What a miserable bunch of illiterates. 
[/quote]
True. But at least Slater and Gilchrist could bat, whereas Taylor played like the fat airconditioning salesmen he always was.
[quote=“jimipresley”][quote=“bismarck”][quote=“jimipresley”]
btw - Did you see Francios Pienaar sitting with Morgan Freeman watching the Stormers vs Reds match!! Awesome!! Freeman’s also a rugby fan (just a pity he was subjected to the likes of the Stormers! Would’ve been better had Francois taken him to the Bulls game!!!).[/quote][/quote]
Arggh! Whenever I visit my family in Cape Town I am subjected to abuse by my father and brother-in-law who foist their complimentary box tickets for Super 14 games on me. Don’t get me wrong, Newlands is a grand place, and I dearly love the free snacks and liquor, but watching the Stormers prance around like girlies makes me sick. Poor Mr Freeman.[/quote]
I feel your pain. And that crowd is absolutely inhospitable (unless you support their pack of :wanker: s…). Really unsporting how they were booing that young lad, Quade Cooper, from Brisbane everytime he tried to kick.
What a miserable bunch of illiterates. [/quote]
True. But at least Slater and Gilchrist could bat, whereas Taylor played like the fat airconditioning salesmen he always was.[/quote]
True.But didnt Gilly have a bit of fun with Slater’s missus.No chance of anyone wanting a bit of fun with ‘tubby’ Taylor.
My wrap-up for the second week…
FRIDAY
Hurricanes 22 v Highlanders 17, Wellington
There are two teams in this year’s race that everyone is grossly under-estimating, and the Highlanders are one of them. The Hurricanes, on the other hand, are one of two sides that, although they look great on paper, are being woefully over-estimated.
Truthfully, I think the Hurricanes were very lucky to escape with the win. Were it not more a little bit of individual brilliance from Conrad smith at the end, they would have lost. Personally, I think they would’ve deserved the loss.
At home, the Highlanders are going to give some unfortunate team a hiding. It’s coming. I can see it. Away, they might even surprise a team or two. The Hurricanes? I think they’re going to have a tough tour.
Good game, though. By the by, I think it was a wake-up call for Nonu (which is perhaps what the coaching staff were trying to do), but when all’s said and done, I think it’s stupid to leave him out of the starting 15.
Waratahs 11 v Chiefs 7, Sydney
Two weeks in and I have to say, the chiefs have let me down (the second overrated team this year). I truly thought they’d be the team to watch this year. Having said that, I also thought this game was going to be an absolute stunner. Besides only scoring a try apiece, this game was a total snooze fest. Perhaps one could argue that both sides just defended well, but I think neither side really knew what the hell they were supposed to do. The Waratahs got the home win, but the Chiefs squandered several opportunities to score a much needed win, especially an away win. On both sides, ball handling just wasn’t up to the usual standard of Super 14 rugby.
One player that I thought showed some promise in the midst of so much mediocrity was Kurtley Beale, but he’s going to have to up his game in the weeks to come.
Western Force 16 v Vodacom Cheetahs 10, Perth
This was one of the games this weekend that was played in tough conditions. It was hot and the players and ball were as slippery as eels after the opening minutes. All in all I think both sides played well, and it was a combination of hometown advantage, jittery Cheetahs that still don’t quite seem to believe they can win and individuality (on both sides several players had an outstanding game) that won the day.
It’s hard to say if either team could’ve done better, cause it really is tough to play 80 minutes of intense rugby under hot and humid conditions. My feeling is that the force are going to need to up the ante if they want to be serious contenders this year. I think the Cheetahs will perform much better once they’re home in Bloem, and may yet get a win on this tour. That is to say if they can get their discipline together and stop playing half their games with 14 men (after two games, they’ve effectively played 30 minutes with one man on the side).
Vodacom Stormers 27 v Reds 24, Newlands
The Reds. Like the Highlanders they are being grossly under-estimated. Throughout the game I felt they weren’t quite firing on all cylinders and my feeling is back home in Brisbane someone is going to get messed up badly by this team. In fact, more than one team is going to leave Queensland in very bad condition this season.
Last week the Bulls made it look easy, but the signs were there. The Reds aren’t going to be this year’s whipping boys. Far from it. The Stormers? Luckily to escape with a win. They thought it was going to be easy, built up a bit of a lead and rested on their collective laurels. Watson is the most overrated player in world rugby today. I wouldn’t select him on the bench for the Chinese women’s side. But everytime he touched the ball the commentators would aurally lick his arse. He did less than nothing and the Stormers played better after he was replaced, unfortunately for them, the second half was also when the Reds caught their second wind.
