THE LATEST SUPER 15 LOG - Crusaders go DOWN vs CHEETAHS...!

Rank	Team	P	W	PTS
1	Reds	12	10	50
2	Blues	12	9	49
3	Stormers	11	8	44
4	Crusaders	12	8	44
5	Sharks	11	7	43
6	Waratahs	11	7	40
7	Highlanders	12	8	39
8	Bulls	11	6	36

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The Cheetahs caused the upset of the weekend with a 33-20 win over the Crusaders in their Super Rugby clash in Bloemfontein.

The Bloemfontein franchise secured their third ever consecutive win over one of the competition’s log leaders with flyhalf Sias Ebersohn playing a pivotal role in the famous victory.

The Cheetahs did well from the outset to close Crusaders centre Sonny Bill Williams’ space down, giving the Crusaders' playmaker little room to create magic on attack.

The hosts opened the scoring with Ebersohn slotting over a penalty a few moments after the start of the match.

Crusaders flyhalf Dan Carter missed in his attempt at the posts moments later, but soon afterwards the visitors scored the first try of the match.

The Cheetahs defense held strongly until the ninth minute when Robbie Freuen broke through the line to load off to Crusaders fullback Zac Guildford on his outside, with Guyildford going over for the try.

Carter converted the try to give the Crusaders a four point lead.

Despite a strong attacking performance in the opening moments of the match the Cheetahs lost too many balls at the contact area.

The Cheetahs, however, got onto the front foot from a Riaan Viljoen kick which was fielded by Sarel Pretorius.

The hosts secured quick ball from the breakdown with Ashley Johnson sending a long pass to Robert Ebersohn who stepped inside to score.

LATEST SUPER RUGBY LOGS...!

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PAST WEEK-ENDS RESULTS:  Stormers Changing gears...

April 2011
30 April	Stormers	32 - 12	Sharks
30 April	Bulls	43 - 27	Chiefs
30 April	Western Force	30 - 42	Crusaders
30 April	Waratahs	28 - 9	Melbourne Rebels
30 April	Hurricanes	28 - 26	Reds
29 April	Cheetahs	47 - 36	Brumbies
29 April	Highlanders	10 - 15	Blues

LATEST LOG STANDINGS:

Overall Super Rugby table and standings
Conference leaders.
	Team	Nation	P	W	L	D	B	PF	PA	PD	Bp	Ttl
1.	Blues	()	10	8	1	1	1	271	204	67	5	43
2.	Stormers	()	9	8	1	0	2	219	122	97	2	42
3.	Reds	()	10	8	2	0	1	285	190	95	4	40
	Wild card teams
4.	Crusaders	()	10	7	2	1	1	316	165	151	6	40
5.	Highlanders	()	10	7	3	0	1	217	204	13	3	35
6.	Sharks	()	10	6	4	0	1	245	199	46	6	34
7.	Waratahs	()	10	6	4	0	1	237	162	75	4	32
8.	Bulls	()	10	5	5	0	1	240	257	-17	3	27
9.	Hurricanes	()	10	3	6	1	1	212	279	-67	5	23
10.	Brumbies	()	9	2	7	0	2	201	273	-72	6	22
11.	Chiefs	()	10	3	7	0	1	218	245	-27	5	21
12.	W.Force	()	10	3	6	1	1	208	287	-79	2	20
13.	Cheetahs	()	10	2	8	0	1	235	278	-43	8	20
14.	Rebels	()	10	3	7	0	1	188	350	-162	3	19
15.	Lions	()	10	1	9	0	1	208	285	-77	6	14

Super Rugby: SHARKS vs STORMERS - Mouth Watering Fixture...!

The expectation of a highly physical game in the Super Rugby derby against the Stormers at Newlands on Saturday could prompt Sharks coach John Plumtree to return Jean Deysel to his match 22 quicker than anticipated.

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Deysel has not played for the Sharks for almost a year after suffering a knee injury at the end of the last Super 14 season, but he has been making his way back in the Vodacom Cup and Plumtree has clearly been impressed with his progress for he was initially intending to reintroduce Deysel only after the Sharks’ next bye in a couple of weeks.

Deysel, a driving loose-forward in a similar mould to Willem Alberts, is precisely the sort of player that Plumtree would want in what both coaches are predicting will be a war of attrition with the team that wins the physical battle probably being the one that takes the crucial log points on offer.

“There is certainly a lot of temptation for us to take Jean with us to Cape Town as he would be a useful guy to have in what we expect to be a highly physical game,” said Plumtree.

“It just depends on whether he is ready or not. We will have a close look at him and then make a call. Whatever happens we don’t want to rush him unnecessarily and thus jeopardise his comeback.”

Should Deysel play he will come off the bench, with the momentum he could bring in the last quarter of the game being what is tempting the Sharks to make the selection. They are already almost assured of having another important player, hooker Bismarck du Plessis, back in action against a team he has always done particularly well against in the past.

Of course, should Du Plessis be cleared of the bruised shoulder that kept him from playing the Hurricanes last week it will create a selection dilemma in the front-row. Springbok skipper John Smit, given a first opportunity of the season to play hooker, showed that he is at last picking up some momentum after a slow start to the Sharks’ campaign which was complicated by the calf strain that kept him out of the opening fixtures.

The problem for Plumtree though is that while he can easily shift Smit back to loosehead prop in order to accommodate Du Plessis, the incumbent in the No 1 jersey, Beast Mtwarira, was the man of the match against the Hurricanes.

Alistair Hargreaves is also expected to return at lock this week, so Plumtree has plenty of options open to him at forward, with both Jannie du Plessis and Eugene van Staden doing well at tighthead last week and Ross Skeate playing perhaps his finest game since returning to South Africa from Toulon.

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

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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.

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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.