[2015 Super Rugby] Sharks vs. Crusaders (Round 8) 04/04/2015

[TRF_heineken]

Kings Park, Durban

15:00 CAT (SA, GMT+2)​

Teams

Sharks: 15. SP Marais, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. JP Pietersen, 12. Andre Esterhuizen, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Pat Lambie (captain), 9. Cobus Reinach, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Jean Deysel, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 5. Marco Wentzel, 4. Mouritz Botha, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Kyle Cooper, 1. Tendai Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16. Franco Marais, 17. Thomas du Toit, 18. Matt Stevens, 19. Lubabalo Mtyanda, 20. Renaldo Bothma, 21. Conrad Hoffmann, 22. Fred Zeilinga, 23. Waylon Murray

Crusaders: 15. Israel Dagg, 14. David Havili, 13. Kieron Fonotia, 12. Ryan Crotty, 11. Nemani Nadolo, 10. Colin Slade, 9. Andy Ellis, 8. Kieran Read (c), 7. Matt Todd, 6. Jordan Taufua, 5. Sam Whitelock, 4. Luke Romano, 3. Nepo Laulala, 2. Ben Funnell, 1. Wyatt Crockett.

Substitutes: 16. Codie Taylor, 17. Joe Moody, 18. Owen Franks, 19. Jimmy Tupou, 20. Richie McCaw, 21. Mitchell Drummond, 22. Tom Taylor, 23. Nafi Tuitavake.

 

[Shaggy]

Crusaders named, Richie on the bench (http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...-Sharks?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter)

Crusaders: Israel Dagg, David Havili, Kieron Fonotia, Ryan Crotty, Nemani Nadolo, Colin Slade, Andy Ellis, Kieran Read (c), Matt Todd, Jordan Taufua, Sam Whitelock, Luke Romano, Nepo Laulala, Ben Funnell, Wyatt Crockett. Reserves: Codie Taylor, Joe Moody, Owen Franks, Jimmy Tupou, Richie McCaw, Mitchell Drummond, Tom Taylor, Nafi Tuitavake.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Both teams have been announced.

No Dan Carter for the 'Saders, he's on Paternity Leave with the birth of his second child.

I'm thinking the Sharks will pull this one through. Especially with their springboks back.

 

[Shaggy]

Both teams have been announced.

No Dan Carter for the 'Saders, he's on Paternity Leave with the birth of his second child.

I'm thinking the Sharks will pull this one through. Especially with their springboks back.

... I don't know, there's a fair few All Blacks out there too , I never thought i'd say it, but I don't think Carter will be that much of a loss ... Slade has played pretty well at 10 when he's had the chance. Crotty and Fonotia have played at 12 and 13 together, at club level, since they were kids. Izzy seems to be coming back into form, got the big Fijian on one wing, and Havili,who I've been waiting to see how he goes (he plays for my Makos in the ITM cup)

... The bench looks pretty good too, with that new fella in the loose forwards... McCaw is it?

 

[TRF_heineken]

... I don't know, there's a fair few All Blacks out there too , I never thought i'd say it, but I don't think Carter will be that much of a loss ... Slade has played pretty well at 10 when he's had the chance. Crotty and Fonotia have played at 12 and 13 together, at club level, since they were kids. Izzy seems to be coming back into form, got the big Fijian on one wing, and Havili,who I've been waiting to see how he goes (he plays for my Makos in the ITM cup)

... The bench looks pretty good too, with that new fella in the loose forwards... McCaw is it?

Well I'm going on the basis of last week's match vs. the Bulls.

I think the Crusaders are changing their props too much, and they are starting Crockett this week against a Sharks pack that scrum way better than the Bulls. It's clear that Crockett and Mccaw are being penalised more than in the past for their sneaky tactics.

If the Crusaders give away aimless penalties, the Sharks will run riot, and Lambie will kick the goals.

