Super Rugby Unlocked: Round 4 [30 - 31 October 2020]

[TRF_stormer2010]

Does anyone know why this competition is called Unlocked? It's a strange name and I'm curious of it's origins.

I'm speculating here but I think it is wordplay from us coming out of 'hard lock-down'.

EDIT, LOL, Heine, I see you beat my as I was typing!

 

[Al Bangor]

It has to do with the Lockdown we had because of COVID-19. So they went with unlocked, as in breaking the shackles from being under lockdown which prevented the guys from playing.

for a one-off tournament, it's a pretty good name.

I thought it had something to do with the pandemic, but I wasn't sure. Thank you very much and TRF_stormer2010 as well.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Donderse Stormers so onakkuraat soos my laaitie se eerste pis van die oggend fokop my Superbru.. hel, maar dit is swaar om te kyk..

 

[Al Bangor]

 

[Al Bangor]

 

[unrated]

The Bulls are the real deal. Going to be very hard to stop them, Stedman Gans looks like that once in a coaching cycle find. Don't wanna talk about Springbok potential just yet but if he can continue like this then we will have some x factor for years to come.

If you don't beat this bulls team upfront then your game is over just like that no ifs or buts. Key to winning this bulls team is to completely dominate their forwards. It's easier said than done and I don't think any of the other SA sides will manage to do this within the next three months .

The Bulls look well primed for those wet and heavy northern hemisphere pitches. I fear my Sharks will make the same mistakes as the Cheetahs in trying to play their expansive backline style game up North. And we will drop unnecessary points because of it. Bulls can just play their current game there and they will do well. The Sharks will need to have a local approach (speed, pressing, intensity and running) and selection and a European approach (tight, maul, scrum, field position kicking and penalties ) and the players to fit.

The Cheetahs has shown the way. Play tight and with the forwards north and swing that ball around on our local surfaces as a over simplified way to secure those wins.


Sharks vs Pumas - we did what was needed. Happy, but work needs to be done to improve. I have my doubts over Manie Libbok, I have seen him exposed by the Stormers and Bulls, no matter your x factor or potential if you are not steady and reliable in defence or the high balls then you are a liability to the rest of the team.

Pumas and Griquas will be better off by the time of the Currie cup it was a sudden plunge to play with the Franchises.

Stormers is the one I'm worried about. I mean after the Sharks played the Bulls I was worried but even more concerned about the Stormers because their whole idea was not to be that flash and they got smashed with a similar game plan even though they had most of the Springbok forwards. The South African mind is a fickle one. Complacency is rampant amongst the Boks I think. I can see it in the Instagram posts of some of those Boks, especially Kolisi. You can see it's getting to their heads. They are the ****. These youngsters will quickly show them out if they can't pull up their socks.

 

[TRF_heineken]

The Stormers were so poor, the ref stopped the game after 60 minutes and then blamed it on the "lightning"...

 

[unrated]

Also how good was Morne Steyn! Did not think the old man had it in him. That pass was so crisp almost better than his chip and chase. Some of his passing was really fire. I can see Jake White is buying him wine every afternoon and taking him on nice romantic dates to pump up the ego because he is confident AF

 

[TRF_heineken]

Also how good was Morne Steyn! Did not think the old man had it in him. That pass was so crisp almost better than his chip and chase. Some of his passing was really fire. I can see Jake White is buying him wine every afternoon and taking him on nice romantic dates to pump up the ego because he is confident AF

Watching Morras play like that made me very excited, maybe a bit more that it should. And I hope he can keep on playing like that for the duration of the tournament.

The longer this tournament progresses, the more potent this Bulls team is becoming. Even Nortje, who I thought was our weak link in the pack, was just sublime on Saturday. Messing the Stormers lineouts up, support runs, and just overall presence.

It kind of makes me sad to think there won't be a playoffs type setup for this tournament, as I would have loved to see the Bulls and Cheetahs go at it again, as it seems like the Bulls have sorted out the kinks now.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

The Stormers were so poor, the ref stopped the game after 60 minutes and then blamed it on the "lightning"...

Well, we scored all our points against the Pumas in 8 minutes. But yeah, somehow I doubt this game would've been a repeat.

Stormers were just comprehensively outplayed. There were a few things that had it gone our way there might have been more of a game but you could see in the overall body language we just weren't in it. Everything Steyn touched turned to gold, The Bulls 7s contingent looked dangerous ball in hand, Any time we looked like getting a few phases together Vermeulen was there to turn the ball over. Even our line-out went pear shaped. Mbonambi-Schickerling is usually a good shout for 100% success in the line-outs.

I was almost happy that Kolisi sat this one out- that man's head is not currently with his rugby. I almost feel he is setting up to run for president in the next elections the way he is getting into politics. But it seems our entire team is just plain physically unfit and also mentally, we lack that killer edge/hunger/professionalism you see with other sides. Thats the price you pay for living in Cape Town I suppose.

 

[TRF_heineken]

What is interesting for me, was that this was the 2nd week in a row there were thunderstorms in Pretoria on Saturday. And I don't think it's going to stop any time soon either.

So this is actually a good test run for the Pro14/16 of what can be expected when their teams play in the highveld this time of the year.

The simplest solution would be to move the matches to an earlier time in the day, as Thunderstorms in Pretoria and Joburg tends to start around 18:00 and continues sometimes all through the night.

 

[unrated]

They should toughen up and play through the thunderstorm. It seems so pedantic. "Guys we need to get off the field ASAP, there is reports of a thunderstorm 7.5 km away from the stadium. " - the ref

 

[TRF_heineken]

They should toughen up and play through the thunderstorm. It seems so pedantic. "Guys we need to get off the field ASAP, there is reports of a thunderstorm 7.5 km away from the stadium. " - the ref

No sorry, I have seen someone getting struck by lightening on a golf course, and we were told the lighting was 20km away. That's not something you play with. The referee made the right call.

And the protocol is that they can play up to 10km's away from the stadium. So there is a threshold for them to work with. I think the referee did the right thing there, what bothered me was the non-chalant approach the players had of not getting into cover.

The Spotlights, Goal Posts, Flag Posts are all very good spots for lightening to strike. And if you've ever been near a lightening strike, you will know the smell there after, is something to get used to, especially when it burns something like metal/plastic.