[2015 Super Rugby] Sharks vs. Chiefs (Round 6) 21/03/2015

[TRF_heineken]

Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban

19:10 CAT (SA, GMT+2)​

Teams

Sharks: 15. SP Marais, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. JP Pietersen, 12. Frans Steyn, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Patrick Lambie, 9. Cobus Reinach, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Renaldo Bothma, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 5. Marco Wentzel, 4. Mouritz Botha, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis (captain), 1. Tendai Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16. Kyle Cooper, 17. Dale Chadwick, 18. Lourens Adriaanse, 19. Lubabalo Mtyanda, 20. Daniel du Preez, 21. Conrad Hoffmann, 22. Andre Esterhuizen, 23. Waylon Murray

Chiefs: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Seta Tamanivalu, 12 Andrew Horrell, 11 James Lowe, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Brad Weber, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Messam (captain), 5 Michael Fitzgerald, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Hika Elliot, 1 Jamie Mackintosh

Substitutes: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Ben Tameifuna, 18 Mitchell Graham, 19 Michael Allardice, 20 Johan Bardoul, 21 Augustine Pulu, 22 Tom Marshall, 23 Hosea Gear

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

TNW has a broken finger and has returned to NZ. SBW is unlikely to play too due to concussion. I'm assuming we'll see either Horrell or Marshall paired with Tamanivalu in the midfield, though apparently Marty McKenzie (who has flown over from NZ) can cover there too.

 

[Shaggy]

TNW has a broken finger and has returned to NZ. SBW is unlikely to play too due to concussion. I'm assuming we'll see either Horrell or Marshall paired with Tamanivalu in the midfield, though apparently Marty McKenzie (who has flown over from NZ) can cover there too.

Yes, I heard on NZ Radio Sport that SBW won't play due to concussion protocol stand down - I hope Tamanivalu does play, and makes the most of his opportunity. I would probably go with Marshall in the 12 jersey, and retain McKenzie junior at full back ... Bryce Heem also plays at centre, so they have plenty of options

Stuff reports that SBW is unlikely (as Mr Fish says) http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...-miss-sharks-clash-due-to-recurring-headaches

... so we'll go with that to be on the safe side

EDIT:- but on the other hand, radio sport says that SBW is definitely out http://www.radiosport.co.nz/sport-news/rugby/sbw-nanai-williams-returning-home/

... now I'm just confused

 

[SavageLez]

SARU and Local Unions have come to a compromise. Contracted Boks won't play more than 5 games in a row.

The contracted SHARKS players are Marcell Coetzee (loose forward), Patrick Lambie (flyhalf/fullback), JP Pietersen
Willem Alberts (loose forward), Bismarck du Plessis (hooker), Jannie du Plessis (prop) and Tendai Mtawarira (prop).

Of these contracted players, Marcell Coetzee and Pat Lambie have played and started in all 5 games so far.

Can the Sharks Management ignore this agreement and play both Marcell and Lambie this week against the Chiefs?

With both Williams brothers out for the clash. This prospect does not seem to bad anymore. Pieter Steph's injury does make it that much harder.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

15. SP Marais , 14. Odwa Ndungane , 13. JP Pietersen , 12. Francois Steyn , 11. Lwazi Mvovo , 10. Patrick Lambie , 9. Cobus Reinach , 8. Ryan Kankowski , 7. Renaldo Bothma , 6. Marcell Coetzee , 5. Marco Wentzel , 4. Mouritz Botha , 3. Jannie du Plessis , 2. Bismarck du Plessis (C) , 1. Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements : 16. Kyle Cooper , 17. Dale Chadwick , 18. Lourens Adriaanse , 19. Lubabalo Mtyanda , 20. Daniel du Preez , 21. Conrad Hoffmann , 22. Andre Esterhuizen , 23. Waylon Murray

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Good to see they aren't resting any of their Springboks

Can't see the Chiefs taking this one, to be honest. If they can muster up a bonus point that'd be totally fine.

 

[SavageLez]

All the other South African teams have rested their Springboks to ensure that they don't play more than a full 5 games in a row.
Lambie, Coetzee and Reinach are going straight into their 6th consecutive game. This has set a precedent to all the other teams and has shown SARU that they do not respect their request which was agreed upon pre season.
I know that the Sharks needs their Springboks this weekend but they could have rested 1 or 2 of them against the poor Cheetahs.

Jake White killed his players last year by not rotating them and ultimately paid the price. The Springboks were also tired come end of year tour.
I hope this does not affect the players come Rugby World Cup.

Interesting that Crusaders could rest Reid, Whitelock, Carter, Stormers can rest Vermuelen, Cheetahs of all teams can rest Coenie Oosthuizen and Willie Le Roux and Sharks can't manage to do so with the deepest squad in the South African Conference.

 

[msf]

Hey, I've got a question for the SA posters - what are the chances of him getting time at full back in the super 15? Has he ever played there at senior level? I know Kolbe is very good, but why wouldn't you give Swiel some time there after watching him play there at schoolboy level? The only thing I can think of is that he can't catch the high ball, but since I doubt he will make it at the highest level as a 10, his coaches should be making him practice this every day.

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Oh, my question is, if you don't want him, can we have him?

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Chiefs team has been named. Mackintosh and Tokolahi take over from Manu and Tameifuna in the front row, and Horrell and Tamanivalu are the new midfield partnership. Otherwise the only changes are to the bench where Graham, Tameifuna and Marshall are the reserve front rowers (I thought Marshall had been left in NZ...), Bardoul replaces Vaipula and Marshall and Gear are the covers in the backs.