Good game of rugby, but I thought the Stormers were lucky not to be carded on at least two occassions. I find them to be somewhat dirty, and what’s worse, they seem to revel in it. I’ve seen yellow cards in the last two weeks for a lot less than some of what they did in this game.
Another thought I had whilst watching the game was the Saffa commentators. Apart from acting as a Watson Cheer Squad, they’re boring and lack any conviction to what they say. Give me the Aussie talking jocks, their one-liners and blind eyed loyalty to their teams anyday.
I think that as much as the Reds are going to kick butt in Brisbane, the Stromers are going to be spanked on tour. I feel for Sireli Naqelevuki, De Villiers and Chavanga, but they’re really the only three players in the side I can stomach.
Afterthought: The Reds won the match, in my opinion, with 4 tries to 3, and for their outstanding guts to keep on keeping on. My man of the match in this game was a tie between Cooper and Scott Higgenbotham, although Van Humphries also played a great game.
SATURDAY
Brumbies 18 v Crusaders 16, Canberra
The Brumbies did well to win, but at home, isn’t that what you should be doing? The Brumbies aren’t quite there yet, but they have so many stars, and youngsters in the make that I think they’ll do well this year and will be back at the top in the next year or two.
The Crusaders did really well (especially when you consider all their injuries and lost players), and defended like lions. They are still a top quality side and will be hard to beat.
The Brumbies did extremely well to plug away at the Crusaders defence (which was top notch) to win at the death.
All in all it was a good game, but I think that the kickers on both sides really had a bad day at the office. Colin Slade is a player for the future and will be a contender for the All Black squad soon come shortly, and overall the Crusaders can take more from this match than they might think. everyone thought they’d be out of it this year, but there’s still fight in that dog. The Brumbies are going to be tough at home.
Vodacom Bulls 59 v Blues 26, Loftus
Last week it was the Highlanders vs Brumbies game. This week it was the Bulls vs Blues game. So far the best matches of the tourny. Wow! What else can I say? After 24 minutes the Bulls had the Blues bent over taking it up the pooper with 26-0 on the scoreboard. But the Blues came back nicely and scored some good tries of their own. It was a great game to watch and an awesome victory for the Bulls, but once again, I think the Bulls made it look easier than it was. The Blues are a quality side and showed this at several points in the game. The Stormers (or at least their supporters) may be licking their chops at what they perceive is going to be a big win for them, but I think the Blues are going to be a lot better than they think. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blues thump the Stormers at Newlands next week.
The Bulls have had two great weekends in a row, and in both games they made good teams look average. But next week they play the Lions, and these local derbies are usually bone crunching affairs that cause more injuries and little for the local SA side’s title hopes. Be that as it may, the Bulls will need a win against the Lions, and we’ll only see how good they really are once they head to Aus and NZ.
Oh, and Spies!!! what a player. Big as a house and fast as a horse. Go you good thing!! GO!!
Honourable mention: Rene Ranger. A player to watch!!!
Sharks 25 v Auto and General Lions 10, Durban
Good game which the Sharks did well to win. The impression over the last two weeks is that they are formidable to the point that they’ll do anything to grind out a win. One gets the idea that the teams they play against are left wondering, “What the hell happened?” The Lions were all swagger, but at the end of 80 minutes they had that shell shocked look the Stormers had last week. A look we’re going to see in their opposition a fair bit this year. I think they can make it all the way this year. Their only shortcoming is that (like last year) they don’t seem able to go that extra mile and gather a bonus point try, and bonus points can mean the difference between a home semi-final or not making the play-offs at all. And the standard of play seen by all the teams so far suggests that bonus points are going to be more important this season than ever before.
The real stand-out in this game was Rory Kockott. The cheeky little bugger is everywhere and can do anything. I can’t see how he can be left out of the Springbok set-up again. He’s miles ahead of everyone, and only Fourie Du Preez is a better scrummie.
Well, that’s the way I saw it, anyway…
[quote=“bismarck”]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[/quote]
Hurricanes 22 v Highlanders 17 (See! I over estimated them!)
Waratahs 11 v Chiefs 7 (I was pretty close…)
Western Force 16 v Cheetahs 10 (Coulda gone either way…)
Stormers 27 v Reds 24 (Almost exactly!!!)
Brumbies 18 v Crusaders 16 (Again, almost exactly!!!)
Bulls 59 v Blues 26 (C’mon, who knew? :bravo: Bulls!!)
Sharks 25 v Lions 10 (Thought there’d be more tries, but I was three shy of the difference…so, close, right?)
[quote=“bismarck”][quote=“bismarck”]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[/quote]
Hurricanes 22 v Highlanders 17 (See! I over estimated them!)
