Super 15: Brumbies - Stormers in Canberra (28-05-2011)

TRF_stormer2010 · May 24, 2011

Brumbies vs Stormers week 15

Canberra Stadium, Canberra (28-05-2011 10:40 GMT)

The Brumbies are having their worst season in the history of Super Rugby. Can they give the season something to look back to when facing the Stormers? Looking at the matches between the two, you have to say YES. The Stormers have only beaten the Brumbies 3 times, of which 2 were over a decade ago. Besides the 15-15 draw at Newlands in 2006, the Brumbies have always entertained the public against the Stormers.

This season, the Stormers seem to take the victory in Canberra. Can they? After a win over the Blues but losses to the Reds, Crusaders and Chiefs, anything is possible. If the Stormers win, it will be their first time ever in Canberra.

* Not played due to the Stormers' relegation in 1996

Saturday 28th May, Canberra, 19h40 local time

Latest news from superxv.com is that Elsom will be unavailable for the Brumbies through an ankle injury. That is a tough blow, more so for the loss of leadership on the field than for the player himself IMO. Especially taking into account where the Brumbies stand at this stage.

For the Stormers, CJ van der Linde is booked off for two weeks which means Brok Harris' rest period is over while promising youngster Frans Malherbe gets the call up to the bench. That is actually good news for the Stormers scrum IMO.

Both De Villiers and Fourie (Jacque) are fit and have been practising. With the performance of De Jongh and Sadie last week AC admits he has some difficult decisions to make. Personally I am hoping Habana get a rest (he has been looking uncomfortable with his shoulder and some time off might do him good) with Sadie replacing him on the wing and De Villiers on the bench in the place of Poolman.

Lionel Cronje's injury is the concern with Gary van Aswegen still out and Grant a 50/50 possibility. IMO having Grant play this week without any practise is a bad idea as we are looking at a play-off place and will need him at his best then. Youngster Kurt Coleman has been called up. Duvenhage didn't look out of place at 10. That might be an option but with the Stormers camp not calling up another scrumhalf I guess we are likely to see;

9) Januarie/Duvenhage
10) Grant

20) Duvenhage/Januarie
21) Coleman

Are any other WP fans interested in seeing Dimitri Katrakalis play for the Stormers? Very green I know but we have three injured flyhalves and Coleman is just as green TBH so hey. There is enough seniority in the rest of the squad to carry us through the games against an out of sorts Brumbies and the Rebels who are still finding their feet in Super rugby.

B

Boggle

Academy Player

May 24, 2011

#2

All things considered I really believe we should take this game, there's just that one nagging statistic in the way though, we've never beaten the Brumbies in Canberra. But hey, if ever there was a year to do it, this would be it.

I was actually thinking how good it would be to have both Sadie and De Jong on the bench with Fourie and De Villiers starting, with possibly putting Sadie on wing to have Aplon play FB, and then replacing De Villiers with De Jong later in the match as a safety precaution for the possible play off matches.

Sam Owen

First XV

May 24, 2011

#3

Stormers, no upset here.

TRF_stormer2010

Moderator

TRF Legend

May 24, 2011

#4

Yeah, we SHOULD win but its no given. The brumbies are a team we have struggled with traditionally and them being at home compounds the issue. That said, with the woeful season they are having anything less than 5 points will not be good enough if we really want to launch a bid for the ***le at this stage; we need to end up at least 2nd to skip the 'QF' and for tat to happen we have to win our next 4 games WITH bonus points. Most difficult game will probably be against the Bulls but at least that one is at Newlands. That and hope that between the next few games the Reds, Crusaders and Blues will take points off of each other and the Chiefs do us a favor.

Brumbies are really missing that sly fox George Smith this season IMO. That and the bad form/management of AAC.

B

Boggle

Academy Player

May 24, 2011

#5

The Bulls at Newlands are going to be tough on the form they've got going at the moment, but I believe the Cheetahs at Bloem will be an even harder nut to crack.

L

Larksea

First XV

TRF Legend

May 24, 2011

#6

Yep, Stormers should enjoy their holiday in Australia. Going to get tough when they get home.

D

douggie7

Academy Player

May 25, 2011

#7

The Brumbies have been pretty ordinary all season long. They are missing the leadership of George Smith and Stirling Mortlock. The Stormers should get an easy Win.

J

juju

Academy Player

May 25, 2011

#8

Don't agree with Coetzee's named starting line up for the Brumbies this sat. De Villiers should be starting with Fourie instead of de Jongh who was named. De Jongh has been in form but makes more of a impact when subsituted 50 or so mins into the game I personally believe.

