Recent content by Sidbarret

Sleeping off their disappointment. Congrats to the Brumbies. As a Stormers supporter I agree completely with Brisbok's comments above. This game exposed many of the Stormers' weaknesses. They are very reliant on Vermeulen and without him there they are a far weaker side (not an excuse...

Pretty bold statement to make. The Stormers are up in the head to head for the season and have won more games. If I wanted to knock the brumbies, and don't, I would have pointed out that 20 of their 47 championship points came from playing the Force and the Reds twice*. Looking at the...

I may reply on the substance of the article some other time, but the reporting on the issue seems a little weird to me. Here is the press release which sparked the conversation: http://www.sarugby.net/article.aspx?category=sarugby/pressreleases&id=2874784 No mention is made about targets...

So let me get this straight, last week the Blues got three penalties (actually scrum, whatever) for the tactic against the Stormers. Against the Cheetahs they got pinged, ergo the SA ref in the Cheeatahs game is bent? Only one little problem with that version. Stormers - Blues: Referee...

I can't really comment on the Australian and New Zealand teams, so I'll look at the SA conference. Sharks. I think the Sharks are over valued. On paper they look good with real strengths and few weaknesses, but I'm selling. Over the last couple of season's they have lacked identity. Last...

Sure, unless you count Burger*, Kolisi*, Etsebeth*, De Villiers*, Malherbe*, Botha and Kobus van Wyk and Carr* returning from illness. Bench is also hurt with the exclusion of Taute*. *Capped, which says a lot given that they went into yesterdays game with three only springboks up against 13...

I thought about writing something on this topic (well the title, not the topic) and it will fit in pretty well here. There is a worrying trend happening at the moment of many of out top young talent being conically injured. As things stand the following "young" (under twenty five) are either...

Fair enough, but... Why is it always Kurtley that ends up in these altercations? There are by your reckoning 39 other people who are in exactly the same position as him, yet it is always (well at least twice now) him that gets into these situations. Second question I have. Where is the big...

No idea what the official position is, but... A quick line can be taken at any point behind where the ball went into touch. In your scenario the quick line out is taken legally and behind the 22, therefor that is where the game restarted. Not taken back is my feeling. Compare that with...

Weather clear after some morning showers, wind strong from right to left on your TV screens.

Not impressed. Two forced changes with the injuries to Louw and Pienaar. Would have liked to see Whiteley starting as I think he offers something different from the other choices available. Instead he has been dropped completely for no clear reason. The bench looks like a contractual...

Yeah, but how long did it take to set those two last scrums on the All Black line? As you say all teams do it, don't complain about things that you did only minutes earlier.

I agree with this. The boks under Meyer seem to have hit a ceiling and very little development over the last three years. I don't agree that it is the same mistakes though. Dunedin 2012 - dominant in the forwards with territory and possession, can't score points. Ellis Park 2013 -...

Nah, SA would be much better on dry track. New Zealand's handling is better and would be less affected by the wet weather and their back three are better chasing and handling kicks. Best shot is dry track where we can carry the ball up with our forwards against a NZ missing a couple of...

Which referee doesn't underwhelm? Hell, even Craig Joubert is disliked in France (WC2011), New Zealand (Super Final 2014) and Cape Town (Super final 2010).