Sport! Sport! Sport!

So I log in this morning and see that all the good writers have been removed from Blog of note and all the really shit ones added?? Am I missing something here ?

First you have H&P the arrogant little fart face who never seems to listen to anybody else’s opinions except his own . . .really what are you trying to do Mr Ed? Commit blog suicide? Chase away readers? You getting it right by putting this fool there that’s for sure

The you have 2^nd coming who basically only knows how to be sarcastic . . .WITH EVERY DAM THING HE SAYS! Besides that the guys obsessed with boobs. . .don’t know if you trying to add a bit of spice to your site but this is a sports blog not a bloody playboy forum.

The only real respectable blogger on the BON is REM . . . . .because he is a Sharks supporter, and I like sharks supporters. . . .and the Sharks, that’s why I’m a Sharks supporter, because I support the Sharks. .

Anyway thanks for the sentiment Mr Blog Ed however your loyalty will prove weak once again. . . .perhaps I decide to take a two week holiday and come back only to find out my Blog has been removed from BON. . . . .you are a backstabber Mr blog Ed but for now I salute you.

I do however question your state of mind and your intoxication levels. . .which by the looks of things could be deemed quite high as if you’ve been sitting in a pub for last dam week . .. .

Oh and thank go you’ve removed that English Twat from BON as well

Good bye

After Saturdays win over the Bulls at “fortress loftus” my confidence was high and I thought we had more than a good chance at beating the Crusaders in New Zealand but after this week my confidence has gone from hero to zero.

First the referee factor, then the travel factor then Crusaders name SBW and now the weather looks like it will play Havoc.

I will wake up for the game and watch it but I don’t know what to expect, It’s either going to be a close game with either team being able to win it or the Crusaders are going to run riot in Nelson. . . but let me say this, if the same team that pitched up for loftus pitches up at Nelson then we have a game on our hands and I honestly will then believe the Sharks can make History

As A Sharks supporter I urge all South Africans to get behind the Sharks and pray they make a huge statement to New Zealand rugby ahead of the world cup by thrashing the Saders , , ,one can but dream

Weather in Nelson :

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

13°C

5°C

11°C

5°C

13°C

2°C

12°C

4°C

This graph thing is a bit intoxicated but It basically states that it is raining today and tomorrow and it will be light rain on Saturday. . . . .so it looks like the boys will be playing in wet conditions. . . . .does this favour The Sharks?

This is a brilliant article, although Biased Bulls and Stormers supporters will not agree, I’ve known for some time that Lambie is the best FH in South Africa. . . .and by a long shot

Article here

The best flyhalf in South Africa wasn’t even playing flyhalf on Saturday.

Patrick Lambie spent most of Saturday night at fullback for the Sharks. Freddie Michalak was preferred at No10 on the night.

Durban’s favourite French-man can be flakey at times, but Saturday night wasn’t one of those. He coolly dropped a goal and spent the rest of the time dazzling the Bulls and the fans with some of his exceptional rugby skills.

For a must-win game like this, Sharks coach John Plumtree had taken something of a risk playing Michalak, so soon after his arrival from Europe, ahead of Lambie. “Plum’s” demeanour is always that of a man in a state of permanent anxiety, but it has never stopped him gambling with selections.

If Lambie was disappointed at being usurped by the man from Toulouse, it didn’t show. What was revealed yet again was Lambie’s versatility. He’s a World Cup shoo-in, no matter whom Peter de Villiers prefers as the first choice at flyhalf for New Zealand. A player who can fill in almost anywhere in a backline is worth his weight in gold to a team on tour, where injuries will always be a factor.

Saturday night’s game was no ordinary one either. It would be season-over for whoever lost and the Bulls had just come off a six-match winning streak that had included a win over the Sharks at King’s Park and one against the Stormers at Newlands. Surely they couldn’t lose, not at their Fortress Loftus?

But with Saturday night’s decider in the balance almost up to the end, and Michalak briefly out of the line, Lambie quickly moved into first five-eighth. It was like a Joburg rush-hour driver suddenly finding a gap in the traffic on the acceleration line. He didn’t even need to indicate.

Lambie made a telling break, fed Ryan Kankowski, who had to do a bit of work shrugging off some Bulls defenders before setting up Lwazi Mvovo for a match-winning try in the corner. It needed a player of Mvovo’s speed to wrap it up, but it was Lambie’s try as much as the little winger’s.

Both Lambie and Mvovo will go to the World Cup in September, but it’s not clear if the flyhalf will be the coach’s first choice. Morne Steyn is as much De Villiers’s man as is John Smit.

