The second round of the Super 14 draws to a close with the much anticipated visit by the Lions to Durban.
Both teams performed well last week and this week will give a much better indication of how relevant that performance was once they meet each other.
Will the Durban humidity spoil what could be one of the most entertaining matches of the weekend? Let’s face it though most rugby games would be better than some of the games we had to watch on Friday.
Venue: Absa Stadium, Durban
Kick-off: 19.10 Local time
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
ARs: Phillip Bosch (South Africa), Christie Du Preez (South Africa)
TMO: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)
Sharks:
15 Stefan Terblanche, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 JP Pietersen, 10 Ruan Pienaar, 9 Rory Kockott, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Jean Deysel, 6 Keegan Daniel, 5 Johann Muller (captain), 4 Steven Sykes, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit, 1 Deon Carstens.
Replacements:
16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Jacques Botes, 20 Ross Cronjé, 21 Riaan Swanepoel, 22 Luzuko Vulindlu.
Lions:
15 Louis Ludik, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Doppies la Grange, 11 Henno Mentz, 10 Earl Rose, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 4 Anton van Zyl, 5 Gerhard Mostert, 3 Gert Muller, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements:
16 Hans van Dyk, 17 Lawrence Sephaka, 18 Rynard Landman, 19 Todd Clever, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Andre Pretorius, 22 Jannie Boshoff.
Tweet
Not sure If I’m conficdent or arrogant, but my SB pick sayd Sharks by 16. 😀
they’ll hold us for 50 mins or so, then spend half an hour getting stuffed
@robdylan (Comment 2) :
I have guests over for this game tonight so won’t be online. 🙁
i’ll be around ish
will do all the necessary updates afters
@robdylan (Comment 5) :
Cool.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 3) : what guests ?????
Eish… only 12am here…
These starts are ludicrous for Aussies… whatever happened to the 11pm 1am starts… this yr it’s 2am 4am starts… and it’s safer in RSA for day games…
@KSA Sharkette (Comment 7) : good company, good food, lets hope the boys deliver some good rugby 🙄
Confident are we …
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 10) :
Maybe we are arrogant? 😉
@KSA Shark © (Comment 11) :
Thats fine…Id also be if only we had a team like yours.
right…. we ready?
@robdylan (Comment 13) :
sure am…blindly gonna believe we can win this 😎
Everyone ready?
@robdylan (Comment 13) : YES!
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 14) : so am I 🙂
Naas reckons the Sharks can win easily..hope not.
bloody mediazone don’t give you the link for the game until literally 3 seconds before kick off
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 18) : bent jij nu in het Republiejk?
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 18) : He did make a firm point though that the Lions played a really good game though and the Sharks must watch out. 😯
@robdylan (Comment 20) :
ek bent
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 22) : aha. Heel goed.
@klempie (Comment 21) : OK I have had one too many Sprites…
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 22) : You’re bent?? 😯
In all honesty can’t win here ,I will however be chuffed with a bonus point..sad really.
Heinke too kick arse and take names come scrumtime.
@robdylan (Comment 23) :
heel goed jonge 🙂
@klempie (Comment 25) :
Sometimes
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 26) : can’t wait to see Heinke v John Smit
oh kak its kaplan. damn is it too late to change my superbru prediction. kaplan the biased will let the lions come in from the side.
@robdylan (Comment 29) : Can’t believe they don’t show these games on Sky! 🙄 SS shows all the Heineken Cup games don’t they?
i can’t wait to see adi cock it up again 😈
Man this Mariott add with Mark Lawrence is dire.
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 33) : amen
G’day chaps, who’s providing the commentary feed?
@try time (Comment 30) :
Some good positive vibes just before kick-off.
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 33) : I’ll second that.
nice. Looks like mediazone’s site has just crashed 🙁
BAYWATCH !
Oh no. Garth Wright. 😥
do me a favour… someone type in http://www.rugbyzone.com and tell me if the page loads?
Nice toight tops .. lekker
@robdylan (Comment 41) : Nada.
