[2018 Super Rugby] Round 4: Highlanders vs. Stormers (09/03/2018)

[TRF_heineken]

Venue: Forsyth Barr Stadium
Time: 08:35 CAT (SA, GMT+2)
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Teams

Highlanders: 15 Ben Smith (captain), 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Rob Thompson, 12 Teihorangi Walden, 11 Tevita Nabura, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Dillon Hunt, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Tom Franklin, 4 Jackson Hemopo, 3 Siate Tokolahi, 2 Liam Coltman, 1 Daniel Lienert-Brown

Substitutes: 16 Greg Pleasants-Tate, 17 Aki Seiuli, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Shannon Frizell, 20 Elliot Dixon, 21 Josh Renton, 22 Fletcher Smith, 23 Matt Faddes

Stormers: 15 SP Marais, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Chris van Zyl, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Dean Muir, 17 JC Janse van Rensburg, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit/George Whitehead, 21 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 22 Justin Phillips, 23 JJ Engelbrecht

 

[SomeOke]

I thought there were some decent signs agaisnt the Crusaders this past weekend but wow the injuries are getting ridiculous.
With Eben, JD Snickerling out (and possibly PsdT out as well) our vaunted second row is looking extremely flat, Cobus Wiese after a promising performance also out, and apparently SP Marais as well, compounded with our hooker and fly-half crisis it's hard to give us a shot.

I'll wait for the line up, but the Highlanders had a surprisingly comprehensive showing against the Blues in there only game, odds are very much stacked against us but I will remain hopeful, if we lose this game our tour is just as bad as our woeful tour last year, although the performances have been slightly better thus far.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

anything could happen, we attacked well against the Blues but also let in a few too many tries. bye is the second round seems lie a bit of a waste, surely they could do something with the draw so you have a draw before touring

 

[Zero]

Stormers look better offensively this season, but going to Dunedin is a tough gig, you gotta have the Highlanders by 3 tries or more really.

 

[mania]

gonna be a good match up. good luck to both teams

 

[Kiwiwomble]

pretty much our strongest team

 

[SomeOke]

Anyone know why Tevita Li was dropped?

Our team is better than expected, still not great but passable:
Stormers: 15 Sarel Marais, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Chris van Zyl, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Dean Muir, 17 Jacobus Janse van Rensburg, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit/George Whitehead, 21 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 22 Justin Phillips, 23 Johannes Engelbrecht.

 

[Zero]

That Kolisi blokes a good player, usually impressed with him

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Anyone know why Tevita Li was dropped?

Our team is better than expected, still not great but passable:
Stormers: 15 Sarel Marais, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 EW Viljoen, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Raymond Rhule, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Kobus van Dyk, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Chris van Zyl, 4 Jan de Klerk, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Ramone Samuels, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Dean Muir, 17 Jacobus Janse van Rensburg, 18 Carlu Sadie, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit/George Whitehead, 21 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 22 Justin Phillips, 23 Johannes Engelbrecht.

I think it must purely be wanting to get Nabura up to speed and cant carry three wings

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Can cookie please chip in with his thoughts on smiths disallowed try?

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Highlanders need to calm down, too many loose passes, when we took our time we looked very solid

Nubura showed some good signs but a bit lazy on the track back, could see him just trotting in the background a few times

 

[Captain_Az]

Highlanders looked good but a heck of a lot of handling errors. Crusaders will punish that if it persists next week. Stormers would have pushed it also if they could finish in the 22 and with a decent showing at line out. A bit to work on for the Landers next week as the Crusaders will bring clinical precision in all those areas.

Hopefully a bit of the Landers issues are down to lack of playing. Great to see them get that last try for the bonus point they come in very handy

 

[Kiwiwomble]

The landers justvlooked like they were fizzing! They just seemed to think every pass would go to hand a open them up, lets just keep that confidence and tidy up a bit

 

[SomeOke]

We put up a decent performance but the Highlanders were just too good, if we can sharpen up our attack and learn to throw in at line out time we could threaten a few big boys.
Willemse looked very sharp which is good, DDA also looking better than he has in a while.

Anyway, congrats to the Highlanders and their fans, just top much class from you guys looking like you have stars from 9-15.

For now disappointing tour, long flight home to lick our wounds (and consolidate our many injuries) and then the Blues at Newlands. This competition is no joke this year!

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Who was the stormer first five? He was awesome

 

[TRF_heineken]

Who was the stormer first five? He was awesome

That's NZ term for Fly Half right? That would be Damian Willemse. He is certainly a very good prospect! Played for the U/20's last year. And man he's got wheels...

 

[Kiwiwomble]

Yeah, sorry, fly half, he looks like the kind of guy you could build a back line around