2014 Saffer Conference

[PaarlBok]

Stormers group for saturdays warmup vs Brutes:
Stormers-groep:
Heelagters: Gio Aplon, Ryno Eksteen.
Vleuels: Damian de Allende, Scott van Breda, Kobus van Wyk.
Senters: Jean de Villiers, Juan de Jongh.
Losskakels: Demetri Catrakilis, Gary van Aswegen.
Skrumskakels: Nic Groom, Louis Schreuder.
Losvoorspelers: Nizaam Carr, Duane Vermeulen, Siya Kolisi, Schalk Burger, Deon Fourie.
Slotte: Rynhardt Elstadt, Michael Rhodes, Ruan Botha, Jean Kleyn.
Hakers: Tiaan Liebenberg, Scarra Ntubeni.
Stutte: Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Oli Kebble, Justin Ackerman.

 

[Hawko]

Stormers group for saturdays warmup vs Brutes:
Stormers-groep:
Heelagters: Gio Aplon, Ryno Eksteen.
Vleuels: Damian de Allende, Scott van Breda, Kobus van Wyk.
Senters: Jean de Villiers, Juan de Jongh.
Losskakels: Demetri Catrakilis, Gary van Aswegen.
Skrumskakels: Nic Groom, Louis Schreuder.
Losvoorspelers: Nizaam Carr, Duane Vermeulen, Siya Kolisi, Schalk Burger, Deon Fourie.
Slotte: Rynhardt Elstadt, Michael Rhodes, Ruan Botha, Jean Kleyn.
Hakers: Tiaan Liebenberg, Scarra Ntubeni.
Stutte: Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Oli Kebble, Justin Ackerman.

Paarl, Any idea why the SA conference is starting a week early? Surely they've got the same International window Aust and NZ have and there's no Lions tour this year. I don't think it helped the Australian teams to start early last year, just made the split in the comp wider and disrupted preparation more.

 

[Bairdy]

Calling it now: Sharks to top the SA conference, with the Stormers to push for one of the 3 qualifying final spots.

Expecting the Cheetahs to be figured out by the rest of the comp this season (and not do as well as in 2013, but figure there or thereabouts in the top 8), and the Bulls squad looks mighty green to really compete for a finals spot.

 

[PaarlBok]

Paarl, Any idea why the SA conference is starting a week early? Surely they've got the same International window Aust and NZ have and there's no Lions tour this year. I don't think it helped the Australian teams to start early last year, just made the split in the comp wider and disrupted preparation more.

Have no idea, only notice it now.

 

[PaarlBok]

Our internationals
Castle Lager Incoming Series
Saturday, June 14 2014
17:00 - South Africa vs Wales
Growthpoint KINGS PARK, Durban
Saturday, June 21 2014
17:00 - South Africa vs Wales
Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit (TBC)
Saturday, June 28 2014
17:00 - South Africa vs Scotland
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, PE (TBC)

 

[PaarlBok]

Calling it now: Sharks to top the SA conference, with the Stormers to push for one of the 3 qualifying final spots.

Expecting the Cheetahs to be figured out by the rest of the comp this season (and not do as well as in 2013, but figure there or thereabouts in the top 8), and the Bulls squad looks mighty green to really compete for a finals spot.

Dont have much hope for the Stormers. Tour to hell.

 

[Hawko]

Calling it now: Sharks to top the SA conference, with the Stormers to push for one of the 3 qualifying final spots.

Expecting the Cheetahs to be figured out by the rest of the comp this season (and not do as well as in 2013, but figure there or thereabouts in the top 8), and the Bulls squad looks mighty green to really compete for a finals spot.

Which leads me to ask the question: When is someone going to sit down and consider the weaknesses in the Stormers' defensive system and come up with a way to counteract it? EVERY system has its weaknesses but when was the last time the Stormers had four tries put on them?

 

[Ruggo]

What's your take on the Lions this year Paarl? I always got a soft spot for them and the Cheetahs.

 

[Scoey]

Dont have much hope for the Stormers. Tour to hell.

Yeah I was going through the Reds draw a while ago lamenting how tough our start to the season was then I got to our game against the Stormers and thought, shit I hope they've had a long tour before we get them. I had a look and, good god, that is a bloody tough draw for the Stormers!!


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[PaarlBok]

Saffer warmup matches this saturday
15:00 - Kings vs Lions: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

16:45 - Cheetahs vs Pumas: Old Greys

17:00 - Bulls vs Stormers: Peter Mokaba Stadium

 

[PaarlBok]

What's your take on the Lions this year Paarl? I always got a soft spot for them and the Cheetahs.

Lions will struggle like usual.

 

[Hawko]

Dont have much hope for the Stormers. Tour to hell.

Last year I tipped the Stormers to take out the Super comp. They had a great draw, a team on paper that was almost worth selecting as the Bok team with the easy-beat Kings in their franchise (two guaranteed 5 pointers). I still don't understand how it all went wrong, though the loss of Schalk obviously hurt badly. This year they've got the draw from hell but that's what happens when you have an ideal draw one year - the next year's draw is its mirror image.