@robdylan (Comment 41) :
nope..very slow
@klempie (Comment 43) : crap – s’what I thought.
hope they get it sorted soon
Teams feeling out each other’s mid-halves for the first couple minutes.
@robdylan (Comment 45) : You need to get on Sky’s case china.
great – so now I miss the kick-off. It shouldn’t happen to a dog.
@klempie (Comment 48) : dude – hundreds of people do every year. It makes no difference
I have a funny feeling the Lions will be making the odd tackle tonight.. 😕
we scored yet?
Niiiiice phase play by the Sharks in the Lions 22 (not sure how many) but JP gets bundled into touch on the 22.
@robdylan (Comment 52) : No lol.
@klempie (Comment 53) : Sorry, the 5m line. 😛
Bit stop-start at the moment with little unforced errors.
We are still in the Lions half btw. Scrum at the moment. Kockott rolls it in skew. 🙄
Rose places a kick inside our 22. Lions looking a bit scared of contact rugby.
ST clears from the lineout to our 10m.
@klempie (Comment 58) : it’s the Deysel factor 🙂
Kak kick from Rose now that lands in the in goal area and ST dots down.
@robdylan (Comment 60) : 🙂
man – this is now irritating… I have just paid $10 to watch this game and can’t even find the server.
Scrappy stuff with a bit of pingpong and we get a deflection from an ST kick so we get a lineout. Then RP breaks from the lineout and FS takes it way up into the 22. The Lions infringe at the breakdown and we get a short arm and choose the scrum.
@robdylan (Comment 63) : ping not working either?
ST tries a speculative drop kick from halfway… 🙄 Doesn’t he know that duty is left for but one Sharks player??
@klempie (Comment 65) : it establishes an HTTP connection but never gets any content
@robdylan (Comment 67) : That is why I will never get into web development. The desktop forever!
OMG. Pussy footing around and the Lions get Rose in the pocket pretty much in front. Over. 👿
0-3.
oh great – now the Lions are 3 points up.
Rose is cheeky with these little drops of his
Kaplan tells Baywatch to tell his players to get there *@&! together after Doppies gets his hands in the ruck.
@robdylan (Comment 70) : And boring…
site is kinds back up now…hold thumbs
@klempie (Comment 71) :
What tripe Doppies was on his feet there and legite in contesting.
Momentary heart palpitations as Willemse goes STRAIGHT through the advantage line with a clear run to the try line but knocks it on.
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 74) : I have to agree with you.
@robdylan (Comment 73) : no it ain’t 🙁
gah – trying to deal with a mindless customer support bot
TRY SHARKS!! Sorry I missed the run up to that cos I had to plug my cell in but the gist of it is the backs scything through the Lions defense up the middle with Frans ending up 5m short of the line. Rory got the ball out down the line and CARSTENS finds himself out on the wing and OVER! RP misses conversion.
@robdylan (Comment 78) : I’m sorry but I do find that somewhat amusing. 😆 I realise it’s not for you though and you have my sympathy. 🙁
Quick thinking by RP by taking a clearing Rose kick with a foot in touch. Sharks lineout in the Lions 22. 😎
Sharks all over the Lions at the moment. ST goes up and under and SS eventually takes it, it goes through the hands and Adi goes RIGHT to the line but can’t get over!! AHHHHHHH. Rose’s clearing kick in the in goal area gets charged down. Scrum 5m to the Sharks.
69% Sharks possession.
Sorry. Lions scrum. Got DRILLED by the Sharks and NOW it’s Sharks scrum 5m.
@klempie (Comment 79) : Why is Ruan taking the kicks instead of Rocket? I know the Boks need Ruan to improve his goalkicking but Rory is a more consistent kicker at the moment and will be better for the Sharks if he is first choice!
Kanko unecessarily tries to go through at 5m on his own of the back of the scrum and loses the ball forward.
As long as the Sharks don’t win by more than 15 points, then I have another £30 in my back pocket!!
@Villie (Comment 85) : Can’t say I disagree with you.
@Villie (Comment 87) : I put R100 on Proteas to win 3-0. Get R700 profit is I win.
