Warm up matches

[TRF_stormer2010]

SupeRugby Warm up matches

I thought it'd be interesting to see the results and if possible line-ups for SupeRugby warm up games.

From SA so far we've had the Cheetahs B team lose 33 - 17 to the relegated Golden Lions. That's the Lions' 2nd win of the year after beating a Russia XV side the week before.

The Cheetahs side was
Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Jannie Boshoff, 13 JP Nel, 12 Robert Ebersohn (captain), 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Pieter van Zyl, 8 Johannes Prinsloo, 7 Tertius Daniller, 6 Marnus Schoeman, 5 Francois Uys, 4 Lodewyk de Jager, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Caylib Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Rynhard Landman, 19 Waltie Vermeulen, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Barry Geel, 22 Hansie Graaff.

This week sees the Bulls taking on the Lions in Soweto and the Cheetahs hosting the Stormers.

Line-ups as they are released;

Bulls: 15 Jürgen Visser, 14 Travis Ismaiel, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Sampie Mastriet, 10 Louis Fouchè, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Jean Cook, 6 Deon Stegmann (c), 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Frik Kirsten, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Juan Schoeman. Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Hencus van Wyk, 18 Wiaan Liebenberg, 19 Cornell Hess, 20 Ruan Snyman, 21 Handrè Pollard, 22 Ulrich Beyers, 23 Jacques du Plessis.
vs
Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Deon Helberg, 13 Stokkies Hanekom, 12 Alwyn Hollenbach, 11 Anthony Volmink, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Willie Britz, 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Hendrik Roodt, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 2 Francois du Toit, 1 JC Janse van Rensburg (capt).Replacements: 16 Robbie Coetzee, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 JJ Breet, 19 Warwick Tecklenberg, 20 Ross Cronje, 21 Lionel Cronje, 22 Ruhan Nel.


Cheetahs:
15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Jannie Boshoff, 13 Johann Sadie, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Rocco Jansen, 10 Riaan Smit, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Phillip van der Walt, 7 Davon Raubenheimer, 6 Johannes Prinsloo, 5 Doppies Vermeulen, 4 Rynhardt Landman, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Trevor Nyakane.
Substitutes: 16. Ryno Barnes, 17. Caylib Oosthuizen, 18. Lood de Jager, 19. Francois Uys, 20. Frans Viljoen, 21. Juan Smith, 22. Lappies Labuscahgne, 23. Piet van Zyl, 24. Elgar Watts, 25. Barry Geel, 26. Willie le Roux, 27. Hansie Graaff
vs
Stormers: 15 Jaco Taute, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Kurt Coleman, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Duane Vermeulen (capt), 7 Don Armand, 6 Nizaam Carr, 5 De Kock Steenkamp, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Martin Bezuidenhout, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements (from): 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Ruan Botha, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Rayn Smid, 21 Dewaldt Duvenage, 22 Pat Howard, 23 Gerhard van den Heever, 24 Joe Pietersen.

 

[TRF_heineken]

That Bulls team is the young guns getting a run...

Next week the Bulls play the Cheetahs at Polokloftus (Peter Mokaba Stadium).

Gonna be interesting to see how these guys go about... Especially excited about Handre Pollard on the bench...

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

That's a pretty strong Stormers side. Personally I think we are a better 'team' without some encumbents in the form of Liebenberg, Bekker, Burger, Duvenhage and JdV although those are brilliant individual players.

Apart from starting berths for Deon Fourie (2), Pat Cilliers(3), Nic Groom(9) and either of Jantjies/Grant ahead of Coleman at 10 that's just about our strongest team IMO. I am over the moon to see Pat Howard on the bench as well. I'd love for him to come into the mix at center with De Allende moving onto the wing. Good to see things falling into place. Speaking about things falling into place; Taute at fullback. Finally!
All Stormers and Bok fans rejoice!

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

That Bulls team is the young guns getting a run...

Next week the Bulls play the Cheetahs at Polokloftus (Peter Mokaba Stadium).

Gonna be interesting to see how these guys go about... Especially excited about Handre Pollard on the bench...

Me too. You can add Serfontein and Botha to that list as well! And I'm not even a Bulls fan..

