Who will stand proud after the May final?
0 voters
Who’s going to win? Why?
Who will stand tall at the end of May as the Southern Hemisphere Provincial Champions, and basically by default, the World club/provincial champions?
My vote goes to the Bulls.
Games played:
Highlanders 31 v Brumbies 33
Western Force 19 v Blues 25
Predictions:
Lions 20 v Cheetahs 25
Crusaders 15 v Chiefs 32
Hurricanes 35 v Waratahs 32
Stormers 12 v Sharks 19
Bulls 44 v Reds 22
I think this will be a very competitive S14 this year.With the Crusaders losing their coach and a bunch of experienced players they are not the clear favorites,for the first time in years…no doubt they will still be there at the business end of the season.I believe, for the first time in many years, that six or seven teams are in with a real chance of going all the way.
NZ:Saders,Canes and Chiefs all have good squads…even the Blues at a stretch.Canes look the strongest on paper,but they let me down every year :fume: .They do seem to have better forward depth this year,so hope springs eternal. Saders fans will have been sacrificing goats in the Anti-Christ church since the new year and will be strong upfront,tho not too many stars in the backline.The Chiefs have an insanely talented backline with 3 front line All Blacks and several players knocking on the door to higher honors,but they still have the same weaknesses in the engine room that the big SA packs love to expose.If they can get a solid platform and Leonard and Donald (pls dont let him be Carter’s understudy) can create some space for the backs,then WATCH OUT.I’d love to see the Chiefs do well,perhaps more so than my beloved Canes.The Blues have a great squad,as long as you dont beleive that the 8,9,10 combination is vitally important.They will score some incredible tries ,but wont have the structure to win the big games.They do have a great new coach in Pat Lam and maybe he can sort this under-performing mob out.The Highlanders are rebuilding AGAIN!!Nuff said.
OZ:I’ll start by saying that four teams are one too many for the Ockers,the talent is spread too thin!!Don’t get me wrong,there are plenty of great players in the run on teams,but the depth in each and every squad is poor (especially in the forwards).S14 kicks up plenty of serious injuries and the NZ and SA teams are soooo much better equipped to deal with this.The Tahs look very promising,the Brumbies will upset a few good teams in Canberra (and in Dunedin),the Force have good young players coming thru but, will be dead in the water if they lose Giteau (sensational player).The Reds are at least a season away from a welcome return to the playoffs.
Saffers:This could well be a vintage year in the republic.The Sharks,Bulls and by far my fav non-NZ team, the Stormers
all have very strong squads.I wouldnt be at all surprised (or happy) if two SA teams made the final. :bluemad: This will depend on how well the SA teams do on the road.S14 draw and travel schedule certainly favors the South Pacific teams more than the SA teams 
Bismarck must be thrilled to have the big,BAD,brilliant Victor Matfield back at Loftus.
MY top six come the final round,in no particular order:Canes 
,Saders,Tahs,Bulls,Sharks,Stormers…Blues,Force,Brumbies to come close…meaning the usual suspects bring up the rear.Great to have rugby back.
Forgot the poll.Heart says Canes,head says Sharks.
Nah, mate. The Canes got upset by the 'Tahs in Wellington. They have agood side, but despite the crusaders vs Chiefs result, I think the chiefs are going to be the NZ side to watch this year. The highlanders also looked good against the Brumbies (that was my second favourite game of the weekend, after the Bulls vs Reds clash!!!).
All in all an awesome weekend of rugby.
Why? I quite like Donald. Good kicker. Awesome runner with the ball. Big solid player who can break a game wide open. Wish we had him.
Along with the 'Tahs and the Saders, my favourite non-SA team.
Every year. But they seem to suffer from the same fate as the Canes and the Sharks. They battle to close off the season and battle in the play-offs.
With Mortlock and Gerard they’re looking great!
Love both those teams, also.
Loath them. Happy the Sharks spanked them at Newlands. Wouldn’t mind the Reds spanking them next weekend either, but they are Saffas (even if they’re insufferably arrogant) so a win against Queensland would be good before they head on tour. But they Reds had some good moments against the Bulls, so it’s going to be a cracker of a game.
I’d like them more if they got rid of Luke “I’m-a-Bok-because-of-my-daddy” Watson.
Always the decider for us. Alwaqys long tiring tours, and I think we still have a bit of a psychological block against playing certain NZ sides in NZ.
