It’s that time of the year when all sorts of awards and prizes get handed to players who have performed well in the Super Rugby tournament. Here at Sharksworld, we tend to do things a little differently, rewarding those players that performed well, performed poorly as well as rewarding them for those idiotic moments.
Next in our series of SW Awards we will be looking at the performances of the tightheads in the tournament. Let’s have a look at our categories:
Player of the Tournament: The nominees for best tighthead of the season are as follow: 1. Owen Franks, the other Crusaders brother who has a long All Blacks career ahead of him. The man had a strong Super Rugby season and continues his good form into next weekend’s semi final against the Stormers. 2. John Afoa, in his last season for the Blues before heading to Ireland to join up with Ulster, played some proper rugby so far season, and again will carry his form into the weekend’s match. 3. Greg Somerville, another All Blacks tighthead, they seem to be producing these by the dozen. These three will be fighting for the spots to play in the World Cup later this year. 4. James Slipper , the Reds tighthead and young Aussie front ranker had a fantastic season with the high flying Reds, and is unlucky to be injured ahead of the semi final this weekend.
South African tighthead of the Tournament: The nominees for South African tighthead for the year are: 1. Jannie du Plessis from the Sharks, 2. Werner Kruger from the Bulls 3. WP Nel from the Cheetahs and 4. Pat Cilliers from the Lions.
Most promising tighthead of the tournament: There are a few young and promising tightheads from the tournament: 1. Quentin Macdonald from the Crusaders. 2. James Slipper from the Reds. 3. Wiehahn Herbst from the Sharks. 4 Frans Malherbe from the Stormers
The Jaco van der Westhuyzen after his stint in Japan Worst Purchase award goes to the Reds for buying Guy Shepherdson from the Brumbies only to start one match and play two from the bench the entire season so far. Jacobie Adriaanse for the Lions is a close second, after having little impact despite some big expectations among Lions fans.
Please make your selections in the comments below, and I will gather the necessary information to report back after all the positions have been discussed. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please mail me [email protected]
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I really like the Bulls youngster Rossouw de Klerk
I see the best SA Franchise by a country mile only gets mentions for the plonkers awards ? [ reynecke and cj ].
So Brock does not warrant a mention?
Interesting.
I see the best SA Franchise by a country mile –
Yeah, think Brok deserved a chance, our scrum has been more stable than the Sharks’s and the Lions… Probably the most stable scrum in SA.
@grant10 (Comment 2) :
You call yourself a supporter and yet you can’t even spell his name correct.
I agree with cant10, Brok should have been there.
Rich, Janine has been pants this season!!! 🙄
@grant10 (Comment 2) : Grant, Please read the last paragraph of the article….no need to get snotty, you know.. 😈 😉
@Ice (Comment 3) :
I feel ja Ice, really I do. 😈 😉
@wpw (Comment 5) : and yet, Jannie will be going to the World Cup, while Brok again cries into his weetbix.
Life’s tough, I tell ya…
@robdylan (Comment 8) :
Rob, I couldnt care if Janine goes to the RWC.
Spies is also going to the RWC and will prolly be our starting 8th man. See where I’m going with this.
This article is about form over the duration of the S15, not who is or isnt a Bok!! 🙄
@wpw (Comment 9) : well, if it’s so flawed, mate, you’re welcome to write a better one 😈
Same invitation extended to Grant10 and all the other Stormers fans who don’t seem able to behave themselves at the moment.
Maybe the WP supporters are feeling a littly tetchy because they know their team is going to be playing an away game over the weekend, or at least that’s how Keo and his cohorts are making it out to be.
Weren’t they saying we were already making excuses with the travel nonsense – these Cape Crusaders sound like an excuse to me. 👿
@Butchie34 (Comment 11) : I reckon they’ve missed a trick… all the other Stormers supporters are busy writing Schalk Brits into the World Cup squad…. wonder when that will catch on here
@robdylan (Comment 12) : Maybe we need to amend the award for hooker for the season and put in Brits as well. 😉
Besides Brits must be a wunderkid being able to cover loosie, a position he has NEVER played in his life before.
@Butchie34 (Comment 11) : regarding excuses… I make none for travel. We deserved to have to travel because we didn’t finish higher up the log. Our failure wasn’t losing the game on Saturday – it was the umpteen log points we frittered away earlier in the season.
Pity the “blinker brigade” doesn’t think we should discuss that any further though!
@grant10 (Comment 2) : the stuff we write clearly is interesting, otherwise you wouldn’t spend quite so much of your busy day reading and criticising it 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 14) : Agree completely.
We deserved to be in the playoffs because we beat the Bulls to the punch BUT we also deserved the travel because we dropped points like Hansel and Gretel dropped crumbs in the forest.
Where was the intensity from the Bulls game when we played the Stormers? Or even the Chiefs.
I think I have mentioned it before but there were problems we had throughout the season which we simply did not correct and that is also what cost us.
