Champs to rest stars
20 Apr 2009
Keo.co.za brings you the latest from New Zealand’s Super 14 franchises.
Champs to rest loosies
Either Kieran Reid or Thomas Waldrom will sit out of the Crusaders’ clash with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
The incumbent champs have targeted this fixture as a ‘should-win’ and thus have decided to give one of the hard-working loose forwards a break.
‘Those guys have had a massive workload,’ Crusaders assistant coach Daryl Gibson told rugbyheaven.co.nz. ‘With Thomas it’s a matter of reconfiguring our loose forwards to get an ideal outcome. We’re not sure what the mix will be, but one of those two guys will have a spell of some description this weekend.’
The Crusaders are coming off a win against the Sharks and are rightly confident about downing the Cheetahs. Gibson confirmed that confidence does not amount to arrogance, as the Crusaders still hold the central franchise in high regard.
‘That’s probably the real challenge for us now. We’re playing against a team we should beat.
‘But we saw they gave the Chiefs a few problems, and it wasn’t until the last quarter that they came away with the win. And the Cheetahs beat the Sharks the week before that. We will certainly not be underestimating them, particularly on their home ground.
‘All the guys are acutely aware of the dangers of being over-confident. We all know to progress in this competition we have to keep winning, especially with the logjam between first and tenth.’
Richie McCaw will continue to lead the side, but All Blacks scrumhalf Andy Ellis could also get a break. Ellis injured his ribs three weeks ago and is still battling with the ailment.
Cowan to face Stormers
Jimmy Cowan has been found not guilty of foul play and will front the Stormers in Dunedin this Friday.
Cowan was red-carded for a dangerous tackle in last week’s loss to the Blues, but a judicial hearing has ruled his actions require no further punishment.
The tackle was deemed fair despite the referee’s view of it and video footage revealed that the tackle was made within less than a second after Jimmy Gopperth had kicked the ball. The tackle was also not high, but precluded the use of arms.
Cowan, captain and talisman of the Mullet Men, will now rejoin the Highlanders as they aim to bounce back from that defeat with a win over the struggling Stormers.
Chiefs duo cleared
Richard Kahui and James McGougan have been cleared by the Sanzar judiciary hearing but Brendon Leonard could be out for the rest of the campaign.
Kahui (dangerous tackle) and McGougan (trampling) were cited during the Chiefs’ 28-10 win over the Cheetahs.
McGougan pleaded guilty to his charge from an incident that was reported to referee Nathan Pearce by his touch judge. The Chiefs were penalised at the time.
On review of the video evidence the judicial officer issued a reprimand and decided to take no further action.
Kahui pleaded not guilty to a “spear” tackle in the 78th minute of the match on Cheetahs replacement Frans Viljoen.
The Chiefs presented footage of the incident that was not available to the citing commissioner at the time which showed no lifting of the player and driving of him into the ground and Kahui was therefore cleared.
Leonard suffered a sternoclavicular joint injury against the Cheetahs and could face a lengthy spell on the sidelines. David Bason has been called up as cover.
Williams set to boost Blues
The Blues look set to have a group of key players headed by Ali Williams back for the business end of a Super 14.
Williams, Tasesa Lavea and Justin Collins are all possibilities to play the Reds at Albany on Saturday evening.
‘They is definitely a lot better chance this week than they were last week,’ said Lam.
And the Blues are a lot better chance of making the playoffs this week than they were last week too, leaping to fifth on a table that sees just five points separating the top eight sides.
The Blues’ push for the play-offs comes on the back of consecutive wins over the Lions and Highlanders after they had lost four of their previous seven games.
Williams would certainly boost the second row area where an awful lot has been asked of Kurtis Haiu, and Anthony Boric has started to hit his straps.
Williams’ season has been seriously stalled by back and Achilles injuries and the Blues want him are keen to have him back at his best.
This thread will be updated throughout the day.
35 Comments
20 Apr 2009, 07:30 am
BeeGee’s boy. Remember 1970?
20 Apr 2009, 07:31 am
No, wrong Williams, sorry!
20 Apr 2009, 08:00 am
frankly, we should see more of this.
rugby in the southern hemisphere is becoming so soft just to appease the soccer moms.
citings in oz and nz are becoming a joke with bleeding hearts handing out bans left right and centre for piddling offences
20 Apr 2009, 08:58 am
Well, one week the citing bosses ladle out harsh 2-3 week bans left, right and centre, and the next week — when the citing fashion has hit full bloom — they let all the bad cited boys off with a mere pat on the wrist with a wet bus-ticket.
Citing is becoming a farce. Or rather, has already become a farce.
20 Apr 2009, 09:38 am
#4 TheTackler: I’m glad Kahui and McGoogen are off the hook. They will be needed at Loftus this weekend.
I am equally happy that Bakkies is still in the can.
20 Apr 2009, 09:41 am
Are there any clear guidances for citing or it is completely dependant on which foot citing officer got out of the bed that particular day?
Just curious, as I did not have the opportunity to see that game as well as missed my Saders heroics (busy birthday).
20 Apr 2009, 09:50 am
Total F&*king BS!
So it`s just SA sides that are dirty buggers? Or did they miss the “get out of jail card” line this year, AGAIN?
20 Apr 2009, 09:54 am
#7 Jan-Pill: SA players are the only dirty buggers.
20 Apr 2009, 10:35 am
Why was their case heard so quickly. We should’ve scheduled the hearing for midnight on Thursday and kept it going till 4 in the morning.