Quite so, but he got injured tonight, so we’ll see how serious it is. But Danie Russouw is a very good replacement.
Not bad, but I’d have to go with:
But I think the battle from no.1 to no.8 is going to be tight and there isn’t going to be a huge gap like the Saders enjoyed last year. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a ten poibnt log difference from 1 to 8!!
[quote=“bismarck”]Predictions:
Lions 20 v Cheetahs 25
Crusaders 15 v Chiefs 32
Hurricanes 35 v Waratahs 32
Stormers 12 v Sharks 19
Bulls 44 v Reds 22[/quote]
Results:
Lions 34 v Cheetahs 28 (wow, was I surprised…)
Crusaders 19 v Chiefs 13 (disappointing result, great game)
Hurricanes 22 v Waratahs 26 (Awesome game)
Stormers 15 v Sharks 30 (fairly close, but happy the Sharks arse raped them in the end)
Bulls 33 v Reds 20 (reasonably close, well done Bulls!!)
Actually thought the Cheetahs were a much better side than the Lions and should’ve won, but the two yeloow cards really did them in. Having said that, I really think the first yellow was not justified and buggered their chances (two tries against them in those ten minutes).
Overall, a great first weekend of Super rugby!!!
Bismarck,I’ve seen Donald play a couple of absolute shockers and dont trust his mettle at the international level…tho he is brave and loves taking the ball to the game line.Carter got himself broken in France a couple of weeks ago,he did his archilles which can be a tricky one to get back from.What did you make of the young Saders 10?
Of the SA teams I like the way the Stormers play positive rugby, but completely agree with you on that tosser PUKE Watson.
Yeah! Bulle!
I like his approach to the game, but I haven’t seen much of him other than the Super 14 and some test game time last year. You may be right. In SA we have several middeling 10s, but none who seems to be able to step up to test level and excel (except Butch, but it seems his time is up - they’re talking up Pienaar, but I’m not sure he’s ready, or suitable for flyhalf).
So I understand the misgiving you may have there. The rest of the S14 I’ll be watching more closely, although he impressed me last year.
Well, I’m a big Carter fan. He’s the best flyhalf in the world IMHO, and I thought he was making a mistake going to France. I hope his injury isn’t too severe, although those achille’s injuries can end a career.
Not sure of the Saders youngster, I was working yesterday and didn’t watch the whole game. I’ll be watching it later this evening! Will let you know what I think then.**
You know, my grandfather has always been a Province/Stormers fan for that very same reason. He likes to say they play “running rugby”. This was more true in the eighties. Personally, I think the Free State/Cheetahs are the best exponents of positive/running rugby in South Africa, whereas the Bulls and Sharks do battle up front and unleash the backs from that platform *Bulls more so). Not sure what you’d call the Lions’ style 
…perhaps…whatever works…which mostly…doesn’t…
The Stormers lay more of a hybrid style, to my mind anyway, and I think they haven’t really found what works for them. Perhaps they should go back to playing the way the Province team of the eighties played, because when they do run the ball they can be very exciting to watch, but like the Lions, I feel they’ve never really lived up to the promise of their team on paper.
**Edit: I think the youngster had a great game. He was instrumental in the Laulala try and I think he has lots of promise. Looking forward to seeing more of him!
Naas Botha is arguably the greatest flyhalf in Springbok history and he usually has some illuminating opinions. I particularly enjoyed his recent article on Superrugby regarding the first weekend of the Super 14.
Agree with Naas.Most of the first round games were played to a high skill level and a fast tempo.In previous years, the early rounds have produced some awful games.I don’t agree with the decision of non-neutral refs being used.Is it that it is too expensive to fly neutral refs in or that Oz don’t have enough refs up to S14 level?
With the Oz cricket team heading to SA and India to NZ,this might keep numbers at rugby grounds down for a few more weeks.Tho I’m sure the Bull ring will be packed.
Not sure of what injuries the respective teams are taking into round 2,but here are my picks for the who the winners will be.
Canes,Tahs,Force,Stormers,Saders,Blues and Sharks.Would love to see the Chiefs get up over the ‘shackle-draggers’ in Sydney,but I’ve heard that Mils and Luaki (sp) are out with injury.If Kaino,Ali and Roks are back for the Blues they might surprise the Bulls at home…MAYBE!!!.The other five games should go to the stronger teams on paper although the ‘wooden spoon teams’ all looked pretty damn good in round one.
