Sharks snub Tri-Series
8 Jan 2012
The Sharks have declined an invitation to play the Stormers and the Lions in a pre-season Tri-Series at Newlands at the end of January.
The Durban-based franchise has competed in the tournament in recent years, but said a long upcoming Super Rugby campaign meant it wasn’t ideal to play tough warm-up matches beforehand.
‘We will play Boland and the EP Kings over two weekends early in February,’ Sharks assistant coach Hugh Reece-Edwards told The Witness newspaper. ‘Playing in the Newlands triangular involved playing two games [against the Lions and the Stormers] in four days at the end of this month.
‘We think it will be more beneficial to our planning and preparation to spread the games over two weekends, particularly this early in the season and with a long year ahead of us.
‘I believe the Cheetahs are taking our place in Cape Town,’ he added.
The Sharks kick off their 2012 Super Rugby season with a match against the Bulls at Loftus on 24 February.
348 Comments
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9 Jan 2012, 15:10 pm
@Tacitus-193:
Strange, said the complete opposite in an interview (when asked about his apparent WP bias).
9 Jan 2012, 15:11 pm
@PissAnt-198:
I dont’ know who stated that WP dominated selections in the last 4 years, but it was most certainly not me.
In fact, the last 4 years have seen a welcome absence of WP Boks.
But I refer back to the White era, when a definite WP infatuation existed.
And in the era around the turn of the century as well.
9 Jan 2012, 15:11 pm
***** teeth man…..
how on this planet can we entrust the bok head coach job to someone who okays the Spies and Timotei appointments…
fark me man!!!
9 Jan 2012, 15:12 pm
luke watson
9 Jan 2012, 15:13 pm
@PissAnt-201:
Not strange at all. White would say whatever served him best in an interview.
And in an interview where he gets put under pressure for his clear WP bias, well, what better to get him off the hook than making the ridiculous claim that he supports the Bulls?
This when Vic’s book makes it clear that White disliked Vic, disliked the Bulls habit of keeping themselves seperate from the rest of the Bok group, and hated th fact that Meyer was seen as a better coach than himself.
9 Jan 2012, 15:13 pm
@Tacitus-202:
The era when we won a World Cup?
Schalk Burger was the only starting WP player in the World Cup final.
9 Jan 2012, 15:14 pm
heyneke lost any support he may have had from me with that Spies appointment….
I still dont know whether to laugh or cry…
9 Jan 2012, 15:15 pm
tonderai chavangha
9 Jan 2012, 15:15 pm
peter grant
9 Jan 2012, 15:16 pm
@PissAnt-206:
That’s not how White started out. Compare his teams in 2004 and 2005, with the team that got forced onto him due to the Bulls and Sharks domination of Super Rugby in the latter part of his tenure.
Compare the World Cup 2007 team with the one that contained Bolla Conradie, Eddie Andrews, Shimange, Davidz etc. etc. etc.
White was forced to change due to the the excellence of the Bulls and Sharks teams of the time.
9 Jan 2012, 15:16 pm
meyer a better coach than White…..?
Have to agree wholeheartedly with that….
9 Jan 2012, 15:20 pm
Saracens coach at a loss for words over turbo reverse tendencies against Bath…..
Perhaps he needs to scan the Keo archives
9 Jan 2012, 15:20 pm
@Tacitus-202: 161.>^..^^..^< katman-161:
My sentiments exactly.
convinient amnesia
9 Jan 2012, 15:21 pm
schalk will be next bok cappie as well….
9 Jan 2012, 15:23 pm
@Transformation-213:
Yes, 4 more years as in added to previous years where that was the case. Not necessarily the last 4 years.
9 Jan 2012, 15:24 pm
@grant10-214: bonehead cappie
9 Jan 2012, 15:27 pm
@Tacitus-210:
Bolla was a Bok since 2002. He played a couple 3 games in 2004, 1 in 2005, not selected at all in 2006 & 2007 and played his last game under PDV as reserve against NZ in 2008.
Quinten Davids made his debut in 2002 too, played two games in 2004 (after being kicked out of RWC in 2003) and 3 off the bench – last represented in July 2004 against NZ.
Eddie Andrews was one of the few that lasted – but even 3 of his 5 games in 2005 were off the bench, 2 out of 5 off the bench in 2006 and two games off the bench in 2007.
He had to retire because of injury which plagued him since the end of 2004.
Shimmie was capped as a Cheetah in 2004, in all his 9 tests he started off the bench in each one of them.
9 Jan 2012, 15:27 pm
@Tacitus-210: this is one of the tactics Heyneke learnt in the US recently, Bulls players are said to be using it extensively this pre-season.
