2007 Super 14 (Rugby)

Posted elsewhere on the Sport Forum on 6 Apr:

Super 14 : 2007

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The S14 is now in the crunch, do or die stages, with many teams having to secure victories this coming week-end if they still want to remain in contention for one of the semi final spots. The hopes that we had, whilst in the first half of the competition, of 2 SA sides qualifying will dwindle severely unless the Sharks & Bulls/Lions regain their momentum and start winning.

This is also the section of the competition where individualism in the remainder of the Stormers & Cheetahs teams could become an issue, seeing that the teams will not qualify. Players may start to concentrate on their individual performances with an eye on selection with Tri-Nations as well as the World Cup in mind. These performances could range from putting own individual skills on display to operating under the radar, safeguarding themselves against injury, specially if they stand a good chance of selection. Either way these teams may not benefit.

SA franchises should have positioned themselves much better in this 2007 competition, specially against the Kiwis, due to the 22 not participating in the first round, these players taking at least a game or two to get going and having a serious affect. Once again, it shows what immense depth exsist in NZ rugby. If ever we had a chance in the S14, it was going to be this year, but now, who knows.

The next two rounds will be decisive, keeping us all in suspense. What a lovely game this is.
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Posted on 15 Apr:

We have reached the final stage of the round robin of the competition. It is win at all costs for the top 7 sides, as I see it. Two teams, the Crusaders and Blues have secured their positions in the top 4, with the remainder of the 5 sides still having to battle it out for the remainder of the 2 spots. Depending how hey succeed in last 3 games the home semis will fall into place.

SA's are hoping for 2 sides to go thru, however even they have their work cut out :

Sharks v : Chiefs (away) Lions (home) Stormers (away) min 8 points, max 12
Bulls v : Lions (away) Blues (home) Reds (home) min 12 points, max 14.

These are my predicted points for the above teams.
Although the Bulls have an easier finish, they are 7 points behind the Sharks

Lets hope the Sharks can secure a home semi final, the first one by an SA side in many years, if ever.
 
After a week-end of mixed sucesses, depending on what team u support, I am sitting here with mixed feelings. Rather annoid at the halftime score in Hamilton this morning, I get given another breath of fresh air into the latter stage of the game when the deficit is reduced to 8 points. Was very sad seeing lost opportunities going down due to bad handling and passing, specially in the dying minutes, preventing the sharks from making history by being the only team beating all the NZ sides in one season.

So, collecting 1 point is better than collecting no points at all and thanks to the Stormers keeping the Blues at bay and preventing them from collecting more bonus points, the day finished much better than it started.

We now enter the season of friendships and favours. If this team beats that team they will favour this team. Is it payback time for the sharks? Should the Bulls experience that feeling that we had to endure in 2006 when the Stormers clearly through a match that prevented the sharks from playing in the semi-finals? Well at least the Stormers paid us back today, so now it's up to that black&white squad to finish the Lions in dbn and Stormers in Cpt in order to ensure a semi-spot. Were still hoping for that home semi, so near, yet so far.
 
Gerhardt said:
Should the Bulls experience that feeling that we had to endure in 2006 when the Stormers clearly through a match that prevented the sharks from playing in the semi-finals? Well at least the Stormers paid us back today, so now it's up to that black&white squad to finish the Lions in dbn and Stormers in Cpt in order to ensure a semi-spot. Were still hoping for that home semi, so near, yet so far.
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Do I remember that game, that was a very sad day in this Sharkies life... :( :(

So close (remember we dropped a defense at the end of the Force game, and they scored twice near the end)

But I thought 32 points difference was good enough.
The the Stomers gave them 33 points on a sliver platter.

Bulls went to the Semi's with 1 point difference against us.
 
In a professional game, no team ever throws a game EVER! This is their livelihood, so please don't tell me that rubbish. Think what you will, but that's like saying "Standard Bank today went bankrupt to ensure that ABSA obtains a better turnaround". Not going to happen. :D

And how come people keep telling me that the Sharks would've had a better chance than the Bulls in last year's semi's? They couldn't even reach the semi's, for crying out loud, let alone stand a better chance than a team which did (no offence to the Sharks and their supporters). I personally would have liked to see both of the teams in the semi's because I think the Sharks would have done very well but unfortunately things didn't work out that way last year.

Here's hoping that it works out that way this year! :)
 
WKJ?:beanie said:
In a professional game, no team ever throws a game EVER! This is their livelihood, so please don't tell me that rubbish. Think what you will, but that's like saying "Standard Bank today went bankrupt to ensure that ABSA obtains a better turnaround". Not going to happen. :D

And how come people keep telling me that the Sharks would've had a better chance than the Bulls in last year's semi's? They couldn't even reach the semi's, for crying out loud, let alone stand a better chance than a team which did (no offence to the Sharks and their supporters). I personally would have liked to see both of the teams in the semi's because I think the Sharks would have done very well but unfortunately things didn't work out that way last year.

Here's hoping that it works out that way this year! :)
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RE 2006: Any intelligent rugby follower knows that the sharks tour the best out of all SA sides. What happened at Newlands on that day was not normal, so yeah, they would have had a better chance than the bulls, based on historical facts
 
...An Aussie team will steal one of those Semi spots.....

Go, Aussie go.!!!
 
Gerhardt said:
RE 2006: Any intelligent rugby follower knows that the sharks tour the best out of all SA sides. What happened at Newlands on that day was not normal, so yeah, they would have had a better chance than the bulls, based on historical facts
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Tour the best? Didn't the Bulls just make history by recording the best touring stats of any South African team yet?

And history means nothing in my book, for example: During last year's Currie Cup, the Blue Bulls were not able to beat the Western Province during the playoffs. In fact, they lost two times, once on Newlands and once on Loftus Versveld. However, they did manage to beat Western Province in the semi-finals. Now, based on history, one would imagine they would have lost against Western Province. :confused:

Which is my ellaborate way of saying you can't argue on "should have"s and "could have"s. Which is why I say that I would have liked to see them in last year's semi's as well, seeing as they probably would have done well. However, they did not manage to qualify for the semi's so you cannot say that they would have done better because, based on the evidence, they did not have enough to even qualify for the semi's, let alone go further.

/me stops playing Devil's Advocate :D
 
LOL, die afrikaanse kommentator het 3 min voor half tyd gesê: "Dit was een van Gary Botha se swakste aangee's."

Nou sê hy 10 min later: "Gary Botha speel die beste rugby van sy loopbaan"

LOL :D
 
BONUS point for the Bulls. What a game!!! Bulls playing out of their skins tonight! Semi-final waving :D
 
Bye bye Blues :D

Point difference changed by 14 against the Blues and the Bulls with that try that slipped through.

Now the point difference is 17.

Could be costly...
 
kiepie said:
Bye bye Blues :D

Point difference changed by 14 against the Blues and the Bulls with that try that slipped through.

Now the point difference is 17.

Could be costly...
Click to expand...

It could prove costly for the Blues, since they now have to win their final game with a vengeance to keep their chances of a home semi-final alive.

Excellent game by the Bulls, hope to see the same quality of rugby tomorrow! :)
 
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