Klemp – it is actually sort of amusing
I am entertaining myself by abusing the support person
@klempie (Comment 89) : I have the same bet….but I only put 10 quid on it at 8.6!
hey Villie
@robdylan (Comment 90) : I am getting MEGA frustrated. It is advertised on MYP2P but not working. Not happy 🙁
GRRRRRR. Stupid 3G signal. This is about 3 minutes late.
Lions went offside and just to give Villie the good ol’ up yours, RP duely puts it through the middle.
8-3.
@Villie (Comment 93) :
see if you can open this:
Removed
@robdylan (Comment 92) : Still no joy? Get them to refund you double!!
I am listening to RSG. Commentary in Afrikaans actually sounds more exciting than English!
Lions back in the Sharks half for the first time in about 20 minutes.
@klempie (Comment 94) : Yep…that is typical. He probably put it over from the corner! 😆
We are wasting so much possession AND territory. We should have scored at least twice more. But we can always blame it on slippery conditions can’t we?
@robdylan (Comment 95) : NO can do 😥
removed
THAT works
finally got the game in time for the good half.
Kaplan gets in on the “Let’s-show-up-the-Sharksworld-bloggers” act. Now it’s TT’s turn and the Lions get blown up for coming in from the side.
However, Villie gets one back for SW when RP misses…again.
Hooter blows.
HT 8-3
@klempie (Comment 99) : That is why I thought odds of 1.9 on Lions+15 points was too good to turn down. Conditions are difficult in Durbs at this time of the year. 8-3 half time?
@Villie (Comment 104) : Blah, blah, blah.
Okes, weather is coming in so signal is very dodgy at the moment. Hopefully Rob can continue now.
will do my best. Also using my phone
Were doing better than what I’ve thought…hopefully we can keep it up in the 2nd half!
need all available bandwidth to stream the game
Uncle Rudi talking to the media!
HT comes at an opportune juncture and I manage to rescue my laundry from a brewing Highveld deluge.
Rose kicks off.
lovely…too easy
Willimse try 8 all kick to come.
Lions in the 22 running into the Sharks. Deysel must be off the field… 😛
Lots of phases and kak tackling with Mostert running over backs and handing off to Willemse who goes over. Rose converts.
8-10
good play Lions. Willemse try
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 111) : SHHHHHHHHH.
stefan is kicking away tries. he has wasted three already. adi is looking good. johan is staying on his feet. te sharks aren’t building phases.
A massive break from Kockott goes from our 10 to their 10. Looks left and right and goes right to Steyn who is pressured into a knock on by the Lions at the 22. 👿
this is a weird game
Beautiful kick by RK finds touch at the Lions 22 but it comes to nought as the Lions take it quickly.
this is breakneck stuff
PK for Doppies going offside at the ruck nearly in front. Villie gets his wish and Kockott misses a sitter. Thanks Villie. 🙄
HOW THE HELL?
rocket misses. One foot on the plane?
The Sharks are completely out of it this half. Rob, I thought you said this was the good half? 😕
@robdylan (Comment 119) : How you watching?
Package of Rory highlights. FANTASTIC hand off on Earl Rose.
time for the good half hour, sharks
@klempie (Comment 120) : 😀 Sorry. Don’t worry he will sort it out. We will finish them off in the last ten!
Id go for Rory in the Boks squad.
@Villie (Comment 124) : check your gmail
bugger
lovely work adi
sharks up 15 10
@CoffeeShopBok;-) (Comment 128) : Should be in…but unlikely because of the balancing act required. Would be good to have FDP, Ricky and Rocket
@robdylan (Comment 129) : U a F***in STAR….shot man!!! WORKS!!
Very good run by Adi sets up a easy try for JP from their tryline nogaal.
15 – 10 Sharks
OK I typed up a nice long post on that try and got promptly told I was submitting too quickly. 😕 I’m not typing it again…
sharks doing some silly stuff now
@Villie (Comment 134) : he he
sharks scrum about 40 out now
How can the Lions lineout be so woeful..???