@Butchie34 (Comment 16) : aaaah…. gonna give you a special “agrees with Rob” icon above your userpic. It’s the most important one to have 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 17) : Hahaha
But it’s true. I think I said it throughout the season that our defence has been a constant problem which was never properly addressed through 15 weeks. Our breakdowns were a problem which was never addressed because as soon as the Crusaders matched our intensity on Saturday we flaked.
Plum, Bash and the other coaches should sit down and analyse where the mistakes were made and why they weren’t corrected over the course of the season.
If we’re honest, we’re lucky to have made the playoffs at all considering our slump and the fact we made comebacks in all of the games we won since halfway through April. I can’t remember having led any match since we played the Hurricanes.
@robdylan (Comment 10) : huh? We’re giving feedback as requested in above arti.
@grant10 (Comment 2) : I can’t find a plonker award – although you’re making a case to win it. 👿
Anyway my votes are for:
Best tighthead: Owen Franks
South African Tighthead: Werner Kruger
Best newcomer: James Slipper
Worst purchase: CJ van der Linde (Yes WPers I have selected your team) – this guy isn’t close to the player he was before he pulled on the prison uniform (Kind of like one of your wingers – must be something in the water). 👿
@beet (Comment 1) : Rossouw de klerk has potential to be better than werner kruger….down in paarl gimnasium alot of the wp brigade were 👿 that he moved to the bulls him and morne mallet are highly rated in gauteng.
Werner Kruger has a good work rate for a tighthead he certainly moves around the park alot BUT for me he needs to dominate at scrum time he is too inconsistent he blows hot then cold…that is where brain mujati is good at dominating his opponents.
@robdylan (Comment 10) :
DO you really want cant10 to write an article?? 😯 😆
Rob & Butchie
You two are so bad at stirring.
We aint gonna fall for your bait!!
@wpw (Comment 24) : I’ll have a guess at the topic of it 😀
@wpw (Comment 25) : 👿
@molly (Comment 26) :
overweight props that can’t scrum?? 😈
@Butchie34 (Comment 13) : Surely you are wrong on that point? Has he never played flank before? I doubt that.
@wpw (Comment 28) : yes, with a little bit of overweight hookers who are detrimental to the teams chances.
Player of the Tournament: Owen Franks
South African tighthead of the Tournament: Werner Kruger
Most promising tighthead of the tournament: Wiehahn Herbst
Grant10, no mention of John Smit yet? You okay buddy? 😕
@wpw (Comment 28) : Probably bloggers that get picked on because of single minded comments.
@grant10 (Comment 2) :
I know you are smarter than this, so why so passive-aggresive?
Nobody said that you are forced to agree with Rich’s opinion – he openly and constantly encourages good debate about stuff like this – feel free to share and back up your opinion; but why sulk if his doesn’t tie in with yours?
Blogs are for discussion and debate – all that is needed to qualify is reasoned argument and respect for the opinion of others.
I don’t agree with Rich that Jannie had a good season, but I’m not offended that he believes this.
In my opinion, the Sharks front row as a whole has underperformed due to poor management. Players like Beast, Jannie, Smit and Bismark have not been used well, and so they haven’t played to their world-beating potential.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 29) : Yip I,ve just checked Brits HAS played flank for the Stormers on a few occasions.
although I see Cootzee says they have created depth at the Stormers and any of the 7 bench players can be used when needed during a match
Depth at flank where you have to import a player after two frontline players go down injured? I think not. 😉
Best tighthead: John Afoa
South African Tighthead: Werner Kruger
Best newcomer: James Slipper
Worst purchase: CJ van der Linde 😈
@KSA Shark © (Comment 34) :
Pieter Louw is also injured!! 🙄
@wpw (Comment 36) : haha… you juts referred to the orc as a “frontline player” 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 37) :
Um, I think you’ll agree he is fairly decent.
We’re not too phased about our players’ looks. We’re all about winning rugby games!! 😈 🙄
POT: Somerville
SA POT: Kruger
Youngster: James Slipper
Waste of Space award – CJ vd Linde
@beet (Comment 1) :
Hi Beet..
I really hope he gets some good game time in the Currie Cup..
Should feature in the Currie Cup awards if he does..
@grant10 (Comment 2) :
Nice of you WP fans to not even know how to spell your own players name.. Well played..
As for Brok, I think of him much the same as what you think of Smit.. Deal with it..
@wpw (Comment 5) :
@molly (Comment 4) :
I suppose Brok deserved a default mention as his team did make the semi’s, but can you really say his performances have stood out in this year?
Let me ask you this, which of you had Brok in your fantasy league teams?
@Big Fish (Comment 33) :
BF, I never said Jannie had a good season, I just put his name in the SA options, and he is only first as the his surname starts with a ‘d’
I honestly didn’t even want to do the SA tighthead of the year as most of them have been shite.. But for completeness I put it in..
