Official Super Rugby 2014 Thread

Devill said:
SA teams teams kick a lot and play less expansive rugby. I am willing to bet the Aussies and Kiwis also average more running meters per person per touch of the ball than the Saffas.

I think this might also explain some of the higher rate of injury amongst SA teams, as we do take a lot / receive more contact than the other two countries.
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Too a certain extent, I believe that conditioning is the issue. But also, the bashing type of rugby we play also results in many injuries. A person, no matter how BIG you are, will get hurt if you run into something enough times.

The amount of Rugby being played nowadays, does not allow for the type of Rugby SA plays. Maybe I am wrong, but looks whats happening to the Stormers. Or maybe its just bad luck.
 
craigdoepie said:
Too a certain extent, I believe that conditioning is the issue. But also, the bashing type of rugby we play also results in many injuries. A person, no matter how BIG you are, will get hurt if you run into something enough times.

The amount of Rugby being played nowadays, does not allow for the type of Rugby SA plays. Maybe I am wrong, but looks whats happening to the Stormers. Or maybe its just bad luck.
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I can't imagine it being bad luck as IIRC this is not the first time, especially the Stormers, have had a higher than average injury list. So either they keep picking glass canons, their conditioning is poor, their style of play is not feasible for an extended period or someone has cursed them with the injury Voodoo.....
 
I dunno about this argument that they're playing too much rugby and getting injuries as a result of that. Sure a lot of rugby could soften you up a bit and make you more susceptible to injury, but most of the injuries are things that could (and in many cases have) happened very early on in the season or at any stage of playing. Luke Romano broke his fibula, Spies tore his bicep, others damage their knees etc. These happen in an instant and sets you out for months.
 
Not surprising that Sharks are not scoring many tries. Look at who is the coach and you'll understand why. He did the same things with the Boks.
 
So it looks like a done deal with Goosen going to France.

I'm not sad, I'm not angry. He was certainly not a stand out player this season. (Hard to be one within a struggling team)

I think it is a good opportunity for him. He will learn a lot there and is still young.

The conditioning in France/Northern Hemisphere also seems to be better and it might help with his proneness to injury. Look what Toulon did for Juan Smith who is back to his best now. Same with Johnny Wilkinson, when last was he seriously injured?

I wish him all the best and hope he returns to the standard we all expect from him and know he is capable of.
 
APoc184 said:
So it looks like a done deal with Goosen going to France.

I'm not sad, I'm not angry. He was certainly not a stand out player this season. (Hard to be one within a struggling team)

I think it is a good opportunity for him. He will learn a lot there and is still young.

The conditioning in France/Northern Hemisphere also seems to be better and it might help with his proneness to injury. Look what Toulon did for Juan Smith who is back to his best now. Same with Johnny Wilkinson, when last was he seriously injured?

I wish him all the best and hope he returns to the standard we all expect from him and know he is capable of.
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Yep. Was inevitable I suppose. He's been pretty boring this year, tbh.

I see Jano Vermaak wants to come back to SA. I wouldn't give up the Toulouse salary, but whatever. :D
 
A great loss to SA rugby IMHO!! The mere fact that despite playing as little rugby as he has and his penchant for season ending injury, a French club still wants him, is a testimony to his potential.

We wonder why we doing so poorly in the Super 15. It's because we have already got too many teams competing in the competition and we losing players to European and Japanese clubs!!!!

It's eroding our depth. It means teams cannot effectively implement any system of player rotation without significantly weakening the starting XV.

Player drain is no good for SA rugby and at the same time is impossible to avoid owing to our worthless currency thanks to the incompetent donkeys running the country!!
 
Looking at the fixtures for this weekend, you can easily see no SA teams winning :mad:
 
sand_man said:
A great loss to SA rugby IMHO!! The mere fact that despite playing as little rugby as he has and his penchant for season ending injury, a French club still wants him, is a testimony to his potential.

We wonder why we doing so poorly in the Super 15. It's because we have already got too many teams competing in the competition and we losing players to European and Japanese clubs!!!!

It's eroding our depth. It means teams cannot effectively implement any system of player rotation without significantly weakening the starting XV.

Player drain is no good for SA rugby and at the same time is impossible to avoid owing to our worthless currency thanks to the incompetent donkeys running the country!!
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It is not only eroding our depth but also our skills.

I believe to be the best, you have to constantly compete against the best and improve until you are the best. This includes competing against team mates to win a spot in the starting 15.

All our best players leave for the Northern Hemisphere/Japan which leaves us mainly with our second stringers. All the skills and competition also leave with them, leaving us with average players who has nobody to push them and better them.

Look what is happening in Japan with all the top quality players there at the moment. It has drastically improved the local Japanese players. They actually beat Wales last year. Yes it was Wales without their B&I Lions but they were still expected to put 50 past Japan.

