SuperRugby - Stormers v Bulls - 31/03/2012

[TRF_heineken]

Super 15: Stormers vs Bulls - Newlands

Newlands Stadium, Cape Town - (31/03/2012, 17:10GMT)

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Lets get this game started already!!

The great North/South Derby!! the top 2 teams in the SA Conference and the Combined log after week 5.

only one forced change so far from the Bulls camp, with reserve hooker Willie Wepener withdrawn from the team due to a strange injury.

My guess will be The Bulls will keep the same team that smashed the Reds last week.

As for the Stormers... I guess they'll also play the same guys

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

I've heard that Elstadt might be ready but I doubt they'll play him right away. Maybe a game in the Vodacom cup first. Otherwise the Stormers will probably also remain unchanged.

Will be an interesting match-up. I almost want to say it's a case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. I can't pick which one will come out on top. Based on last weeks performances one probably have to pick the Bulls as favorites but I am confident the Stormers will be up for this one at home against the old foe. Stormers by a whisker.

Most interesting match-up for me is the tight five; the two lock pairings against each other will in all probability be the 4 guys most likely to be in the Bok fold while Kitshoff and Malherbe will arguably get their toughest test yet with the Bulls scrum.

I just can't wait.

 

[TRF_heineken]

And both teams have no fetcher!

But what the Lions did well last week was to show how to break the defensive line of the Stormers and with some power runners which the the Bulls possess, it might be the first loss for the Stormers in this year's Super 15.

My gut says the Bulls by 6. Just hope it's not going to be a wet rainy day in Cape town where the kicking boots will be the main point of scoring...

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

And both teams have no fetcher!

But what the Lions did well last week was to show how to break the defensive line of the Stormers and with some power runners which the the Bulls possess, it might be the first loss for the Stormers in this year's Super 15.

My gut says the Bulls by 6. Just hope it's not going to be a wet rainy day in Cape town where the kicking boots will be the main point of scoring...

I'm more worried about the Bulls' kicking/chasing game than their runners TBH.
The field at Newlands is a lot heavier than Ellis Park and Loftus and remember AC pulled a lot of our best defenders off the field early on against the Lions.

 

[Gena_ZA]

Elstadt played the last two Vodacom Cup matches and Alistair was very very impressed with him, he will be on the bench for sure
Can't call this game, just can't cause I can tell you why both will win AND loose it

 

[Gena_ZA]

Stormers team announced and it surprised me a bit:

Elstadt in at 7
Vemeulen to 8
Koster on the bench

Guess this is going to be a "Real Steel" match

Deon Fourie on the bench as well

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Elstadt played the last two Vodacom Cup matches and Alistair was very very impressed with him, he will be on the bench for sure
Can't call this game, just can't cause I can tell you why both will win AND loose it

Thanks for the correction.

Stormers are the new Bulls WRT depth in quality at lock. Our young props look the business. Now all we need is a class 9/10 pairing...

 

[TRF_heineken]

Bulls starting 15 is unchanged for this game...

Booyah!!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Bulls loosies to be made to look average this week. Here's looking at you, Pierre.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Bulls loosies to be made to look average this week. Here's looking at you, Pierre.

Bwahaha

Stormers backling to be made to look below average this week. Here's looking at you Dewaldt, Peter, Jean, Juan, Bryan, and Joe... (I will not add Gio to that list, as he is not below average)

 

[Bull]

I'm a bit worried about the Bulls front row ie. the props, I don't rate Werner Kruger very highly as a scrummager. Bulls loosies are miles ahead of the Stormers, Koster is only rated by Province fans. As for the locks well it's fine to have plenty of them but it's line-out quality that counts!

 

[TRF_heineken]

Teams:

Stormers:

15 Joe Pietersen, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Tiaan Liebenberg, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Nick Koster, 20 Louis Schreuder, 21 Burton Francis, 22 Gerhard van den Heever

Bulls:

15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard , 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Jacques Potgieter, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Juandre Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1 Dean Greyling

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Louis Fouche, 22 JJ Engelbrecht

Stormers lack a bit of oomph there on the bench...

