Sharks vs Stormers

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Less travel? They play 4 matches in other countries this season only because it's a World Cup season. From next year on, it will be 5 since they play every team.

In the old Super14 format they played 13 matches they also played a max. of 5 matches overseas. Travelling wise, nothing changes

 

[d1e1m]

CLosely contested, low-scoring game that could be decided by the boot. At the very least the audience will get to watch some crunching tackles come in from both sides.

On a side note, should the Sharks win and keep the Stormers from getting more than 2 bonus points, the Crusaders would take top spot with the 4point bye week haul, which I find hilarious, even though it counts for very little.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

That's not true... If the Reds win by scoring 4 tries against the Lions, they have 1 point more than the Crusaders

 

[Seaton]

Bah, there will always be resistance to change, whether it is good or bad to the majority or the minority

Personally, I don't mind the changes, as it means more games to watch, and I trust the teams coaches to rotate enough to keep players as fresh as they would
Normally be in the S14, especially with the 2 byes each in mind.

What I don't like is the 4 points for a bye, I still think that it is a cosmetic thing, in case that teams like the Rebels/Cheetahs/ Lions don't win a lot of games

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Did you guys know the Stormers haven't won against the Sharks in years? Even at Newlands

Except for warm-up matches.

It's gonna swing sooner or later and I would wager sooner rather than later

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

It doesn't matter if you give 0 points, 4 points or 40 points for a bye. It doesn't change anything

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

Sharks fans, sorry for hijacking this thread but what's Steven Sykes like as a player?

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

A lock


Couldn't resist haha. Sykes is a very decent lock who is unlucky to be born in a country where Bakkies, Matfield, Bekker, van der Merwe, Hargreaves, Muller, van den Berg and even Rossouw have been born who played in his position. That way he was never selected for the Bok squad (as far as I know) but for Leinster he is a very good addition for the second row.

 

[Shaggy]

Sharks fans, sorry for hijacking this thread but what's Steven Sykes like as a player?

Not a Sharks fan, but from a neutral's point of view, from what i've seen in the Super Rugby over the years, he seems to be a pretty good all round player ... good in the lines outs and scrums, gets about the park in terms of ball carries etc, does the work in the rucks and mauls ... having given him a good reference, don't come after me if he doesn't turn out to be good at Leinster

 

[d1e1m]

That's not true... If the Reds win by scoring 4 tries against the Lions, they have 1 point more than the Crusaders

Ack, completely forgot about the Reds but then again, the Lions have the lowest points differential of the bottom half teams so maybe, just maybe, they may be able to keep them from scoring 4 tries. Regardless, was more of a hypothetical situation that I would have found humorous if does come to pass.

EDIT: actually no they don't even have that in their favor, i forgot about the Chiefs yet again. I'm just going to stop fantasizing about the Crusaders winning Super Rugby half way through the season.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Sharks fans, sorry for hijacking this thread but what's Steven Sykes like as a player?

He's a bit of a jack-of-all-trades for a lock. Does the hard graft well and is actually a pretty decent support runner (gets onto the score sheet a surprising number of times). Intelligent player who's not flashy but if you watch him you'll see he gets through a lot of work.

 

[smartcooky]

It essentially punish people for having a competitive conference.

Actually I think the opposite is true. A competitive conference means more teams from that conference have a chance of getting a wild-card spot. If you take the extreme scenario of one competitive conference (say SA), while the other two have one dominant side that spanks all the other teams in its conference, then its conceivable that the competitive conference will pick up all three wild-card spot and have four teams in the playoffs.

With more local derbies, there is a lot of competition for national spots, and while that's good, with several RWC spots up for grabs, I can't see how pitting potential opposition up against each other, twice, is going to do the national teams any good. Regardless of that, there is more rugby, and as much as I love rugby, it's a stupid idea. One of the fundemental reasons why SH teams are often able to mantain a higher standard than NH teams, can partly come down to the amount of rugby one side plays.

First of all, the amount of extra rugby for players is very little, and they get two bye rounds as well. They play four extra "local" matches, but drop two overseas matches so the net gain is only two matches, plus one extra match if they make the playoffs.

Also, we are still WAAAAY ahead of the NH when it comes to giving our players adequate rest time.

► Our players play 16 Super Rugby matches, possible up to 19 if their team makes the final.