 

[Mikel92]

Yikes.

Clearly the Chiefs are a very capable side, and they will be a threat for sure. But looking at that Sharks front row, just hope the Chiefs have sorted out the scrum otherwise they will get demolished by those Springboks.

I was actually reading about that informal agreement the South African teams has with the South African Rugby Union earlier in the week. Interesting that the Sharks are opting for continuity and how that will impact on their performance. Maybe they will benefit from consistency and familiarity. The other side of the coin is, the Chiefs might run them off their feet like they did to the Stormers.

Tis a shame about TNW being injured. He was showing some major form last week I thought.

 

[Amobokoboko]

Gooo Chiefs!!! Should be a real cracker.

 

[SomeOke]

The drama. All three reds deserved in my opinion.

 

[austingtir]

The drama. All three reds deserved in my opinion.

^^ Really?

I havent watched the game yet I'll have to have a look but without watching the game this sounds like the typical ref cock up oh I red carded this first guy so now I gotta red card the rest..... And it just gets out of hand.

Red cards should be for terrible offences only.... now off to watch the game.

 

[SomeOke]

^^ Really?

I havent watched the game yet I'll have to have a look but without watching the game this sounds like the typical ref cock up oh I red carded this first guy so now I gotta red card the rest..... And it just gets out of hand.

Red cards should be for terrible offences only.... now off to watch the game.

We'll see what you think, perhaps Elliot could have gotten off with a yellow, the rest are pretty much text book. Bismarcks one was positively moronic.

Well done to the sharks for hanging on, the Chiefs scrummaging continues to be a problem, Lambie and Reinach are looking great and I would be perfectly happy with them as the Springbok pairing (although I do think Pollard is awesome). As for the Sharks I don't feel this performance fixes any of their problems in terms of game plan, it's just one of those games where they ground out a win. The chiefs did play the better rugby but Sharks adapted better to the horrible conditions, also I'm glad that another NZ team didn't escape their SA tour with no losses despite maybe deserving to!

 

[ENZED-88]

^^ Really?

I havent watched the game yet I'll have to have a look but without watching the game this sounds like the typical ref cock up oh I red carded this first guy so now I gotta red card the rest..... And it just gets out of hand.

Red cards should be for terrible offences only.... now off to watch the game.

Only think Bismarck deserved the red (barley)

 

[nzlizard]

Hikas was the only one that was even marginally close to a yellow, yet you do something moronic like that and you deserve the red, the other were solid reds.

Ref was really good for the first 55-60 mins, then felt he got quite inconsistent towards the end.

Chiefs should have won but just tried to force the pass too much, so many times they just needed to graft it up and then play the numbers, but it looked like they wanted to score everytime they touched the ball, play smart wet weather rugby.

Credit to the Sharks, although there slowing down the game should have been pinged a couple of times or the ref should have just played on.

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Only think Bismarck deserved the red (barley)

For a start it it "barely" barley is used in bear

Kicking someone in the face with your boot sprigs is a guaranteed red everytime, and by the rules of the game picking up a player above the 90 and driving them in is a red also.

Did you see the way Cruden bent when he landed, that was not cool and if he had been seriously injured people would have no qualms with the red.

Elliot deserved the red imo for being a dumb **** and doing what he did, you don't elbow someone in the neck/back of head without having malice, esp when he was nowhere near the ball and cleaning out was not the go either.

 

[ENZED-88]

Hikas was the only one that was even marginally close to a yellow, yet you do something moronic like that and you deserve the red, the other were solid reds.

Ref was really good for the first 55-60 mins, then felt he got quite inconsistent towards the end.

Chiefs should have won but just tried to force the pass too much, so many times they just needed to graft it up and then play the numbers, but it looked like they wanted to score everytime they touched the ball, play smart wet weather rugby.

Credit to the Sharks, although there slowing down the game should have been pinged a couple of times or the ref should have just played on.

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For a start it it "barely" barley is used in bear

.

my bad I thought it was used in "beer"

 

[austingtir]

All those reds were overcooked imo. The Hika one was a nothing a yellow at most. The Du plessis one was also a nothing. The cruden one looked really bad but is also marginal because of others assisting in the tackle and getting out of hand. That last one I couldnt care either way if it was a red or not but the other two are just overcooked yellows.

This is where rugby needs to use the judiciary more. All of those should of been yellows on report. The cruden tackle guy sits out for a couple of weeks the other two are fine.

 

[smartcooky]

All those reds were overcooked imo. The Hika one was a nothing a yellow at most. The Du plessis one was also a nothing. The cruden one looked really bad but is also marginal because of others assisting in the tackle and getting out of hand. That last one I couldnt care either way if it was a red or not but the other two are just overcooked yellows.

This is where rugby needs to use the judiciary more. All of those should of been yellows on report. The cruden tackle guy sits out for a couple of weeks the other two are fine.

The tip tackle and the kick to the head were both nailed-on, stone-cold red cards, all day long, every day of the week.

The dangerous charge was a yellow card not a red IMO, espcially given that there were several other ruck entry incidents that looked much the same, and that he didn't even penalise. If you are going to set such a high standard in the first 15 min, then you must go on and remain consistent and not bottle it for the remaining 65.

TBH, I thought Gardner was little better than average in this game. You only have to watch Nigel Owens in the England v France game to see the standard that elite referees need to reach; I'm afraid Gardner was nowhere near it!

 

[Shaggy]

Sounds like there was a lot of dangerous play in this game ... Apparently Liam Messam has been cited for choke tackle, not picked up by refs during the game