2014 Super Rugby: Stormers vs Highlanders (Round 12)

[Jaguares]

-----1. Steven Kitshoff ----- 2. Scarra Ntubeni ----- 3. Frans Malherbe
----------------- 4. Ruan Botha ----------- 5. Michael Rhodes
7. Schalk Burger ------------------------------------------ 6. Nizaam Carr
-----------------------------8. Duane Vermeulen
------------------------------------ 9. Nic Groom
------------------------------------------10. Kurt Coleman
-------------------------------------------------12. Jean de Villiers (c)
----------------------------------------------------------- 13. Juan de Jongh
11. Sailosi Tagicakibau ------------------------------------------- 14. Damian de Allende
-------------------------------- 15. Jaco Taute

-----1. Kane Hames ---------- 2. Liam Coltman ---------- 3. Chris King
-----------------4. Josh Bekhuis--------------5. Joe Wheeler
6. Elliot Dixon----------------------------------------7. John hardie
-------------------------------8. Nasi Manu
--------------------------------------9. Aaron Smith
---------------------------------------------10. Lima Sopoaga
-----------------------------------------------------12. Shaun Treeby
-------------------------------------------------------------13. Malakai Fekitoa
11. Trent Renata-------------------------------------------------------14. Richard Buckman
----------------------------15. Ben Smith (co-captain)

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Argh. Never thought I'd fear the Highlanders in Cape Town (don't remind me of that semi)..

 

[Kiwiwomble]

already got more out of this tour than i expected so just hoping for a good game

 

[Gena_ZA]

No one expected the Highlanders to maul the Sharks.
No one is expecting the Stormers to do the same to the Highlanders.
Highlanders should not be complacent, the Stormers will bounce back at some time

 

[Shaggy]

No one expected the Highlanders to maul the Sharks.
No one is expecting the Stormers to do the same to the Highlanders.
Highlanders should not be complacent, the Stormers will bounce back at some time

I doubt that the Highlanders would ever feel complacent, particularly in South Africa ... the Highlanders have lost one of their more potent attacking weapons in Patrick Osbourne ... I know that the Stormers have many more players out injured (particularly at lock), but the Highlanders never seem to have the same depth of talent that some of the other franchises do, hence why they haven't rotated their playing roster much

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Well Scarra and Schalla are back so hopefully that means the line-out provides us with some ball this time around..

 

[Kiwiwomble]

we're going to need a new winger with Baker out and now osbourne

 

[Jaguares]

Stormers: 15. Jaco Taute , 14. Damian de Allende , 13. Juan de Jongh , 12. Jean de Villiers (captain) , 11. Sailosi Tagicakibau , 10. Kurt Coleman , 9. Nic Groom , 8. Duane Vermeulen , 7. Schalk Burger (vice-captain) , 6. Nizaam Carr , 5. Michael Rhodes , 4. Ruan Botha , 3. Frans Malherbe , 2. Scarra Ntubeni , 1. Steven Kitshoff

Replacements: 16. Deon Fourie , 17. Oliver Kebble , 18. Brok Harris , 19. Jurie van Vuuren , 20. Siya Kolisi , 21. Louis Schreuder , 22. Peter Grant , 23. Kobus van Wyk

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Not bad...

Highlanders

1. Kane Hames
2. Liam Coltman
3. Chris King
4. Josh Bekhuis
5. Joe Wheeler
6. Elliot Dixon
7. John hardie
8. Nasi Manu (co-captain)
9. Aaron Smith
10. Lima Sopoaga
11. Trent Renata
12. Shaun Treeby
13. Malakai Fekitoa
14. Richard Buckman
15. Ben Smith (co-captain)
Reserves
16. Brayden Mitchell
17. Matias Diaz
18. Ma'afu Fia
19. Jarrad Hoeata
20. Shane Christie
21. Fumiaki Tanaka
22. Jason Emery
23. Phil Burleigh

 

[Darwin]

Hmmm....not too bad I suppose. Bekhuis is starting ahead of Hoeata (which is a good thing), but there is no sign of Gareth Evans (who should be starting at 6). Not sure about Hardie starting at 7 either - I understand Christie is carrying an injury but in my opinion if you are fit enough to be on the bench you are fit enough to start. Renata is the obvious choice for the wing - not because he really has any really experience on the wing (apart from one start for the Highlanders last year) - but because we have no other options (as Joseph decided we didn't need to pick wings in our squad).