At this level it should atleast function.
plenty changes on both side. 50th cap for Botes
rocket pen. 18 10 sharks
i think noone wants to get injured ahead of the tour
Doppies needs to leave!
kanko try
KANKO TRY!
And for good measure, Sharks penalty at the restart for Clever jumping on top of Kanko. So FS will probs go for that.
@robdylan (Comment 129) : Hey Rob, please send me that mail too, if it’s anything to do with watching games….
clever tries to be smart after the fact
@klempie (Comment 146) : I think it was a little harsh. He didn’t really land on him or push his head into ground
Kockott gets the conversion.
The Sharks decide against the 3 points though. 😕 gets a lienout on the 22.
That was an interesting one. I’ve never seen a restart penalty. 😎
@Villie (Comment 149) : His left arm was pushing the back of his head in the ground dude.
goodnight nurse
Sharks too good.
The Sharks get turned in the scrum but a Lions foot kick the ball into Kockott’s hands who breaks down the middle. It goes through the hands with Lions all out of kilter and Steyn goes over in the corner. TMO rules in touch though. By the slimmest of margins.
Vulindlu debuts.
Nice first touch for Vulindlu who steps past a few Lions.
i was worried about praising adi, he has been average since.
Now. Lineout to the Sharks 7 metres out.
Lion (think it was henno) gets yellow for a professional foul right in front of the posts. Sharks choose a scrum. 3 mins left.
this cronje is shit. charl mcloed is far better.
Brainless gameplay loses the one-man advantage in the 22. Sharks put themselves under needless pressure and Lions steal it.
Henno is off , replaced by Boshoff , Doppies the tool got yellow.
what the f… is plum thinking putting joe averages on when there was a bonus point on the plate.
plumtree needs to catch a wake up.
Game over.
25-10.
Does anyone feel a bit flat?
Well done Sharks , got the win conditions made it difficult for both sides.
that is 2 points we have already thrown away. and they weren’t that hard to get if the sharks jst built phases.
@klempie (Comment 164) : i am pissed off because we are heading for a disappointment because of lost opportunities.
@klempie (Comment 164) : me too. Nowhere near good enough.
@try time (Comment 167) : Hopefully by the time they get back Durbs would have cooled down. That said, there were some easy opportunities they missed today.
Right gents. I am out. Apologies for the intermittent commentary in the second half. Please forward complaints to Vodacom.
this team is still good enough to win all 4 on tour. Comfortably
4 men not standing anymore 😥
19 men wounded. 🙁
I was actually expecting much less casualties than that
@KSA Shark © (Comment 172) :
Really only one team to pick next week for an assured win, and i feel sorry for the guys who can’t pick the Bulls anymore 😉
Aargggh this dumb dumb didn’t read the LMS rules and assumed one pick stands for the season… LOL… my default pick by the bot was none other than the Lions… aarrrghhh… lol!
@bryce_in_oz (Comment 174) :
🙂 expensive mistake that. 🙂
@KSA Shark © (Comment 175) :
Hehe don’t I know it… why the Lions of everyone… lol!
I see some are out ‘already’… 😆
Man, now that was a low quality game.
yeah the sharks are lacking structure. i thought plum could drill that into the team, but looks like we are stuck with a loose team of talented individuals.
@Loosehead (Comment 177) : You didn’t want to be there, the heat was terrible. I was at the game, at 11pm I was sweating having a beer with mates, imagine playing a game in those conditions.
Also felt a bit flat at the end that we didn’t get the BP, but the Lions were spoiling big time and trying to play in that heat was a massive effort!
i reckon 4/4 is possible on tour.