P_orn Gets You Up For Game
Published: Wednesday, 4. January, 2012 in category U.S.Tweet
It’s official! P_orn gets you up for the upcoming rugby matches.
And if players did not know this was true a UK study has stepped in to hand out the answer. The study followed 12 Aviva Premiership players and findings suggest that watching porn (or aggressive videos) can boost a player’s physical performance.
The Premiership test subjects were shown 4 minute clips of erotic dancing or UFC fight and they subsequently saw a peak in testosterone level that rose during physical conditioning when compared to watching sad or control videos.
The study must be far from conclusive, however. The England team admitted to watching UFC fights during the Rugby World Cup and they definitely did not rise to the top.
The study, which will be published in the journal Hormones and Behaviour.
9 Jan 2012, 15:27 pm
@RL-216: seems a fait accompli….
9 Jan 2012, 15:28 pm
@grant10-212:
Perhaps it’s because one of their front rowers got sent off.
9 Jan 2012, 15:30 pm
the point of this is that those bulls and sharks players forced their way into the springbok team in spite of the provinces they played for.
can the same be said of the wp players? i think not. the only palyer who comes close to that is schalk during 2004 maybe and the wc 2007.
9 Jan 2012, 15:30 pm
@Tacitus-189:
You kidding.
9 Jan 2012, 15:30 pm
@Transformation-218:
Whatever.
9 Jan 2012, 15:32 pm
@grant10-219:
how do you feel about it?
9 Jan 2012, 15:35 pm
@Transformation-218: The Bulls players prefer to page through the John Deer catalogue 5 minutes before kick-off.
And don’t mock Wacko Jaco. He was up on that crossbar for your sins.
9 Jan 2012, 15:37 pm
@Tacitus-163:
Kitch Christie devised a formula: Altitude based forwards, multi skilled backs who are big and strong!
A physical scum half who operates as the 9th forward when needed!
9 Jan 2012, 15:39 pm
@PissAnt-217:
Did you know that Bolla is still part of the Stormers 50 man playing squad. Now that is amazing ‘depth’ that AC has at his disposal.
9 Jan 2012, 15:40 pm
@>^..^< katman-225: bwahahahahaha on wacko jaco!
9 Jan 2012, 15:41 pm
@RL-227:
Indeed I did.
He is currently captain of Boland, they won the 1st Div last year.
9 Jan 2012, 15:47 pm
Okay its been fun, I am off.
Ciao all.
9 Jan 2012, 16:01 pm
@PissAnt-229: LOL I forgot the
AC can’t be serious having Bolla in his squad – pray Stormer boys that Duvenage stays fit and that the u21′s tried last year can step up.
Now this whole depth thing puzzles me – why is it that HendrikP got such a hard on when AC announced the Stormers sqaud?
I mean they are thin at prop, buying Carstens who was a complete failure in Europe. No locks ‘depth’ at all, Bekker the only one over 2m tall and the rest all former flankers.
Is Burger going to steal the blindside spot or will it go to that sensational softie Kolisi?
How about centre, JDV is on his last legs and those Currie cup centres, Brakkie and the one that looks like that predator creature are ordinary but not to worry …. the Stormers can score tries like no other team … It’s true!
So why does this HendrikP rave so much about the Stormers depth and at the same time rubbish the “depth” of other teams.
9 Jan 2012, 16:09 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-209:
The centres too were from WP early 2003 to 2005, they were terrific as a combo and scored tries, Marius Joubert, De Wet Barry, JdV, what’s fair is fair
9 Jan 2012, 16:13 pm
@au revoir mon tout noirs, au revoir…-224: not good….he is a bit dof…
9 Jan 2012, 16:16 pm
@RL-231: only fetcher in that squad is ruhan kitshoff
if schalk plays at openside I dont go watch…and I hardly miss a game…
seen that boring old movie too many times….
9 Jan 2012, 16:16 pm
perhaps Nizaam Carr can do the openside role…
Kolisi is a blind sider….as is Schalk
9 Jan 2012, 16:17 pm
@RL-227:
Economics dictated a 30 players’ Super Rugby squads in 2012
Bolla is merely a token to make up the numbers, he will not make the squad. There are other tokens out there who will make the Sormers’ squad to enhance entertainment
9 Jan 2012, 16:17 pm
I am not a thug – Botha
Toulon lock Bakkies Botha has called on French officials to judge him on his actions, not his supposed reputation for being a dirty player.
The Springbok veteran made his Top 14 debut last weekend in Toulon’s 25-6 defeat to relegation-threatened Biarritz having arrived in France following the World Cup to start a three-year deal with RCT.