Despite our win last week (and the fact the Stormers aren't that great) I still think the Stormers should start this match as favourites. They are at home, and man-for-man they have a better side than the Highlanders (who are performing well above expectation). The Highlanders certainly have a chance of pulling off another victory (which would make the tour a phenomenal success), but I'm picking the Stormers to win a close one, by 5-10 points.

 

[Shaggy]

Hmmm....not too bad I suppose. Bekhuis is starting ahead of Hoeata (which is a good thing), but there is no sign of Gareth Evans (who should be starting at 6). Not sure about Hardie starting at 7 either - I understand Christie is carrying an injury but in my opinion if you are fit enough to be on the bench you are fit enough to start. Renata is the obvious choice for the wing - not because he really has any really experience on the wing (apart from one start for the Highlanders last year) - but because we have no other options (as Joseph decided we didn't need to pick wings in our squad).

Despite our win last week (and the fact the Stormers aren't that great) I still think the Stormers should start this match as favourites. They are at home, and man-for-man they have a better side than the Highlanders (who are performing well above expectation). The Highlanders certainly have a chance of pulling off another victory (which would make the tour a phenomenal success), but I'm picking the Stormers to win a close one, by 5-10 points.

Trying to play the underdog card eh Darwin ... good to see Jason Emery on the bench, hopefully he gets some game time

 

[Gena_ZA]

Wow, you have the ability to make me feel better, thanks

 

[Darwin]

Trying to play the underdog card eh Darwin ... good to see Jason Emery on the bench, hopefully he gets some game time

Nah, I've never been good at cards I think I'm being pretty realistic. We have performed a bit above expectation this season - as much as I would like to see us keep performing I can't see it happening (especially as we have a much more difficult 2nd half of the season...). The Stormers have been poor overall this season, but have actually been ok at home (won 2/3 matches). Hopefully I'm completely wrong yet again!

 

[Jaguares]

Not bad...

Highlanders

1. Kane Hames
2. Liam Coltman
3. Chris King
4. Josh Bekhuis
5. Joe Wheeler
6. Elliot Dixon
7. John hardie
8. Nasi Manu (co-captain)
9. Aaron Smith
10. Lima Sopoaga
11. Trent Renata
12. Shaun Treeby
13. Malakai Fekitoa
14. Richard Buckman
15. Ben Smith (co-captain)
Reserves
16. Brayden Mitchell
17. Matias Diaz
18. Ma'afu Fia
19. Jarrad Hoeata
20. Shane Christie
21. Fumiaki Tanaka
22. Jason Emery
23. Phil Burleigh

Thanks for the lineup, bud!

 

[Jaguares]

Damian de Allende made a try, yeah baby!!!

 

[Darwin]

Well I was right about the Highlanders this week. Bugger! I would have been happy before this match to accept 2 points from the match, but considering how close we got I'm disappointed we didn't get the full 5!

Hopefully Sopoaga's injury isn't too bad. Renata did a solid job covering for him, but we need him as an outside back at the moment. The Highlanders actually didn't have a lot of ball throughout the match but looked pretty dangerous with the ball they did have. Fekitoa and the two Smith's were again the most dangerous Highlanders players, while Manu got through a lot of good work on defense (as did Christie once he came on).

 

[Gena_ZA]

Very pleased with my side, beating a team that a week ago convincingly beat the current log leaders.
Hopefully this is the turn around the Stormers needed and things will keep on improving.
Schalk remains a best of a player

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I do like that we are looking to play some rugby but there is a lot of improvement needed;

why can't we mix good defense with good attacking play? We can't seem to make play off of turn-overs- the forwards need to know when not to get involed here.. and we still need a 9-10 partnership at more than a vodacom cup team level.

With our playrs steadily returning and us playing a brand of rugby less indusive to injuries hopefully we'll get there though I think it's too late for this season already unless we win just about all our remaining fixtures..

Bulls away
Force home
Cheetahs home
Sharks away (but they'd have just returned from tour)
Bulls at home
Sharks at home

Doable but tough. I really see only one SA team going through to the play-offs this year.