20 Apr 2009, 10:54 am
So typical. If a player from a SA franchise did the exact same thing he’d cop a ban.
Let’s compare the McGougan case with Bakkies Botha’s:
1.) Both plead guilty to the charge,
2.) Both were penalised on field,
3.) Both times the assistant referee felt a penalty was punishment enough
4.) No conclusive video evidence
Result – McGougan gets off scott free, Botha out for five weeks. After an appeal it’s changed to three. Explain to me how the process is fair??
20 Apr 2009, 12:44 pm
Great News for the Highlanders.
Glad Jimmy got off. In slo-mo it looked bad. But in real time it was a split second.
20 Apr 2009, 13:14 pm
#11 cane: I love Jimmy. I’m glad he has been cleared. Landers come off a loss to the Blues and will want to fight back. I hope they beat the Stormers and get back into the race.
They have a hell of a pack, but Stormers will call uncontested scrums as usual.
20 Apr 2009, 13:15 pm
#10 ratel: Bakkies has a dirty history.
20 Apr 2009, 13:21 pm
#11 cane: Sorry mate I disagree. It looked bad in real-time to me. As soon as it happened I thought he was in trouble. It was more frustration than anything else, but it was still pre-meditated and dangerous. Wonder if the judiciary would have viewed it differently had he only received a yellow?
20 Apr 2009, 13:23 pm
#13 lilith:
Bakkies …….Is The History of Dirt.
Now you behave yourself Little Lady. Roy will be watching.
8)
20 Apr 2009, 13:26 pm
#14 jonnymain:
He definately deserved a card Jonny.
20 Apr 2009, 13:32 pm
#16 cane: He certainly did… and he’s glad now it was red. The game was over at that point and it saved him a 1 week ban (IMO). The Blues just looked more ‘up for it’, reminded me a bit of the Highlanders when they booted the Bulls a few weeks back. The Blues killed them in contact and looked more aggressive than I’ve seen for a long time.
20 Apr 2009, 14:05 pm
#11 cane:
Slow-mo or real time the hit looked fantastic..
Glad he got off, is was’t that bad at all.
20 Apr 2009, 14:24 pm
#17 jonnymain:
There is no question the best Team won Jonny. This from someone who wanted a H/landers win.
#18 FootSoldier:
Jimmy is the best defensive half back I have seen in a long time.
He does however have, “low self esteem”, and considered himself unworthy of AB selection.
This contributed to his well publicised Alcoholic Excesses.
20 Apr 2009, 14:38 pm
#19 cane:
Agreed, he’s puts his body on the line everytime.
Its a real pity that he does’t consider himself worth, as i think he’s top class and there is no doubt that he will get a call up again this year. On current form he makes my AB match 22 everytime.
20 Apr 2009, 14:52 pm
#16 cane: I think he deserved yellow but got read just because he pissed off the ref whole day. That’s the only reason I can see.
20 Apr 2009, 14:52 pm
got red, sorry.
20 Apr 2009, 14:53 pm
#7 Jan-Pill: you realy think that was a red card offence and source of lenghty ban?
20 Apr 2009, 15:02 pm
#20 FootSoldier: I’d say he was the best 9 NZ have got on balance. Not sure Ellis is playing that well this year. Only Leonard is close in my book. If he can sort his head out he will be a regular.
20 Apr 2009, 15:09 pm
#24 jonnymain:
Spot on..
20 Apr 2009, 15:17 pm
#21 Nils:
You Piss-Off the Ref……….. What do you expect?
I like to see the Refs put the boot in. They are the most maligned and unappreciated people in Rugby….at ALL levels.
(Wayne Barnes being the exception).
20 Apr 2009, 15:19 pm
#26 cane: Wayne Barnes is a LEGEND!
It might just be me, but I don’t think any of the Aussie refs in the S14 are worthy of such a stage. It says something when Stuart Dickinson is the pick of the bunch!
20 Apr 2009, 15:41 pm
#26 cane: Cowan just looked so frustrated all game.
Reminded me one my (sadly, deceased) friend who, while drunk, was always looking for trouble. Cowan looked just like that and if he would not have tackeld/hit late, he would have done something different. Sometimes you just see the face and know, it gonna happen.
20 Apr 2009, 15:42 pm
#26 cane: except, I am sure Cowan was not drunk.
But I can imagine his face when he is.
20 Apr 2009, 15:42 pm
#27 jonnymain:
Dickinson is rated among the 5 best Refs in the World. And I concur with that opinion.
He has been around long enough for those that sin ….to know the folly of their transgressions.
20 Apr 2009, 15:47 pm
#29 Nils:
There are many troubled Souls. Let us all hope that they find peace.
Age usually cures all.
8)
20 Apr 2009, 15:50 pm
#31 cane:
Tell me Cane is there a New Zealand rugby site like this where i can blog on?
20 Apr 2009, 17:55 pm
#8 lilith: so that’s why there are so many loving references to you on this site!
21 Apr 2009, 13:14 pm
#3 charo:
Which citing you complaining about?
#7 Jan-Pill:
Cry much?
21 Apr 2009, 13:22 pm
#34 Hurricane:
wow, caught me off guard there.
i was talking about the weekly citings in the s14 for, which seems to me, fairly minor offences. particularly in oz which seems to have a particularly bleeding heart liberal administration.
what did you think i meant?
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