 

[Shaggy]

Sneaky tactics? How can you insinuate such a thing

I guess the fact that they have three All Black props, and a few All Blacks elsewhere, means that they have to rotate the playing personnel, to be able to give them the mandatory rest that the NZRU has told them to take ... I know the Sharks view the resting of players as only a suggestion by SARU

Well, you may well be right about the result, I'm probably going by what I want to happen ... I don't think either side should be giving away penalties, as Slade's a pretty good kicker too.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Jeesh the Sharks are missing a fair few men in there I just realized. B du Plessis, Lewies, PSdT, Alberts being half a Bok pack missing and then Steyn and Jordaan in the centers. I picked the Sharks at home for Superbru but I don't trust that pick so much right now..

 

[MotherRucker1]

In some ways I think that's a stronger team without Carter and McCaw. Damn, I never thought I would say that. But Carter is simply not at his astounding best, and I think McCaw thrives in the All Blacks environment a lot more. Or at the very least, when he plays at blindside alongside Todd - who I'm a massive fan of. It still isn't perfect. Nepo Laulala starting is annoying. Would rather see Owen Franks there, unless he's injured. I don't think our backline is very strong on paper, let alone on the field. Obviously we have a couple of injuries, and I continue to question our 'side to side' strategy. Despite all this, there are some really good players in our team. IMO we have a very good loose trio. Taufua is a monster at times. I was wrong last week, but I'll back them again. I still think they can get a win out of this South African tour. Both teams are reasonably even in my view, Crusaders with a better points difference...obviously helped by sailing past the Lions and Cheetahs. Key for me is starting well in that first half, creating a solid platform. Chasing a score in South Africa is hard.

No problems cracking down on our sneaky tactics. I just hope the reception we get in Durban isn't of the head-stomping variety Keep your guns in your pocket and your powder dry and it should be a good contest!

 

[Shaggy]

In some ways I think that's a stronger team without Carter and McCaw. Damn, I never thought I would say that. But Carter is simply not at his astounding best, and I think McCaw thrives in the All Blacks environment a lot more. Or at the very least, when he plays at blindside alongside Todd - who I'm a massive fan of. It still isn't perfect. Nepo Laulala starting is annoying. Would rather see Owen Franks there, unless he's injured. I don't think our backline is very strong on paper, let alone on the field. Obviously we have a couple of injuries, and I continue to question our 'side to side' strategy. Despite all this, there are some really good players in our team. IMO we have a very good loose trio. Taufua is a monster at times. I was wrong last week, but I'll back them again. I still think they can get a win out of this South African tour. Both teams are reasonably even in my view, Crusaders with a better points difference...obviously helped by sailing past the Lions and Cheetahs. Key for me is starting well in that first half, creating a solid platform. Chasing a score in South Africa is hard.

No problems cracking down on our sneaky tactics. I just hope the reception we get in Durban isn't of the head-stomping variety Keep your guns in your pocket and your powder dry and it should be a good contest!

No, Franks and Moody are both on the bench ... I don't suppose that's an official rest is it ... maybe, if they don't take the field?

... I get the feeling Todd Blackadder is looking for a big impact in the last 20 Minutes or so, from his bench this week.

I'm not really reading too much into the benching of Richie, other than the fact that he won't be there next year, and that he will need Matt Todd, so he probably wants to keep him happy too.

A Todd/Taufua/Read loose trio isn't a bad one ... not the biggest fan of L.Whitelock, but not sure what other loose forwards are in the mix, in the post McCaw era

 

[MotherRucker1]

A few opportunities have come and gone because of the loose forward competition over the years down here. If he was still around, we might have been able to snaffle Hayden Hopgood who played for the Hurricanes but always came down and played for Canterbury in the ITM. Great player imo. May not have had the speed of Todd, but probably better at the turnovers.

 

[SomeOke]

Sharks getting pumped but now three yellows... wow
Edit: Deysel red I have no words

 

[Gavin]

Absolutely amazing 5 minutes

 

[MotherRucker1]

Gee, what is it about coming to Durban to play? No excuses for Laulala and Taylor. Both were very dumb. But especially the second time around when you've been told not to do that and received a warning. Disappointed guys. However, thought Nandolo's card was harsh. Penalty, yes.

Ref needs his eyes checked if he didn't think that knee was intentional. It didn't quite have the intended effect, but he knew what he was doing. I back the red.


--------

Edit: Wow. I predicted we'd win. And I predicted our loose forward trio would stand up, and may even be stronger with McCaw on the bench. But I didn't think it'd be by that much. The Sharks just didn't look like they had their hearts in it the whole game. For SA conference leaders going into this, that's extremely concerning. Didn't they struggle against the Force last week or something?

