses are a lot quicker and much more organised. His defense has also not been tested. Never judge a player on his 1st year at the top, its his 2nd and 3rd year where he will come under more scrutiny as teams get video footage and learn his traits.
@SheldonK (Comment 8) :
It’s a possibility that he won’t cut it, but it’s the same with any other player coming through.
He’s the next Francois Steyn. An extroardinary talent. If he has a good S15, he should be a Springbok. No one argued for Francois Steyn being a one-year wonder/overrated…. except senior Bulls players it seems.
@SheldonK (Comment 8) :
and my favorite :
he only had one or two good games in a watered down currie cup
Man how pissed Sias must be right about now! Getting paid 5grand a month to sit on the bench for the next 2 years!
@hendrikp (Comment 4) : I reckon Lambie is wasted at fullback. Since he is not lightning quick he won’t really benefit from the extra space. His real strength is bringing the backline into the game and even when he has done well at fullback he has looked his best when joining the line and popping up at flyhalf. Obviously Goosen and Jantjies have played well this Currie cup and hopefully they will push on but who knows what will happen in four years? For example who would have expected Pat Lambie to play at this year’s world cup back in 2007.
@Ben (Comment 11) : It’s a little unfortunate for him but he is only one injury to Goosen away from a recall to the starting lineup.
@hendrikp (Comment 6) :
Howzit Coenie??
It’s awfully early to be on the internet considering you should be at practice!
The Cheetahs have a sponsorship deal with PVM so supplements are freely available to their players.
Chiliboy and Bjorn tested positive to the same substance that was found in Johan’s system but didn’t get bans.
So glad SA has unavailed such a bright prospect. I really hope Goosen can live up to expectations. He is amongst the very best to come out of SBR system. I’m rooting for him to make it too the very top.
However having seen Derick Hougaard turn the Currie Cup upside down as a 19 year old and later watching a 19 year old Frans Steyn looking like he was set to become a showstopper, and then both not quite fulfil the expectations, I know it’s best to keep things in perspective rather than get carried away just yet.
@beet (Comment 15) : Very well said. + 1
@wpw (Comment 14) :
You won’t be laughing next year when he’s a Springbok
This kid turned the bulls twice
haha first in grade 10 then this year 
The bulls do not need sias.
Lionel Cronje in my honest opinion is what the bulls needed Heyneke Meyer has identified him as Morne Steyn’s successor.
Fouche will be the third flyhalf in the pecking order so he will play vodacom cup for Pine Pienaar.
Brummer and Boshoff will have to look for another union maybe EP kings.
I heard boshoff is on his way to the griquas and already JC Roos is Pumas bound.
It remains to be seen what will happen to brummer i believe he still has a contract maybe they will release him.
There is a rumour going around in the cape that young rising star lock Eben Etsebeth has been offerd a contract by the bulls.
Lambie is king imo ,the first day I came to this site I got into an argument that he and elton where on the same level vs the poles apart version sold here…well i believe now that lambie is the best young back in the country, he has the ability to own any position he plays in and I reckon fly is his best despite the team sheets I have been writing here.
Elton imo is next on the pecking order ,he is a classy player much like lambie and has grown into his role at the lions ,he is far more composed than he was last year. Goosen had one good showing with the boot and his play is frantic and all over the place, he still forces his play however in a season or two I recko he will produce the kind of performances that lambie and jantjies are producing now; mature ,controlling and classy
@Muzi (Comment 18) : There is a rumour going around in the cape that young rising star lock Eben Etsebeth has been offerd a contract by the bulls-thats huge
@Muzi (Comment 18) :
Better keep their hands off Etzebeth
Take back Adriaan Fondse & Hilton Lobberts rather. We might even throw in De Kock Steenkamp to join his brother!
Would have a nice set of locks with Elstadt, Bekker & Etzebeth if we can hold onto him.
As for Brummer, I’m a little dissapointed the Bulls aren’t putting more faith in him for the time being, but maybe it’s for the best that he goes elsewhere. Just p1ssed off that they made him sit on the bench for a year with no game-time – so of course he’s going to be rusty. Glad they’re letting Boshoff go though, he’s no good. Fouche pretty average as well. Cronje will do well at the Bulls if they give him some game-time.
wooooow … something wrong with sharks world today .. people saying things i can agree with
@Muzi (Comment 18) : I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Before the ink has dried on the Lionel Cronje contract, you’d be spreading Eben Etsabeth rumours.
