Super Rugby: Sharks vs. Stormers in Durban (02/03/2013)

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Kings Park, Durban

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Assistant Referees: Jaco Peyper & Cobus Wessels
TMO: Shaun Veldsman



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[Seaton]

Not bloody Kaplan again.

 

[Draggs]

At least Peyper is on the touchline and not in the middle.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Getting Kaplan twice in a row... Like we weren't punished enough with injuries...

 

[Draggs]

Have to say Odders needs to look over his shoulder.
He was seriously poor in defence when he came on. Viljoen to replace him on the bench if I was Plum.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Stormers will be looking to make amends. Hope they can turn it around in a week's time. We need to get our heads in front and keep it in front if we want to win.

 

[Gena_ZA]

I am about as worried as I was before the CC final, what the chances of the same result?

 

[Gena_ZA]

See Taute is injured for this match, then it menas that little Jo is back and that is a good thing
Chances that JdJ will be playing depends on how he goes through training tomorrow, he passed todays training session

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Peter Grant also available apparently. Maybe play Grant and Pietersen for the early crunch matches and then give Jantjies and Taute (should be fit) a go in the 'easier' games to play themselves into the team dynamics (if dynamic can apply to anything we currently do) and confidence?

 

[TRF_heineken]

Well believe it or not I'm backing the Stormers on Superbru to win by 5. That being said, they seriously need to work on their scrum and lineouts. Elton will need to focus very quickly

 

[Boggle]

Actually I'm picking the Sharks to take this game, I don't doubt we've got what it takes to beat the sharks, but I think this season we're starting slow, we'll hopefully end up with a good winning streak after these first few tough games, but I think the sharks might just be a few points too good for us at their home ground.

Also, whomever I pick to win on Superbru end up losing, I'm not even kidding, over the past 2 weeks I've gotten 2 results right, ONLY 2 !

So If I pick the Sharks, my mystical powers should make the Stormers win.... hopefully

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

We would have to make so much progress in a week win;

- Scrum. How do you sort that out in a week or are the Bulls just scrummiging better than ever before?
- Line-out. Fourie never was the best in this regard. Hope we can at least get 80% of our own cleanly.
- Goal kicking (although simply having Mini-Percy take shots at goal is a solution if it doesn't mess with Jantjies' confidence)
- Forwards in the backline. True Bekker managed to score but we aren't going to get anything done consistently with our
forwards playing in the backline though they aren't much worse when it comes to distribution than JdV and De Allende..
- Backline needs to get it's timing right. They don't draw the defense and either play too deep or when they play flat they
don't get the ball out but go in as one off crash ballers. So movement is either lateral or minimally forward and then we start from scratch.

I'm not taking anything away from the Bulls who defended well and played a good tactical game but to a very large degree we were our own downfall.

 

[Gena_ZA]

Had Jantjies kicked better and the Chilly try not allowed, would our outlook have changed much?

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

It doesn't matter how crap the Stormers played last week, they are still the team to beat in Super Rugby. reached the final in 2010, 2nd overall in 2011, 1st overall last year...

1 match at Loftus doesn't change the amazing run they have had so far. Everyone can lose at Loftus, even the Crusaders. Loftus is a tricky place.

 

[Dizzy]

As much as I want to go with my Sharks here. The Stormers aren't the type of team to have two poor weeks in a row. Even if it is still early days. I honestly believe that Rallepalle try shouldn't have been allowed and Elton Jantjes was far far FAR off his game. With that in mind, I feel the Stormers will have nipped their poor start in the butt and come out this week with an improvement.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Yes, but the same can be said about the Sharks. We finished very poor, but the most important aspects (line-out, kicking of the tee, scrums) are all fine. Homeground advantage might be the tie-breaker here. These two teams are evenly matched and things can go either way.

 

[Dizzy]

I absolutely agree with you Eze, but I've gotta go with my gut feeling here, and it says the ball will bounce the Stormers way.
If Grant and Pietersen are included I feel the Stormers will play better.

 

[TRF_Ezequiel]

Irony... Moving heaven and earth to get Jantjies and Taute to Cape Town, and fans are wishing for Joe Pietersen and Peter Grant to be healthy to play

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Irony... Moving heaven and earth to get Jantjies and Taute to Cape Town, and fans are wishing for Joe Pietersen and Peter Grant to be healthy to play

LOL, yeah. We needed the depth though. It's still a very long tourney and those are good players to have around.

The thing is I'm not as concerned about the outcome of the Bulls game as I am about our performances in the set piece. Sure we COULD have conceivably won had Steyn missed 1 or 2 and Jantjies kicked over a couple and then the Chilly try but IMO we were beaten because we couldn't secure good ball at the set piece and turned over the ball there too much. The horrendous handling I'll put down to early rustiness (hopefully) but for our set pieces oth to fall apart like that worries me.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Grant is playing so it should be a real nail biter.