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Posted on 30 July 2012 by aVanz

The past weekend’s semi-finals produced some spectacular rugby. Congratulations to the Sharks and the Chiefs who have booked their spots in this year’s Super Rugby final.

As a Stormers’ fan, I always backed my team for the win, but I was very concerned about facing the Sharks in the week building up to the semi’s. Once again the Sharks came and rained on the Stormers’ parade. I’m dissappointed, yet losing in the semi’s is probably better than losing in the final again, because the Chiefs, I think, would have smashed us and exploited this defensive gameplan “we” choose to employ.

We had our chances to seal the victory at the end, even if we once again didn’t deserve to win the game, it looked as if we could sneak it, but some decisions led to the Stormers ONCE AGAIN kicking away possession of the ball after only a few phases of attack and not knowing what else to do. Let’s face it, the Stormers looked good with ball in hand, why not play like that from the beginning? This has been my question for so long throughout this season, why Allister and company still insisted on the defensive mindset and playing ugly rugby to “win”. Well, newsflash Allister !!! Read the papers, the Stormers played unattractive rugby and that leads to unattractive results, crashing out of the competition.

You could see in the post-match interviews, when asked about the Stormers’ inability to score tries and will they change the way they play going forward, then Allister almost started crying, because his plan didn’t work out. Should have listened to everybody that have been trying to give them advice… STORMERS play some rugby for once, get a backline coach…

Yes, defence is big part of the game, and very crucial if you need it in tight games, but every single match we played throughout 2012, we made it a close game because of this defensive mindset. The Sharks have figured us out, they were tired, yet still they came and conquered, because they came to Newlands to play some rugby, good rugby, attractive & attacking rugby. Good going Sharks, well done !!

If there is a team the Stormers can look at for some attacking flair, it’s the Sharks. Like Allister said… lessons learnt…… well, hopefully!! We will see if Western Province will start to look at a different style come the Currie Cup, which sees this year’s campaign kick-off against this very Sharks’ team…

With the Sharks being boosted by the likes of Patrick Lambie and Paul Jordaan for the trip overseas, to face the Chiefs, I think if travelling doesn’t play such a big part, the Sharks will have the guns to finish off the Chiefs. For SA Rugby, I hope the Sharks can do it, and I hope they can claim the trophy and bring it home…

The bigger picture….

Will Heynecke be choosing the right players for the Rugby Championship, or will he stick with the Bulls that have been very poor this season? If he uses the right players and combinations, we will have a very strong team, and will definitely be in with a shout. But time will tell, who he will pick in his squad…

A very strong possible starting XV for the Springboks:

15. Gio Aplon 14. JP Petersen 13. Jean De Villiers (c) 12. Francois Steyn 11. Bryan Habana 10. Patrick Lambie 9. Francois Hougaardt 8. Willem Alberts 7. Marcel Coetzee 6. Heinrich Brussow 5. Andries Bekker 4. Eben Etzebeth 3. Jannie Du Plessis 2. Bismarck Du Plessis 1. Tendai Mtawarira

( 8 Sharks, 5 Stormers, 1 Cheetah & 1 Bull)

Make the call

Posted on 25 July 2012 by aVanz

The Semi-finals of this year’s Super Rugby tournament is drawing closer and the players and coaching staff are hoping they check all the boxes in preparation for the knock-out games – A whole season of hard work now comes down to… win or go home.

First up, Chiefs vs. Crusaders at Waikato Stadium on Friday. This will be cracker, with both teams playing real good rugby.

However, it seems as if the Chiefs maybe took the foot off the accelerator the past couple of rounds having lost their last two match-ups, against the Crusaders and Hurricanes. The Crusaders have shown in previous seasons that they hit top gear at just the right time of the competition, and this year is no different. Daniel Carter is playing awesome rugby again after the injury, maybe even a little better. I will have to say that Dan Carter will outplay Aaron Cruden and play a big part in the Crusaders winning the first semi-final of the weekend.

Secondly, we have the all South African semi-final with the two big coastal rivals packing down against each other on Saturday afternoon. It will be a hard fought battle and maybe the winning team might only be able to snatch victory by a moment of brilliance.

