A few local teams have been confirmed for round 1 – cast your eye over these lineups.
Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Travis Ismaiel, 10 Handre Pollard (captain), 9 Rudy Paige, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 Nick de Jager, 5 Rudolph Snyman, 4 Lodewyk de Jager, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Edgar Marutlelle, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Lizo Gqoboka, 19 Jason Jenkins, 20 Ruan Steenkamp, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Warrick Gelant.
Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Nico Lee, 12 Clinton Swart, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Tian Meyer, 8 Paul Schoeman, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Uzair Cassiem, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld (captain), 1 Charles Marais
Replacements: 16 Elandre Huggett, 17 Danie Mienie, 18 Ox Nche, 19 Francois Uys, 20 Niell Jordaan, 21 Zee Mkhabela, 22 Niel Marais, 23 Ryno Benjamin
Sharks: 15 Curwin Bosch, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Patrick Lambie (captain), 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Lubabalo Mtembu, 7 Jean-Luc du Preez, 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Ruan Botha, 4 Etienne Oosthuizen, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Franco Marais, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Michael Claassens, 22 Jeremy Ward, 23 Clement Poitrenaud.
Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Lionel Mapoe, 13 Howard Mnisi, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Ruan Ackermann, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Jacques van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Corné Fourie, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Albertus Smith, 21 Ross Cronjé, 22 Harold Vorster, 23 Jaco van der Walt.
Stormers : 15 SP Marais, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Jean-Luc du Plessis, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Rynhardt Elstadt, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: 16 Ramone Samuels, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Frans Malberbe, 19 Chris van Zyl, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Dewaldt Duvenhage, 22 Dan Kriel, 23 Rob du Preez.
Kings : 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Makazole Mapimpi, 13 Berton Klaasen, 12 Waylon Murray, 11 Malcolm Jaer, 10 Lionel Cronjé, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Ruan Lerm, 7 Stefan Willemse, 6 Andisa Ntsila, 5 Mzwanele Zito, 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Ross Geldenhuys, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Schalk Ferreira (c).
Replacements: 16 Martin Bezuidenhout, 17 Schalk van der Merwe, 18 Chris Heiberg, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Chris Cloete, 21 Rudi van Rooyen, 22 Masixole ‘Coyi’ Banda, 23 Luzuko Vulindlu.
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Lions: 15. Andries Coetzee, 14. Lionel Mapoe, 13. Howard Mnisi, 12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11. Courtnall Skosan, 10. Elton Jantjies, 9. Faf de Klerk, 8. Warren Whiteley (c), 7. Ruan Ackermann, 6. Jaco Kriel, 5. Franco Mostert, 4. Andries Ferreira, 3. Ruan Dreyer, 2. Malcolm Marx, 1. Jacques van Rooyen.
Replacements: 16. Akker vd Merwe, 17. Corné Fourie, 18. Johannes Jonker, 19. Lourens Erasmus, 20. Kwagga Smith, 21. Ross Cronjé, 22. Harold Vorster, 23. Jaco vd Walt
Ok teams but I don’t think any of them is “world beaters”!? Let’s hope they prove me wrong!!!
@JD (Comment 2) : If they not world beaters now i dont see when they will be as this is pretty close to as good as its gonna get for the teams
@SheldonK (Comment 3) : personally I still think SA can only have 4 competitive teams in Super rugby! Any more than that will dilute the available talent!
@JD (Comment 4) : Which 4? Sharks, Lions, Bulls, Stormers?
If we had to pick an overseas SA team to play in Super rugby:
1. Kitshoff 2. DuPlessis 3. Van Der Merwe 4. Van Der Merwe 5. Bresler 6. Coetzee 7. DuPlessis 8. Vermuelen 9.Pienaar 10. Catrakilis 11. Aplon 12 . Steyn 13. Jordaan 14. JP Pieterson 15. Le Roux
@SheldonK (Comment 5) : any 4 of the “big 5”!
@SheldonK (Comment 6) : strong team and I’m sure if you look deep enough there will be a couple of names to add!
@JD (Comment 8) : Yeh probably, that was just a quick off the top of my head. I still think that should be the first Bok game of the year…overseas vs local
@JD (Comment 7) : I think there should be 1 Gauteng team, 1 team from the Cape, 1 team from the East Coast and lastly 1 team from inland areas.
@Baylion (Comment 1) : That is a very good backline!!!!
@SheldonK (Comment 10) : The Blue Lions or Golden Bulls?
I think we need to make Super Rugby end in May again. Ensure the Currie Cup is played with full strength Super Rugby teams and the teams in the Semi’s play Super Rugby the following year. The teams left out of Super Rugby can then travel to emerging markets, do exciting exhibition matches, ala Lions circa 2013
@Hulk (Comment 12) : Call them anything. Just think in terms of geographic areas thats most fair. Although it would work better with central contracting. Your idea is nice in theory but very unlikely, can actually see the CC being scrapped down the line.
@SheldonK (Comment 10) : Stormers, Sharks, Bullions and Cheetahs.
Work it on a squad and draft system. Each franchise gets to choose 30 players from their region. The rest go into the draft and can end up playing for other franchises.
This would ensure that the top 4 in each position get to start and would prevent a situation like the Sharks had with Bismarck benching behind Smit
@ChrisS (Comment 14) : Now that sounds good to me
The draft (or auction?) idea is a very interesting one in principle, that’s for sure. Each with their our intricacies, similar systems seem to work rather well in the NFL and IPL…
Also interesting to note the relatively low number of players of colour (33, I think) collectively across all 6 match-day 23s. The franchises somewhat setting up the Boks to be on a hiding to nothing in their effort to effectively overcome the both the challenges of the game at international level and our unique political sporting climate…
@KyleG (Comment 17) : which we don’t discuss here, as per the site rules.
@ChrisS (Comment 14) : how exactly would that end the Smit/du Plessis situation? Surely Sharks would have picked both in there 30!?!?!? 30 players = 2 teams so any team could still have 2 Bokke in each position thus meaning that the top 4 in each position will not be starting!
@robdylan (Comment 18) : Massive apologies Rob! #newbie #schoolboyerror #knockonoverthetryline