[2019 Super Rugby] Round 4 (8 & 9 March 2019)

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I don't think playing at Sydney cricket ground is a good idea. The crowd were miles away from the pitch.

Sunwolves again credible in defeat. The Blues ***le tilt starts here!

 

[Dai Perk]

Christ on a bike, the Chiefs look BAD this year...

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

This is the best SR season for player names, Rhyno Herbst for the Lions. Shame he isn't a prop rather than a lock. Soft defence by Jaguares.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Both tries came from incredibly soft missed tackles, especially the first one.

And the scrums, good lord. How stupid are we. We are the only team that happens to.

 

[petite]

the ref is a joke. that maul was penalty for the jags! an extra second for them at the break down..

 

[Bull]

Lood will be out for 4 months as he needs surgery. But the type of surgery he's getting, could have a quicker recovery time. I had the same operation, and my initial diagnoses was out for 6 months, but I was fully operational in the shoulder without any pain after 4 months, and that was 10 years ago.

Stassen should be with the team mid-April if I recall correctly regarding the short-term contract he signed with Stade.

https://www.sarugbymag.co.za/stassen-set-to-stay-with-stade-francais/

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

The number of tackles we missed... 20-30 at least. Impossible to compete at this level with such a soft defense.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Jaguares defence looking reminiscent of the Perez era. Great to see the Lions scoring tries from open play again. Sounds like they'd selected a lot of younger guys, so hopefully a sign of things to come.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

The first try was so bloody frustrating. I can understand a a big forward charging against our fly half and destroying him in the process. I cannot understand our fly half missing such a tackle from behind. That's the easiest tackle. From behind, slower guy, there's still space so you dont have to worry about momentum carrying him over the line....
It was as if he didnt care.

Dont even get me on the second to last conversion attempt.

 

[smartcooky]

It's strange to think that instead of Hegarty at 10 and some kid at 15, they could have had Quade and Karmichael.
I like Brad Thorn but for me it's your job as a coach to manage players, not just get rid of the ones you disprove of.

Quade Cooper is a liability. Yes, he can be brilliant, but he is also mercurial - he will cost you more games that he wins you.

Also, he is a troublemaker off the field if he doesn't get his own way. He was at the centre of the trouble that led to Robbie Deans being fired from the Wallabies coaching job. Let me remind you that Deans had a 43-29-2 (58%) record when he was fired; that is better that Eddie Jones (57%) and Cheika (48%) and only exceeded in recent times by John Connelly (64%) who only had them for 25 matches and at a time when a main rival, South Africa, were not at the top of their game.

Brad and Robbie are both "my way or the highway" types of coaches; ill-disciplined, arrogant asshats like Cooper don't thrive in that kind of environment.

 

[SomeOke]

Asshat or not, managing egos is part of the job in my book, firing the talent that disagrees with you feels like giving up.

 

[smartcooky]

Asshat or not, managing egos is part of the job in my book, firing the talent that disagrees with you feels like giving up.

Managing a player's ego? Shit, I can do that in my sleep!

Managing a player who is constantly undermining me, constantly working against me, constantly stirring up trouble among the other players in the team, late to training on a regular basis, won't accept being disciplined when he misbehaves?

No. That player is a cancer that needs to be excised. He's obviously unhappy where he is or he would not be behaving that way, so its best for him to be somewhere else, and someone one else's problem.

When a player gets ousted by different teams (Reds, Wallabies) and by different coaches, the problem is unlikely to lie with the coaches.

 

[TRF_heineken]

So the Bulls are 3 from 4, with a win against all 3 their SA counterparts. I can honestly say that I didn't see this coming, especially with one of them a win away from home. Now they have a bye and then they host the Chiefs.

Pollard's DG at the end was just the icing on the cake.

Great sporting weekend for me.

Bulls won
Proteas won
Blitzboks won
Arsenal won

 

[Gena_ZA]

Bulls did very well, I stick to my statement that their forwards pack is dominating, thanks to to the brilliant ex- Stormers players
Pollard is sublime, but as NIck Mallet said post game, what if he gets injured (more referring to the Boks in a world cup year)

Lions did well and although they lost track in the last 10 minutes they deserved this victory, Simelani, watch this kid
Looking forward to their match up against the Rebels

Fairly easy games to predict and no upsets.
Icing the cake as Heineken said was the 7's BlitzBoks victory in Canada in the early morning hours
I feel the lack of sleep today but will do it again

 

[Brandon_Marr]

Predictions:
Hurricanes
Rebels
Crusaders - could be a 40-50 point blow-out.
Blues - the Sunwolves could scupper me here
Reds
Lions
Bulls

Well Done on your Predictions.. was a pretty good weekend of Rugby.. eventually being Home side dominant

 

[Bull]

I don't really get the hype regarding Simelani, he didn't play bad but let's be honest it was against a poor Jaguares side. Singing the praises of an unknown player after one game is a bit premature. It also puts unnecessary pressure on the guy. He did play better than Am, whom I personally think is not a good player at all.

 

[TRF_heineken]

I don't really get the hype regarding Simelani, he didn't play bad but let's be honest it was against a poor Jaguares side. Singing the praises of an unknown player after one game is a bit premature. It also puts unnecessary pressure on the guy. He did play better than Am, whom I personally think is not a good player at all.

The hype is mostly there the same way it was with Pollard or Jan Serfontein. All 3 played 2 seasons of U/20 WC championships and shone when playing, and then they made the step up to senior level.

Simelane is fast, strong and versatile and can play centre and wing, he has a vicious step, and is pretty good in defence. He also has a very strong tactical kicking game. It's still early days, yes, but many of us have seen him play, and from what we've seen so far, he has everything to make it to the top. Whether he gets there though is a different story.

 

[unrated]

I

The hype is mostly there the same way it was with Pollard or Jan Serfontein. All 3 played 2 seasons of U/20 WC championships and shone when playing, and then they made the step up to senior level.

Simelane is fast, strong and versatile and can play centre and wing, he has a vicious step, and is pretty good in defence. He also has a very strong tactical kicking game. It's still early days, yes, but many of us have seen him play, and from what we've seen so far, he has everything to make it to the top. Whether he gets there though is a different story.

i have followed him since his baby book days. I believe he and Tyrone Green will be great back line players in the years to come. At the end of the day if our players move en masse to europe at the end of the season then we need as much young prodigies as possible.

 

[Bull]

Fair enough, I will keep a closer eye on him. We really are thin at 12 and 13's in SA.