Also, where are the Dagg haters now (Darwin?) C'mon Ben Smith brigade, let's see you.

 

[smartcooky]

I stayed up to watch this. I expected we would win, I thought it wpuld be tight tussle, but I did not see this coming. The Crusaders were near unstoppable. Then three yellows and a red in 3 minutes of game time, and they kept the Shawks out for those crazy last minutes of the first half where they were first, 14 on 15, then 13 on 15, then 12 on 15. Then Deysel had another brain fart and the second half started 12 on 14 (and the Crusares scored) then 13 on 14 (and they scored again.)

That was the most insane ten minutes of rugby I think I have ever seen, even rivalling the opening few minutes of the famous Bledisloe try-fest in 2000

Ref needs his eyes checked if he didn't think that knee was intentional. It didn't quite have the intended effect, but he knew what he was doing. I back the red.

It was fair enough by Stuart Berry. The referee said he didn't get a good view from where he was and he deferred to the TMO. The red was fully justified IMO, and this is not the first time that Deysel has suffered a brain explosion and committed a dumb act of pointless thuggery (remember the stamp on Jordan Taufua's face last year in Christchurch?)

 

[MotherRucker1]

Big difference for me this week was the execution. Passes for most of the game stuck, didn't drift forward, and the skills on display would be what you expect. If there is one thing to take out of this to work on it's discipline. There is no need to do late shoulder charges or kicking the ball away when you are playing the better rugby.

We've done ourselves a nice favor because the next two games are very important. If we can beat the Highlanders, which we are fully capable of imo, then we will sneak into third. If we beat the Chiefs, we'll inch closer to second. Other than the Blues, it's a very competitive conference pool, and this is why being late starters can sometimes sting. Because now we have to work for it each week and grind it out. The tail end of the season will be a little tricky for us, so we can't leave it too late. Aside from the Reds and Blues, we've got the Warratahs, Hurricanes and Brumbies waiting. So from now on when we play, we need to nail it.

 

[Muzzy]

Any news on Jone Macilai? Is he still injured?

 

[nickdnz]

Any news on Jone Macilai? Is he still injured?

I'm not sure but I'd imagine so. It's a shame as I think his attack on the right wing would make them just that bit more dangerous.

 

[austingtir]

Christ they were ALL incredibly soft yellows even Deysels red was pathetic imo. But thats the way the game is officiated these days isnt it. Soft, Soft, Soft.


If it wasnt for the facts that the Crusaders thrashed them and that the ref's have been consistently ruling like this the last couple of seasons.... id of gone as far as to say those SA refs were biased as all hell but we all know theres been a significant shift in how refs are applying the laws in the last few seasons....for mine its BS but you all know that. The ref almost looked embarrassed when he "had" to send Deysel off......

 

[Amobokoboko]

A solid performance by the Crusaders. good game to watch.

 

[MotherRucker1]

Christ they were ALL incredibly soft yellows even Deysels red was pathetic imo. But thats the way the game is officiated these days isnt it. Soft, Soft, Soft.


If it wasnt for the facts that the Crusaders thrashed them and that the ref's have been consistently ruling like this the last couple of seasons.... id of gone as far as to say those SA refs were biased as all hell but we all know theres been a significant shift in how refs are applying the laws in the last few seasons....for mine its BS but you all know that. The ref almost looked embarrassed when he "had" to send Deysel off......

People aren't getting away with things as much now, certainly. I know you're a stickler for penalties or cards that don't seem that bad. Sometimes I am too. But even in the old days, 3 no arm tackles in a row? What is the referee suppose to do? And a blatant knee, which is just as bad as du Plessis' kick to the head against the Chiefs. It didn't quite connect, but he knew he was trying to get a cheap shot in. No place in the game for that. The only one I would agree with you on is Nandolo's. Dumb move, but not card worthy.

It's really not difficult. I know the odd high tackle slips in during the heat of the moment in a match. Been there, done that myself. But this constant ****le and cheap shots off the ball, just leave it out. If you want to play like a bunch of animals, go to the NRL.