Talking Sports like gals do shopping

Eventhough I think that the Stormers still carry their fate in their own hands, 2 SA teams & 2 NZ teams can really put us in a great position to atleast for a couple weeks threaten the Bulls’ top spot and also hand-off a couple of teams threatening from below. One in particular: the Crusaders. As much as they wana stay under the radar and just go about their business week in and week out, if you haven’t noticed the NZ red machine slowly but surely changing gears, then you haven’t been following Super 14 my friend. And come round 12, 13 & semis, that machine will be well-oiled and ready to dispose of anyone in their way. (I hope this blowing of smoke up their asses will let them be over-confident come their match-up with us).

The Canes haven’t been playing well and they will be gutted with their narrow loss against BMT Pienaar and the Sharks and the fact that they are only in 8^th place on the log, they are not out the competition just yet. If they should win their game against the Saders, can you imagine the confidence they’ll have for the following rounds and their win off course will only help the Stormers put a bit daylight between them and the Saders (pending the Stormers win obviously). So Go HURRICANES!!

I didn’t watch the Force / Bulls game but from watching rugby shows and talking to friends, they weren’t very convincing. As much as this might sound like playa hating (or in the Bulls case, TEAM hating) the Bulls, ever since the Waratahs game actually, have not been playing to their full potential and looks like they will lose a game sooner rather than later. Maybe that won’t be such a bad thing, maybe a loss is what they need to realize they’ll have play 80min and do some defending if they wana defend their c’ship. To their credit: A team that rocks up just for 40min and still manage to win definitely knows how to win and will be even tougher to beat should they rock up for the whole game. Having said that, just like the Canes, the Blues are also playing for a playoff spot and they’re playing at home so: Go BLUES!!!

Ok, now this far fetched, hell this isn’t even worth writing about: A depleted Cheetahs side playing away against the Tahs? Nah man, I cant see them winning so I’ll give them silent Go Cheetahs!!

The Sharks finally got a winning streak!! Hey hey hey!! Yay!! As a South African rugby fan, I’m really happy for them, coz they’ve had some tough games, tough calls & tough refs that sees them finally smiling on the 10^th spot. The Reds have always been a bogey side of the Sharks but playing at home and finally having & playing with a bit of confidence, they should see them off. Yeah it will benefit my team but really guys, If not for your fellow SA teams than do it for yourselves man!! So Go SHARKS!!!

Like I said in the beginning, the Stormers carry their hopes for semis in their own hands and eventhough the desired results above will help us, we can’t rest our laurels and MUST convincingly put away a struggling Force outfit to start off the tour on a high. So (empathically, screaming from deep inside) GO STORMERS!!!

Im outy

Well, it’s certainly a great time to be a Stormers fan right now, 2^nd on the log, the best defensive team in the Super 14 & by the looks of it, they’re becoming use to crossing the tryline too. The Bulls are obviously sitting pretty on top of the log with a game in hand but conceding almost 35 points & almost 4 tries a game is a worrying factor & considering that 3 of their 4 games were played at home, alarm bells should be going off. As entertaining as their “no-matter-how-many-points-you-score, we’ll-score-more” game is, they still have to play the teams with the better defensive records (ala Crusaders, Blues & the Stormers) & all of them away from their fortress. They face the Hurricanes this coming weekend in what I think is going to be a close but very high scoring affair. I’ll even go so far as to say that the Canes can cause an upset.

My heart goes out to the Sharks who with better luck could’ve had 2 wins in row in Australia but unfortunately hasn’t won a single game yet in this year’s competition. Something (or someone) is obviously missing but if they continue to play for pride, they could finish in the middle of the log. That 1st win is bound to come. The Lions, ai the Lions, well all I can say is they’re a young team right? You know, that old chestnut. I really like the Cheetahs and apart from this coming weekend will have my full backing against any team they’ll play. I would really like to see if they’ve turned a corner playing in Australasia where they’ve been, well pathetic really. The Stormers are looking like the real deal this season but faces a bogey Cheetahs team that always give their best performances against S A teams. Based on form the Stormers should win this one but unfortunately form counts for nothing in the SA derbies but the Stormers would not want to shoot themselves in the foot losing (touch wood) their last home game for the next 4 or 5 weeks & considering my hunch that the Canes might cause an upset in Pretoria, it could be an opportunity for them to be on top of the log (even if it is for just a week). Only 6 points separate the Bulls & the Hurricanes who is 8^th on the log so this will again be another interesting weekend ahead.

Ps: Here’s an interesting stat for my fellow Stormers fans: We all know that they’ve only conceded 4 tries in 5 games which is the least of any team in the competition. But they’ve also conceded the fewest amount of points (51) of any team in the competition. The Blues is 2^nd with 100 points conceded & the Lions last with 228.

Gaad damn, I love rugby season!!!

I’m outy!!

Another nervous Saturday awaits and as I went through my beloved Stormers squad for their match up tomorrow against the Canes & after watching Boots & All last night, I can’t help but wonder: is it too early to say.. SEMI FINAL!! I gez I’m gonna have to ask myself that question every week from now onwards because other than the Force game in Round 8, the other ones looks tricky, veeeeery tricky indeed!! The Cheetahs would wana show that last weekend was no fluke & then it’s visits to the Force, Blues, Chiefs & Reds before coming home only to face the Crusaders which by the looks of it, will be in cruise control by that time.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves because in this competition, you have to take it 80min by 80min, game by game & weekend by weekend so let’s turn our attention to the Hurricanes. I would be lying if I said if I wasn’t nervous bout this game but having said that, I don’t think it’s gonna be close one. The Canes are either gonna walk away with a 10 points or more victory coz of their attacking prowess or the Stormers are gonna win with a 10 points or more victory coz of tenacious, rock solid defence & a simple but effective game plan. The Canes will obviously be more dangerous because of their loss last week but one can almost say the same of the Stormers coz of their win last week.

We do have enough to take care of the Hurricanes and even though our backline hasn’t fired quite just yet, it’s bound to happen sooner or later. & to those Stormer fans that’s worried about Jaque Fourie try scoring or lack thereof, DON’T!! He has been the rock, the architect & the minister of the backline defense & given more time & patience, his centre combination with de Jongh will start clicking on the offensive end. Slow Mo the Fijian really impressed me last week and I hope that long it may continue. I do feel for Gio but lets see if Slow Mo can do it for us one more time. At the end of the day all I wana do come 21:00 tomorrow nite is to drink my beer, scratch my head n wonder who should be the man of the match coz of good performance by all in a Stormer jersey..

Exactly like I did, last week Saturday!! GO STORMERS!!

Im outy!!