The SPORTS-MAN is BACK - SUPER 15 FINAL PREDICTIONS...!

I was very busy with some other work and personal projects for the last month or so, but will be back with Sporting Updates, posting of Results and more...!

We start off with next week-ends Semi-Fanals of the 2011 Super 15 competition. The Stormers will be facing a very tough encounter with the NZ Crusaders, while the Reds take on the unpredictable Blues team.

Robbie Deans, successful coach from New Zealand and past coach of the Crusaders, has this to say and has a prediction on the first semi-final encounters of the new Super 15 competition:

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Super15



The Reds and Stormers, having rested their weary bodies for a week while their rivals slugged it out in the playoffs, will have the confidence of favourites looking forward to next week's Super rugby semi-finals.


The seven-times champion Crusaders rounded out the last four line-up with Saturday's victory over the Sharks and their incredible journey will now take them back to South Africa to face the Stormers next weekend.
The Blues, three-times champions, earned the shorter trip to Brisbane for their semi-final with Friday's win over the Waratahs but will face the top-ranked side in the competition in Ewen McKenzie's Reds.


The Crusaders, denied a single proper home match this season by February's deadly earthquake in Christchurch, have been knocked out at the semi-final stage on South African soil for three of the last four years.
Next Saturday, however, it will not be their nemesis the Bulls who stand in the way to the final but the Cape Town-based Stormers, who have built their success this season on tough tackling and stingy defence.
Stormers coach Allister Coetzee watched with interest as the Sharks enjoyed some early success against the Crusaders in Saturday's match in Nelson before going down 36-8.


"If you can execute the double hits and maintain the pressure, you can break the Crusaders' momentum," he told South Africa's Sunday Times. "The Sharks' performance gave us things to look at and it just reminded how important it is to be aggressive in the tackle.
"I think we have the firepower to contest with them. Besides, we are playing at Newlands and there is going to be an amazing atmosphere."


The Crusaders will take confidence from their 20-14 victory at Newlands in round 12 and also look likely to be able to recall totemic All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw to the fray after his recovery from a foot injury.
"It's still not quite 100 percent but it's certainly a lot better than it was last time I played. Having those couple of weeks off was the right thing to do," flanker McCaw told Fairfax media at Nelson airport on Sunday.
"They'll be hurting from what happened that first time, they've had a week off to freshen up, and we've just got to make sure we meet their physicality. That's what we did last time and how we got on top."


The Reds also enjoyed beating their semi-final opponents in the regular season, running out 37-31 winners in a top-of-the-table clash in Brisbane in mid-May.
The Blues then went on to lose their next three matches to plummet down the standings before recovering to reach the playoffs and then beating the injury-ravaged Waratahs 26-13 at Eden Park last Friday.
Although the Reds' backline talent, spearheaded by halfbacks Will Genia and Quade Cooper, remain their likely match-winnners, McKenzie has added a competitive pack and teak-tough defence this year.
Blues coach Pat Lam, who may regret decrying all-Australian Super rugby as "schoolboy stuff" compared to the "war" of New Zealand encounters, is confident his team will be well prepared.


"The Reds are the top team and we came up short last time we were there so it's important we have good preparation for this game," he said. "The excitement of playoff rugby is big and we're looking forward to it."
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans, whose five titles with the Crusaders make him the most successful coach in the competition's history, is, however, expecting a Reds-Stormers final in Brisbane on July 9.


"The Stormers are well placed as the Reds are to win it," Deans said. "Those two sides have the best opportunity to win ... there's no doubt the fact they don't have to travel is significant. No side has ever travelled to Africa and back and won."

STORMERS BYE COMES AT THE RIGHT TIME...

DHL Stormers coach Allister Coetzee feels that his team’s Vodacom Super Rugby bye has arrived at exactly the right time to ward off the mounting attrition rate after a tough opening eight weeks and is confident his team will be at full muster when they start the second half of the competition against the Sharks

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby.

The Newlands match 12 days from now is a massive one for both teams as Coetzee says it could amount to an eight point swing on the conference log. While a top two place on the overall log that would clinch a home semi-final is important, his team’s priority right now is to win the South African conference – and a win over the Sharks will give his side a big enough lead to significantly strengthen his team’s chances of achieving that objective.

Fortunately for Coetzee he is expecting all the players who missed the recent clash with the MTN Lions through injury back for the coastal derby, and that includes Springbok centre Jean de Villiers, who has been out of rugby since the first round Sharks match with a groin injury.

With Juan de Jongh not quite repeating over 80 minutes the form that he showed in his first full season in the top flight last year, De Villiers’ absence has been sorely felt by the Stormers in their last two matches, and not having him there has had a big impact on their attacking game.

De Villiers was a pivotal figure in the Stormers attacking game on their most profitable day of the season so far, which was the six try rout of the Western Force. His presence and his influence was missed both against the Reds and in the most recent match against the Lions.

But while Coetzee is excited about the prospect of having De Villiers and flyhalf Peter Grant, who is also expected back after missing the Lions game because of a knee injury, back in the key decision-making axis, he knows there will be a question mark over De Villiers’ ability to immediately pick up the form he was displaying when he was injured.

