The Vodacom Bulls continued their impressive title defence in the Vodacom Super 14 following their 48-38 victory over the Waratahs at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
The victory by the Pretoria outfit was the only successful South African result after the Vodacom Cheetahs (24-31), Vodacom Stormers (19-17), the Auto & General Lions (33-18) and the Sharks (35-6) all conceded defeats this weekend.
Vodacom Bulls winger Francois Hougaard scored a brace of tries while Stephan Dippenaar, Gerhard van den Heever, Wynand Olivier and Jacques-Louis Potgieter all added five-pointers for the hosts.
The Waratahs though secured a bonus point for losing within seven of the Pretoria side. The defeat ensured that the Sydney franchise ended round three in eleventh position, while the Vodacom Bulls continued their dominance at the top of the log.
In Bloemfontein the Highlanders continued their undefeated run over the hosts in Bloemfontein on Saturday. The Otago side has now also won their last five games against the Vodacom Cheetahs, whose only win against the Highlanders was in Invercargill back in 1997 when the tourists outclassed the hosts to triumph 49-18.
The Auto & General Lions are still in search of their first victory in the 2010 Vodacom Super 14 following their 33-18 defeat to the Hurricanes in Wellington. The hosts secured their third win of the competition and are currently in second position on the log after round three.
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Habana a Stormer - at Newlands this am with Rassie and Rob Wagner
Pic source: WP_Rugby
The Springboks might lose a few games next year in the run up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup, because the best team may not always be selected.
Experts at a media workshop in Johannesburg agreed that a number of standout players will have to be carefully managed in the next two years.
Springbok fitness and conditioning coach Neels Liebel and sports scientist Tim Noakes said this would be vital to ensure top players were are fit and in peak condition for the World Cup in New Zealand September 9 in 2011.
Noakes showed a series of graphs on how players used excessively in a season tended to either get injured or under-perform the following year.
Liebel agreed senior players like Victor Matfield, 32, Bakkies Botha, 30, and John Smit, 31, should still be available for the 2011 World Cup - but on condition that they were properly managed.
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According to statistics the Cheetahs have the recipe to take the excellent penalty kicking of Morne Steyn out of the equation - excellent discipline.
The simple recipe, which none of the All Blacks, Wallabies, British and Irish Lions or other Currie Cup teams could come up with this year, is outstanding discipline.
The Cheetahs have conceded only 129 penalties to date in this year’s Currie Cup, which is fewer than any other team. The Blue Bulls have been penalised 23 more times than the Free Staters.
In fact, the Bulls have conceded the third most penalties in the competition.
Western Province, who ironically lost their semifinal against the Bulls by conceding a late penalty at Newlands, conceded the fewest penalties after the Cheetahs with 135.
The Lions (141), Sharks (157) and Griquas (165) all conceded more penalties than the Cheetahs.
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In an ill-tempered Currie Cup semi-final match which at times almost reached boiling point, the Cheetahs shocked the Sharks in the dying seconds to beat them 23-21 in their Absa Currie Cup semifinal in Durban on Saturday. The standout player was undoubtedly Cheetahs flyhalf Jacques-Louis Potgieter who scored the winning drop goal on the stroke of full-time, with the Sharks desperately defending their one-point lead, and scored one of the visitors’ two tries. Potgieter secured 18 of the Cheetahs’ 23 points.
The unerring boot of flyhalf Morne Steyn condemned Western Province to also-rans when he landed seven match-winning penalties in the Bulls 21-19 win in their semi-final at Newlands on Saturday evening. Province enjoyed the distinction of scoring the only try of the match and, late in the second half, they looked like they could score an upset win over the highly-fancied Bulls but the Springbok marksman landed the decider three minutes from the end.
The match marked the end of a woeful day for Province who saw their age-grade sides taste defeat in the Under-19 and Under-21 divisions as well.
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Western Province lock Andries Bekker must prove on Saturday that he truly belongs with the best locks in the world if the Blue Bulls are to be stopped from reaching their second consecutive ABSA Currie Cup final.