You know earlier in the year when I asked our own Sharks official : code named “Beloved” (you know who I’m talking about) if he’d signed up Jan Serfontein yet, he said “No!” but suggested that I start a rumour that we had signed Serfontein. So it’s got me thinking, what have those Bulls officials been asking you to say on all the blogs. Hey? Come clean!
Well done on to your junior teams on toppling the previously undefeated Province junior sides. I wud have loved to have seen JC Roos’ clutch drop goal to win that u21 game.
@hendrikp (Comment 21) : Funny how Brummer and Cronje suffered the same fate in 2010. Both spent a great deal of last year’s CC as benchwarmers which paved the way for the likes of Gary v Aswegen and Marnitz Boshoff to shine at u21 level. When Brummer got relegated back to the u21s, he couldn’t displace the inform Boshoff. I suspect that Cronje would have had the same trouble at WP u21 level last year as well. GvA went onto become u21 PotY (I think).
how bitter is the author of this article? hahaha wow.
@Megatron (Comment 25) :
Are you becoming your old nasty self again?
@Pokkel (Comment 26) : you mean you can’t pick up the subtle but snide remarks that betray a jealous streak?
Also heard that Nick Koster had had more than one chat with the folks in Pretoria
@Megatron (Comment 27) : I don’t know Megatron. It seemed a lot more like irritation with the way people are carrying on than jealously.
Goosen went off on Saturday, so is Sias not playing anyway?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 30) :
Nevermind…..
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 28) : Well I heard that Christian Stewart was talking to a Sharks guy the other day.
I guess he ticks a lot of our boxes:
Centre
Over 30
International experience
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 31) : He had cramps for the 2nd week in a row. A bit of a concern coz it was only 60min into the game this time.
@beet (Comment 33) :
The jump from 70min games to 80 min games, dont you think?
@beet (Comment 32) :
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 34) : Hopefully just that.
@beet (Comment 24) :Everyone is asking me if i am a bulls scout
hell even our junior scout xander asked me if i worked for hans scriba 
or if was an undercover agent for one of the Aussie super rugby teams. 
@beet (Comment 36) : Well done you won our battle concerning brummer
@Muzi (Comment 38) : For as long as Boshoff is ranked below Brummer on the order of merit at the Bulls, ur the winner.
@hendrikp (Comment 21) : One can see young brummer has lost confidence even his accurate goal kicking is non-existent.
I wonder if he has been told he no longer has a future i mean the more he plays the worse he gets.
Players like cronje and brummer are confidence players they miss one kick and their form goes down.
The bulls missed the trick when brummer had a great 2009 junior rugby world cup that is when the bulls should have made him a back up for steyn.
The JLP signing from the cheetahs did no favours for brummer who was stuck in vodacom cup.
@beet (Comment 39) :
Young boshoff is underrated by the bulls coaches i think it has to do with his size i mean kolisi ran over him with such ease.
Fouche is the best defensive 10 we have but he worries me everytime he runs he looks so uncomfortable.
The brummer sitaution is confusing i mean how on earth do you fix his head he is playing himself out of a bulls contract.
@Muzi (Comment 41) : I think you’re 100% right. Its all to do with confidence. It’s a tough one but I think more than anything else he needs game time so moving to a smaller Union might be the key and who knows he might be able to find his feet again.
I don’t know if you remember the Lions flyhalf Nel Fourie. Brummer sort of reminds me of him.
@beet (Comment 29) : like people have NEVER carried on about Lambie ever? *cue* SharonvanWyk!
@Megatron (Comment 43) : You mean Saint SuperPatrick Lambiegini. Nah! We don’t go overboard with him. You must have us mistaken for some other crowd.
Are you sure you’re not thinking of Ashley Buys and how they carry on over at Pumaworld?
@beet (Comment 44) :
@beet (Comment 44) : Yea i remember Nel Fourie he used to be that star flyhalf from paarl boys high.He had to retire from rugby.I remember he went to the lions BUT he had to sit on the bench for andre pretorius.
In those days beet i was a massive lions supporter can you believe it
i will not forget that day when my old man took me to my first lions match at ellis park andre was a machine in those days.
@beet (Comment 44) : I see Ludz has confessed that he has a soft spot for the sharks
well i have news for you boet i betrayed the lions 
but i will never be a sharky 
.
@Muzi (Comment 46) :
So when did you change your allegiance??