Waratahs 11 v Chiefs 7 (I was pretty close…)
Western Force 16 v Cheetahs 10 (Coulda gone either way…)
Stormers 27 v Reds 24 (Almost exactly!!!)
Brumbies 18 v Crusaders 16 (Again, almost exactly!!!)
Bulls 59 v Blues 26 (C’mon, who knew? :bravo: Bulls!!)
Sharks 25 v Lions 10 (Thought there’d be more tries, but I was three shy of the difference…so, close, right?)[/quote]
Well done! I think you can set yourself up as a fortune-teller!
[quote=“almas john”]
Well done! I think you can set yourself up as a fortune-teller![/quote]
Nobody can be that bloody accurate. The unions paid him. You’re cheating, Mr Bismarck!
Edit: Btw, stunning synopsis of the games, O rugby seer. 
I have a rugby blog, btw. So if you’re interested, stop by and leave a message. I also posted my SA and overall team for the week from this weekend’s games. Here they are:
My SA team for this week is as follows:
- Guthro Steenkamp (Bulls)
- Adriaan Strauss (Cheetahs)
- Deon Carstens (Sharks)
- Bakkies Botha (Bulls)
- Andries Bekker (Stormers)
- Deon Stegmann (Bulls)
- Juan Smith (Cheetahs)
- Pierre Spies (Bulls)
- Fourie Du Preez (Bulls)
- Morné Steyn (Bulls)
- Bryan Habana (Bulls)
- Jean De Villiers (Stormers)
- Adrian Jacobs (Sharks)
- Tonderai Chavhanga (Stormers)
- Hennie Daniller (Cheetahs)
My overall team for the week:
- Guthro Steenkamp (Bulls)
- Kevin Mealamu (Blues)
- Deon Carstens (Sharks)
- Bakkies Botha (Bulls)
- Andries Bekker (Stormers)
- Scott Higginbotham (Reds)
- Juan Smith (Cheetahs)
- Pierre Spies (Bulls)
- Fourie Du Preez (Bulls)
- Quade Cooper (Reds)
- Bryan Habana (Bulls)
- Stirling Mortlock (Brumbies)
- Casey Laulala (Crusaders)
- Rene Ranger (Blues)
- Mark Gerrard (Brumbies)
Stand out forward of the week: Pierre Spies
Stand out Back of the week: Rene Ranger
Game of the week: Bulls vs Blues
Firstly I’d like to congratulate the ‘freakish’ predictions of the one and only Nostrabismarck.I enjoyed your blog immensely.I was 5 from 7 in round two and dont expect to do much better this week.
Week Three winners:Saders,Tahs,Sharks,Brumbies,Bulls,Stormers and Reds.
With Richie McAwe back from injury and my Canes having to travel down to the ‘Village of the damned’ (ChCh),I can see the Saders doing them by 10+.Tahs will be too good for the injury depleted Highlanders in Sydney.When the passes stick and the big men get parity up front the Chiefs can beat anyone.Unfortunately this only tends to happen when they have little or no chance of making the semis :bluemad: I expect the Shorks to win by less than 10.The Ocker derby will be a close one,a lot will depend on how well the No.10s play.Will be great to see the battle of the 7s,Smith the legend against Pocock the new kid,both world class at the break down.Brumbies to win as they are at home and will take confidence from the win against the Saders.Bulls to roll the Lions,nuff said.Reds to win a low scoring game against the Cheetahs at home.The Blues welcome back a few stars,but they wont be good enough to win at Newlands…tho it wont be the blowout it was last weekend.I’m picking this to be the most open and high scoring game of the round.Both teams have superb attacking players and rank defensive systems :roflmao: Lots of top cricket on this weekend too.I’ve got my whiskey and beer close at hand and dont expect to stray to far from the sofa.
My picks for the weekend are:
Crusaders 22 v 19 Hurricanes
Waratahs 26 v 15 Highlanders
Chiefs 17 v 20 The Sharks
Brumbies 36 v 24 Western Force
Lions 18 v 24 Bulls
Stormers 11 v 12 Blues
I think the games are much harder to call this year, and anything can happen. But I think the Blues are going to get one over on the Stormers and the Bulls vs Lions game is going to be hard with the winning scoring coming at the end. But anything can happen and depending on the ref, the day and the weather some or any of these teams can rack up a big score quickly. Going to be interesting.
