[2016 Super Rugby] Bulls vs. Lions (Round 14) 28/05/2016

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: Loftus Versfeld
Time: 17:15 CAT (SA, GMT+2)​

 

[TRF_heineken]

Some good news for the Bulls:

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/SuperRugby/bulls-given-injury-boost-20160523

Coach Nollis Marais may well have a selection problem with Burger Odendaal declared fit again and Warrick Gelant also getting the green light for selection ahead of their big game against the Emirates Lions at Loftus Versfeld this Saturday.

Opensider Roelof Smit scored a hat-trick in the 39-38 loss against Griquas and will have stressed his claims to get back into the starting line-up while new acquisition Renaldo Bothma also scored a try and should start slotting in at the Super Rugby team this week.

And some bad news for the Lions:

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/SuperRugby/jantjies-blow-for-springboks-20160523

Lions star flyhalf Elton Jantjies has been ruled out of action for between three and four weeks after fracturing his finger.

 

[WaterboySA]

Big questionmark at 9 and 10 for the Bulls. Both our 9's way too slow in everything they do, and not one of our 10's have the confidence to control a game. I'm sure Handre would manage to play with his cast.

I'm happy Warrick is fit again, I'm a huge fan. But HOW to you remove the current 15??He took his chance and deserves to keep his place. I would NOT play Warrick on the wing, he's a brilliant 15.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Big questionmark at 9 and 10 for the Bulls. Both our 9's way too slow in everything they do, and not one of our 10's have the confidence to control a game. I'm sure Handre would manage to play with his cast.

I'm happy Warrick is fit again, I'm a huge fan. But HOW to you remove the current 15??He took his chance and deserves to keep his place. I would NOT play Warrick on the wing, he's a brilliant 15.

Yeah, I think Coach Marais, is going to have a tough time this week on who to pick. But I think SP Marais will keep his spot, and Gelant will be on the bench, and maybe get about 20 minutes to have a decent run.

The inclusion of Bothma could also be a tough one, as I think the Kirsten-Lappies-Botha combo is becoming a great weapon, so I would be hesitant to change that.

As for the scrumhalf and flyhalf discussion. I'd personally stick with Van Zyl and Brummer. Van Zyl is more solid than Paige and makes less mistakes, and the same can be said about Brummer, and against the Lions, you have to make as few mistakes as possible to prevent them from getting momentum.

 

[Bull]

Bulls
15 SP Marais, 14 Jamba Ulengo, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Lappies Labuschagne, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Lizo Gqoboka
Substitutes: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Pierre Schoeman, 19 Grant Hattingh, 20 Deon Stegmann, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Dries Swanepoel

Lions
15 Sylvian Mahuza, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Warwick Tecklenburg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylan Smith
Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Corne Fourie, 18 Jacques van Rooyen, 19 Ruan Ackermann, 20 Cyle Brink, 21 Ross Cronjé, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Ashlon Davids

 

[Bull]

Well played Lions, you are SA's top side and play beautiful rugby. The less said about our other sides the better.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Well played Lions, you are SA's top side and play beautiful rugby. The less said about our other sides the better.

Yup... They did to us what the Khal's wanted to do to Khaleesi...

 

[WaterboySA]

Yup... They did to us what the Khal's wanted to do to Khaleesi...

What we all want to do to Khaleesi.....lol.....

It hurts. What makes it worse is, after the Stormers game I at least had SOME hope that we would TRY and be competative.....not to be. The lions violated us in a bad way.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Never thought i'd say this but the Lions are the real deal

 

[TRF_heineken]

What we all want to do to Khaleesi.....lol.....

It hurts. What makes it worse is, after the Stormers game I at least had SOME hope that we would TRY and be competative.....not to be. The lions violated us in a bad way.

Yeah, I also thought it would be a closer affair than it was, but you have to give props to the Lions, they did exactly what you have to do against us, and just run us off our feet. Faf de Klerk was brilliant and Rohan Janse van Rensburg showed just how big our depth is in the Centre department, he was just awesome

Never thought i'd say this but the Lions are the real deal

Yeah they certainly are. If there is any Saffa team that could win this year's tournament, it's them.

 

[WaterboySA]

Rohan Janse van Rensburg looked fine, I think he's as strong as an ox, just think he should lay off the gym work for now. His speed is a bit slow for centre.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Rohan Janse van Rensburg looked fine, I think he's as strong as an ox, just think he should lay off the gym work for now. His speed is a bit slow for centre.

Really?? It looked like he burned Ulengo when he ran down the touchline to score in the corner. I think his pace is fine.

 

[WaterboySA]

To me it looked like he had a HUGE bump-off, and then scored. It's exactly that play I'm thinking of, where he just looked slow.

I could be wrong though....

 

[Bull]

Ah yes Rohan JV Rensburg, another guy that the BBRU messed around so he left. There is something seriously wrong at that union, the CC team got wasted by the Leopards!

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Really impressive to see what can be done without big name players. Similar to the Highlanders last year but better as they had both Smiths, Sopoaga, Fekitoa etc. If the Lions win the comp I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Ah yes Rohan JV Rensburg, another guy that the BBRU messed around so he left. There is something seriously wrong at that union, the CC team got wasted by the Leopards!

I think they have cleared up that mess from the past where guys like Marnitz Boshoff, Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Vincent Koch as well as Lionell Mapoe were left out of teams and eventually moved to other unions.

I think the new scouts and player identification policies they put in place since 2 years ago are now starting to bear fruit, and their new alliances will also help a lot.