@Baldrick (Comment 179) : baldrick the heat was shocking, but what the hell was plum thinking throwing ross onto the field before we got the bonus point. the guy wasted our chances with poor distribution.
i want to see phases built not individuals trying to score a try by themselves. and stefan needs to catch a wake up on attack. he threw tries away.
look i don’t want to be too hard on the guys, but bonus points cost last year and are startibg down the slippery slide again.
look had the lions played better last night i would have been happy with 4 points. but the fact that we threw away try after try in the last 15, worries me. we aren’t finishing off moves, and that is cos the guys aren’t setting the ball up for the next guy. they are all trying get the try themselves. the chiefs are going to punish us if we don’t tighten up.
ok now the positives. we outplayed two tough teams with very little structure. that says something about the sharks defence. our set pieces are solid and we are creating good ball for our backs to use. with a little effort the backs need to get into positions where we recycle lost opportunities into new opportunites. for example how many great breaks made by frans were not recycled into tries. i blame frans for not offloading and adi ruan or loosies for not being in good positions to get the ball from frans.
when waylon gets back i would like him to move to wing and jp to move to fullback. jp’s speed will get him into the backline just at the right time. he is battling to time his runs with the slow players around him.
@try time (Comment 185) : look how quickly he was next to adi to collect and score. he was on the other side of th scrum and still caught up to adi with little effort. now imagine what he could do from fullback.
my boss announced last week that he is now a lions supporter – almost can’t wait going to work tomorrow..
@bryce_in_oz (Comment 176) :
Lions are the first Default pick. (they are alphabetical)
Auto & General Lions
Blues
CA Brumbies
I see Salmo’s Swimmers are trying to see how far they can go on default picks alone. 😉
I see there is no Sharks arti up yet from yesterday’s game.
Without having to read all the comments what is the general feeling after the game?
@MorneN (Comment 189) :
We coulda, shoulda done better.
Blame it on the weather. That must have been the match with the highest handling errors in the S14 so far this season. More than 20 per side.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 190) : Yeah…it was hot and very humid even here in PTN. Went for a short walk after work, came back, showered and an hour later, back under the shower!!! Don’t know how those guys played in that heat…maybe that’s why Plum made his subs. before we got the BP….didn’t want to tire the guys too much…they have a long journey ahead of them as well.
I think this was the worst game of the S14 thus far….
Over 20 handling errors by each team….
Too many scrum lost…
Sharks 5 (of which 1 was a tight-head)
LIONS 3
Too many missed tackles (especially one-on-one)…both over 20 last time I saw….
@Hmmm (Comment 195) :
And a concern was that the LIONS managed to isolate Adi and JFouire ran over him 4 times (I only watched from the 28th minute so I donno if it was more)…
Both teams looked real bad…
I donno which of the two No 6′ played worse…they both were terrible…it was like Baywatched went dumb!??! (and I am not talking about how he sounds like speaking English)…
In actual fact…all the players seemed to go dumb…
The only person who looked good with ball in hand every time he had it (and it was a surprise after his game last week)…was Mostert…
There was only 1 deserved try (as in not scored off another teams errors) and that was the Willemse try…
If the Sharks do not find an attacking game they are going to have a tough time making the semi’s…
And they have no excuse as they have the best set of players to be the best attacking side (at least from SA)
The poll is completely on it’s head now…the two SA teams who most impressed after round 1 most definitely least impressed after round two….
And if the bad game was due to the conditions…then we should refuse to play in Durban in the summer…or at least at night…
This is a spectators sport…and that game was for no one but the log…
I am sooooooo glad that no one is playing in durban for at least 4 weeks so we at least have a chance of seeing good spectator games….
Oh and unless the LIONS jack-up…I do not see them ending anywhere near the top 10….
@Hmmm (Comment 207) :
What are you on about?
Jacques Fourie got eaten by Adi for JP’s try – he was definitely hard to stop on the charge though.
You should worry more about how Ruan and Frans waltzed through the non-existent Lions defence so many times.
And Willem Alberts needs to lose some weight, while you seem to forget the 2 tightheads you also conceded – ours was a bad heeling.
@try time (Comment 184) : TT is going soft. I’m sure of it. Anyone in agreement say Aye!
@Hmmm (Comment 192) : For the Lions…
@Hmmm (Comment 207) : Are you finished?
@klempie (Comment 211) : he’ll never be 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 212) : 🙂
I enjoyed the little I saw of Vulindlu. Perhaps a little naive on the decision-making front, but he had a nice step and turn of pace.