These were my picks last week:
[quote=“bismarck”]My picks for the weekend are:
Crusaders 22 v 19 Hurricanes
Waratahs 26 v 15 Highlanders
Chiefs 17 v 20 The Sharks
Brumbies 36 v 24 Western Force
Lions 18 v 24 Bulls
Stormers 11 v 12 Blues[/quote]
Results were:
Crusaders 24 v 30 Hurricanes (close on the 'Saders score, but under estimated the Hurricanes)
Waratahs 34 v 16 Highlanders (Close enough… 
Missed the H’Landers score by one)
Chiefs 15 v 22 The Sharks (Gave the chiefs 2 too much and the Sharks 2 too little… In truth, the chiefs were robbed)
Brumbies 16 v 25 Western Force (missed the Force score by one!!! But grossly over estimated the Brumbies!)
Lions 9 v 16 Bulls (Missed the margin by one, but let’s face it, who knew it would be such a wet game…)
Stormers 8 v 14 Blues (Another close call!)
And somehow, I missed the Cheetahs game… :loco:
Reds 22 v 3 Cheetahs (I would’ve given a Reds win, but not by that much. On Superbru I said Reds by 10.)
So, for week four, my predictions are:
Chiefs 22 v 15 Western Force
Waratahs 17 v 14 Reds
Hurricanes 37 v 15 Cheetahs
Blues 25 v 20 The Sharks
Highlanders 20 v 30 Crusaders
Bulls 25 v 10 Stormers
[quote=“bismarck”]So, for week four, my predictions are:
Chiefs 22 v 15 Western Force
Waratahs 17 v 14 Reds
Hurricanes 37 v 15 Cheetahs
Blues 25 v 20 The Sharks
Highlanders 20 v 30 Crusaders
Bulls 25 v 10 Stormers[/quote]
Wow, what a surprising round of matches! The results:
Chiefs 31 v 13 Western Force (Close to the Force score, but didn’t think the Chiefs would up their game that much!!)
Waratahs 15 v 11 Reds (Almost exact!)
Hurricanes 29 v 12 Cheetahs (Close to the Cheetahs score. Their forwards played much better than I anticipated…pity their backs were so poor.)
Blues 31 v 35 The Sharks (Pleasantly wrong here! Go Sharks!!)
Highlanders 6 v 0 Crusaders (And how wrong was I here!)
Bulls 14 v 10 Stormers (Had the Stormers score exactly right, but didn’t foresee it was going to be this tough. Glad the Western Windfarts went down again!!)
Once again the mighty Bulls do me proud.
As long as they beat the Stormers all’s good! Pity we didn’t klap them by more, but these local derbies are usually lack lustre affairs.
Here’s me going BLAH about how SA are going to annihilate the Aussies in the home cricket series. Embarrassing.
Missed my picks for last week.In round 5: I believe that the Blues,Tahs,Saders,Chiefs,Sharks and Stormers to win.I hope the Canes use their ‘bye week’ to fix their lineout woes and the Bulls hit the pub everyday and miss training before they travel to NZ 
Game to watch will be the local derby in Oz.I support the Brumbies, but if the Tahs cant beat them with that awful 10 in the opposition then the Tahs aint making the final.
I watched the entire Highlanders v Saders 6-0 snorefest.Should I receive an award for bravery or should I be institutionalized for not ‘pulling the plug’ at a 0-0 halftime?
Jimi,looks like the Oz cricket team has bounced back faster than everyone expected.If you think you have it bad think about us Black crap fans.We have to bowl at Sehwag,Tendulkar,Dhoni,Singh,Gambhir,Dravid and Laxman on NZ’s absurdly small grounds.Worst of all,our only decent strike bowler isnt available (Shane Bond) because he signed for the wrong 20/20 league :fume: .
Missed my picks for last week.In round 5: I believe that the Blues,Tahs,Saders,Chiefs,Sharks and Stormers to win.I hope the Canes use their ‘bye week’ to fix their lineout woes and the Bulls hit the pub everyday and miss training before they travel to NZ
Game to watch will be the local derby in Oz.I support the Brumbies, but if the Tahs cant beat them with that awful 10 in the opposition then the Tahs aint making the final.
I watched the entire Highlanders v Saders 6-0 snorefest.Should I receive an award for bravery or should I be institutionalized for not ‘pulling the plug’ at a 0-0 halftime?
Jimi,looks like the Oz cricket team has bounced back faster than everyone expected.If you think you have it bad think about us Black crap fans.We have to bowl at Sehwag,Tendulkar,Dhoni,Singh,Gambhir,Dravid and Laxman on NZ’s absurdly small grounds.Worst of all,our only decent strike bowler isnt available (Shane Bond) because he signed for the wrong 20/20 league :fume: .
oops
Two double posts!! Gotta be a record! 
A mino blip on the horizon… you wont be ranked number 1 then in Test cricket.
But there’s another test starting soon maybe we see how that goes.
Someting along the lines of the Sharks vs the Reds last week 