By the time the Sharks game arrives, De Villiers would not have played for four weeks, and Coetzee knows that could mean there will be a bit of rust to shake off, something that the Springbok cannot afford in such an important game

REDS COACH 'Compliments' STORMERS...

Cape Town – There were no points gained for the Stormers, but their brains trust at least got a compliment from Reds coach Ewen McKenzie when he explained how the Cape side’s first defeat at Newlands in more than 13 months had been plotted.

“We studied the Stormers’ defence throughout the off-season. Our defence coach, Matt Taylor, just about did a thesis on it,” McKenzie said after his side’s convincing 19-6 Vodacom Super Rugby victory.

“When you do that you gain a good idea of where the opportunities might open up. We did not convert it into tries, but turned it into field position.”

McKenzie’s revelation is in itself a compliment for the Stormers coaching staff as the team has been leading the way in at least one area of the game for more than a season now.

However, a defeat like Saturday’s also raises some difficult questions. The Stormers’ two yellow cards – Duane Vermeulen in the 9th minute and Deon Fourie in the 67th – points to poor discipline.

Secondly, the Reds gave a tactical masterclass and thanks to smart kicking set up camp in Stormers territory during crucial periods.
The Stormers did well for 25 or so minutes after the break, but lost momentum.

Much has been said about the Crusaders and Stormers being so-called favourites for the tournament, but the Reds are a very impressive side.

Generally attacking play is a non-negotiable for them, but it was noticeable that they adapted and played a more conservative game.

The halfback pairing of Will Genia and Quade Cooper oozes class and will become a major factor in world rugby. That’s if Cooper’s agent does not convince him to abdicate to rugby league from next year.

“We have learned an important lesson over the past 12 months. You can run with the ball, but will struggle against a team that defends really well,” said McKenzie.

“We developed the ability to play for field position when necessary. Obviously we respect the Stormers’ defence. The tactic of playing for field position was always one we could fall back on. We ran with the ball early in the game, but tried to put it in the corners after that.

“But any kick has to be supported by good defence and I’m very happy with how we defended.”

The two yellow cards also took a toll on the Stormers. They handled the loss of Vermeulen quite well, but a team inevitably loses some of its momentum and other players end up having to work harder.

It’s probably debatable whether Vermeulen was really guilty of punching – it appeared as if he was trying to rid himself of an opponent who was holding onto him.

Fourie, however, was guilty of a blatant trip. Cooper then stretched the lead to 12-6 and the knockout blow came with a try from a five-metre scrum by centre Mike Harris.

STORMERS GETTING READY FOR 3rd ON THE LOG REDS...!

The high-flying Reds will put the DHL Stormers' unbeaten six-match run to the test in the feature match of this weekend's Vodacom Super Rugby series.

The Reds are coming off an unbeaten sequence of four games and lie in third place behind the southern hemisphere provincial championship pacesetters heading into Saturday's crunch match in Cape Town.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby

The Stormers, last year's runners-up, have been in terrific early-season form with wins over rivals, Sharks and Bulls, but this weekend looms as their toughest examination.

Stormers captain Schalk Burger said the Reds, inspired by Wallaby halves Quade Cooper and Will Genia, posed a vastly different challenge than their other opponents so far.

"The Reds seem to have a far more constructive way of playing, and somewhat different than what we've come up against this season," Burger said.

"They have a few plays, especially off No 9 and No 10, that will cause our defence some problems, and we'll have to be alert to that."

Reds' coach Ewen McKenzie wants his side to express themselves now that they have already won one of their two South African tour games following last week's 30-25 win over the Lions in Johannesburg.

"We are still going to go down there desperate, but this win allows us to be our creative selves and to explore that side of things when we get there,' McKenzie said.

"We now have the opportunity to go down there and do what few teams do, and that is to come out of Cape Town with a win against the Stormers."

The Reds have had some close-run encounters with the Stormers in Cape Town and last won at Newlands (41-20) in 2003.

'The INCREDIBLE SCHALK' - Tribute to our 'Tougher than Nails' Hero from the Cape...

STORMERS BULLY THE BULLS AT LOFTUS...

The day the Bulls were bullied

http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/Super15

2011-03-20 20:00

Bryan Habana (Gallo)

Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer

Cape Town - With four wins from four starts, including now such a seismic one at Loftus, Stormers fans could even start to excuse this little “win without many tries” phenomenon, eh?

For the record, it was just one touchdown apiece in their breathless, uncompromising Super Rugby derby against the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday, with a barrage of penalty goals from Peter Grant again the keynote activity in scoreboard terms.

And yet supporters of the Cape franchise – there seemed to be appreciative swathes of them in the champions’ corral, which must have aided the away cause just a bit – wouldn’t have spent their immediate post-match time lamenting the relative try drought.

Instead they would have toasted what amounted to a serious warning to the Bulls, from the beaten finalists of 2010, that they might indeed muster the grunt and endeavour to go one better this year.

