Round One: Lions v Waratahs

[Dumbo]

Tah’s vs the new Boks in Jo’berg.
Will be interesting to see how the new team fair’s against the experienced Tah’s
Shame that teams have not yet been posted as both teams have a bit of quality on offer.

Think this one will go to the Tah’s.

 

[riders of the storm]

I think the Waratahs will win this one too, but not by as a big a margin as everyone thinks. I think the Lions will give them a bit of a match, if Andre Pretorius is able to play a smart tactical kicking game and keep them in their own half. The Waratahs should come through though. Waratahs by 10.

 

[BokMagic]

The Lions have a new coach who comes with pretty handy credentials, a new name and a new logo- and the old reputation of whipping boys. A couple of very exciting runners in the back, but precious little experience of Super 14. Agreed that they should go better this year, but I`ll also go for the more experienced Waratahs by 10-12.

 

[Dumbo]

Expected line up's?

 

[The TRUTH]

Expected line up's?
[/b]

HSBC Waratahs to play the Lions at Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Friday 2 February 2007, 7.10pm (Saturday 3 February, 4.10am AEDT)

1. Benn Robinson
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau
3. Alastair Baxter
4. Will Caldwell
5. Ben Hand*
6. Rocky Elsom
7. Phil Waugh [c]
8. Wycliff Palu
9. Josh Valentine#
10. Daniel Halangahu
11. Lote Tuqiri
12. Ben Jacobs
13. Morgan Turinui [v-c]
14. Peter Hewat
15. Sam Norton-Knight
16. Adam Freier
17. Aaron Broughton-Rouse
18. Dean Mumm*
19. Tim Davidson#
20. Brett Sheehan
21. Kurtley Beale*
22. Sam Harris

*Denotes Super Rugby Debut
#Denotes Super Rugby Debut for the Waratahs

 

[Dumbo]

Any news on the Lions?

 

[The TRUTH]

Nah mate

The reason the Tahs have released their lineup so early is because they fly out late tomorrow

Most teams usually name their lineups on thursday

 

[GAYPRACTOR101]

dats a freakin solid looking team the tahs have assembled there...has play'offs written all ova it..lets see if they can perform on the stage first

 

[BokMagic]

Lions line-up:

15- Earl Rose
14- Louis Ludik
13- Jacques Fourie
12- Doppies la Grange
11- Jannie Boshoff
10- Andre Pretorius(capt)
9- Enrico January
8- Willem Alberts
7- Ernst Joubert
6- Cobus Grobbelaar
5- Anton van Zyl
4- Cobus Grobler
3- Kenny McKenzie
2- Willie Wepener
1- Heinke vd Merwe

Reserves:
16- Ashton Constant
17- Brian Mujati
18- Gordon Gilfillian
19- Franco vd Merwe
20- Jarno Vermaak
21- Louis Strydom
22- Jaco van Schalkwyk

Quite a few guys who are not exactly household names except in their parents` homes here- the Lions will struggle in the loose forwards, with 3 big units who can do precious little but "carry" the ball. Except for V D Merwe, the front row is a bit of a non-entity, and the locks are at best honest grafters.

Pretty decent halfback pairing, if January kept up his off-season training regimen- he`s known for packing on the pounds over December. Doppies is a pretty handy attacker at 12, but defensively very vulnerable. Some decent attacking runners at the back, but one cannot live on turnovers alone- they just don`t have the firepower up front to, well, front up.

 

[Dumbo]

Head to Head:

Waratahs:
1. Benn Robinson
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau
3. Alastair Baxter
4. Will Caldwell
5. Ben Hand*
6. Rocky Elsom
7. Phil Waugh [c]
8. Wycliff Palu
9. Josh Valentine#
10. Daniel Halangahu
11. Lote Tuqiri
12. Ben Jacobs
13. Morgan Turinui [v-c]
14. Peter Hewat
15. Sam Norton-Knight
16. Adam Freier
17. Aaron Broughton-Rouse
18. Dean Mumm*
19. Tim Davidson#
20. Brett Sheehan
21. Kurtley Beale*
22. Sam Harris

