[2015 Super Rugby] South African Pre-season Discussion

[TheSaffycen]

I enjoyed the game, but the Bulls will have some real problems at scrum time against the other SA teams. Gill hardly gets a game for us, never really starts yet he ripped the tighthead to pieces. The Bulls tighthead had like 6 scrum penalties against him in the first half, ina competitive match he probably would've gone to the bin. I would like to see both teams 1st VX go against each other, but the Bulls would still win though. Very hard to stop before the gainline, and they keep going round the corner over and over again. Steggman, Du Plessis and Labusclasagne are all very hard to bring down and the Bulls will be a real force this year.

 

[SomeOke]

Really excited for the season to begin but I have to say I'm not overly optimistic. It has been 2 seasons of SA under performing to a large degree, it might just be our woeful eoty tour that has put me in a negative frame of mind. I'm going to hope for a top six finish from the Stormers when 2 years ago I was hoping to win the whole thing. The Sharks and the Bulls are my picks for the top 2 in the SA conference though, I really hope their half-back pairings come right for the Bokke sake. I still hope we perform but a consistently good half-back pairing is quite a glaring weakness. I'm hopeful but not optimistic if that makes sense.

Another note though - in a world cup year, you just can't separate Super Rugby from the WC, every game I'll be looking at the players through WC tinted glasses. There won't be a single game where Pollard, Lambie, Reinach, Hougard etc plays where I will be hoping for a bad performance. All I'm trying to say is that it will be hard to support the Stormers completely where in the back of my mind the main concern is how the Springbok incumbents are playing.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I too see either the Cheetahs or the Bulls scrum as the weakest in SA but TBF the Sarries loosie (though he obviously had the advantage in any case) was scrumming in on the angle more often than not. Bulls would still have struggled in the scrum but I'm sure they'd have gotten more of their feed back in a better policed set piece. Oddly enough I rate the Lions' and even the Stormers' scrum ahead of the all-Bok Sharks line-up.

Really excited for the season to begin but I have to say I'm not overly optimistic. It has been 2 seasons of SA under performing to a large degree, it might just be our woeful eoty tour that has put me in a negative frame of mind. I'm going to hope for a top six finish from the Stormers when 2 years ago I was hoping to win the whole thing. The Sharks and the Bulls are my picks for the top 2 in the SA conference though, I really hope their half-back pairings come right for the Bokke sake. I still hope we perform but a consistently good half-back pairing is quite a glaring weakness. I'm hopeful but not optimistic if that makes sense.

Another note though - in a world cup year, you just can't separate Super Rugby from the WC, every game I'll be looking at the players through WC tinted glasses. There won't be a single game where Pollard, Lambie, Reinach, Hougard etc plays where I will be hoping for a bad performance. All I'm trying to say is that it will be hard to support the Stormers completely where in the back of my mind the main concern is how the Springbok incumbents are playing.

Just to point out that the highlighted bit is not true. Yes, we didn't have a team in the final but on the whole the SA conference was the strongest when you looked at interconference points exchanges in 2013. 2014 was a different scenario entirely though- we were dire but then the Stormers and Sharks had ridiculous injuries, the two teams more than the entire NZ or Aus teams combined at one stage I checked..

 

[TRF_heineken]

I enjoyed the game, but the Bulls will have some real problems at scrum time against the other SA teams. Gill hardly gets a game for us, never really starts yet he ripped the tighthead to pieces. The Bulls tighthead had like 6 scrum penalties against him in the first half, ina competitive match he probably would've gone to the bin. I would like to see both teams 1st VX go against each other, but the Bulls would still win though. Very hard to stop before the gainline, and they keep going round the corner over and over again. Steggman, Du Plessis and Labusclasagne are all very hard to bring down and the Bulls will be a real force this year.

Yeah, but remember, we will have SH refs blowing, and they interpret the scrums a bit different. Also, Werner Kruger is just getting back into the swing of things, so he'll get better as time goes by.

Really excited for the season to begin but I have to say I'm not overly optimistic. It has been 2 seasons of SA under performing to a large degree, it might just be our woeful eoty tour that has put me in a negative frame of mind. I'm going to hope for a top six finish from the Stormers when 2 years ago I was hoping to win the whole thing. The Sharks and the Bulls are my picks for the top 2 in the SA conference though, I really hope their half-back pairings come right for the Bokke sake. I still hope we perform but a consistently good half-back pairing is quite a glaring weakness. I'm hopeful but not optimistic if that makes sense.

Another note though - in a world cup year, you just can't separate Super Rugby from the WC, every game I'll be looking at the players through WC tinted glasses. There won't be a single game where Pollard, Lambie, Reinach, Hougard etc plays where I will be hoping for a bad performance. All I'm trying to say is that it will be hard to support the Stormers completely where in the back of my mind the main concern is how the Springbok incumbents are playing.

I'm with you on that remark. It will be hard to look at the games without having the World Cup in the background. But I think you should change your view a little bit and look at form. For me it would be okay if the Springbok-incumbents starts poorly, and then as the season progresses, get better, so that they have top form by the time they reach the WC.

 

[TheSaffycen]

Yeah, but remember, we will have SH refs blowing, and they interpret the scrums a bit different. Also, Werner Kruger is just getting back into the swing of things, so he'll get better as time goes by.



I'm with you on that remark. It will be hard to look at the games without having the World Cup in the background. But I think you should change your view a little bit and look at form. For me it would be okay if the Springbok-incumbents starts poorly, and then as the season progresses, get better, so that they have top form by the time they reach the WC.

Indeed but it doesn't matter who refs if the your scrum is going back 5m everytime. It tells alot that Saracens kept going for the scrum 13m out and one time I thought we were going to walk over the line.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Indeed but it doesn't matter who refs if the your scrum is going back 5m everytime. It tells alot that Saracens kept going for the scrum 13m out and one time I thought we were going to walk over the line.

They went for the scrums most of the time because of the wind and them losing the line-outs.

Werner Kruger did have a bad day at scrum time yes. But like I said, it was a warm-up game and things will definitely change by the time the Super Rugby starts.

 

[Rugga-lad]

I don't support a team, but i do like watching the Lions. Will be interesting to see how they do this season. Last season they had some good performances.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I see Boom Prinsloo is on the bench for the Cheetahs' last warm-up match- fantasy rugby gold right there though I am cautious about players returning from injuries and with Britz indicated as captain.. with Cook, Mohoje and Brussow returned.. will Prinsloo get 80 minutes a game? Anyway..

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Le-Roux-fit-to-start-for-Cheetahs-20150204

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Michael van der Spuy, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Joe Pietersen, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Willie Britz (captain), 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Jean Cook, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Carl Wegner, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Danie Minnie
Substitutes: 16 Caylib Oosthuizen, 17 Stephan Coetzee, 18 Ewald van der Westhuizen, 19 Carel Greeff, 20 Boom Prinsloo, 21 Tian Meyer, 22 Willie du Plessis, 23 Clayton Blommetjies, 24 Johann Sadie