Round 10: Lions - Chiefs

TRF_Ezequiel · Apr 21, 2011

Lions-Chiefs... Now there is a match I want to see becoming a replay of last season. 18 tries in all and a final score of 65-72! The higest score ever in Super Rugby overall, the highest score ever by an away side and the highest score ever by a team clinching a double bonuspoint.

The Lions lost to the Stormers last weekend and this will be their 10th match without having a bye. This is weird since the Stormers and Brumbies have their second bye this week! The Johannesburg side has struggled with conversions and penalties until last week when Burton Francis stepped up and ended the match with the best kicking-average this season so far by a Lions-player. what does this mean for Elton Jantjies and Andre Pretorius? The 20-year old Jantjies is a talent with high potential but hasn't stepped up to the plate yet while Pretorius is showing that experience alone is not enough. Michael Rhodes has been cleared by SANZAR for a dangerous tackle last week and can play. The flanker, who joined the Lions this season after having won the Currie Cup with the Sharks (mainly as a benchwarmer) is likely to start on the bench if Joshua Strauss is fit to play.

The Chiefs travelled to South Africa without their mentor and veteran Tana Umaga. He suffered a calf-injury during a training session which forces him to stay in New Zealand. Jackson Willison will replace the outside center. After losing to the Crusaders and seeing the Hurricanes win in Bloemfontein they are now bottom of the NZ Conference and they hope to grab a win either in Joburg or next week when they move 100 km North to face the Bulls. The Chiefs have been surprising with a win over the Sharks (15-12) but disappointed along the way by losing at home to the Blues. The lowest scoring game between the 2 sides in the last 10 years was in 2006, when there were 37 points between them. Amazing huh? Wait till you see the rest of the results.

* The Lions participated as the Cats before 2006 when they formed a franchise together with the Cheetahs

TRF Mr Fish

Your Piscine Overlord

TRF Legend

Apr 21, 2011

#2

Should really be a win for the Chiefs, providing they show up to play.

TRF_stormer2010

Moderator

TRF Legend

Apr 21, 2011

#3

If the Chiefs play like they did against the Crusaders they are likely to pick up 5 points. They'd probably pick up 5 against the bulls next week as well if they can keep it up and the Bulls don't drastically improve.

That said I'm really hoping the Lions can come good in this one. The Chiefs aren't pushing for a finals spot but even though I'm not a Lions fan I'd like them to restore some pride (still hoping Messam has a blinder as he is in my fantasy team!).

Darwin

AKA Dingo_Darwin

Apr 21, 2011

#4

Lions: Michael Killian, Lionel Mapoe, Waylon Murray, Doppies la Grange (capt), Deon van Rensburg, Burton Francis, Jano Vermaak, Warren Whiteley, Michael Rhodes, Cobus Grobbelaar, Franco van der Merwe, Wikus van Heerden, Patric Cilliers, Martin Bezuidenhout, JC Janse van Rensburg.
Replacements: Edgar Marutlulle, Kevin Buys, David de Villiers, Josh Strauss, Rory Kockott, Elton Jantjies, Jaco Taute

Mapoe returns from injury on the right wing; his inclusion moves Killan from wing to fullback, dropping Taute to the bench. Slightly surprised to see Taute dropped to the bench, as he's looked a very promising young player in the matches I've seen him play. Bandise Maku is out injured, meaning Bezuidenhout gets a start at hooker, with Marutlulle getting a bench spot. Franco van der Merwe returns to the starting lineup (after being rested last week), and it's good to see Josh Strauss back on the bench after recovering from his injury.

Chiefs: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Richard Kahui, 12 Dwayne Sweeney, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Fritz Lee, 7 Scott Waldrom, 6 Liam Messam, 5 Romana Graham, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Ben Afeaki, 2 Aled de Malmanche, 1 Toby Smith.
Replacements: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Nathan White, 18 Hayden Triggs, 19 Sam Cane, 20 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 21 Tim Nanai-Williams, 22 Save Tokula.

Four largely predictable changes for the Chiefs. Donald returns from injury to replace Delany, who drops out of the 22 altogether. Slightly surprised Delany wasn't included on the bench, but it seems Foster has a lot of faith in Nanai-Williams ability to cover first-five from the bench. de Malamnche gets another chance to start at hooker, with Elliot relegated to the bench. Scott Waldrom gets the start at openside flanker with Latimer out injured, and Craig Clarke returns at lock in place of Isaac Ross, who drops out of the 22 all together. Not surprised to see Clarke return after he was rested last week, just thought it would be for Graham rather than Ross. Great to see Afeaki get another start at tight-head prop this week; it will be interesting to see whether this becomes are regular occurrence, or whether they are just giving Nathan White a bit of a rest. Good to see Hayden Triggs back on the bench after recovering from injury, and I'm particularly excited to see how young Sam Cane goes if he gets on the field, as he is an incredibly promising young flanker.