As stated by Mallett... Our basic skills are shocking. We can't hold on to the ball in contact situations, we can't pass accurately, our decision making is atrocious.... and the list goes on.
 
APoc184 said:
As stated by Mallett... Our basic skills are shocking. We can't hold on to the ball in contact situations, we can't pass accurately, our decision making is atrocious.... and the list goes on.
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This, this and a thousand times this.
 
GreGorGy said:
The hell with it - since my SB is already screwed, may as well hammer it hard. Picks included Sharks, Stormers and Cheetahs.
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Stormers have a chance if they can shock the Force in the first 20 like they did against the Bulls. The Force does not have great scoring power and they rely on solid defense.
 
Devill said:
Stormers have a chance if they can shock the Force in the first 20 like they did against the Bulls. The Force does not have great scoring power and they rely on solid defense.
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Agreed - but one thing I have noticed with stormies, now that you bring it up, is when they are faced with a shock onslaught in the first 20, they get that deer in the headlights look and it is all over. Let's hope that doesn't happen.
 
GreGorGy said:
Agreed - but one thing I have noticed with stormies, now that you bring it up, is when they are faced with a shock onslaught in the first 20, they get that deer in the headlights look and it is all over. Let's hope that doesn't happen.
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That is when the Stormers coach starts to make sporadic changes to the team. In my opinion against the Bulls, Schalk should had played the 80 minutes throughout as captain, plus other changes which should had waited. I'm going again with the Stormers this week, on the premises it being a home game and the Force being tested by the Cheetahs. Don’t know why you picked the Sharks…
 
OrbitalDawn said:
Have you guys seen how many NZ & Aus players are also leaving for Europe/Japan? Not just us suffering...
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Yeah but the Aussies have the financial power to bolster their ranks with foreigners. Look at all the Saffas playing for The Force! Both NZ and Aus also use the Pacific Islanders as their own personal feeders!! And there is a lot of talent coming off those Islands!! Huge amount! Don't underestimate!!

We fcked, can't buy anyone of value, produce the goods at school and junior levels only to have our resources plundered by wealthy clubs. Our neighbors don't produce s hit that we can use... And now we want a 6th team in the Super competition?? Doesn't make sense...
 
Fulcrum29 said:
That is when the Stormers coach starts to make sporadic changes to the team. In my opinion against the Bulls, Schalk should had played the 80 minutes throughout as captain, plus other changes which should had waited. I'm going again with the Stormers this week, on the premises it being a home game and the Force being tested by the Cheetahs. Don’t know why you picked the Sharks…
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Cos my SB is already in the toilet so I may as well completely enjoy the NZ team losing or be severely angered on all fronts by the sharks losing. Either way, no mixed emotions for me :)
 
Right now you could pick an overseas Springbok XV that would give the current XV a run if not a hiding!!!

Help me.....

1. Guthro Steenkamp/Heinke Van der Merwe
2. Schalk Britz/Craig Burden/Chilliboy
3. Brian Mujati/Patrick Barnard
4. Bakkies Botha/Quintin Geldenhuys
5. Andries Bekker/Juandre Kruger/Johan Muller
6. Jacque Potgieter/Bernard Le Roux
7. Francois Louw/Jacques Cronje
8. Joe Van Niekerk/Juan Smith/Antonie Claasens
9. Rory Kockott/Ruan Pienaar/Fourie du Preez/Jano Vermaak!!
10. Johan Goosen/Morne Steyn
11. Bryan Habana
12. Bradley Barrit/Wynand Olivier/Meyer Bosman
13. Jacque Fourie
14. Wandile Mjekevu
15. Zane Kirschner

How well do you think the above team would do in the Super competition as SA's 6th franchise? A lot better than The Kings would!!!!!
 
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sand_man said:
Yeah but the Aussies have the financial power to bolster their ranks with foreigners. Look at all the Saffas playing for The Force! Both NZ and Aus also use the Pacific Islanders as their own personal feeders!! And there is a lot of talent coming off those Islands!! Huge amount! Don't underestimate!!

We fcked, can't buy anyone of value, produce the goods at school and junior levels only to have our resources plundered by wealthy clubs. Our neighbors don't produce s hit that we can use... And now we want a 6th team in the Super competition?? Doesn't make sense...
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We produce an abundance, quality players which don’t get teams, they move on. Clubs can also not take everyone in, however we tend to work with loan contracts lately, even clubs acting as an "agency" to send available players to open ranks abroad. Asia got corporate rugby going which is growing by a large extend, salaries are welcomed by most players over there. Then we have SA rugby with bad politics and agendas pushed by both provincial unions and government, capable players don’t want to stay, due to the given answers on critical questions.

Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe is producing good players, but they are mostly trained and sculpted in SA, many play in the USA.
 
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