@Big Fish (Comment 208) :
Dude…are you confused…we did not concede two tight-heads…
The 3 scrums the LIONS lost was a penalty, free kick and a scrum that went through 90 degrees 5 meters from the LIONS tryline…
Adi did nothing but run straight and pass in the JP try…Kokket stepped and got the cross defence (who was Fourie) to stop and pass the Adi…
Frans Steyn was def strong on his feet but cannot recall him breaking through the midfield…must have happened in the first 27 min as I did not watch that part…
Alberts does not need to lose weight…he still is fast…Loffie played him while he had flue…and with the heat and humidity he was never gonna look all that sharp…why do you think he was replaced that early in the game…..
Stop sucking things out of your ass just cozz you trying to make yourself feel better cozz the Sharks look sooooooooo far from a top 4 side on after two weeks it is actually a shame if you look at their starting line-up and how long they have been playing together…
And Big Fish…
If your Ruan and Frans broke through at will as much as you trying to convince yourself….why did you guys not score a single try that was not a result of a LIONS mistake!??!
You have no attacking game….and that is a major concern as this years comp is already competitive…and bonus points are going to be the difference being in the semi’s or not…
And the sad thing is…you guys have the players…attacking loose trio…attacking scrummy (most probably the most attacking scrummy of the comp thus far)…attacking 10/12/13…it is actually sad….
NOPE…of the competition…
Actually…one of the worst in Super rugby history….
Oooops previous message was for Klempie #210….
@Hmmm (Comment 215) :
You seem to be ‘high’ early this morning… 😈
@wpw (Comment 219) :
Nope…
The Sharks/LIONS game was real bad…and that won’t change no matter what…
@Hmmm (Comment 215) : so Alberts had a chimney up his jersey? No wonder he looked so flat footed… that thing must have slowed him down hectically.
@Hmmm (Comment 220) :
At least the Sharks won the game.
They are probably aware of their mistakes and when they do reach their potential the rest of the teams need to watch out.
As for the Lions, one good game does not mean they are suddenly contenders for a semi final.
You guys were only playing the Cheaters weren’t you???
@wpw (Comment 219) :
Actual fact is I am on a low…I still cannot believe that two promising sides can disappoint this badly…
And the worst part of it…it was not JUST handling or JUST defence etc etc etc….
Everything was bad and ON BOTH sides…
The difference in the two sides…the LIONS made the most mistakes…the only thing did better was lose less scrums on their own throw…not that that made a difference…
morning all, im back from durbs, and man was it as hot as hell,good to be back in a cooler jhb,i dont even want to know how the players felt on the field if i was dying in the stands!!!!
WpW…
I agree…although the LIONS scored the only deserved try…1 deserved try does not beat 3 tries scored from errors!??! Exactly what I said…the LIONS made more errors…that was the difference in the game…
The ONLY players I did not have problems with on both sides was Mostert/Kokket (although he did knock on 3 times) and the Sharks replacement wing…
Else everyone else made REAL dumb mistakes far toooo often…
But yeh…at least some credit for winning while playing badly…they were the better of a terrible two….
People actually said the LIONS are contenders for a semi!???????! Oh jinne what a load of crap…I wont be surprised if they are wooden spooners if they play even half as bad as they did this past week…had the Sharks merely played like a TOP 10 side then the LIONS would have lost by 40-50 points….
Loved Baywatch’s interview.
‘The Sharks forced us into unforced errors’ 😆
@Hmmm (Comment 216) : Sour Grapes after a Saturday 😆
@wpw (Comment 222) :
@robdylan (Comment 221) :
I donno what you mean about Alberts and a chimney….
But he was sick and def not sharp…
I mean have seen him before…he is not AS fast as a Spies or Kanko…but he has real good pace usually (I mean you have ranted about him on here on many occasions)….
