Stormers seal conference title
7 Jul 2012
JON CARDINELLI watched the Stormers beat the Cheetahs 13-6 to retain the South African title and edge closer towards that all-important home semi-final berth.
It was a missed opportunity if you consider that five log points would have catapulted the Stormers to the top of the overall log. But on a day where the rain was bucketing down in Bloemfontein and conditions made handling and running difficult, four log points should be viewed as more than adequate.
The performance will be scrutinised and there are areas of concern. What is more important than the quality of performance, however, is that this Stormers side has maintained its winning momentum. They’ve clinched the South African conference and thus ensured a top-three finish in the Super Rugby league.
Prior to this fixture, the Stormers hadn’t picked up a four-try bonus point. And yet, there was good reason to believe that a trip to Bloemfontein would yield maximum log points.
The Cheetahs play an expansive game and are susceptible on turnover ball. With the Stormers boasting a formidable defence, they were expected to force the attack-minded Cheetahs into errors and use those mistakes to create try-scoring chances.
But the weather put paid to that notion, as the Cheetahs adjusted their tactics right from kickoff. The Stormers persisted with their territorial game plan right from the outset, but so did the Cheetahs. Even when they were deep in the Stormers’ half, the Cheetahs halfbacks saw fit to test the opposition back three with a series of garryowens.
The Stormers spilled their fair share of high balls, but unfortunately for the Cheetahs, the hosts could not make these turnovers count. In a game where both sides were terribly inconsistent, the one constant was the Stormers defence. The Cape side may have erred at times, but they managed to keep the Cheetahs from scoring a try.
The Stormers weren’t effective at the collisions, and generally lacked patience on attack. The conditions weren’t conducive to flinging the ball wide, and yet this was how the Stormers squandered much of their possession.
They also blew a couple of attacking chances through hooker Deon Fourie, who obviously struggled to control the slippery ball when feeding the lineout. But when they did manage to win ball at this set piece, they looked dangerous, and the rolling maul was used effectively.
While they made inroads into the Cheetahs’ defence via the rolling maul, they failed to use this platform to score tries. The Cheetahs defence did its best to spoil and stifle, but more composure from the Stormers may have resulted in more rewards on the scoreboard.
Referee Marius Jonker eventually lost his patience with ill-disciplined Cheetahs, and sent fullback Willie le Roux to the sin bin in the 45th minute. This yellow card followed a series of Cheetahs offences in their own 22m area. It was also a period where the Stormers turned down kickable penalties and went for the try.
But the Stormers lacked the penetration to punish the Cheetahs, and captain Jean de Villiers eventually pointed towards the posts when his team was awarded their next penalty. They would score a try in the 54th minute through Gio Aplon, a score that was down to Peter Grant’s superb vision and execution.
The flyhalf realised that Le Roux was still in the sin bin and chipped into space, and Aplon raced through to collect the ball on the bounce. The ensuing conversion meant that the Stormers had scored 10 points while Le Roux was off the park.
But these moments of execution were far too rare. It wasn’t wrong to kick for territory in a match afflicted by such weather, but the accuracy of those kicks left a lot to be desired.
The handling in contact was poor, which was to be expected in such conditions. What was less expected was the poor breakdown work by either team. Turnovers were commonplace, and so neither team managed to build an attack of substance.
The Stormers attempted to play in Cheetahs territory in the final minutes, but a series of bad kicks merely handed the hosts possession. The Cheetahs had their chances to win the game in the second half, or at least draw in the final minute.
They won a penalty and booted it to touch, but lost possession at the lineout when Andries Bekker soared to make a potentially game-saving steal.
The Stormers have one remaining fixture before the play-offs, and will want to use the game against the Rebels to generate some momentum. More importantly, they will want to win that match to guarantee themselves a home semi-final.
560 Comments
Pages: « 1 … 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] 9 10 11 12 » Show All
7 Jul 2012, 21:05 pm
Ek is gatvol om te **** ons scrum suffer. Dis jonker se patetiese reffing!!!! Daar was ni ern scrum wat cheetahs op engage geslaan het ni. Elke donnerse scrum dlaan hulle groeg en word ni gecall ni. Gatvol vir hierdie reels wat refs ni kan sien ni. Jonker gly in sy panty rond oor die scrums terwyl hy cheeters laat vroeg slaan by elke scrum. Pateties
7 Jul 2012, 21:07 pm
those streets of Philadelphia are calling your name fanny waffler Agatha.. go parade your frilly fanny round about there… this is a rugby site not a fairy princess fancy dress party for faggotmaggots
7 Jul 2012, 21:08 pm
@charo(charo)-349:
in fact, of all the sa loosies, coetzee looks the most likely no.8 to me.
has speed, vision and willingness to either make contact or offload, depending on the situation or field position.
as an ex loosie, to me he fits the profile best.
