Can the injury-ravaged Stormers put in a competitive performance in the North-South derby?
Kick-off at Loftus is at 19h10.
Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Grant Hattingh, 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Jono Ross, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Morné Mellett, 19 Jacques Engelbrecht, 20 Wimpie van der Walt, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Jacques-Louis Potgieter, 23 William Small-Smith.
Stormers: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Damian de Allende, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Peter Grant, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger (captain), 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Pat Cilliers, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Brok Harris.
Replacements: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Alistair Vermaak, 18 Martin Dreyer, 19 Siya Kolisi, 20 Deon Fourie, 21 Dylon Frylinck, 22 Michael van der Spuy, 23 Devon Williams.
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Hopefully this game will make us feel a little better about SA rugby. Luckily it can’t get much worse, so at least there’s that to look forward to.
@rhineshark (Comment 1) : ja boet at least this game will produce a SA team victory! !!!!
So far just as kak… 🙁
who to support…
i think im gona fall asleep
@JD (Comment 2) : I’m even doubting that!
yawning….
@DBOY (Comment 4) : Stormers. We’re going to need the gap between us and the Bulls to stay as big as possible.
Wait are the Bulls challenging us 😉
Not bad at all Stormers.
most overrated centre ever looking good against Victor Koedoe kuite Matfields team
Harris most improved centre of 2014
Who’s the Bulls captain? Schalk taking all the limelight. Come on Vic.
@DBOY (Comment 12) : did he move from flyhalf to centre?
Bulls fwds showing some steel
@JD (Comment 14) : yes he was afraid frans steyn would challlenge him for the bok jumper @ 10
@DBOY (Comment 9) : Very possibly. I can’t see us winning too many more games.
if they do we dont deserve to even compete in the final top six
Craig Joubert manning up for the Bullarinas again
15 – 12
Streamers fwds not looking up to scratch
This game is great to watch.
Compared to the shit dished up this morning.
@SharksRTB (Comment 22) : boet both teams contribute to a rugby game!!!! can’t just blame one team for a shit game!!!!
28 – 12
@JD (Comment 23) : Haha what are you trying to say about JW??
How many tries to the Bulls
Good day, all
Not one of the best weekends for the Sharks so far, but at this stage I don’t think we should be too concerned. If we were using the last year’s log system where each bye = 4 points, then the log would look very different from the one we see now. Frankly, I am in favour of the last year’s log system as it reminds you off teams that have played fewer games than your team.
Yes, the Reds play the Crusaders tomorrow, but for if we give both teams 4 points, for now (due to them laying less than some other teams), then this is the log on last year’s log system:
1 Cell C Sharks 40
2 Chiefs 39
3 Western Force 39
4 Brumbies 38
5 Highlanders 38
6 Crusaders 38
7 Waratahs 37
8 Hurricanes 34
9 Blues 29
10 Vodacom Bulls 28
11 Melbourne Rebels 25
12 Reds 24
13 Lions 22
14 DHL Stormers 19
15 Toyota Cheetahs 16
Make some interesting reading…
@uShaka (Comment 25) : I’m saying I would love the Sharks to score 10 tries every game but let’s be realistic:
1. In the last 12 month the Sharks had three major changes to their coaching structures. Basically they had 4 deferent head coaches during this time. This means 4 deferent playing styles that the players had to adjust to.
2. JW just started at the Sharks this year and must still adjust to the players and more importantly the players must adjust to him.
3. Sharks had injuries to key players during the season losing first Pat and then Fred causing major disruptions at flyhalf and the back line.
Yes it would be nice to win every competition you play but let’s be realistic and give JW and the Sharks time to settle before demanding perfection and bonus point galore. The Sharks already managed to win close games that in the past they would have lost. And look at the log the Sharks are still no 1 on both logs!!!!!
@JD (Comment 28) : They do say patience is a virtue i guess. But I still say that that 07 final against the Bulls has to be the bane of it all! It’s incredibly hard for a Sharks fan to wait another year, i mean it’s been 7 years now and it still feels like yesterday when Frans missed that kick for touch. *sigh*
@uShaka (Comment 29) : yes it’s hard and don’t get me wrong I would love the Sharks to win Super rugby. Every defeat is hard to take, especially after a poor performance I’d love to kick the wife, kids and dogs, but sometimes I must take a chill pill and hope for something better next time.
@BluffShark (Comment 27) : you must be the only petson in favour of giving points for byes. It is easy enough to see the standings by looking at the log and seeing how many games the team has played.
@uShaka (Comment 29) : yes but he should have never neen given the responsibility. The coaches pulled the captain and senior players off the field. Even Smit lays the blame on Muir for his daft decisions.
Handre Pollard had a great game.
He’s beginning to look like the real deal. And still under-20
@fyndraai (Comment 33) : he’s a huge talent, glad to hear he’s producing the results to match!!!!
@fyndraai (Comment 33) : If the Bulls did not persist with Fouche at the start of the tournament, they could have been in a better position.
The Sharks need another 10-11 points to be safe from the Bulls. I think the Bulls will win all four their remaining games with possibly 1-2 bonus points – that should give them 45-46 log points. Ideally the Sharks need to win 4 out of their 5 remaining games to get around 52 which may just be enough to get a home semi, but 2 out of 4 plus two losing bonus points should be enough to squeak in front of the Bulls on points difference.
@Bokhoring (Comment 35) : yes three wins will do nicely and will take Sharks out of the reach of the Bulls.