If I heard correctly there were 3 LIONS players that played with flue…and the conditions were terrible enough for healthy people to cope with effort…
@McLovin (Comment 226) :
They did! They gave the Lions the ball 😕
@McLovin (Comment 226) :
Yeh I mentioned that as well…
@Hmmm (Comment 228) : alberts is a little bit slower than the rest, but his alround sills make up for that, he used to be my flyhalf at school, so his ball sense i all up there
@Charlie (Comment 227) :
Dude….I went after both sides…I even went as far as saying the LIONS played like wooden spooners…
Sour grapes is when you go after a winning side saying they did not deserve to win because of a ref, etc, etc…
Just admit it…both our teams looked the worst of any teams that played in this comp…the the LIONS being the worst of two terrible teams…or the Sharks being the better of two terrible teams…
And I say again…the Sharks need to look at there def structure…as the LIONS managed to isolate Adi and Fourie ran over Adi 4 times (and I only watched from the 28th minute….yes the first thing I saw was our scrum being turned 473 degress meters from our try line…LoL)…and Adi is a good player…they need to protect him better….
If you think your team was good or even anything resembling good…you are as bad as a Bulls supporter….
@willa (Comment 231) :
Yeh…Kanko and Spies are faster…but he has decent pace…especially considering that he is over 10 KG heavier than Kanko for example…
FLYHALF….jinne that must have been something!??! I hope he was not anywhere near that big…LoL
this is what lions need to work on if they have any ambitions.
1.there line outs are dismal. they need to keep them simple.
2.frans and ruan walked through the lions defence, rose and the loosies need to man up. if you know you have a weak defender make sure you have back up to help him.
3.you need a faster loosie. your loosies are all clearing loosies, you don’t have a speedy assist loosie that can make those extra meters quicker (esp to help rose out on defence) and to get through gaps before they close.
The sharks need to sort out the following.
1. frans adi and ruan need to support eachother. frans and ruan both made some big breaks to find they had no chasers to offload to. frans needs to learn to pass when he makes the break. he wastes good ball by being selfish.
2. stefan needs to learn to do more if he decides to attack. he is predictable and he throws away try opportunities.
3. plum must wake up when using his bench. his stupidity in putting ross on when the bonus point was begging was sheer madness. ross wasn’t up for the pressure and lost us the bonus point with poor delivery of the ball.
@Hmmm (Comment 228) : “flu” is a disease
“flue” is a chimney
It’s the little things…
@wpw (Comment 222) : Geez wpw, your team nearly gave me a heart attack on Friday. My money was on them for LMS and they nearly threw the game away. The Stormers look good but they need to play rugby for 80 min and not stop after 50 min
@Hmmm (Comment 232) : 🙄 …Well I don’t know about 4 times, there was only two – did not have any influence on the game at all, but Jacobs just bounced back everytime, Poor Fourie got so frustrated he tried off the ball tactics that surely made him look like a loser, Adi went pass Fourie like a hot knife through butter, actually ghost passed him the way Fourie’s face looked after that…I still say GO SHARKS… BLACK & WHITE… ‘COZ NOTHING ELSE NOTHING MATTERS !!!
😆 
@try time (Comment 234) : A quality 12 will always look for support on his outside when he makes a break and never just to the inside that Frans keeps on doing… 😉
@try time (Comment 234) : ia a way im glad he opened the bench, cause i think the nerves was eating those kids on the bench, now the first one is out of the way, and if we have a injury on tour, we want them a bit more calm, and that can cost us a game! in a way i also think u r right but im glad he did it
@willa (Comment 239) : Agree 😉
@Charlie (Comment 237) :
Dude it was 4 times in the 52 min of the game that I saw…the once Fourie did trip got up got tackled by Steph…offloaded to Doppies who had to just offload to the next LIONS player (did not see the number) who would have had a good chance of darting for the try line…but lost the ball in contact…Kokket picked it up run around the “tackler and tackled player” (don’t think it was a ruck) then stepped to the inside to pull in Fourie (who was cross defense and stopped in his tracks)….and then passed to Adi who then had too much pace for Baywatch (but was hauled in my Mentz)…who then passed to JP who had too much pace for Franco…
I hope you are not referring to that incident cozz then you actually bordering psycho….Adi got around no one…just had to much space for Baywatch to cut him off….
No other time did Adi get over the advantage line from the 28th minute to the last…
Well I won’t say GO just as yet….maybe START Sharks…you entering week 3 now and you are still disappointing….