They should not be written off! If Coetzee ever learns how to coach an attack to score tries they will be a handful for any team. You'd think he'd be on his last chance this year but he appears to be widely respected despite his results.

This year I'm tipping the Sharks to top the SA franchise and possibly the whole table. They've got the supercoach, a team of stars including Bismark plus the Lions for two guaranteed 5 pointers. If they do get the home final they will be very, very hard to beat. Against that, my tipping record is so atrocious that I would have to be some sort of hex. (I am tipping the Tahs for the wooden spoon in the hope that this negative karma works a miracle).

 

[thierry dusautoir]

Lions will struggle like usual.

That lions team is worse, than the kings by a long shot. The kings were unlucky with injury but if they had a second year I think they would have improved dramatically.

Serious work will need to be done if both the lions and kings are to play in the comp. otherwise it will be lowering the standard of what should be a very good conference.

The last thing the saffas need is to be carrying two
Dead weight teams as well as dealing with severe player drain overseas

 

[PaarlBok]

Boels: Jurgen Visser, Akona Ndungane, JJ Engelbrecht, Jan Serfontein, Bjorn Basson, Louis Fouché, Francois Hougaard, Pierre Spies (c), Arno Botha, Deon Stegmann, Grant Hattingh, Flip vd Merwe, Werner Kruger, Callie Visagie, Dean Greyling. Replacements: Bandise Maku, Marcel vd Merwe, Hencus van Wyk, Jono Ross, Rudy Paige, Handré Pollard, Ulrich Beyers, Travis Ismaiel.

No Matfield?

 

[PaarlBok]

That lions team is worse, than the kings by a long shot. The kings were unlucky with injury but if they had a second year I think they would have improved dramatically.

Serious work will need to be done if both the lions and kings are to play in the comp. otherwise it will be lowering the standard of what should be a very good conference.

The last thing the saffas need is to be carrying two
Dead weight teams as well as dealing with severe player drain overseas

They'll beat a few Aussie teams mate.

 

[Mank]

This year I'm tipping the Sharks to top the SA franchise and possibly the whole table. They've got the supercoach, a team of stars including Bismark plus the Lions for two guaranteed 5 pointers. If they do get the home final they will be very, very hard to beat. Against that, my tipping record is so atrocious that I would have to be some sort of hex. (I am tipping the Tahs for the wooden spoon in the hope that this negative karma works a miracle).

They're going to have to improve something fierce if they are to meet your expectations. Their warm up game against Saracens was very poor.

 

[PaarlBok]

eams:
Bulls:

15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (captain), 7 Arno Botha, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Grant Hattingh, 4 Flip vd Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling

Substitutes: 16 Bandise Maku, 17 Marcel vd Merwe, 18 Hencus van Wyk, 19 Jono Ross, 20 Rudy Paige, 21 Handré Pollard, 22 Ulrich Beyers, 23 Travis Ismaiel

Stormers:

15. Gio Aplon, 14. Kobus van Wyk, 13. Juan de Jongh, 12. Jean de Villiers (captain), 11. Damian de Allende, 10. Demetri Catrakilis, 9. Louis Schreuder, 8. Duane Vermeulen, 7. Schalk Burger 6. Siya Kolisi, 5. Ruan Botha, 4. Rynhardt Elstadt, 3. Frans Malherbe, 2. Scarra Ntubeni, 1. Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16. Tiaan Liebenberg, 17. Oli Kebble, 18. Alistair Vermaak/Justin Ackerman, 19. Jean Kleyn, 20. Michael Rhodes, 21. Nizaam Carr, 22. Nic Groom, 23. Gary van Aswegen, 24. Scott van Breda, 25. Ryno Eksteen, 26. Deon Fourie

 

[ChargerWA]

Bulls don't look as bad as was suggested. They surprised me last year.

Good to see the Stormers picked up Catkiller, he will be much more suited to their game plan than Jantjies.

 

[PaarlBok]

Cheetahs: Hennie Daniller, Cornal Hendricks, Johann Sadie, Francois Venter, Raymond Rhule, Johan Goosen, Shaun Venter, Philip van der Walt, Lappies Labuschagné, Jean Cook, Francois Uys, Lood de Jager, Coenie Oosthuizen, Adriaan Strauss (k), Caylib Oosthuizen.
Replacements: Ryno Barnes, Trevor Nyakane, Ligtoring Landman, Boom Prinsloo, Sarel Pretorius, Elgar Watts, Rayno Benjamin, Riaan Smit, Maks van Dyk

Pumas: Coenie van Wyk; Trompie Pretorius, Wilmaure Louw, Dewald Pretorius, Deon Scholtz; JC Roos; Sino Nyoka; Renaldo Bothma, Uzair Cassiem, Corné Steenkamp, Marius Coetzer, Giant Mtyanda, Drew van Coller, Jacques Momberg, Sabelo Nhlapo.
Replacements: Dee-Jay Terblanche, Vlooi Kotzé, Doppies le Roux, RW Kember, Jaco Bouwer, Reynier van Rooyen, Ashwin Scott, JW Bell, Justin van Staden

 

[PaarlBok]

Puma players in the Lions supeRugby squad= Rudi Mathee, Corné Fourie, Faf de Klerk and Stefan Watermeyer