When the Bulls started winning everything??
Nah dude, there’s only one term for that: FAIRWEATHER SUPPORTER
@wpw (Comment 48) : Indeed, and so glad we got rid of him
@beet (Comment 44) : Yeah the one and only 3DPat
@Greg (Comment 49) : Muzi left like many of the good players.
Big Joe, Jantjies, Januarie, Habana, Alberts, Anton vZ, Ludik, Brits, Wikus
@Muzi (Comment 47) : Confession time: Andre Pretorius was at one stage my favourite rugby player. He used to be the Lions in Super 12. He had speed, vision and good footwork. I first watched him as a youngster in a National Sevens compo with young guns Wikus vH and Big Joe at Kingspark and said then that he simply had to play for the Lions.
My saying, much to the irritation of my friends was: “ It ain’t pretty if it ain’t Pretorius!”
I didn’t see Ludz say that he was the numero uno closet Sharks fan on the board. Next year I think I’ll get to see between 3 and 6 Queens College games so unless he plans to stay in the region, I think I’m going to have to fill his vacated possie as the QC newsman.
@wpw (Comment 48) : Muzi is like Darren Scoot, fairweather to the hilt! was he supporting the bulls when they were losing ALL 11 super rugby games?
@beet (Comment 51) :
@beet (Comment 52) : And Andre’s ability to kick the ball out of hand, with either foot, is, in my humble opinion, un-rivalled.
@Megatron (Comment 53) : I, on the other hand, can say that I supported the Lions, even when they lost all 13 of their super games!
@Greg (Comment 55) : André Pretorius, De Wet Barry & Marius Joubert formed a pretty potent combo for the Boks. Which begs the question; AP recently played for the Sharks, MJ is currently there, how long before Oom Rudolf makes a play for De Wet?
@beet (Comment 33) : Ludz said he was planning to go to tukkies or join me at UJ i guess you will have to drive down to queens and watch the next “big thing” joshua stander.
@Muzi (Comment 58) : Queens are coming to KZN in 2012.
Megatron supports the EP kings who will probably take another 10 years or so to qualify for the absa currie cup premier division.
I heard the EP kings academy is pretty useless you earn a lousy basic salary
.
Who would want to play for cheeky watson and his son luke watson
All the average bulls junior players go there these days.
Its a retirement village i see even fat ronni uys plays for alan.
Like they say in Johannesburg Cheeky is running a Spaza shop.
@Greg (Comment 55) : Greg, I wished I’d known you back then. It was so hard to find people down here who were appreciative of Andre’s undeniable talent.
When I first started watching rugby as a under 9, one of my heroes was a bloke named Liaan Kirkham – the flash. He could have taught Habana and JdV a thing or 2 about making an intercept while running at full tilt. It amazing how childhood heroes seemed larger than life and no player no matter how good could ever come close to being adored as much as the guys one watched as a kid.
@beet (Comment 59) :
Hans Scriba can forget about joshua stander and JP Smith they are coming to the bulls.
@beet (Comment 61) : I see you guys poached sean robinson from us just like that
there goes another classy full back to the sharks.
Agents sometimes
@Muzi (Comment 60) : your point?
it still doesn’t change the fact that when the BULLS were a “spaza shop” with Heyneke Meyer being fired for losing all the matches in a s12 season, you Muzi were NOT a BULLS supporter! bwahahahahahaha
uhamba nabahambayo
why didn’t you stick with the lions if you SO treasure the memories of your dad taking you to Ellis Park for the first time?
FAIRWEATHER
@Muzi (Comment 47) : @wpw (Comment 48) : @Megatron (Comment 64) : He started supporting the Bulls when they signed Pierre Spies!
Seriously guys, enough, you’ve all made your point. None of us know why he switched allegiance, you know the old proverb, don’t criticize someone until you have walked a mile in his shoes. Personally I could not change allegiances (I’m too old) but Muzi does provide some insightful comments on this site, no point in continuing to dig.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 66) : I concur, we should all rather focus on the fact that Australia lost to Ireland.
@Culling Song (Comment 67) : CS, your focus should never be questioned, I have seen all your posts about the Irish victory….or should I say Aussie (shackledraggers/convicts) loss.
Seeing the Aussie loss makes up for the added stress of having to play them in the quarters! 
@Dancing Bear (Comment 68) : The only sad thing is that Matt Giteau could not experience the loss. Neither Matt Rogers.