That’s not to say Steyn does not deserve his place. The Bulls pivot was superb against the Stormers at Newlands two Saturdays ago. It wasn’t just his goalkicking, although with four penalties and a conversion of Francois Hougaard’s try, that did make a difference. It was his kicking out of hand, as Springbok Dave Stewart pointed out to me when I spoke to him yesterday about our possible World Cup flyhalves.

Indeed, Steyn’s garryowens that night were so high they might have been visible from Devil’s Peak. Catching those up-and-unders can be a bugger, and the Stormers dropped two that I counted.

Few will begrudge De Villiers for opting for Steyn at a World Cup, but the Bulls man – for all his obvious skills – lacks the sense of adventure and daring that is clearly part of Lambie’s make-up. And what is sport if not an adventure?

Stewart also points out that for De Villiers to choose Lambie ahead of Steyn there needs to be a buy-in from the entire team, an understanding that the Springboks will attempt to play creative rugby rather than the stagnant stuff that won us the last World Cup.

That would be like Julius Malema favouring the free market over nationalisation. It just ain’t gonna happen. But that doesn’t mean Lambie is not the best flyhalf in South Africa.

Wow what a fucking match, I’m still sloshed from this weekend but dam what a game! I have honestly never been to a rugby game that good, the rugby on display was perfect! Brilliant!

Just a few observations :

Lambie will go to the world cup and set the scene alight, I have no doubt of this

I wish Michalak was a South African

Morne Steyn’s Bok position is in Danger, Lambie will sooner or later be a regular Springbok.

Keegan Daniel is top class and has the ability to shock the opposition

Kanko should never have been overlooked by the Springbok coach, he was superb on Saturday

JP is the best wing in South Africa at the moment

The Sharks were written off before this game. They will be written off again against the Crusaders. . . .but write them off at your own peril. .. .these boys are on sa mission.

Oh and mark my word the Bulls will be back

Good article I read this morning :

THIS was the 80-minute performance Sharks coaches John Plumtree and Grant Bashford had demanded. This was the reason so many believe the Sharks are SA’s premier side. This was a Saturday night when players did their talent justice and delivered for themselves and their loyal support base.

The Sharks required something monumental to beat the Bulls at home and they produced a colossal effort to end the Bulls’ charge for a third successive Super Rugby title.

The winning margin flattered the hosts, who scored in the 39th minute and the 78th minute to threaten the miracle of escape . But the Sharks were not to be denied the rewards of a performance that combined brute force with the wizardry of French flyhalf Frederic Michalak, the poise of fullback Pat Lambie and the power running of wing JP Pietersen.

The Sharks’ attack was the best it has been this season because the forwards won the collisions, the set phase was strong, and Michalak and Lambie offered so much variation in their roles.

The Sharks lack a midfield and second row of international class, but at Loftus every player exceeded expectations and some may spend their careers seeking another such performance.

To beat the Bulls in Pretoria the opposition players have to sustain an intensity that is unrelenting. The Sharks did this and the hardened hosts didn’t quite have the pedigree to resist.

Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha and Fourie du Preez ended their Bulls careers with defeat — the Bulls’ third in Pretoria this season — but these legends of the game did not go quietly. Botha provided early thrust and confrontation. Matfield was desperate and dutiful and Du Preez’s introduction in the final quarter didn’t give him enough time to influence the result.

The Bulls gave it everything and this was a match won by the Sharks and not lost by the Bulls. The better side on the night won. The Sharks forwards did the job and with a stable and consistent platform, flyhalf Michalak’s game management helped define the result.

Lambie certainly ensured his place in the Springbok World Cup squad as a utility player. He is good, whether he wears 10, 12 or 15, and Pietersen is playing even better than he did in 2007.

It was a brilliant night for South African rugby and again reinforces the optimism that a successful Springbok Rugby World Cup defence is possible.

The Stormers’ win in Bloemfontein was never going to match the Sharks’ victory for drama and intensity and it all seemed a little after the fact.

Not that it was any less impressive: the reshaped backline delivered the expectant result and Bryan Habana even managed to get over for a try.

Peter Grant’s return at flyhalf gave the Stormers direction and their attack was more fluid and decisive. Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie, Gio Aplon, Duane Vermeulen, Andries Bekker and Schalk Burger were at the forefront of everything and Francois Louw again ruled the breakdown. Louw’s international fall from grace is not justified and you won’t convince me that he doesn’t belong in a Bok training squad, at the very least.

The Stormers, with a home semifinal in a fortnight, have the easier route to a final, with the Sharks in New Zealand this weekend against the Crusaders.

The international travel in this competition means every home team starts with an advantage, but you would have to be pretty one-eyed not to acknowledge the incredible journey of the Crusaders to win the New Zealand Conference. They haven’t played a match in Christchurch because of the earthquakes that destroyed their city and claimed the lives of many of their friends.

