PharSide Super 15 Rugby Roundup Week 1

The South African Conference of the 2011 Super 15 Rugby Tournament kicked off this weekend… here's how it all panned out…

Sharks 24 vs Cheetahs 9 – Mr. Price Kings Park, Durban

The Sharks kicked off their tournament campaign with a 15 point lead over the Cheetahs at Mr. Price Kings Park on Saturday. Unfortunately due to the London style weather conditions which seemed to dampen what may have been an epic game of Rugby, the final score was a result of two tries by Jacques Botes and Bismarck Du Plessis respectively, both by driving mauls, along with one conversion and three successful penalties by Pat Lambie and another penalty by Jacques-Louis Potgieter. The Cheetahs obviously not very well experienced with playing in the rain only managed to get 9 points out of the Sharks with three successful penalties by Naas Olivier. Not exactly a spectacular opening game but I can live with the 4 points we received for the win. Bit unfortunate for my good mate Ryan Lurie who just happens a staunch Cheetahs supporter, who was celebrating his 30th Birthday on Saturday… sorry Ryan, guess if you were a Sharks supporter you'd had even more reason to celebrate on Saturday… as a result of the Cheetahs loss, Durban, you'll see Mr. Lurie wearing a Sharks jersey for a day very soon thanks to a little bet between Ryan and my soon to be Brother in Law Waine

Stats

Sharks 

Tries – J. Botes,B.du Plessis 

Pen – P. Lambie 3,J-L. Potgieter 

Con – P Lambie

Cheetahs

Pen – N Olivier 3

Con - 

Drop - 

Cards -

Match Officials :

Referee: Craig Joubert

Assistant Ref 1:James Leckie

Assistant Ref 2:Cobus Wessels

TMO : Shaun Veldsman

Teams

The Sharks :15. Louis Ludik , 14. Odwa Ndungane , 13. Stefan Terblanche , 12. Meyer Bosman , 11. Lwazi Mvovo , 10. Patrick Lambie , 9. Charl McLeod , 8. Ryan Kankowski , 7. Willem Alberts , 6. Jacques Botes , 5. Alistair Hargreaves , 4. Steven Sykes , 3. Jannie du Plessis , 2. Bismarck du Plessis , 1. Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements , 16. Craig Burden, 17. Eugene van Staden , 18. Anton Bresler , 19. Keegan Daniel , 20. Conrad Hoffmann , 21. Jacques-Louis Potgieter , 22. Adrian Jacobs

Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Philip Burger, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Ryno Benjamin, 10 Naas Olivier, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Kabamba Floors, 7 Philip van der Walt, 6 Frans Viljoen, 5 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 4 Francois Uys, 3 WP Nel, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.

Replacements: 16 Ryno Barnes, 17 Kobus Calldo, 18 Waltie Vermeulen, 19 Ashley Johnson, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Riaan Viljoen.

Check out the match highlights below:

Bulls 24 vs Lions 20 – Ellis Park, Johannesburg

The Bulls and the Lions kicked off their tournament campaigns with a seemingly complete opposite game to The Sharks vs Cheetahs game, most notably an astonishing second half for The Lions and completely uneventful second half for The Bulls apart from a yellow card.
Zane Kirchner scored a try for The Bulls in the first 14mins of the game, minutes later we saw an epic 60m full paced duck 'n weave by Gerhard van den Heever which rewarded him a well deserved try. The Lions only seemed to turn up to the game 35mins in with a try by Waylon Murray. The second half kicked off with The Bulls sitting at 24 points against a dismal 5 points for The Lions, however 16 mins in, The Lions great comeback began with a well deserved try by Martin Bezuidenhout, 4mins later another by Warren Whiteley… BOOM! I reckon if the Lions woke up 10mins earlier they may very well have taken the cake.

Stats:

Lions 

Tries – W Murray, M Bezuidenhout , W.Whiteley

Pen – E Janties

Con – E.Jantjies

Bulls

Tries – Z Kirchner,G. van den Heever 

Pen – M Steyn 4

Con – M Steyn

Cards – Stephan Dippenaar (yellow) – 48mins

Match Officials:

Referee: Marius Jonker

Assistant Ref 1:Joey Slamans

Assistant Ref 2:Stefan Breytenbach

TMO : Johann Meuwesen

Teams

Lions:15. Jaco Taute, 14. Lionel Mapoe, 13. Waylon Murray, 12. Doppies La Grange, 11. Michael Killian, 10. Elton Jantjies, 9. Jano Vermaak, 8. Warren Whiteley, 7. Josh Strauss, 6. Derick Minnie, 5. Franco van der Merwe (captain), 4. George Earl, 3. Patrick Cilliers, 2. Bandise Maku, 1. JC Janse van Rensburg

Substitutes: 16. Martin Bezuidenhout, 17. Kevin Buys, 18. Wikus van Heerden, 19. Cobus Grobbelaar, 20. Rory Kockott, 21. Burton Francis, 22. James Kamana

Bulls : Zane Kirchner, Gerhard van den Heever , Stephan Dippenaar , Wynand Olivier, Bjorn Basson , Morne Steyn , Fourie du Preez, Pierre Spies , Dewald Potgieter , Deon Stegmann, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha ,Werner Kruger , Gary Botha , Gurthro Steenkamp

Replacements: Chiliboy Ralepelle , Rossouw de Klerk, Danie Rossouw , Derick Kuun , Ruan Snyman , Francois Brummer , Jaco van der Westhuyzen.

Check out the match highlights below:

The Stormers sat out on a Bye weekend however they'll kick off their tournament next weekend against The Lions at Newlands in the Republic of Cape Town.

Next Weekends Fixtures:

Bulls vs Cheetahs – Bloem (Friday)

Stormers vs Lions – Cape Town

Sharks vs Blues – Durban

Catch all these games LIVE at The Slug in Wimbledon… The UK's best SA Rugby venue!

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Laters

- Marky Warren

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