B

Boggle

Academy Player

May 25, 2011

#9

I think it's more about player rotation to be honest, better to have De villiers come on as an impact player for the last 20 than to keep pushing him too hard. I'm glad Coetzee put Sadie on the bench as well, so if he feels Fourie can get some rest he may put him on as well. It's all about player management at this point, long season is long after all.

To be honest I think it all depends on how the Brumbies pitch on the day, me thinks if they give us a tough game, he'll probably bring De villiers on a bit sooner and not replace Fourie, than again if Sadie and De Jong play half as good in this game as they did the previous game, they might be the smart choice from the start with both Fourie and De villiers as subs. Don't think he'd do that though, I'd always start my experienced okes first just to make sure the game doesn't get out of hand.

I'm pretty happy with the squad to be honest, solid team. apparently Duvenhage is on standby for possibly playing 10 again depending on what's what with Peter Grant.

Cassie

Academy Player

May 26, 2011

#10

I still believe there is no game as an easy game in this competition the Brumbies might just go out to prove that they are not push overâ€™s. I sincerely hope that the Stormers donâ€™t let go of the gas pedal and go out and play the game professionally and be clinical in their approach. I do believe that they have the edge in the game but rugby is a funny old game and on the day any team can beat you.

I believe the Stormers have the brain trust to achieve the feet this weekend as they have shown real maturity with the big win against the Blues. I wonâ€™t be at least surprised if the game ends up being closer as anticipated, but the smart money will be on the Stormers winning this one.

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TRF_Ezequiel

Kanko Krazy!!!

TRF Legend

May 26, 2011

#11

V bookie added and thread start updated

Darwin

AKA Dingo_Darwin

May 26, 2011

#12

Brumbies â€" 15 Pat McCabe, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tyrone Smith, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Josh Valentine, 8 Ita Vaea, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 Ben Hand, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Jono Owen.
Subs: 16 Anthony Hegarty, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Peter Kimlin, 19 Michael Hooper, 20 Patrick Phibbs, 21 Robbie Coleman, 22 Andrew Smith.

Stormers â€" 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Peter Grant/Kurt Coleman, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Nick Koster, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Schalk Burger (c), 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Rynhardt Elstadt, 3 Brok Harris, 2 Deon Fourie, 1 Wicus Blaauw
Subs: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Stephen Kitshoff, 18 Anton van Zyl, 19 Duane Vermeulen, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Jean de Villiers, 22 Johann Sadie.

Interesting to see Vermuleon has been rested for the Stormers with Koster given the start at 8. Have they decided whether he is a wing of a loose forward yet? Having de Villiers (on the bench) and Fourie back will help the Stormers, though de Jongh and Sadie did do a great job last week in their absence.

Looking at the two teams the Stormers deserve to start as firm favourites, as they look to be stronger in most areas. However I actually expect the Brumbies to put up a pretty good fight, but in the end I see the Stormers taking it by 5-10 points.

Wally

Academy Player

May 28, 2011

#13

The Brumbies are just horrible. The sooner White comes in and sorts this lot out the better. It's sad to see what has become of this once great franchise. It's also sad that Australia can't sustain more than 2/5 winning teams.

TRF_Ezequiel

Kanko Krazy!!!

TRF Legend

May 28, 2011

#14

Australia might not be big enough for 5 world class franchises. They do suffer from AFL and RL which are more popular sports of the odd ball. The Force for instance, never had a real chance to develop because their best players just move across the desert. When you look at how popular the other sports are, you cannot deny that Rugby Union is suffering in Australia. The lack of a domestic league is also something that needs attention. Now the Reds are top of the table with a magnificent team and it seems to cost the Brumbies.

Brumbies are utterly poor this year and they need to be careful not to end up with the wooden spoon. Lions won today and if the Rebels can catch a bonus point along the way, the Canberra franchise will end 15th

TRF_stormer2010

Moderator

TRF Legend

May 29, 2011

#15

Glad about the win. With our record vs the Brumbies as bad as it is and a rookie at 10 I was scared this might be a banana peel game. I'm hoping we can take 5 points away from the Rebels game and that the Crusaders do us a favor or two against he Reds and Blues.

S

Sparty

Academy Player

May 31, 2011

#16

Good day at the office for the Stormers , just went about their business and got the win. How awesome was Burger again ? Brumbies very poor , sad to see. 5 teams too much for the Aussies , would be much better of they had 4 teams only , SA as well and NZ to a certain extent also.

Season waaaaay too long.