@try time (Comment 234) :
Oh let us not even talk of the line-outs…
What in the world is up with Willie and his throw-in’s….never mind him…Hans too….our locks actually did well to win their ball that was thrown in remotely the right place…
I never saw Ruan get through…must have happened in the first 28 min…
Frans got through in general play…I think the LIONS def lines are not organized in general play…stand around too much….
@Hmmm (Comment 241) : I said pass Fourie 😉 BTW, off course you can’t recall anything after the 28th minute, ‘coz you stop watching knowing that the Lions didn’t stand a chance 😛
@willa (Comment 239) : yeah but i would rather have a the bonus points and charl as backup on tour. he has experience. i have seen this ross twice and although he’ll offer something when he gets older, now we can’t risk our campaign on a youngster.
@Charlie (Comment 243) :
We both no Adi is a better player than that…no need to down play his talent by resorting to “trick photography” to make it seem like he did anything worth mentioning the weekend…
Nooooo dude…
I was out and only got in at the 28th minute…so watched this crap game from that time…
@Hmmm (Comment 245) : Sorry, but you’ve lost the plot, just like Loffie’s Lions with a long term plan 😉
@Hmmm (Comment 241) : why do you always capitalise LIONS? You think you’re going to somehow make people think that they’re important?
@Charlie (Comment 246) :
Nope….the game, the Sharks and teh LIONS were crap as can be….
Worst game of the comp…
@Charlie (Comment 246) :
I actually think the LIONS played as bas as they did because of the lack of quality of their opponents…last week they had a blinder…but then again…they did play against a better side…
@robdylan (Comment 247) :
Lions are those wannabee’s from Europe…
LIONS are the Kings of the concrete jungle from Jozi…..
Polls
Time to gaze into the crystal ball. After two rounds, who is the early-season front-runner to lift the Super 14 trophy?
Bulle! SNORK SNORK! (33%, 3 Votes)
The Waratahs (33%, 3 Votes)
The Sharks (22%, 2 Votes)
The Brumbies (11%, 1 Votes)
The Crusaders (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 9
@Hmmm (Comment 251) :
I cannot believe the Sharks team actually got two votes…that poll reads “who is the early-season front-runner to lift the Super 14 trophy”
Not “Who has potential and still a good chance of winning the comp”
The Sharks supporters are not high on integrity are they!??!
@Hmmm (Comment 249) :
If your statement did not defy the laws of logic then the Cheetahs could say the same thing about the Lions last week….but the Cheetahs are more logical then that.
I thought Kockett was brilliant… he made a number of breaks and set up some tries too. Pity he didn’t have better support otherwise there would’ve been more tries for sure. I wonder if Ruan is watching Kockett thriving at 9 (and doing the kicking) and thinking, “Shit, I’ve made the wrong decision playing at 10”
Frans definitely made some good breaks too… and I think his passing is definitely improving. So let’s cut him some slack and give credit where its due. By now his team mates should know how he likes to break the line, and its their duty to anticpate this and make sure they’re there to yell for the ball when he’s going down in the tackle.
@Dive Pass (Comment 253) :
Said by a true blind Sharks supporter…
@Hmmm (Comment 255) :
But I can’t be accused of being a sorer loser now can I? 😉
@Hmmm (Comment 255) :
Dude, if you had any credibility to begin with, I would say you lost it.
Thankfully you never had that problem.
@Dive Pass (Comment 256) :
Dude…everything I said about the Sharks…I had something worse to say about the LIONS….so I am not really sure how you get to the fact that I am a sore loser!??!
@Big Fish (Comment 257) :
Says a thief to a mobster!??!
Polls
*
Time to gaze into the crystal ball. After two rounds, who is the early-season front-runner to lift the Super 14 trophy?
o Bulle! SNORK SNORK! (39%, 7 Votes)
o The Sharks (33%, 6 Votes)
o The Waratahs (22%, 4 Votes)
o The Brumbies (6%, 1 Votes)
o The Crusaders (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 18
So Sharks supporters are overly biased….is Black and White teh new Baby-Blue!??!