7 Jul 2012, 21:09 pm
@charo(charo)-349:
It is Duane.
Charro.
7 Jul 2012, 21:12 pm
@IAAS(I am a stormer)-354:
ooops sorry…….
cheeky bastardo.
8)
7 Jul 2012, 21:13 pm
Coetsee should settle at 8 that is where he fits best… after Vermeulen of course..
Elstadt and Alberts to share 7
Brussow and Kolisi to share 6
those are the 6 best loosies and the 6 that Meyer should have in his squad… NONE other.
7 Jul 2012, 21:15 pm
@charo(charo)-353:
Seriously, having heard HM speak, the loosies he rates Marcel, Alberts, Deysel, Vermeuelen ( particularly him), Jaque Potgieter (Why ??) Schalk, CJ Stander, Kolisi.
And HM would like the no. 4 lock to double as 7 flanker as well.
7 Jul 2012, 21:17 pm
Duane, Marcelle, Daniella, Ryanne
they’re all feminine sounding names.. except Duane will eat those other fairies for breakfast brunch dinner and after dinner crumpets combined.
7 Jul 2012, 21:23 pm
Next on the emerging loosie list would be Du Toit, Carr, Botha
Coetsee / Vermeulen can cover 7 / 8
Alberts / Elstadt can cover 4 / 7
Brussow 6 / Kolisi 6 / 7
ALL bases covered.. don’t need no Deysels or Kankowski’s or Spies’s or Potgieters or Daniella’s or anyone else for that matter
unless they wanna fast track Botha / Du Toit / Carr for higher honors rather sooner than later.
7 Jul 2012, 21:25 pm
@IAAS(I am a stormer)-357:
surprised he rates deysel and potgieter.
duane is best suited to 7, too slow and upright for 8.
kolisi is certainly one for the future.
before i go and watch the golf…….
so disappointed (as was most of the world i’m sure) that serena “silverback” williams won the ladies at wimbledon.
don’t we always back the skillful player over the “powerful” one?
7 Jul 2012, 21:28 pm
First prize for HM would be this loose trio right now:
8 Vermeulen
7 Alberts
6 Marcel Coetzee
That’s the way it’s going to happen.
7 Jul 2012, 21:29 pm
Serena deserved her Wimbledon crown she gutsed it out and pulled the big punches out when they mattered.. the chicks got guts and she got balls.. and she got a good heart.. so why you denying her her moment of well deserved glory?
7 Jul 2012, 21:32 pm
@IAAS(I am a stormer)-361: with Kolisi on bench
but he needs Elstadt in there somewhere for some steel.. he don’t have any with Etsebeth, Kruger, Bekker and Vd Merwe at 2nd row.
and he should review his blind alley thinking wrt Brussow, still best No.6 in the country bar none.
7 Jul 2012, 21:34 pm
@charo(charo)-360:
HM has stated on a number of occasions that he likes the big strong ball carriers. But he is not set in his ways and will adjust where necessary. He still rates Brussow. We still need to give Heyneke time – sure he will make mistakes. But he is open to as advice.
7 Jul 2012, 21:38 pm
@IAAS(I am a stormer)-364: then he better start opening his bullsbevok eyes and start LISTENING to some reason for once.
out and about…siya later
7 Jul 2012, 21:40 pm
@fitz1ella(fitz1ella)-362:
not denying her at all.
“she’s got balls” is probably what most are turned off by.
enough now – going to watch some golf.
7 Jul 2012, 21:41 pm
@fitz1ella(fitz1ella)-363:
Depending on how far the Stormers go, HM will have to revisit his favourites. And Kolisi and Elstadt (very under rated) will come into the picture.
But the Boks loosie and FH cupboard look well stocked right now. The pressure is now on for starting places. Because if someone F’s up, there is someome else to step right in. And that’s the way I like it.
7 Jul 2012, 21:42 pm
Stormers are loosing their initiative again as they move towards the end their campaign again.They will lose against the New Zealanders . Mark my words.
7 Jul 2012, 21:50 pm
@charo(charo)-360:
“so disappointed (as was most of the world i’m sure) that serena “silverback” williams won the ladies at wimbledon.”
Probably more a case of most people YOU know, Charo.
How on earth can you speak for “most of the world?”
