Chiefs not worried about unknown 10
10 Feb 2010
Ian Foster isn’t concerned that his side haven’t seen much footage of the Sharks’ new flyhalf, Steve Meyer.
Although Ruan Pienaar is likely to be fit for selection after undergoing knee surgery in December, Meyer is set to start at 10 ahead of Monty Dumond, with Pienaar eased in off the bench. The Chiefs coach admitted his side doesn’t know much about Meyer, and in all honesty, neither do the Sharks.
He was part of their Currie Cup squad in 2006, but he’s yet to make his Super 14 debut.
If John Plumtree does select Meyer ahead of Dumond it will be the right call based on his 30-minute showing against the Stormers in Cape Town. Although that was enough to show he’s got more potential than Dumond, it doesn’t prove his aptitude for Super Rugby. Only a full season will give a clearer indication whether Meyer can be the Sharks’ first long-term flyhalf since Butch James left in 2007.
Although Meyer has won a couple of Man of the Match awards in the Heineken Cup in his time with Perpignan, Foster said they hadn’t tried to get any video clips of him in action due to the different style of rugby up north.
‘To be honest, we haven’t see much of him,’ Foster told keo.co.za. ‘You can’t waste time trying to find footage of the guy, it’s pretty pointless. I know it’s a cliche, but this early in the season, we’re just looking at our own game.
‘Next week we play the Lions and we’re not going to try get clips of Carlos [Spencer] from the UK. Even if we had footage of Meyer, it wouldn’t make much difference, as he’s now in a new environment in a new squad, so he’ll probably play differently.’
Foster is taking a similar stance with the entire Sharks team. Although many have already downplayed their chances due to a scratchy pre-season, Foster said he can only judge on what he saw last year, where the Sharks won three out of four matches in Australasia – including a win over the Chiefs – but somehow floundered at home.
‘I’m very surprised people are writing them off. I have very little to go on, except what I saw in 2009, which was pretty good for the most part. With the Bulls, they’re consistently the form South African teams who are always in play-off contention.
‘You can’t question their depth either. At the start of the season, most of their players are fit.’
The Sharks’ most notable loss in the backs is Frans Steyn, as they’ll play their first Super 14 in four years without him.
‘It’s hard to say what they lose without Frans, but he’s a very talented young man. He’s influential, and they’ve lost that utility factor. No one likes to lose quality, but thats’ the harsh reality for southern hemisphere teams.
‘We’re in the same bracket with Mils [Muliaina] and Lelia [Masaga] out of the tour. But we’ve planned not to have them, and we know if we can win without them, we’ll only get better when they return.’
Weather conditions in Durban on Saturday are forecast to be hot and humid, and the Chiefs have done the usual drills of wetting the ball in practice to try get acclimatised to the conditions.
‘You can do all those things, but it comes down to who adapts on the night. Fitness levels and concentration will be crucial.’
By Grant Ball
96 Comments
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10 Feb 2010, 12:57 pm
Hard to choose which brawl to observe today.
10 Feb 2010, 12:57 pm
@WP Till I Die: Yeah some cricket game or something, but once again I appologise, should’ve known a NZ’der would hang around SA blog, NZ being a bit technically challenged.
10 Feb 2010, 12:58 pm
@gunther: Thank you Gunther. One would have thought my nick would have been a clue, but Fire probably knows nada about football too.
10 Feb 2010, 13:00 pm
@FireStraeuli: I am no New Zealnder and yes my team are 7 times champions now I think. Suck that in.
10 Feb 2010, 13:04 pm
@rossoneri: Aaah, so you suffer from a weak personality with no character, saw your own team sucked and kept jumping ship ’till you found a team where you wont have to endure a bit of assault from rugby fans.
shame…penile envy indeed.
10 Feb 2010, 13:12 pm
@FireStraeuli:
Gunther is no Stormer…
10 Feb 2010, 13:32 pm
@WP Till I Die:
gunther is a rare breed…
10 Feb 2010, 14:39 pm
@FireStraeuli: You don’t get it. I have never supported any SA team. Ever.
10 Feb 2010, 14:54 pm
Lauaki expected to line up despite infection
By DUNCAN JOHNSTONE – Stuff.co.nz
Last updated 11:45 10/02/2010
An infected arm is bothering new Chiefs skipper Sione Lauaki but he is expected to front against the Sharks in Durban on Sunday as Ian Foster’s side start a tour where they have targeted two wins.
Lauaki has an abscess on an arm after suffering a cut in last Friday’s preseason loss to the Hurricanes in Rotorua.
Foster said the problem appeared to be much better on Tuesday as the Chiefs settled into the hot Durban conditions.
Lauaki has been named as captain of the Chiefs while regular skipper Mils Muliaina is rested for the first three matches that also take in the Lions in Johannesburg and the Western Force in Perth.
It’s a testing road trip early for the Chiefs, traditional slow starters who overcame another sluggish start last year to make their first final.
Having beaten the Cheetahs and Stormers and snared a bonus point from the Bulls on last season’s tour, they are looking for something similar to kick-start their new campaign.