@Culling Song (Comment 69) : It would have been funny to see BoD shaking Giteau’s hand after the match and saying “four more years Matt, four more years”
@Dancing Bear (Comment 66) : then he must tell us why he switched before being lekker GROOTBEK about other teams
@Megatron (Comment 71) : Would that quench your intellectual curiosity?
@Dancing Bear (Comment 72) : um, this is muzi we’re talking about here
I’m with you on this one Rob. I don’t like hype and players being hyped up like this at all. Also, it’s usually not good for the players.
@Letgo (Comment 74) :
My bad. Here we go…
Johan Goosen is average. He’s only played well in the Currie Cup that resembles club rugby. Don’t really care what he did at school either, that doesn’t prove anything about his potential.
@hendrikp (Comment 75) :
if everybody with the potential to play good rugby did we might have had a whole different bok team
@Zibbie (Comment 76) :
That’s not the point. Some players are just freaks. Born to be the best, and play test rugby at a young age. Johan Goosen is one of those, in my opinion.
Falls in with Pat Lambie, Francois Steyn, James O’Connor, Schalk Burger, David Pocock…
Yet to prove it, but he will.
@hendrikp (Comment 77) : don’t worry hendrik, we’ve had ALL the hype about paul jordaan shoved down our throats for eons (youtube clips included) but as soon as the hype is about a player in another province, oh hell breaks loose and they are gatvol bwahaha
@Megatron (Comment 78) : Shouldnt you be praise singing Luke Watsons attributes on the Kings world site.
@Megatron (Comment 78) :
the aim of the other teams in the currie cup and super rugby is to make the sharks look good
@Salmonoid (Comment 79) : that would make me as pathetically parochial as some here and i ain’t
@Zibbie (Comment 80) : And that can be hard work sometimes
@Greg (Comment 82) :
@Megatron (Comment 78) : Megs, just to prove I’m not one of those gatvol hell break looser Sharks fans, here is a youtube video of Johan Goosen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSFk-VxQ-nA
It shows Johan Goosen watching from the sin bin as SHARKS STAR IN THE MAKING, PAUL JORDAAN SCORES A TRY
@beet (Comment 84) : Only way he can score, when there is no opposition flyhalf
@Greg (Comment 85) : No they were teammates. Jordaan basically had to take on a whole lot of giant sized Englishmen {*insert Sharks fan word here} , while Goosen sat in the sinbin.
*Sharks fan word : singlehandedly / heroically / supernatural-likely
@beet (Comment 86) : Ok, didn’t watch your video, so wasn’t sure of the game!
I think the word you are actually looking for would be ‘patlike’
@Greg (Comment 87) : PATLIKE
@Megatron (Comment 81) : and yet your love affair for SBW….
@beet (Comment 84) : if this is the try against england u18, i was THERE at the stadium!
@beet (Comment 88) : You like it
You can have it, I’m never going to use it
@beet (Comment 86) : Holy &*$% did Goosens drug test results come back during the game. That was a bit heavy pulling him off right there and then.
@Pablo Dinero (Comment 89) : you’re reaching, SBW? bwahahahahahahaha
@Salmonoid (Comment 92) :
@Salmonoid (Comment 92) :
@Megatron (Comment 90) : Yeah that was the game. I hope you enjoyed the match. Our guys showed a lot of guts that day against a better team. I actually would like to see how some of those English youngsters are progressing.
@Greg (Comment 91) :
Never say never …
oh dear …
@Greg (Comment 91) : Greg, okay bear with me here coz I’m about to ask you to really stretch your imagination for this one.
What if that tighthead prop of yours starts to perform well?
@Megatron (Comment 81) : Dude, you are clearly very passionate and knowledgeable about rugby. You also come across as a reasonably bright bloke. So why this epic outrage at the the fact that the majority of opinions on the site have a blatantly pro-Sharks slant?
I’d understand if this was k**.co.za, where they claim to be objective and impartial, but it’s not. The clue is in the title. SHARKSworld, a site by Sharks fans, for Sharks fans, about all things Sharks-related. Nowhere does the site purport to be unbiased, and the fact that some Province and Lions supporters are allowed to express their misanthropic world views on the site should be construed as an attempt at neutrality.