7 Jul 2012, 22:00 pm
How can u talk about the greatest pair of fast bowlers and not mention the greatest of them all? Waqar and Wasim?!?!?!? Both in stats and interviews with current greats such as Sachin, Ponting and Kallis who rate them as the greatest ever. Add the left right combination and the reverse swing and they are arguably the most feared pair ever.
7 Jul 2012, 22:11 pm
Just looking through the log again.
Given the inept performance by the Tahs against the Brumbies today, one can probably accept that the Reds will win with a bonus point. Taking them to 58.
If that is the case, it means that both the Bulls and the Sharks MUST win with a bonus point against the Lions and Cheetahs respectively to book their places in the play off. If one of them fail to do so, the Reds will overtake them on the log by virtue of the fact that they have won more games and one of the Bulls or Sharks will fall out. That will give us two teams from each country in the top 6.
So, the Bulls and the Sharks still have a lot to do next week Saturday.
7 Jul 2012, 22:15 pm
@nama1(nama1)-371:
What work in the favour of the Bulls and the Sharks though, is the fact that they will play the last two matches of the league phase of the competition and by then they will know exactly what they have to do to get to the play offs.
7 Jul 2012, 23:29 pm
@NZINCHINA(NZINCHINA)-70:
Yep, RL has compared a city of Whangarei ( pop 80,000 ) to a city with about 650k population.
Bloem is twice the size of Christchurch. Bloem has 6 times the population of Dunedin.
Yet even those details does not stop the fools complaining about crowd sizes in NZ. But they seem its so easy to make an excuse for South African crowds.
7 Jul 2012, 23:43 pm
@RL(RL)-75:
You name one city in Ozzie that have just over 120k population.
Canberra = 360k
Sydney = 4.6 million
Melbourne = 4.3 million
Brisbane = 2.3 million
Dunedin = 125k
Christchurch = 360k
Wellington = 364k
Auckland = 1.35 million
Napier = 122k
I could go on but it seems the stats you have given do not take into coount that Ozzie in areas where the rugby is played is anywhere from twice as many people to 40 times more people.
Of course i know that those districts of Ozzies are bigger, territory wise than NZ. But the fact is those stats still add up to NZ having the most people watching at the stadiums than Ozzie and South Africa.
7 Jul 2012, 23:47 pm
@Golden Boy(Golden Boy)-370:
yes we were just throwing out names
They were also great
7 Jul 2012, 23:54 pm
I note the one who is so desperate and does not know whether ‘it’ is an ‘ella’ or a ‘fella’ is once again as high as a kite to the extent that ‘it’ does not know the difference between geographical regions nor simply night from day.
But since I have already had one too many Heinekens I am off to seek golden slumbers while ‘it’ wanders in sniff-induced aimless, non-existent pies-in-the-skies.
8 Jul 2012, 00:39 am
What has the pop of a city or country got to do with the filling or non filling of a stadium? Surely it is purely related to followers of the sport in said country? If you can fill the stadiums initially and then the crowd dwindles in subsequent years then there is a problem….acknowledge that rather than stick your head in the sand!
8 Jul 2012, 02:47 am
@whatever(whatever)-377:
Looks like you’ve got a huge problem in Bloem then and the Lions are close to bankruptcy, we know we have problems with our crowds but we were told all SAFFA games were packed to the rafters it would appear this isn’t the case.
8 Jul 2012, 03:50 am
@fitz1ella(fitz1ella)-350: you’re not a fan of Burger, but he’s actually far better then anyone of Elstadt, Vermeulen and Kolisi. He may think he’s a fly half at times who definitely needs to get out of that channel. But he never slows down and plays every second of every match at 100%. Forget about his leadership, but as a member of the team, he is virtually an extra player for us.
8 Jul 2012, 04:29 am
@whatever(whatever)-377:
Its simple maths Whatever.
Do you need a hand to work it out?
Not sticking my head in the sand at all but unlike South Africans we are not saying we fill all stadiums are we?
Fact is Rugby union is not as the # 1 sport played in NZ.
The top 5 sports played by boys (5-17) in clubs are:
Soccer (17%)
Rugby Union (16%)
Swimming (14%)
Cricket (8%)
Hockey (8%)
The top 5 sports played by men are:
Golf (26%)
Cricket (15%)
Tennis (14%)
Touch football (14%)
Rugby union (11%)
And in NZ, rugby is played on digital tv. Back in the old days when we use to fill stadiums on a normal national provincial game, we didnt even have colour tv let alone watch it live.