“First and foremost the key is to play well, particularly in the challenging conditions we are playing in with the heat and humidity here,” Foster said from the team base in Durban.
“But clearly we want points and if you pick up a couple of wins away on these sorts of tours you have done very, very well.
“But primarily we want to really build our game over these three weeks and play the game that we want to play. That’s the key to building moment – it’s not just about scrambling points, it’s taking real confidence from the way you play which is important as the campaign goes on.”
Foster believes he may have a full squad to choose from apart from Muliaina and star wing Lelia Masaga who is also back in New Zealand.,
The worry knee injury to backline utility Callum Bruce had handled the long day of travel to South Africa well.
“A decision will be made on him in the next 24 hours. It looks like medically he might be available but with 10 other fit backs we won’t be taking any chances. There’s a strong chance we will need to use all of the squad over the next three weeks.”
Foster said the Chiefs had looked hard at their perennial struggles with starting this competition and hoped they could address that this time.
“I think we have prepared well. We have gone through a preseason where we didn’t win any of our three games but believe we have finished up in a good frame of mind.
“We have deliberately tried a few things outside our normal parameters.”
These included making sure all their warmup games were played on hot New Zealand afternoons, hoping to replicate the conditions they will face on tour.
While a tour first-up was a demanding start it was also a chance for this squad to bond with four or five new players facing their first trip to South Africa.
History certainly appears to be stacked against the Chiefs this weekend. After winning in the opening round of each of the first three Super 12 competitions from 1996-98, incredibly the Chiefs have been a first round victor just once (in 2004) in the time since.
But Foster remains confident that with the core of last year’s successful squad intact that the Chiefs can push on in 2010.
“There’s a good feel in the squad and a nice settled look to it. The guys know how we can play and how we want to play.”
10 Feb 2010, 14:58 pm
@rossoneri: Wonder if it’s his “coathanger arm?
10 Feb 2010, 15:03 pm
@stormer in a teacup: He does have a dangerous arm hey? LOL!
10 Feb 2010, 15:03 pm
@stormer in a teacup: Or maybe his assaulting arm?
10 Feb 2010, 15:05 pm
@Puma: Exactamundo!! Even those bloody pesky Storm boys I will support if they’re playing a foreign team.
10 Feb 2010, 15:09 pm
@rossoneri: Pray tell us why the Sharks are so deserving of bombing this year? Please kindly explain your irrational hatred for what is, at the end of the day, just a sports team.
10 Feb 2010, 15:10 pm
@rossoneri: this Fireman oke has got a serious case of foot-in-mouth disease!
10 Feb 2010, 15:11 pm
@KZN King Shark: Hatred is a strong word. I guess I enjoy reading the panic in Sharks supporters eyes. Endless entertainment I tell you.
You guys will never spell it out, but you are freaking out with fear about this season. I’m just enjoying the show.
10 Feb 2010, 15:13 pm
@Pearl Rose: I agree. I think he is obsessed with *****’. Must have problems in that department. Every time he posts something he talks about it. Vuil bek.
10 Feb 2010, 16:29 pm
@KZN King Shark: no body hates the sharks, it’s only you senssitive sharks supporters who would jump to use a word like “hate”, yet are quite adept at chirping the blue bulls fans or the perennially under-achieving stormers.
In 2007 you lost in the final, in 2008 you won the currie cup, in your heads you reckoned you had entered a golden era, next thing, it all falls flat & you are scared of being seen as another mediocre team from filthy durban again.
As JustRugby aptly described your team, you are nothing but “wanna-bes &pretenders”
10 Feb 2010, 17:07 pm
Following the 6N Rossoneri?
10 Feb 2010, 17:51 pm
@Pearl Rose: says an oke who doesnt have the balls to come clean on who he supports?
sorry pearlie, your sentiments are meaningless until you grow a pair and nail your colours to the mast.
if the stormers do well this season i guess you will come out of the closet right?
10 Feb 2010, 18:09 pm
@rangerman: i told you i support the griquas Ostrichman
10 Feb 2010, 18:20 pm
@Pearl Rose: lmao, then by extension you must be a cheetahs man right?
how do you think your side will do this year Pearl Necklace?
10 Feb 2010, 18:41 pm
@rangerman: do not make extensions now Ostrichman, a Valke supporter does not “by extension” have to support the Blue Bulls.
10 Feb 2010, 18:49 pm
@Pearl Rose: haha, so you have no backbone Pearl Necklace?
why amn i not surprised?
enjoy supporting your vodacom cup team, i will enjoy backing the mighty SHARKS!
10 Feb 2010, 18:56 pm
@rangerman: quite a solid one mate, my griquas did very well in the currie cup! Now Lombard, Mokuena, Riaan Viljoen, Sarel are playing S14 boet…
Worry about your Turbo Reverse 3000 machine…
10 Feb 2010, 19:00 pm
@Pearl Rose: where are they playing Pearlie?
seems the lions own mokuena and the rest are cheetahs. surely you will support the team that absorbs the odd griquas star?
p.s. did the sharks give your lads an ***-whupping or what?
