University of Cape Town centre Tim Whitehead has been named as Juan de Jongh’s replacement for this weekend’s Super 14 clash with the Cheetahs with Gio Aplon also being picked ahead of last week’s man-of-the-match Sireli Naqelavuki.
It was a possibility to pick Willem de Waal at flyhalf and move Peter Grant to cover inside centre for the injured De Jongh, but the Stormers expect the 21-year-old Whitehead to pass his Super 14 test with flying colours.
“It’s time for us to trust our young players. It is seen as positive when other unions do it, but viewed as a risk when we do it,” said Stormers coach Allister Coetzee.
“Tim has played four games in the Varsity Cup and three for Western Province in the Vodacom Cup at inside centre. He also played in our warm-up games against Boland and the Maties.
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The Crusaders adapted best to the conditions to beat the Chiefs 26-19 in a tense Super 14 rugby clash here Friday.
With the wind behind them and a dry ground, the Crusaders ensured the game was played at a frenetic pace in the first half and turned with a 23-16 lead as they outscored the Chiefs two tries to one.
But when the rain came down at halftime, and the Crusaders faced the wind, they switched to a dogged pick-and-drive style as they slugged out the final 40 minutes in which the only rewards were a penalty apiece.
The Waratahs ran in 11 tries to thrash the Lions 73-12 at the Sydney Football Stadium on Friday.
The hosts fired on all cylinders as they outclassed a sorry-looking Lions side who have now lost five in a row. Drew Mitchell scored four tries, Lachie Turner and Josh Holmes both got braces while Wycliff Palu, Dean Mumm and Tom Carter also got in on the act.
The Brumbies managed to scrape past the Sharks for a narrow win in Canberra on Saturday.
For the second time in the week there was heartbreak for the Sharks as they fought all the way to death when a Matt Giteau penalty snatched back the lead to hand the home side victory.
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The Springboks received terrible news in that flanker Heinrich Brussow will not play rugby again this year.
The industrious flanker tore knee ligaments in the dying moments of the Cheetahs’ Super 14 match against the Hurricanes on Saturday and will be out for eight months.
Brüssow had been shutting up his critics, who believed he would be less effective because of the stricter interpretation of the laws at the breakdowns.
The fetching flank showed with his work-rate over the past two weeks that he does a lot more than just steal possession from opponents.
Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské said that Brüssow would only be available again for next year’s Super 15.
South Africa are in the privileged position of having Schalk Burger available and he can still form an outstanding loose-trio with Juan Smith and Pierre Spies.
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The Lions suffered their second successive defeat in Australasia when they went down 24-13 to the Brumbies in Canberra on Friday.
The wet conditions made for a forwards battle which the Brumbies’ all-Wallaby pack dominated. The Lions had very little possession to speak of and never really troubled the Brumbies on the scoreboard.
Flyhalf Daniel Carter won a goalkicking duel with former teammate Stephen Brett to lead the Crusaders to a 33-20 win over the Blues in Super 14 rugby Saturday.
Carter kicked seven goals from seven attempts - three conversions and four penalties - for 18 points to steer the seven-time champions to their third win in four matches.
Brett, in his first match for Auckland against his former team, kicked four penalties and a dropped goal for 15 points. Canterbury scored tries through flanker George Whitelock plus centres Ryan Crotty and Robbie Fruean, while Auckland had a late try by halfback Alby Mathewson.
Referee Paul Marks denied the Sharks a penalty try at the death to gift the Waratahs a four point win in controversial circumstances in Sydney on Saturday.
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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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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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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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Naka Drotske was not allowed to speak to Australian referee Ian Smith following the match between the Blue Bulls and the Free State Cheetahs on Saturday.
An unhappy Drotské said he had ventured to the dressing room after his side’s 27-30 defeat to quiz Smith about some of his decisions but he was prevented from doing so by touch judge Cobus Wessels.
“I walked to the referee and asked him ‘Ian, may I please ask you a question’, after which he said ‘yes, sure’.
“When I started talking to him about the high kick in which Lionel Mapoe had been involved, Cobus Wessels intervened and said I was not allowed to speak to Smith.”
Wessels said that Drotské should give Smith a chance to shower and return later.
“When I returned 10 minutes later, the door was locked and nobody was there.”
South African referees boss André Watson said it was not correct protocol to go to the referee’s dressing room after the game.
“The unwritten protocol is that teams and referees shower first and thereafter speak on neutral territory. That also allows time for emotion to subside,” he said.
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Western Province stormed into the Currie Cup play-offs with a rousing 43-3 win over Griquas in the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division match at Newlands on Saturday afternoon. Province crowned their victory with a bonus point after they managed five tries against a side that scored a shock victory over them in first-round competition. A heavy downpour and a soggy pitch greeted the teams as they ran out. As a result of the heavy underfoot conditions play was frequently punctuated by knock-ons, dropped passes and spilt
catches.
The Sharks beat the lowly Leopards 34-20 in their match in Durban on Friday night and also added a bonus point to their log tally, but the Leopards would have been the happier of the two teams at full-time. Without six of their regulars, who were either injured or rested, the North West side - second from last with only one win from 11 matches before the game - tackled their hearts out and really took it to the Sharks, who had a number of their Tri-Nations Springboks back on the field.
The Blue Bulls started off at a tremendous tempo and obviously intent on getting a bonus point fifer, but in the end they had to pull out all the stops to prevent the Free State Cheetahs from scoring the winning try at Loftus on Saturday. Both sides scored three tries in the Blue Bulls’ 30-27 Currie Cup win.
Source + Pic: sarugby.com