 

[Gena_ZA]

Why are the Bulls not playing JJ Engelbrecht?? - Stormers made the same mistake with him.
Will see about the battle of the loosies and Koster is rated by all apart from Bulls fans, much the same way everyone apart from the Bulls fans feel about Spies I suppose. In my view Spies is having a good year, will see if he dissapears again as this will be a tighter match.
Potgieter vs. Elstadt, that should be a goodie, don't forget what Elstadt achieved in his first year in Super rugby in 2011. Let's see if your new bully can contain the man made of steel as they say.
I think the Stormers locks are slightly better, taking nothing away from the Bulls pair, these 4 should all be Boks this year.

One thing I am looking forward to is a real battle up front, just for everyone once again to see that Morne Steyn is a very average flyhalf when his forwards are not dominating and that will make him on par with Peter Grant.
Francois Hougaard might make the difference here as he is pure class.

In my mind a lot will determine on the midfield and who fires on the day and who not.
Stormers have three 21 year old's and one 20 year old in their pack, lets see what they can do against the mighty Bull pack in their badly died purple jerseys
Can't wait

 

[Bull]

I'm going to say this in the best possible way, politically correct! Taking nothing away from Akona he rarely has a bad match but I think a lot of times teams are picked because of pressure from government.

The Stormers locks might be better but to me it feels as if Bekker has never reached the heights I thought he would. I think the outcome will depend a lot on who can achieve parity up front. The midfield battle should be good too, luckily Wynand is there (another player only rated by the Bulls), Sadie on his outside and we have good cover on the bench too.

 

[TRF_heineken]

I'm going to say this in the best possible way, politically correct! Taking nothing away from Akona he rarely has a bad match but I think a lot of times teams are picked because of pressure from government.

The Stormers locks might be better but to me it feels as if Bekker has never reached the heights I thought he would. I think the outcome will depend a lot on who can achieve parity up front. The midfield battle should be good too, luckily Wynand is there (another player only rated by the Bulls), Sadie on his outside and we have good cover on the bench too.

JJ Engelbrecht is on the Bench as he's cover for Wing, Fullback and Centre - Depending on whoever gets injured during the match...

While its all fair to say whatever you'd like about Akona, provide me with a reason as to why they shouldn't pick him? he got over the advantage line more than any other player vs. the Reds. His defence was solid and didn't miss a single tackle.

I agree they should play JJ, but in who's place?? Bjorn Basson is the leading try scorer in the competition and a serious threat with the high ball.

Zane Kirchner, believe it or not is on of the Bulls most potent attacking weapons at the moment taking the ball at great speed and a solid defender.

 

[Bull]

@heineken I think you misunderstood my post somewhat. Akona is playing excellent rugby, better than say Habana by a country mile. What I was implying with my post was that I think sometimes teams are forced to pick a certain amount of "quota" players, but to call Akona a quota would be a slap in his face. I like him a lot, he is very underrated and he consistently performs very good.

JJ normally covers 11, 13 and 14 and Bjorn would move to 15 if Zane gets injured.

 

[Shosoloza]

I certainly can't wait for saterday. maybe I am a bit biased, but the stormers aren't playing good rugby at the moment. The only reason that they are on top of the log is due to there solid defence and discipline.

What is pleasing about the bulls is that they create a lot of opportunities, which weren't the case last year. They only need to start to make these opportunities count, like they did in the second half against the reds.

I think that Morne should try for drop kicks every time the bulls are in range. The stormers just won't give them that much opportunities to score via tries and/or penalties. We can't afford to dominate territory and not show anything for it.

The kick and chase game also would be bit of a gamble since Joe and Aplon are quite solid and potent with counter attacks. If they do decide to go with this tactic it should be aimed at habana and 100% accurate.

 

[Draggs]

Have to wonder why van den Heever left the Bulls when everybody knows Habana cannot be dropped.
I suppose that Pietersen's return threw a spanner into the works in regards to van den Heever playing 15. Shame for the lad though, I rate him highly.

 

[Bull]

Van Den Heever burst onto the scene and was pretty good for a while but after that it seemed he was lacking confidence and didn't really up his game.

 

[Gena_ZA]

agree, think he will be a vey good fullback given the opportunity