Will be interesting to see where Hattingh picks up after having some brilliant games for the Lions in Currie cup. I see Cook is also starting. I've only heard good things so will keep an eye out for him.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Me too. You can add Serfontein and Botha to that list as well! And I'm not even a Bulls fan..

Will be interesting to see where Hattingh picks up after having some brilliant games for the Lions in Currie cup. I see Cook is also starting. I've only heard good things so will keep an eye out for him.

It's interesting that you mention Hattingh, as he was one of the guys I thought would be talked up before the start of the games, but I haven't seen anyone mention anything about him. Paul Willemse is the guy that everyone talks about. Victor Matfield even went on to say that Paul will be the next Springbok lock this year

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

It's interesting that you mention Hattingh, as he was one of the guys I thought would be talked up before the start of the games, but I haven't seen anyone mention anything about him. Paul Willemse is the guy that everyone talks about. Victor Matfield even went on to say that Paul will be the next Springbok lock this year

Is Paul Willemse the lock that pulled the dreadlocks of that big NZ prop in the IRB Junior Championship last year or was that Ruan Botha that came over to us?

I remember that our guy was a pretty big bloke as well. Our locks were generally good in that match but I have to say I was quite impressed with Hattingh and thought the Bulls got the better of us signing-wise where we got Rhodes who i don't really see going further than CC or SR with one of the 'smaller' franchises.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Just looking at things again I think it's criminal that the Lions got booted as they had some very good young guys coming through. TBF they'd probably need 3 years to become genuinely competitive and would have needed to hold on to those guys but they could become a VERY exciting team. Doesn't help that they've (effectively) lost Josh Strauss, Maku, Mapoe, Taute, Jantjies, FvdMerwe and Cilliers this year (the latter 4/5 all Bok material) on top of guys they've lost a year or two before; Jaque Fourie, Louis Ludik, Willem Alberts, Ernst Joubert, Gerhard Mostert and Heinke vd Merwe all Bok material.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Just looking at things again I think it's criminal that the Lions got booted as they had some very good young guys coming through. TBF they'd probably need 3 years to become genuinely competitive and would have needed to hold on to those guys but they could become a VERY exciting team. Doesn't help that they've (effectively) lost Josh Strauss, Maku, Mapoe, Taute, Jantjies, FvdMerwe and Cilliers this year (the latter 4/5 all Bok material) on top of guys they've lost a year or two before; Jaque Fourie, Louis Ludik, Willem Alberts, Ernst Joubert, Gerhard Mostert and Heinke vd Merwe all Bok material.

Yeah, you can add Bryan Habana, Hannes Franklin, Burton Francis, Doppies Le Grange, Michael Killian, Caylib Oosthuizen to that list too...

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Edited the OP to show Lions team to face Bulls. A bit stronger than the one that overcame a Cheetahs B team IMO though minus hooker Martin Bezuidenhout who has joined the Stormers on loan as cover for the injured duo of Liebenberg and Ntubeni.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Chiefs beat Highlanders comfortably today... Both teams were fairly strong too, not a lot of filler players or anything.

 

[Dizzy]

Yes and the Hurricanes beat the Crusaders something like 25-24..

 

[Amobokoboko]

Cheetahs also won with 1 point difference. Already counting down for the start of the season.

 

[TRF_heineken]

So the Bulls beat the Lions in their first warm-up game 38-32 against the Lions who beat the Cheetahs and Russia the previous weeks.

The Cheetahs beat the Stormers 27-26 with Juan Smith making a short appearance for the Cheetahs.

if these games are anything to go by, it's clear that all the teams are going with the expansive route, scoring tries instead of penalties.

This weekend I will be at the stadium for the Bulls vs Cheetahs game in my home town, so finally something to look forward to...