The romantics would want to gift them the title, but the Sharks have never been known to romance the opposition and that match will be the highlight of the weekend’s play-offs.

The Blues, at home, should beat the Waratahs, who never travel well to New Zealand, and the conservatives would pick a Reds versus Blues semifinal in Brisbane and a second visit of the season to Cape Town from the Crusaders.

The tournament organisers will believe they got the format right as two teams from every conference qualified and the play-off finalists were determined only in the last weekend of the regular season. The crowds in SA and Australia have never been bigger and television audiences have also improved.

The rugby, though, hasn’t matched the hype around the tournament expansion.

Matches like the Sharks’ win against the Bulls have been too rare in a Super Rugby season that combined too little of the exceptional with too much of the mediocre.

Saturday is the day or D-day for myself and every single other fanatic Sharks supporter out there, in fact it’s also D-day for the loftus faithful as the Bulls and Sharks go head to head in what is going to be an absolute cracker of a game . . . and I’ll be there, with my box ticket to watch the game.

I already have the mindset that the Waratahs are going to beat the Brumbies, of course having said that I will still be keeping an extremely close eye on Saturday morning’s game, in fact I lie, I’ll be watching the game from beginning to end and will probably have no nails left after the game because let’s be honest if the Brumbies beat the Tahs it would feel as if a massive weight has been lifted off the Sharks supporters shoulders.

Of course we can but hope and the probable outcome is that the game of the weekend (Bulls Vs. Sharks) will see the loser get knocked out of this year’s super 15 competition. Do I believe the Sharks can do it? Of course I do. I found Rob’s article yesterday very interesting and I agree with him, If the Sharks big names can all play together well in sync they can down any team on the planet and that’s fact. If the Sharks stars including the likes of Beast, Bismarck, Michalak, Lambie, Alberts, Kankowski, Deysel, JP pietersen, Mvovo and McLeod can all work together and put on a massive performance I have no doubt that the Sharks could smash the Bulls (as did they in the Currie cup semi final)

A few stats regarding the results :

The Bulls have won 47.06 % of their games against the Sharks in the History of Super Rugby

8 of these games have been played at loftus, The Sharks have only one 3 times with one draw

Since 1997 the winning margin between these two teams has never been more than 15

There are three things I believe will win this game :

Possession

Goal kicking

Handling errors

Any team can win on the day. . . . .but who will ?

My prediction : Bulls by 5 . . . . unfortunately

I’ll be licking my chops throughout the 80 minutes and I’m sure most of you will too

Cheers

So in two months I will be leaving South Africa (beautiful country) to peruse a better business opportunity in Holland, Amsterdam. I will live there for 6 months before returning to South Africa for two weeks and then will permanently move to London to further my career and to hunt Kitchener down and expose his true Identity. While the money is good and travelling Europe has its benefits I can’t help but think that I am going to leave The one thing that I truly treasure in life at the moment (now that my Fiancé’ and I split for good) is my Sport, my Tennis, my cricket and my rugby.

Not sure If anyone has been to the Netherlands that can help me with trying to find out a way to watch rugby there as unfortunately I will be out of the Country by the time the world cup starts, and travelling to France to watch all the games is just a silly option. Then what about the Currie Cup and my beloved Sharks ? where will I watch them?

The Depression hasn’t hit home yet but surely it will soon, what about Australia in South Africa to play the Proteas ?

Oh no . . . . .whatever shall I do

I’m sorry, say what you want, this man is our future Springbok Flyhalf, brilliant play by Pat this weekend, I think he has now proved that he is the best Flyhalf in South Africa without a doubt. I don’t think SA has had such a brilliant FH since Joubert/Montgomery. He is pure class and he is definitely our Future FH. Say what you want but Lambie is the way of the future

Don’t know if any of you have seen the Ed’s latest post, but I honest think it’s a brilliant Idea! And there is no Sarcasm in this. What he is doing is interviewing the bloggers over the next few weeks. I think Pauljay is up first

Can you imagine the results of some of the Interview ?

Spectre

Inlhanzi AKA 2^nd coming

Kitchener!!!

And so much more that I’ll be looking forward 2!

Great stuff Sport24. . . . knew you had it in you

I’m closing the pool off at precisely 5pm Today so if you haven’t joined yet then get your ass over to

www.superbru.com and join.

I’ve always been very competitive in the Superbru Currie Cup, in fact since 2008 I’ve been crowned champion every year in at least one of my pools. I think it’s a great way for all the bloggers to compete at some level. So far there are 21 players in the pool and I’m sure we can do better than that.