But I do agree with your comment as a whole, I am not forcing anybody to agree with me, and the above nominees are not final.
Im seriusly looking forward to the other 12 positions now….
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 42) :
Rich: Your opinion is WRONG, ok?? 😈 😉
@grant10 (Comment 2) :
Sorry, what was that about Brok? 😈
methinks Richard got the call right.
@Salmonoid (Comment 46) : wow, you’re all about focussing on ONE thing. One game, one player, nevermind ALL the other good things happening.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 42) : Sorry, I’ve only just seen this. I’m not really playing any fantasy things, but it would be silly not to have him in your team, almost always a starter, quite often getting 80min (especially when CJ got injured), not much of a penalty give-awayer. If peeps aren’t picking him, its probably based on old perceptions of “they have a light-5” which is hardly the case anymore.
@molly (Comment 47) : Sorry, this ONE thing totally obliterates any previous memories that were there. By the way did you notice the mischievous devil and to whom the comment was earmarked, someone notorious for their personal gripes about Smit. You will also notice that I did not bring your fantasy comment @molly (Comment 4) : into it until now. 😈
@Salmonoid (Comment 49) :
Hey Sammy.
You’ll have to forgive molly. We’re a very sensitive bunch at the moment as you can well imagine! 😉
@molly (Comment 48) : 😯 Does that mean that you dont believe that they have a light 5 anymore. I must have been hallucinating on Saturday then.
@wpw (Comment 50) : No problems. Im also sensitive at the moment. I was not expecting the Stormers to win but te demolition job I saw has me wooried for whats to come later this year. That shot of Pdivvy not bearing to look said it all for me.
@Salmonoid (Comment 51) : yes yes, the same light 5 that demolished the all bok one at the sharks, was it once? twice perhaps? Please, try stretch your memory back a little. There were 15 or so games to look at, not just the latest.
@Salmonoid (Comment 49) : sorry, missed who the comment was aimed at. Apologies, I am sensitive at the mo, as Wes says.
@Salmonoid (Comment 51) :
😳
te = the, wooried = worried.
@molly (Comment 53) : Lets rub that one a bit more : You are only as good as your last game…. 😈
Just kidding Mols! But that one set itself up! 😉
@Salmonoid (Comment 51) : the stormers have as much of a “light 5” as the sharks have.
@Megatron (Comment 57) : Who yanked your chain…? 🙄
@molly (Comment 53) : We have an all Bok tight 5 at the Sharks?
@Ice (Comment 56) :
At least our teams have one thing in common.
We both lost to the Saders TWICE this season!! 🙄 😕
Jeez, these Stormers are touchy today. Have to admit that I feel bad; thought the game would have been a lot tighter.
Think it shows you how valuable someone like Duane Vermuelen is to the Stormers.
must be said, though… the Sharks pack stood up fine to the Saders – particularly in the scrums – in Nelson
@Ice (Comment 58) : who pissed on your potplant? 🙄
@Butchie34 (Comment 61) : tight. 😆 good choice of words. 😆
@robdylan (Comment 62) : I agree. The Stormers were demolished by a lighet pack. Relying on Technique and not just how many steaks you can put away during the week?
@Megatron (Comment 63) : 🙂
@robdylan (Comment 62) : unlike at Twickenham 😛
@KSA Shark © (Comment 64) : I try 😀
@Ice (Comment 65) : Could it perhaps be a problem that the Stormers read a little too much Keo about the effect of travel and how they would be too fatigued to be too competitive.
They just bought into their press a little too much.
@Megatron (Comment 67) : unlike at Twickenham, for sure. Not gonna dispute that one (in fact, I wrote a whole article about it)
@Megatron (Comment 67) : hey – I think your cuz is gonna play Currie Cup… will you support the team if he makes the squad?
@Megatron (Comment 67) : I’m hoping the SA scrum exceeds the sum of the SA “parts”. Sharks front row, Bulls second row and a mixture of loose forwards will hopefully be stronger than any of the individual scrums from the franchises come RWC. :Crossing fingers: 😉
@robdylan (Comment 70) : no, i’ll support HIM 🙂
@Megatron (Comment 63) : No one, why?
@Butchie34 (Comment 71) : yeah, the boks need to make sure that we don’t get pushed around like some our franchises have been this year.
@molly (Comment 54) : No problems.
@Megatron (Comment 57) : Who is talking about the Sharks.
I did not see anything like the demolition I saw on Saturday in the Sharks Saders quarter final.
@Butchie34 (Comment 68) : They always seem to.
@Salmonoid (Comment 76) : yeah, you saw it at twickenham, didn’t you 😀
@Megatron (Comment 78) : Nothing like Saturdays display, and if you remember at Twickenham they ended up very strongly.
@Salmonoid (Comment 79) : “stronger” 🙄 they only got parity, never even looked like dominating.. 😀