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

A young Bulls team beat a spirited (and depleted of it's 'stars' of last year) Lions team 38 -32. Really enjoyable game to have watched as the Lions backed their ball-in-hand ability and the Bulls joining them later on. Exceptional handling shown by both teams led to not 1 scrum in the 2nd half from handling errors. Not a single 1! I don't know who the ref was but he a very goo game which was probably part of the reason the game was so enjoyable. Really sharp reffing and he even got those little things right where the scrummie didn't actually knock on from the base or the pass was just forward etc etc. Players who impressed me were no.11 Anthony Volminck from the Lions and Hattingh, Visser, Pollard and Serfontein from the Bulls. Pollard only had about 20 minutes but in that time made a try saving tackle, stopped his opposite number making any ground when taking on the line (driving him back actually) which up to that point was one of the reasons the Lions kept making ground even when running the ball from their own 22 at will. His distribution was good and his kicking very good both in field and at goal. Serfontein was my MotM though. Great prospect for SA, very much reminds me of Jaque Fourie except maybe some growth still required but adds a good offloading game.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Cheetahs beat the Stormers 27-26 iin Bloemfontein. A pretty strong Stormers starting XV looked in control for most of the match going into the break 11-0. The 4rth quarter belonged to teh Cheetahs however as they ended up victorious after a late half of the field drop goal saw them win out a close encounter which is something they have struggled to do in the regular season in the past. Hopefully they can keep it up. Their defense also looked a little bit more tight but I personally have a lot of questions after this game;

- did the Cheetahs defense really improve or were the Stormers just still struggling to score; our points came from driving mauls and teh like for the most part.
- So the Stormers are still a team struggling to put points on the board despite dominating?
- did the Stormers just lose concentration at the end? The Cheetahs were the 'hungrier' team right throughout. Also the Cheetahs improved with their bench coming up (Juan SMith, Le Roux, Viljoen) while the Stormers didn't.
-what the hell was Habana thinking? (kneeing Viljoen in the face in a warm up!)

Both teams had a lot of classy players not on the field (more so the Stormers IMO). I suppose the game only served as a leg stretcher.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

So the Bulls beat the Lions in their first warm-up game 38-32 against the Lions who beat the Cheetahs and Russia the previous weeks.

The Cheetahs beat the Stormers 27-26 with Juan Smith making a short appearance for the Cheetahs.

if these games are anything to go by, it's clear that all the teams are going with the expansive route, scoring tries instead of penalties.

This weekend I will be at the stadium for the Bulls vs Cheetahs game in my home town, so finally something to look forward to...

Apart from the Stormers

I do think we'll improve though and the Cheetahs at Bloem aren't push overs. Our big name players also didn't fire (Habana, De Jongh and Aplon looked flat and Etzebeth and Vermeulen didn't have their usual intensity) but I suppose that's to be expected in a no-consequence match. Schreuder is even worse than Duvenhage. What is it going to take fro Groom to start at 9 for us!?

I was very impressed with some of the up-and-commers in both matches though. Are Pollard and Serfontein going to feature for the junior Bokke again or are the Bulls going to keep them tight if you know?

 

[Gena_ZA]

The games are intense pracices only, never read to much in them.
Cheethas used rolling subs and 28 players so this is just to test combinations out

Thought the Bulls team the best of all in their first outing and Jan Serfontein to become the new Danie Gerber of SA rugby

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

The games are intense pracices only, never read to much in them.
Cheethas used rolling subs and 28 players so this is just to test combinations out

Thought the Bulls team the best of all in their first outing and Jan Serfontein to become the new Danie Gerber of SA rugby

Serfontein has to be a certainty for the EoYT IMO. Question is who will join him. JdJ and Steyn are still young enough looking forward, JdV might still be around and Fourie has stated that he'll be pushing for Bok berth again while we have other youngsters who'll also be pushing hard this year in the form of Jordaan and if they get time Howard and Whitehead.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Guys don't get ahead of yourselves too early...

This will be Serfontein's first Super Rugby Season. Wynand Olivier will still be the first pick at 12 most probably, and a warm-up game is nothing to go by. Wait for the tournament to begin and for the tough games to be played before we make such big calls.

I'm excited about the season starting, but we need to go in with clear heads...

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Guys don't get ahead of yourselves too early...

This will be Serfontein's first Super Rugby Season. Wynand Olivier will still be the first pick at 12 most probably, and a warm-up game is nothing to go by. Wait for the tournament to begin and for the tough games to be played before we make such big calls.

I'm excited about the season starting, but we need to go in with clear heads...

Party pooper. I agree with you but with some guys the class is just too apparent to ignore.