Despite his colourful disciplinary record, the 32-year-old insists that his love for the physical side of the game does not necessarily make him a villain.
“I am not a thug. I love the battle, that’s all,” the 76-test cap second row told Midi Olympique.
Botha used two anecdotes from his past to illustrate how his reputation has a habit of proceeding him.
“I was given a three-week suspension a few years ago for pushing [Australia flanker] Phil Waugh at a ruck,” he explained.
“When it came to the disciplinary hearing, the judge asked me how many times I had been cited in my life. I told the truth – once. He did not believe me, asked me if I had personal problems, if I hit my kids…It was ridiculous.
“People are wrong about me. I do not eat children. (WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MUST BE A TYPO)
“In the Currie Cup my opponents use to target me. One day, (Sharks lock) AJ Venter was trying to make me use my temper. At every scrum (referee) Craig Joubert was saying to me: ‘Stay with me, Bakkies. Nothing will happen to you.’”
Botha has made helping Toulon qualify for the Heineken Cup his primary target and hopes to repay the faith put in him by club president Mourad Boudjellal.
“I want Toulon to qualify for the Heineken Cup next year. I want to be part of that success,” he explained.
“Four years ago, I was on the verge of signing with Toulon. We could not break my contract with the Bulls and it ended in court where I lost.
“So I was delighted when Mourad Boudjellal came after me again two years later. That tells me that he is a man of his word. Last year, I had other contract offers in Europe but I chose Toulon out of respect for him.”
9 Jan 2012, 16:23 pm
@grant10-235: Carr can do the job much better than Burger can – the question is will cappie give up his jersey for a more competent fetcher.
9 Jan 2012, 16:24 pm
maybe… possibly… could it be…
that gert will coax carel dup back as our ‘bokline’ coach…?
well… i can dream can’t i…!!
9 Jan 2012, 16:29 pm
@ufo-239:
Slappes will definately be a strong candidate for backline coach under Gert.
9 Jan 2012, 16:30 pm
@grant10-234: bwahahahahaha @ “if schalk plays openside i don’t go watch”
are you giving AC an ultimatum? you know schalla will be wearing the 6 jersey mos and standing at 1st receiver the whole game.
9 Jan 2012, 16:35 pm
@grant10-235: Hey G10. Happy happy and all that. I’m afraid to say that Carr won’t be able to fill the openside role. If you’ve watched his defensive game closely, you’d have noticed that he doesn’t compete for breakdown ball. he is a good tackler and recovers, to get back into the defensive line very well, but he doesn’t compete for ruck ball. It takes a special kind of courage to drop you head when competing for the ball in a ruck, because you can’t see anyone coming to clear the ruck. Nizaam hasn’t developed that aspect of his game yet and i’d not like him to do that because he would sacrifice and important strength to his game and that his his ballskills. he’d be far more suited to being a receiver or ball carrier off turnover ball. because he’s not very tall, if you played a short fetcher, it could affect your lineout strategy if you only have 1 loose-forward lineout jumper.
9 Jan 2012, 16:38 pm
@Jeraldjay-240:
yes, i agree with you…
he is after all a carel student…!!
9 Jan 2012, 16:49 pm
@ufo-243:
Gert’s back 3 combo in 2000/01 was Breyton, Slappes and Percy.
So Slappes understands Gert’s mindset.
9 Jan 2012, 17:07 pm
@pompies2-242: i agree with you mate
9 Jan 2012, 17:10 pm
personally I see Carr as a skilful 8 ….
we will miss Flo more than anyone….
AC and Rassie are bloody fools to let him go…..nuts…
9 Jan 2012, 17:16 pm
@grant10-246: Correct, but again, because of his lack of real height, the balance of the line-out might be affected. Flo will be missed, but if the tight 5 can build momentum and keep going forward, it would make it easier for another openside to play the “fetcher” role. The great open-siders can do that regardless of the pack going forward or back. Like you’ve been saying, an animal tight-head and a good backup hooker and things will be much better.
9 Jan 2012, 17:21 pm
@Hondo-232:
i will always have a soft spot for de wet barry.
@grant10-233:
thank you grant, your honesty is apreciated.
9 Jan 2012, 17:21 pm
@grant10-246: Players aren’t property and shouldn’t be treated as such, imo. Keeping someone against their will runs the risk of destabilising the squad.
@Tacitus-210: The Stormers were the strongest SA team at the start of the 2000s. The make-up of the Bok squads reflected it. The make-up changed as other sides took over. Don’t go looking for conspiracies where none exist.
9 Jan 2012, 17:27 pm
@RL-231:
Nor worries I got what you were saying I also suck at the smileys. You won’t see Bolla unless they have a serious bad run of injuries.
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