Being a fan is all about the triumph of passion over objectivity and common sense. If I were to ever go over to Bullsworld or Die Bul Kraal or whatever they call it I would expect them to say that Marcel Coetzee is over-rated, and that Daniel and Deysel are a poor man’s Potgieter and Steggman. I’d know they’re wrong, but it wouldn’t offend me nonetheless.
So why all the hating; is this so hard to accept?
@beet (Comment 98) : Will call him super Patric!!!
Actually I really hope he does do well. I met him a few years ago, back in around 2007, and was really impressed with him, if he performs well, he has the makings of a very good captain, could even become Bok captain.
@Culling Song (Comment 99) :
Ah CS, even you find it a bit tiring?
I don’t mind too much – its nice having the views of the others. But it does show a bit of a masochistic streak to hang around on a site like SW and bemoan a Sharks bias.
@Big Fish (Comment 101) : I’ve also said before that I enjoy having a voice of dissent on the site. That is of course based on the dissenting voice having an interesting opinion, and not a just taking what appears to be an idelogical stance of diametrically opposing any pro-Sharks view.
@Culling Song (Comment 99) :
lol yesssss … we at http://www.lionsworld.co.za have been calling the Currie cup watered down for the last 10 years because we couldent win it ….
@Zibbie (Comment 103) : 12 years actually
But just ask McLovin, this year we are unstoppable
@Greg (Comment 104) :
lol shhhhhhhhh
@Culling Song (Comment 102) : Please could you use shorter words? Remember there are one or two non-sharks supporters here on this site, and we don’t all understand these big words.
Some of them, (the words, not the non-sharks supporters) like ‘idelogical’, I have never even heard of!
@Zibbie (Comment 103) :
Did I really strike the nerve that hard???
Well, if the Sharks win this CC at least you can easily argue that it was a watered-down one.
@Greg (Comment 106) :
“Championship-winning”. There’s some other words you are also probably not very familiar with.
“Player-retention” – example of some other very unfamiliar words I am sure.
@Big Fish (Comment 107) :
lol .. but i wont do that cause thats unsportsmanlike like
if the sharks or who ever win the Currie Cup they had the better team and deserve to win it .
@Big Fish (Comment 107) : Watered down or not, after 12 years, if we go on to win it, I’ll still take it!
@hendrikp (Comment 75) :
To put it into perspective, Earl Rose and his younger boet were phenominal at School and Bok Age group level. Jorrie Muller too.
That is all…
@Greg (Comment 106) : Oh crap, I made a spelling mistake. Now the Sharks supporters are gonna come down on me, hard!!
@Big Fish (Comment 108) : I am familiar with those words, I just haven’t had the opportunity to use them in a Lions context since the 90s
@Zibbie (Comment 109) :
Seriously though; it can’t be unsportsmanlike to call a competition that my team is still in thew running to win “watered-down”?
FYI: the Sharks are still placed for the all-important home semi.
@wpw (Comment 111) :
BWHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAAHAH
@Big Fish (Comment 114) :
cause if you dont call it watered down you would be admitting that the Lions have a better team then the sharks …
rather call your own players weak then admitting another team is better
@Greg (Comment 113) :
@Zibbie (Comment 116) :
But the 2011 Lions CC team IS better than 2011 Sharks CC team: the results say so?
Plus BOTH your centres are under 40…
@Big Fish (Comment 118) : Also, remember, McLoving said it’s so.
@Big Fish (Comment 118) :
whooo whoo . now i can rest in peach
BTW . i little birdie whispered that one of our centers under 40 rejected a very nice offer from the Sharks
@Zibbie (Comment 120) : Which one Zibbie. The way were been doing business, it’s probably Deon v Rensburg.
@Culling Song (Comment 119) : And he knows his rugby
@Greg (Comment 113) : especially 1993.
Even that RAU side could have taken on this year’s Varsity Cup teams one after the other and finished them off. They were that good.
@beet (Comment 121) :
well technically Deon is a wing this year …
@beet (Comment 123) : 1993 through to 1994, 18 games unbeaten, 17 wins, one draw (Lions, not RAU)! Still a record!
@beet (Comment 121) : Deon is not currently our oldest centre
@Zibbie (Comment 120) :
Rest in peach? How ish that done Mish Moneypenny?
@Greg (Comment 125) : The streak included the most painful final I’ve been to in my life. I was also at the 1999 final that we lost but didn’t feel anywhere near as upset.
The 96 final was a good one tho. It was at Ellis Park but I really enjoyed it.