► The French play 26 rounds of Top 14; 29 if they get to the final, plus 6 Heineken Cup/Challenge Cup matches; 9 if they make the final (32 to 38 matches)

► The English play 22 rounds of Premiership; 24 if they get to the final, plus 6 Heineken Cup/Challenge Cup matches; 9 if they make the final (28 to 33 matches)

► The Celtic countries play 22 rounds of Magners League; 24 if they get to the final, plus 6 Heineken Cup/Challenge Cup matches; 9 if they make the final (28 to 33 matches)

I'd rather just play a 15 man conference system, than the current 3 sets of 5 we currently have.

You can blame SARU for that. NZRU and ARU wanted everyone to play everyone else, but it would have cut into their Currie Cup. Remember all the threats about SARU pulling out of SANZAR if we didn't give in?

 

[JJR]

JLP is 50/50 4 saturday and it seems Riaan swanepoel will start at 12 when Bosman moves to 10. Adi will stay on the bench and be used as an impact player last 20-30 minutes.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

@ smartcooky: comparing Super Rugby matches with local and European matches together is not fair. You should count the Currie Cup/ITM Cup as well and add it up to get a fair comparison

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

JLP is 50/50 4 saturday and it seems Riaan swanepoel will start at 12 when Bosman moves to 10. Adi will stay on the bench and be used as an impact player last 20-30 minutes.

A lot depends on how the new 10/12 combonation goes for the Sharks. Very lucky you shored up on flyhalf options so much. I thought it overkill at the start of the season but the no.10 injury plague has struck you guys again.

@ smartcooky: comparing Super Rugby matches with local and European matches together is not fair. You should count the Currie Cup/ITM Cup as well and add it up to get a fair comparison

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Pretty fair comparison IMO. Remember the Springboks maybe play 4 Currie cup games at most and I am sure its an outside occurance with the All Blacks that anyone of them play much ITM rugby without having missed Super rugby due to injury or whatever.

 

[Cassie]

This is going to be a very interesting game between the two sides topping the SA conference. Both teams are looking good sharks having lost 2 games on tour and with some travelling and injury losses will still be up for it. The stormers on the other hand are enjoying a lead on the log and play some really good rugby at the moment.

I would not make any predictions on this game because it’s going to be a tight affair. I just hope the best team wins. I will stay neutral during this game which involves two SA teams that are playing some really good rugby. <O></O>

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Stormers team announced

http://www.superxv.com/news/super15_rugby_news.asp?id=29557

15. Gio Aplon,
14. Danie Poolman,
13. Jaque Fourie,
12. Jean De Villiers ,
11. Bryan Habana,
10. Peter Grant,
9. Dewaldt Duvenage,
8. Duane Vermuelen,
7. Francois Louw,
6. Schalk Burger (C),
5. Andries Bekker,
4. Rynhardt Elstadt,
3. Brok Harris,
2. Deon Fourie,
1. Wicus Blaauw

16. Ethienne Reynecke,
17. CJ Van Der Linde,
18. De Kock Steenkamp,
19. Nick Koster,
20. Ricky Januarie,
21. Gary Van Aswegen,
22. Juan De Jongh

Pretty much unchanged except for Burger coming back for the now injured Pieter Louw and Ettienne Reynecke (Saracens) joining the bench at hooker.

Apart from injury that is the best team we can field. The only place I am worried about is Danie Poolman at 14. The kid hasn't done much and as off form as Habana is at least he gets involved. I would much more prefer either JdJ or JdV on the wing with Lionel Cronje on the bench or Gio Aplon on the wing with Lionel Cronje at fullback. Both those options with Poolman playing Vodacom cup rugby. But I trust AC knows what he's doing.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

What are your thoughts on Deon Fourie replacing the injured Tiaan Liebenberg this season?

 

[Jer1cho]

He is the new Schalk Brits! Has to be the fastest hooker i have ever seen. Stormers have a really strong team this year, and Peter Grant is looking more and more like a Springbok every day.

 

[Seaton]

It doesn't matter if you give 0 points, 4 points or 40 points for a bye. It doesn't change anything

Well it sure as hell makes it harder to gauge WTF is happening when 80% percent of log tables only show the no. of wins and games played, some might even throw in the BP earned for good measure

But I have only ever seen a couple of logs that includes no. of byes column, so if you are looking at a log with only games/wins represented, you are left befuddled as to whether they have got a bunch of bonus points or had a bye, I mean not even the TRF logs have the bye thingy