My picks for round two are:
Hurricanes 35 v Highlanders 22
Waratahs 19 v Chiefs 15
Western Force 20 v Cheetahs 23
Stormers 28 v Reds 26
Brumbies 17 v Crusaders 15
Bulls 26 v Blues 22
Sharks 37 v Lions 25
Heart says Bulls (I’m from Pretoria) but head says an Australian team might take it this year. Overall they seem the most motivated. But we’ll see. This year will be very interresting.
I’m just glad the Bulls started the S14 on top (I like).
Do you guys know how I can watch the S14 in the comfort of my home (living the Taipei)?
Thanks.
[quote=“Elf1nDrak3”]Heart says Bulls (I’m from Pretoria) but head says an Australian team might take it this year. Overall they seem the most motivated. But we’ll see. This year will be very interresting.
I’m just glad the Bulls started the S14 on top (I like).
Do you guys know how I can watch the S14 in the comfort of my home (living the Taipei)?
Thanks.[/quote]
First-off, welcome to the 'Mosa.
As to watching at home, SatelliteTV has some options or you can opt for Rugby Zone. They’re cheaper, but I think that overall you’ll get better value from SatelliteTV. You can contact him here.
[quote=“bismarck”][quote=“Elf1nDrak3”]Heart says Bulls (I’m from Pretoria) but head says an Australian team might take it this year. Overall they seem the most motivated. But we’ll see. This year will be very interresting.
I’m just glad the Bulls started the S14 on top (I like).
Do you guys know how I can watch the S14 in the comfort of my home (living the Taipei)?
Thanks.[/quote]
First-off, welcome to the 'Mosa.
As to watching at home, SatelliteTV has some options or you can opt for Rugby Zone. They’re cheaper, but I think that overall you’ll get better value from SatelliteTV. You can contact him here.[/quote]
There is another choice, MOD. It’s very very cheap but a bit crappy (and you need to be able to read Chinese). I think it’s NT$100 for the basic package and each additional channel is NT$5 (so to get the Australian channel, which has the Super 14 games, costs NT$5 a month).
I’ve watched the games the last couple of weeks. The Aussie teams look pretty good, but the hot weather and hard fields at this time of the year suit them. Come the wetter weather later in the year, the NZ teams will be more competitive.
Edit: MOD is an Internet TV system run by Chunghwa Telecom.
[quote=“almas john”][quote=“bismarck”][quote=“Elf1nDrak3”]Heart says Bulls (I’m from Pretoria) but head says an Australian team might take it this year. Overall they seem the most motivated. But we’ll see. This year will be very interresting.
I’m just glad the Bulls started the S14 on top (I like).
Do you guys know how I can watch the S14 in the comfort of my home (living the Taipei)?
Thanks.[/quote]
First-off, welcome to the 'Mosa.
As to watching at home, SatelliteTV has some options or you can opt for Rugby Zone. They’re cheaper, but I think that overall you’ll get better value from SatelliteTV. You can contact him here.[/quote]
There is another choice, MOD. It’s very very cheap but a bit crappy (and you need to be able to read Chinese). I think it’s NT$100 for the basic package and each additional channel is NT$5 (so to get the Australian channel, which has the Super 14 games, costs NT$5 a month).
I’ve watched the games the last couple of weeks. The Aussie teams look pretty good, but the hot weather and hard fields at this time of the year suit them. Come the wetter weather later in the year, the NZ teams will be more competitive.
Edit: MOD is an Internet TV system run by Zhonghua Telecom.[/quote]
Ja, but they only show the games with Aussie teams playing, right?
[quote]
Ja, but they only show the games with Aussie teams playing, right?[/quote]
Usually, ya, unless it is a semi-final or final.
Bismark, I’m busy this month, but you should come up to my place in March. We can watch a game and drink heavily.
[quote=“almas john”][quote]
Ja, but they only show the games with Aussie teams playing, right?[/quote]
Usually, ya, unless it is a semi-final or final.
Bismark, I’m busy this month, but you should come up to my place in March. We can watch a game and drink heavily.[/quote]
Sounds like a plan, but I’ll need to give the little lady a slip (i.e. think up a grand excuse - failing that, perhaps just try blunt honesty).