I don’t think that either team will run away it. The Sharks have to travel, which my see them looking a bit fatigued come the last 10 to 15 mins. With Eben Etzebeth back in the steam room will help our scrumming, as we desperately need to stop the momentum of those Sharks forwards who are in excellent form. If we manage to stop them upfront and put them under pressure we are definitely going to see Newlands host their first ever Super Rugby Final.

The Stormers’ team to face the Sharks:

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. Deon Fourie, 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. Andries Bekker, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Tiaan Liebenberg, 1. Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16. Frans Malherbe, 17. Deon Carstens, 18. De Kock Steenkamp, 19. Don Armand, 20. Louis Schreuder, 21. Burton Francis, 22. Gerhard van den Heever

With Deon Fourie being able to cover the hooker position from no. 8 allows the Stormers to have two props on the bench, this might prove vital late in the second half to be able to bring on two fresh props instead of just one. I have my concerns regarding a possible upset by the Sharks but I will always back my team for the win.

My prediction for the Super Rugby Final…

Therefore, my weekend’s winning picks: Crusaders by 9 , Stormers by 4

One more to go…

Posted on 9 July 2012 by aVanz

With Super Round 17 concluded, the Stormers record yet another win, ugly and low on entertainment value, yet once again proven to be effective in a very cold, wet and rain-drenched Bloemfontein.

With the weather prediction and heavy rain in the build-up to kick off it was never really considered easy to score a try and the four try bonus point had to, once again, take a back seat…

But still, securing the second consecutive Conference Cup.

It was a battle of the flyhalves and the kicking game was deployed by both teams, it was always going to be a match where you only try play some rugby in the right parts the field and capitalising on the mistakes of your opponent.

The only thing that bothers me, is the lack of intensity and unforced errors made by Stormers on the attack. Yes, it was terrible conditions, yes, it was always going to be tough, but the 10 minutes after half-time when the rain briefly stopped, we tried to make the best of that situation, but we could not breach the Cheetahs’ defence, we were camping in their the 22m area and after 10 minutes settled for the 3 pointer. It’s not like we were up against the best defence… we’re simply lacking that confidence of crossing the whitewash and I hope that this doesn’t come back to bite us.

It must also be said that Heinrich Brussow is a machine, the way he stole the ball on the ground, his general play as well as defence was outstanding. He seems pissed off being left out the Springbok squad for the England Test Series and definitely showing what he can bring to the table come the Rugby Championship. I clearly remember that big hit he put in on Rynhardt Elstadt.

Contributing factors that we couldn’t score tries, besides the weather conditions, were the fact that for the second week in a row, against the lower ranked teams, got a scrumming lesson and we were out-muscled in the breakdowns and contact situations. These were areas of the game that we dominated in previous rounds and crucial to our game-plan, so are the Stormers now starting to battle keeping up their intensity?

I think we need to start considering alternatives in our half-back pairing, or is it simply the game-plan that makes them look so ordinary? But in my opinion, we are in desperate need of a worldclass scrum half. Peter Grant had a better game and always solid off the kicking tee, but the man of the match award I would’ve given to Heinrich Brussow. After losing Handre Pollard to the Blue Bulls and Peter Grant jetting off to Japan again at the completion of the tournament where does that leave WP? Demetri Catrakilis was playing such good rugby in the Vodacom Cup, why wasn’t he even given the opportunity at Super Rugby level this year?

The Stormers now have a big couple of weeks ahead come the play-offs and have to deal with losing another loose-forward in Jebb Sinclair, who won’t be eligible to play in any of the matches. Tough ask winning the competition from here, but we have shown what we can do, I just hope we don’t need to start playing catch-up rugby.

A big thanks to the Crusaders for doing us a favour against the Chiefs and thanks to the Sharks for smashing the Bulls in an awesome display of attacking rugby. These results making it 7 from 7 for my Superbru

Super Play-offs looming

Posted on 4 July 2012 by aVanz

With the Super Rugby playoffs now only two rounds away, its really starting to get congested at the top of the table, with teams fighting it out to claim one of the top six places on the log for a play-off berth.