Lions:
15- Earl Rose
14- Louis Ludik
13- Jacques Fourie
12- Doppies la Grange
11- Jannie Boshoff
10- Andre Pretorius(capt)
9- Enrico January
8- Willem Alberts
7- Ernst Joubert
6- Cobus Grobbelaar
5- Anton van Zyl
4- Cobus Grobler
3- Kenny McKenzie
2- Willie Wepener
1- Heinke vd Merwe

Reserves:
16- Ashton Constant
17- Brian Mujati
18- Gordon Gilfillian
19- Franco vd Merwe
20- Jarno Vermaak
21- Louis Strydom
22- Jaco van Schalkwyk

Interesting... very interesting.
Some good match ups should be...
Halangahu on Pretorius - could be a case of the running game offered by Halangahu vs the tactical ability of Pretorius (for mine in these early stages I'm going to stick with experience and think that Pretorius should come out on top).
The battle in the front row should be worth watching (some big boys listed there), I think that the Tah's will have an edge here.
The locks pretty much even...
As for the lose forwards think that the Tahs will have this hands down (no disrespect to Joubert) but the combination of Elsom, Waugh and Palu is going to be a real handful for the lions.
And the backs... both teams have got talent to burn here... I think that the team that can make the least amount of mistakes is going to have the edge. Really evenly matched but I think that the ability of the Tah's to score points gives them the edge.

Final prediction... Tah's on a close one

 

[The TRUTH]

dats a freakin solid looking team the tahs have assembled there...has play'offs written all ova it..lets see if they can perform on the stage first
[/b]

Ya think?

To me ,they look half the team they were last year.

- They've lost arguably the best second row in the comp... Vickerman(out for most of the season) and Kanaar(out for whole season)

- No David Lyons, he's injured

- Rogers and Sailor, gone forever

- Hoiles, now with the Brumbies

They only decent player they picked up over the break, was Josh Valentine, who they didn't need anyway.

 

[ak47]

not sure if Kurtley Beale is playing

Just got done for drink driving.......without a liscense at all.

Fool..........FOOL.........

I smell another Walker-esque, Leroy Houston type issue here

P.S the Tahs line-up this year is crap IMO

Compared to last year - we got nothing

For that Z Crusdar team they played last week - they should have rolled them.....but noooooo, the precious TAH's couldnt even put more than a few tries on them

 

[The TRUTH]

not sure if Kurtley Beale is playing

Just got done for drink driving.......without a liscense at all.

Fool..........FOOL.........

I smell another Walker-esque, Leroy Houston type issue here
[/b]

He's playing

That incident happened over a month ago, it's just recently surfaced.

The Tahs are refusing to comment on the issue, they wont say if he's been disciplined or not.

You can take the boy out of the western suburbs.............

 

[Dumbo]

.... but you can't teach Australians new tricks?

 

[Groen_en_Goud]

I'm picking the Waratahs to win, but somehow I feel as though the Lions could cause an upset. It is the beginning of the season, the Waratahs first up hit the highveld.

Don't expect a big crowd though. Pakistan v South Africa is occuring at the Wanderers at about the same time. And in terms of safety and possibly more entertainment, I'd rather be around the Wanderers area. Ellis Park is an awesome ground but in a terrible, unsafe location ie. Braamfontein, Hillbrow, Doornfontein.

 

[Haj]

Im picking the Cats to topple the tahs....mainly cos i cant stand the tahs but also i think they have a lot of inexperienced combinations that could possibly derail their chances of winning.

 

[redunderthebed]

Tahs win 25-16 i think the lions did not bad.

 

[riders of the storm]

Yep the Lions did really well, too bad they didn't get a bonus point, but they denied the Waratahs one. They gave them a game, even with the absence of Andre Pretorius. People will go on about the young, in experienced Waratahs team, but the Lions team was pretty young too!

 

[goranski]

if Strydom had potted a couple more of his kicks it could have been very interesting - definitely some great young talent on display with Beale for the 'Tahs - was impressed myself by the play of Louis Ludik seems a dynamic player who caught my eye in last year's Currie Cup - perhaps the Lions can improve on last year and not get blown away so often in the S14.

 

[David]

Pretorius injury??