@Big Fish (Comment 127) : Oh, that’s just peachy
@beet (Comment 128) : I preferred the 99 final! The 90′s was a great period for the Lions, not only did we win the currie cup four times, we won the Lion cup a few times as well as the M-net series.
@Greg (Comment 130) :
You also won the RWC in 1995!
@wpw (Comment 131) : Well with that one we did have a little bit of help!
@Big Fish (Comment 127) :
shall i write that out 50 times for my punishment ?
peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace
peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace
peace peace peace peace peace peace
@Big Fish (Comment 127) :
@Zibbie (Comment 133) :
At least he didn’t say ‘rest in piece ‘
@Greg (Comment 134) :
Quick question. What your prediction for the Lions in 2012 Super 15? Ranking 1 to 5 in SA conference?
Also are you concerned about the balance in the backline? They could use a centre that breaks the line, and maybe some speed in the 11 jersey? Taute, Mapoe, Jantjies & Butch seem the 4 that will need to keep things going.
Also doesn’t seem very smart sacrificing height with 2 fetchers over a genuine blindside while playing 2 blindside flankers at lock!?!? Line-out trouble on the way.
@hendrikp (Comment 135) : We going to win next year’s S15, we are unstoppable
@Greg (Comment 136)
@Greg (Comment 136) : Jokes aside, I would think 3rd in the SA conference would be a pretty decent finish. A lot will depend on the bulls. Their S15 side will be vastly different from this year’s one, and will have a look to it much like this years CC squad, with a few returnees from the WC. We stand a good chance of slugging it out with them for 3rd spot, with stormers and sharks ending 1 & 2. I would hope the improvement shown in this year’s CC carries through, and we finish ahead of cheetahs, who, though they will be competitive, I believe will finish last on the SA conference.
@Greg (Comment 138) :
Underestimating the Cheetahs. They were good in 2011 Super Rugby (of their losses, only 2 by more then a try), and did so without Heinrich Brussow, Juan Smith and Andries Strauss. They just have too many classy players not to do well.
Lions will struggle to score points with a side lacking any balance. Overpowering weaker teams at the moment, but S14 will be a different story.
Stormers will just have too much experience/class in the line-up, and with that defense.
Sharks to struggle due to lack of physicality and directness in the backs.
Bulls will do well but lose for the opposite reason to the Sharks. They will struggle in the forwards. Springbok props. One half decent (Greyling) and the other a complete joke (Kruger). Also their loose-trio is a joke.
I’ve got it as: 1 Stormers 2 Cheetahs 3 Bulls 4 Sharks 5 Lions.
@hendrikp (Comment 139) : Time will tell! I think cheetahs will be competitive, but I don’t think they will jump to second on the SA conference. They will not have Sarel Pretorius, who, while he makes many mistakes, and misses a fair number of tackles, was a playmaker for them this year. Lions improved from 2010 to 2011(they couldn’t get worse
), and hopefully will continue to do so.
@hendrikp (Comment 139) : With regard to your backline query, I think we will have the players to stand up to the best in the S15. To add to the names you mentioned, we have Alwyn, Deon, Michael (Killian), Jannie and Doppies. All with S15 experience, and all have shown improvement over the last 18 months or so. We do miss an out and out speedster on the wings, I had hoped that Chavanga and Mjekevu could step into that role, but with Chavanga agoing to Wales, and Mjekevu seemingly out of favour, we don’t really have any to fill that role.
@Culling Song (Comment 99) : i have LONG accepted that people on this site are and will be biased, the nub is when i express my OWN views that is seems i’m trampling on their sensibilities. i ALWAYS express my own opinions and i’m invariably labelled as a troll
besides the fact that this site is a shrine for the Sharks, some topics about the game get discussed and a need for facts always arises which is where objectivity is needed eg “daniels should be in the tri-nations team before stegmann”, when that statement is interrogated past the surface then the tune changes “daniels is NOT an out & out fetcher in the mold of brussow”
so why dedicate a whole thread based on delusions?
not hating just participating
@Megatron (Comment 142) :
I KNOW that you are using “Daniels” just to piss certain people off.
@Big Fish (Comment 143) : that is just the thing…i’m not out to piss of anyone. this site is for rugby comnent at least that’s what i think it should be for.
@Megatron (Comment 144) :
Daniel vs DanielS? Sensitive issue around here maatjie.
Clayton John Daniels is gonna be pissed!
@wpw (Comment 146) :