As the log currently stands:
# TEAM Pts
1 Chiefs 62 NZC Leader
2 Stormers 58 SAC Leader
3 Brumbies 54 AC Leader
4 Bulls 54 Wildcard
5 Crusaders 52 Wildcard
6 Hurricanes 49 Wildcard
7 Reds 49
8 Sharks 49
9 Highlanders 45
10 Cheetahs 37
11 Waratahs 34
12 Rebels 29
13 Force 27
14 Blues 23
15 Lions 20

Lets start with Chiefs, four points ahead of the Stormers, but still two very tough remaining fixtures, first up this weekend against the Crusaders in Hamilton and then having to travel to face the Hurricanes in Wellington. Two losses for the Chiefs will help the Stormers out tremendously in efforts to win our maiden Super Rugby title, by securing a home semi-final and final, should we reach top place. The Stormers remaining fixtures is relatively easier with the Cheetahs away in Bloemfontein and then at home against the Rebels. But the Cheetahs could also possibly cause an upset, mainly because of their poor first half against the Bulls last weekend, then a better second half, so they will want to set things right.

Third is the Brumbies, Jake White has done well with this young team, and they still play the Waratahs in Sydney and then back home to face the Blues. The Waratahs and Blues are experiencing dissappointing seasons, could possibly cause upsets against the Brumbies, but with the conference system the Brumbies look set for a play-off spot.

The Bulls, second in the SA Conference, occupy fourth place on the log, they will be facing a very determined Sharks team, they could still sneak into the top six should they beat the Bulls in Durban, then have to play the Cheetahs at home as well. With Frans Steyn also back in the starting line-up for the Sharks, they should be playing some good rugby. I will back the Sharks to take the win against the Bulls this weekend, probably by about 3 points.

The Crusaders’ remaining fixture after the Chiefs, will be against the Force at home, which shouldn’t trouble them too much. Another crunch match-up will be the Reds vs. Highlanders, as the Hurricanes, Reds, Sharks and Highlanders will be slugging it out for the final play-off spot.

So I would think the top six places will go to the Stormers, Chiefs, Brumbies, Bulls, Sharks, Crusaders or possibly Hurricanes

The competition is now starting to get very interesting and this weekend’s matches look to be crucial for all the teams.

My weekend’s winning picks: Crusaders by 4, Reds by 6, Sharks by 3, Blues by 10, Brumbies by 7, Stormers by 11, Lions by 5

Super Break Over !!

Posted on 27 June 2012 by aVanz

This will be my first post on the new WordPress format… I must say, there are loads of features and settings I first had to change, I’m still struggling a bit to get the custom background and headers uploaded, not sure if anyone else has this problem with uploading media files…

With the June internationals now behind us and going into the last stretch of the Super Rugby tournament, it sure does look good for the Stormers, currently sitting in 2nd position on the combined log and 1st in the SA Conference. Should the Stormers be able to come back strong after the June break and record a win against the Lions, will just strengthen our position and probably make the SA Conference a done deal, making it 2 consecutive SA Conference Trophies.

The Stormers should be well rested and eager to get back on the field, so too, the Lions will be looking to build on the performance against the Sharks. We all know the Lions’ ability, if they decide to play a good game then they can upset any opposition team, but with all the politics and bad player / coach relationships at Lions currently, I think they will be beaten even before running onto the field, but the other side of the coin, they might come out firing and well motivated. But a win against the Lions will make the job easier, seeing the Stormers still have to play away against the Cheetahs.

The only area where the Stormers might struggle is in the loose trio, with Schalk Burger & Nick Koster out longer than initially anticipated. They should be okay if Siya Kolisi & Jebb Sinclair are joined by a guy like Pieter Louw, the question is what do we do in the playoff stages, because then Jebb & Pieter won’t be eligible to play. Reports say that Andries Bekker have made a good recovery and knowing how Allister Coetzee has been playing Bekker every game, he will probably be selected again in the starting XV, hopefully its not pushing him back in action too soon. Only time will tell if Bekker is a hundred percent or still carrying the injury.

My weekend’s winning picks: Chiefs by 10, Reds by 8, Crusaders by 12, Brumbies by 9, Stormers by 10, Bulls by 4