10 Feb 2010, 19:05 pm
I love it when the Springboks, play everybody is all one for the country. Then when the Super 14 starts people will hate everything that doesn’t have to do with their team.
Id like to see what the Chiefs do on Saturday but I don’t think they will enjoy this dam humidity, even I’m suffering in it. Sharks should win this game.
GO SHARKS!
10 Feb 2010, 19:17 pm
@Pearl Rose: Yeah, and seems you’ve got a serious case of ****-in-mouth syndrome….now suck on that fool.
10 Feb 2010, 19:30 pm
@FireStraeuli: @78
classy guy
10 Feb 2010, 19:46 pm
@FireStraeuli: you know when rossoneri suggested that you have a fixation with the piels i did not take it seriously.
Rangeman, reign in your fellow sharkie here, he is plain embarrassing the rest of you Sharks fans…
10 Feb 2010, 19:51 pm
@rossoneri: Now the woman wants to talk about my ‘vuil bek’, shame man, the rugby becoming a bit higher grade for you…or do you now realise how ‘vaak’ you’re looking seeing as you are some ‘baster’ mis-breed that’s kinda struggling with an identity crisis.
Worst of it all, you cant even hang around a NZ blog, ’cause they’ll just choke you even more, now whats a ‘baster brak’ to do? I know, hang out with Pearl Necklace…shame.
10 Feb 2010, 19:53 pm
@Pink Panther: Tanks Panther, I knew you’d aprove of my comments, coming from you I realy apreciate it.
10 Feb 2010, 20:08 pm
@FireStraeuli: hi FS, let’s talk higher grade rugby now, how potent is the sharks backline? How many bonus point tries did your team score last year?
10 Feb 2010, 20:14 pm
@Transformation: Last year…lets put that into perspective, how many injuries did we have last year, how many newbies had to suddenly come into the starting line-up after hardly being on the bench…As for the potency of our backline this year, time will tell.
10 Feb 2010, 20:16 pm
@Transformation: Oh sorry T…Hello, how you doing tonight, me, well I cant wait for Friday, I’ll probably watch all the games this weekend.
10 Feb 2010, 21:01 pm
@FireStraeuli: what newbies are you talking about? No team finished the season without fielding new players, stop making excuses! The Crusaders played without Mc Caw & Carter, Laulala, Flynn, Mcdonald, Poki.
How potent is the backline of Kockott, Dumond/Meyer, Swannie, Murray, Pietersen, Ndungane?
10 Feb 2010, 21:08 pm
@Transformation: Change Dumond to Pienaar, and add Adi as impact player and then dont forget about Terblanche, Fullback does infact form part of the backline…as stated before, time will tell.
10 Feb 2010, 21:16 pm
@FireStraeuli: i’m stil waiting for you to put last season into perspective, without using injuries as excuses. that is why most teams acquire more than one player to play a position, it is called depth, and if i remember well most sharks supporters were saying your team had depth last year.
Let us hear it then, how many bonus point tries did your team score?
10 Feb 2010, 21:23 pm
@Transformation: Now here’s a shot in the dark, you also a saders man?
10 Feb 2010, 21:38 pm
@FireStraeuli: let us stick to higher grade rugby mate, can we? I am still awaiting your answer.
10 Feb 2010, 21:46 pm
@Transformation: Ahaa, so what exactly are you on about then, your perfect little saders’ difference between 4th and 7th was rather close if I recall correctly, and 4th aint exactly much to be proud of either, one would expect the seven time champs to realise that.
But let me guess, you’re another one of those ‘baster brak’ identity crisis loosers that’s actualy a South African. Shame man, needing a nother countries sportsmen to validate yourself…
Pathetic, no use arguing higher grade rugby with your type, you dont understand the passion behind rugby.
10 Feb 2010, 21:54 pm
@Transformation: Anyways numb-nuts, I’m done arguing with your type for one night….dont go suiping the whole papsak by yourself now ok.
10 Feb 2010, 21:59 pm
@FireStraeuli: hayi ngumhlola! I don’t know you and why you support the Sharks and hence i will not make assumptions about you. You seem hell bent on pigeonholing people and putting them into boxes.
I am trying to engage you on the positive aspects of your team, but the only thing you are interested in is insulting me. Is that what you call “passion behind rugby?”
10 Feb 2010, 22:12 pm
@FireStraeuli: i don’t know when or why our conversation turned nasty. I thought since you are a sharks supporter you would be the perfect person to engage on the strengths and positives around you team.
I apologise if anything i said or implied offended you.
11 Feb 2010, 01:00 am
@rossoneri:
Shame man… are you still living 20 years in the past? Ag, shame, you’re so simple, hey my little friend… don’t worry, I don’t care what your pigmentation is. You shouldn’t be so concerned about that.
11 Feb 2010, 06:53 am
@Transformation: i see you made an attempt to have a decent conversation with this FireStraueli fool. Firstly he cannot even analyse his own team’s performances let alone be civilised.
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