And population in city limits has a huge difference to filling stadiums. Now if you cant see that then its you with head up bottom.
8 Jul 2012, 06:16 am
@fitz1ella(fitz1ella)-350: Are you for real?Where is Vermeulen? Oh yes. I forgot. He is injured –again.That does not make him the great player you are chanting for .When he is fit ,he is good . Nothing extraordinary. Just good(far better than Spies though)Great ….NO. Are you really comparing Carr to The Sharks loosies?? To much Province in you I am afraid. Cannot take you seriously.
8 Jul 2012, 06:27 am
@Hurricane(Hurricane)-380:
thanks for taking the time to post all that stuff no one is interested. fact is rugby union is not the number 1 sport in any of the other top countries either. In SA football berats it hands down, as it does in UK and France. and of course the aussies have league, aussie rules and football ahead of union too. so not sure what the point is of all this verbal masturbation.
8 Jul 2012, 07:38 am
@nama1(nama1)-369:did you notice serena being tagged as silverback a reference to apes/gorillas?
i hate this decrepit colonial sort & his f.ucking attitude.
8 Jul 2012, 08:22 am
So, back to the rugby.
It’s possible that only one of the Sharks and Bulls will go through.
Which will it be???
8 Jul 2012, 08:56 am
Stormers will be found wanting up against the sides of The Sharks, Crusaders, Reds, Brumbies and Chiefs. They just do not have the firepower of those quality teams.
8 Jul 2012, 09:15 am
Charo joins the ranks of out and out racist Shark supporters.
Done with him.
8 Jul 2012, 09:28 am
@munkiboi(munkiboi)-382:
Yet you still replyed to my useless information.
Really you should just been quiet but we all know some of you just cant help yourselves.
Thanks Munki but if your looking for verbal mastub@tion, maybe one of your man looking for man sites will help with your problem.
8 Jul 2012, 09:30 am
@Sharks fans are genuine Bok supporters(Predawn)-385: I agree with this.
8 Jul 2012, 09:37 am
Then the Stormers are very fortunate, ’cause they don’t have to play the Sharks again in the competition.
8 Jul 2012, 09:42 am
@Jeraldjay(Jeraldjay)-389: unfortunately, the Stormers may well end up playing the Crusaders (home game for the Saders). Good night nurse.
8 Jul 2012, 09:46 am
@wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-390:
The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.
They were lucky to beat us in Christchurch.
8 Jul 2012, 09:52 am
@Dawn(Dawn)-386:
Aw sweet. Unfriend him on FaceBook and show him.
8 Jul 2012, 09:57 am
Saders have the Stormers number in CT. Beat them twice in CT last year, including a semi.
8 Jul 2012, 10:00 am
@Sharks fans are genuine Bok supporters(Predawn)-385: @wooden spoon(wooden spoon)-390:
You neurosurgeons are aware of the way things stand currently – surely?
Stormers top of the SA conference, guaranteed a home playoff of some sort – 99% a semi final……
Sharks limping into playoff contention and can still fall away all together……
Nothing you bitter ballies say, wish, or dream changes this
In the Stormers future I see a week off and a home game, with lessons learned in the past never far from the player’s minds.
Our destiny is in our hands – not yours
And them’s the facts.
8 Jul 2012, 10:06 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.(The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food)-394:
As much as it pains you. Stormers don’t have the bottle to get past the semis. Watch this space.
The quality teams will pass them at around this stage of the competition. Happens without fail every time.
8 Jul 2012, 10:06 am
@Sharks fans are genuine Bok supporters(Predawn)-392: You enjoy racist references? I am shocked….
8 Jul 2012, 10:07 am
All Stormers fans know the Crusaders are our bogey team. Has always been and should we play them at home again, they definitely will have a psychological advantage.
But this season is different…… fark I hope it is.
8 Jul 2012, 10:07 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.(The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food)-396:
Unfriend me on FaceBook. I’ll be devastated.
8 Jul 2012, 10:13 am
I started watching the Stormers game with a couple of mates, after 25mins we all moved away from the TV and didn’t even bother getting score updates, a borefest of note! Terrible terrible rugby, I am not going to waste my Saturdays watching sh!te like that…
8 Jul 2012, 10:22 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-383:
I saw that.
Just again confirms to me why the honest racists like Hondo is much better to deal with than the crocodiles ie eople who seem to be smiling with you while in the meantime they are looking for a chance to “devour” you.
Sickening when you come to the realisation that they are actually not who the pretend to be.
Pages: « 1 … 2 3 4 5 6 7 [8] 9 10 11 12 » Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.