Just a wee tempering reminder at this point: conference fixtures continue until mid-June, before the knockout stuff kicks in, so there is plenty of time yet for twists, turns, dramatic momentum shifts ... and of course jaw-dropping results like the one in Sydney earlier on Saturday. (Who, pray tell, had the Cheetahs not only to beat the Waratahs but do so by 20 points?)

But there’s no disputing that the Bulls were truly rattled by this 23-13 reverse at a supposed fortress that has suddenly become a gateway to pleasure over successive rounds for the Highlands and Stormers.

STORMERS vs HIGHLANDERS at NEWLANDS, Friday @ 19h10

This will be the Stormers biggest test at home since the start of the new Super 15 competition. Will they go down like the Bulls did last week-end? Or will our boys hit their stride for the First time this season...?

Teams:

Stormers:
15. Gio Aplon, 14. Danie Poolman, 13. Juan De Jongh, 12. Jean De Villiers (captain), 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Peter Grant, 9.  Dewaldt Duvenage, 8. Duane Vermuelen, 7. Francois Louw, 6. Pieter Louw, 5. Andries Bekker, 4. Rynhardt Elstadt, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Deon Fourie, 1. CJ van Der Linde

Substitutes: 16. Siyabonga Ntubeni, 17. Frans Malherbe / JC Kritzinger, 18. De Kock Steenkamp, 19. Nick Koster, 20. Ricky Januarie, 21. Gary van Aswegen, 22. Jaque Fourie

Highlanders:
15. Ben Smith, 14. James Paterson, 13. Kendrick Lynn, 12. Shaun Treeby, 11. Siale Piutau, 10. Robbie Robinson, 9. Jimmy Cowan, 8. Nasi Manu, 7. Alando Soakai, 6. Adam Thomson, 5. Josh Bekhuis, 4. Jarrad Hoeata, 3. Chris King, 2. Jason Rutledge, 1. Jamie Mackintosh (captain)

Substitutes: 16. Mahroni Schwalger, 17. David Te Moana, 18. Tom Donnelly, 19. John Hardie, 20. Aaron Smith, 21. Tony Brown, 22. Telusa Veainu


GOOD LUCK BOYS!!!

STORMERS NAME TEAM FOR FIRST SUPER 15 Match...

Stormers:

15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Gary van Aswegen, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (captain), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 CJ van der Linde

Substitutes: 16 Siyabonga Ntubeni, 17 Frans Malherbe, 18 De Kock Steenkamp, 19 Pieter Louw, 20 Dewaldt Duvenage, 21 Peter Grant, 22 Juan de Jongh

Van Aswegen at no 10 is not a bad selection? He has done enough in the warm-up matches to show what talent his got and that seems to be enough for coach Coetzee...?

I feel sorry for the Designer of the new STORMER / STO-Vince jersey...

The new jerseys have caused one thing indeed and that is something else to talk, write and joke about...! Our beloved (or for some most hated) Stormers team is now also called Sto-Vince due to the resemblance of the front of the new jersey to the striped and more traditional WP jerseys.

Personally, I do not think it is the worst design ever, but I am sure most people and supporters of the Stormers especially have more of a problem with the DHL sponsors logo that can be seen in yellow and red on the front of the jersey.

Yes, it would have looked much better if it was in navy blue and white as well - perhaps white inside with a navy blue border around the outsides? We must remember that DHL is an international company and they, like many other companies will always stick to their company colors when adding their company logo onto roofs, clothing, buildings, etc. It is their company policies and it will be written into their terms and conditions when they decide to sponsor a sports team like the Stormers. Taking into consideration what they are probably paying for this sponsorship it is not surprising that they would want to stick with yellow and red as their company colors. I am sure when DHL look at the Stormers jersey they only notice their own logo and nothing else! I would too if my company logo was displayed on TV each Saturday while thousands of people are watching...Nobody will miss those bright logo-colors!

Can we blame them...?

RUGBY: STORMERS Starting with new blood at no 10 vs Lions...

Rassie always have a few surprises up his sleeve, but the fact that he is starting with his two younger and less experienced flyhalves available for Friday's first game against the Lions, has a simple explanation behind it...?


The Stormers will kick off the warm-up NEO Africa tournament against the Lions with last year’s Western Province Under-21 flyhalf Gary van Aswegan at no 10 and with Elgar Watts, the man backing him up on the bench. 


I suspect it is just logical, with Grant unavailable through injury, that Rassie wants to give his younger flyhalf a serious opportunity to get some playing time against the 'big boys'. Van Aswegan and Watts might be in the starting teams for the Stormers opening Super 15 fixtures, depending on when Grant will be ready to play?


Here is the full team for Friday's opener:
15. Conrad Jantjes, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Jean de Villiers, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Gary van Aswegan, 9. Ricky Januarie, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Rynhardt Elstadt, 6. Schalk Burger, 5. Andries Bekker, 4. De Kock Steenkamp, 3. Brok Harris, 2. Tiaan Liebenberg, 1. CJ van der Linde