The Western Province Springbok, although contributing hugely in general play, looked well short of his best in the lineouts in the last two WP matches against the Lions and the Boland Cavaliers. They were Bekker’s first full matches in a while following a long injury layoff which preceded the Springbok international season.
But if the Bulls think that Bekker’s average showing in the lineouts in those games was a reason for optimism, they could be in for a surprise. While WP coach Allister Coetzee stopped short of describing the system used by WP in the last two games as a ruse, he left little to the imagination when asked about it this week.
“Let’s just say that there were reasons for that and it is related to Saturday’s game but I don’t want to talk about it,” said Coetzee.
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Xerox Lions hooker Hans van Dyk has been cited for allegedly biting Vodacom Western Province flanker Francois Louw on the forearm during the first half of an Absa Currie Cup Premier Division match in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Van Dyk was cited by commissioner, Attorney Mr Andy Prior of Durban, after reviewing video and other evidence.
Van Dyk is currently on leave and out of the country. A date for the hearing will be set on his return.
Via: sarugby.co.za
The Sharks face the Griquas in a crucial Currie Cup clash on Saturday, but John Plumtree will be sweating over the fitness of some key Springbok players.
While there is every chance that Springbok captain John Smit might be fit to face Griquas, it looks unlikely that Bok lock Johann Muller will join him in the squad.
“John is getting better, he’s had a bruised nerve in his neck and had some strength loss down one arm, but it’s coming back and I’m hoping he might be ready for this week,” the Sharks coach told a media briefing.
“However, Johann is getting frustrated with his arm [fractured back in Week One].
“It just doesn’t seem to be coming right, every time he takes a knock, it flares up.”
The Sharks need to take a full-house of five points from their final league match, in Kimberley, if they hope to keep alive their dream of a home Final.
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The Cheetahs again had the Leopards‘ number when they ran in a convincing 60-17 victory over their North Western neighbours in their Currie Cup match in a wet Bloemfontein on Friday night. The Leopards started and finished with a bang, but the fireworks were delivered by a slick Cheetahs side who ran the Leopards ragged in difficult conditions.
Western Province secured a 2009 Currie Cup home semifinal berth in superb fashion with an emphatic 50-7 win over neighbours the Boland Kavaliers in the Absa Currie Cup derby at a sun-drenched Newlands on Saturday afternoon. Admittedly, the Boland side never at any stage looked like posing a threat to the vastly superior Province side, but they provided the ’soft’ sort of opposition that was ideal preparation for the Newlands-based outfit ahead of the semifinal in a fortnight’s time. Province served notice at the outset that they were there to play open rugby, and conditions at Newlands were ideal. At the end of it all, Province matched the sizzling hot weather with seven well-taken tries, against one from Boland.
The Blue Bulls moved to third place on the Currie Cup log when they beat Griquas 61-27 at Loftus on Saturday, and with the win dented their opposition’s hopes of playing in the semifinals. The Blue Bulls ran in eight tries to Griquas’ four, and were in complete control from just after midway through the first half, with Griquas getting little possession. The reality, however, is that the Blue Bulls did not look like possible Currie Cup champions except in spurts, when they were really impressive.
The Sharks were stretched all the way but killed off a determined Lions team to reach the Currie Cup playoffs after a rusty display by narrowly beating them 19-17 in the Absa Stadium on Saturday.
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The Sharks team selected to play the Lions is the strongest since the end of the Super 14 campaign.
As expected, Springbok skipper John Smit is resting his broken body after a tough Tri-Nations season, and while he enjoys his well-earned rest, Patric Cilliers will avail himself of the opportunity of getting additional experience by playing off the Sharks bench.
But all the other top Sharks Springboks are back, and with the exception of Adrian Jacobs, who plays off the bench on Saturday, they are all in the starting team. That means the Sharks will play the Durban match with an all Springbok front row, with Bismarck du Plessis joining his brother Jannie, while Tendai Mtwarira makes his first appearance of the Currie Cup season at loosehead.
JP Pietersen is also back from injury and will get re-acquainted with the No11 jersey, with Ruan Pienaar continuing at scrumhalf alongside Argentine import Juan Hernandez.
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