I’m going to put a lot more effort into it this time and will do a weekly post on a Monday morning regarding how the players did that week and who the top players are and a whole lot of other shit. So if you don’t have a damn Superbru account then go and create one cause you missing out on loads of fun.

Here are the details for the pool again :

Come join my Currie Cup prediction game on SuperBru! It’s free and loads of fun. Just click here:

http://www.superbru.com/curriecup/pool.asp?p=174051

Pool name: Sport24 Bloggers Cup

Pool code: cutslash

This is my original piece of writing I took an entire night to come up with it, but this morning I woke up and to my horror my window was smashed and my article gone and in its place a stamp that read : “JJ was here”

What a plagiarist!!!

Anyway I’ll repost it here. . . . . . bloody sport24 writers :

Sherifff

When do uncontested scrums become cheating? I was wondering about this when the Waratahs were forced into this option in their Vodacom Super Rugby match against the Bulls last week.

The Aussies lost Benn Robinson early due to an ankle injury and he was replaced by Paddy Ryan. It wasn’t long before Ryan cried off due to a shoulder injury and uncontested scrums became compulsory, due to safety precautions.

There was no doubt in my mind that Ryan was faking the injury. The fact of the matter was that he seemed very, very uncomfortable packing against Werner Kruger. He conceded two penalties in the first three scrums and soon after left the field, clutching a shoulder.

At the time, the Bulls had raced into a 20-6 lead but after that, and with no scrums to tap the visitors’ energy, they came back strongly and almost stole the match.

This was not the first time it’s happened (uncontested scrums) and as long as the current laws are in place, it will not be the last.
 
Safety should be the main concern in any scrum and the whole ‘crouch-yawn-touch-yawn-pause-yawn-engage’ sequence has managed to do that.
 
Unfortunately, this does open the door for some tactical manipulation and you will often find that when a prop picks up an injury early in the game, uncontested scrums seem inevitable, especially if the replacement prop plays in his less favoured position.

Then it becomes a bit of a farce and as happened in the Bulls v Waratahs match, both teams soon substituted their other prop as well and replaced them with more mobile loose forwards.

This is not ideal and in reality if SANZAR want more spectators at matches, they should prevent the mismatches which are caused by uncontested scrums.

The only way to go about solving the problem is by having another prop on the bench. This course of action has been used in the French Top 14 for a couple of seasons already.

It’s good to see Reds coach, Ewen McKenzie, asking for the same thing. As a former Test prop, he knows how valuable scrums are in a rugby match and the fact that he coached in France where player 23 was the norm, made him see the benefits of rewarding a strong scrum.

McKenzie feels SANZAR should follow the example of French rugby.

“I enjoyed coaching in France (Stade Francais) where they have 23-man squads with an extra prop,” he told the Australian Associated Press (AAP).

“They had a lot of uncontested scrum situations happening and then they changed it and it tidied it up very quickly. It’s a model that works well in Europe and it will be interesting if they look at it from a SANZAR point of view.”

Bulls captain, Victor Matfield, also asked for the extra prop to be added.

“I played in France (Toulon) and it worked really well. Nobody wants uncontested scrums as it changes the whole complexity of the game. In our case against the Waratahs, it certainly shifted the momentum back to them.”

McKenzie also sees it as a development tool.

“It was a great tool to be able to expose and develop, particularly young props, as you can have that 23rd player as a young prop and you can introduce them into the game so they get experience, otherwise they go in cold at some point,” he said.

If instituted, we will of course suddenly see an explosion of props on the rugby scene. As things are presently, props, especially tightheads, can demand huge pay cheques because of their standing in the game.

Another one on the bench will not necessarily mean massive expenses for a team, as there are many young props around. A lot of them, incidentally, play in Europe.

I recently met Saracens prop, Petrus du Plessis, who was out here to play for the Premier XV in their match against the SA Kings.

He was of course, one of the ‘exiles’ coming back to play in front of his own people. The three props in that game were Du Plessis, Rayno Gerber and Danie Saayman. We have dozens more plying their trade abroad and if player (prop) 23 is added, many of those will have an option to come home.

It was interesting to hear Du Plessis and Gerber, who plays at Stade Francais, comparing notes and how techniques differ from those in South Africa. Both agreed that scrums in Europe take up more time and therefore require a different technique.

In Super Rugby it is all about the ‘hit’, then a small shove and off you go.
 
In Europe you have counter shoves and for that, they explained, props, especially tightheads, need to stay up longer. All very interesting to hear and see, but worth nothing in a local sense, because we have an escape clause… called uncontested scrums.

If we sort that out, our scrums will be a better product, rugby matches will stay a contest despite injuries and we will broaden the base of some of the most important players on the field.

Read Sherifff every Sunday in the Pub.

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