The Rugby Thread (All Leagues and Tournaments)

[Sojourn]

OK

Japie, Sturat and Ron, please stop mucking up my rugby forum now.

[fallen_angel]

Where did he confuse you exactly? He only mentions the top league and the one below it... I do not see a 3rd there.

I stand corrected but a club team like the Valke did for example can move up....?

No, there are only 2 divisions, Premier div playing for the actual CurrieCup and the 1st division with hopefuls to move up into the top. The Valke are at the bottom of the 1st division.

I am not sure what you have to do as a club to play in the 1st division in the first place. I recall that they also have qualifying games of a sort, but it is not like the CurrieCup competition.

The teams we see in the 2 devisions are combined teams and NOT club teams. They are all tendered for with SARFU hence the reason the EP Kings (formerly known as the EP Elephants) are back and gaining form. They lost their sponsorships a while back and couldn't compete for the tenders in the 1st devision. The premier devision as we all know is a right of passage only for the strongest performing unions in the currie cup which is why the pumas and leopards face being sacked. Hope this helps

[Stuart]

OK

Japie, Sturat and Ron, please stop mucking up my rugby forum now.

I think the poll results already show how mucked up this thread is.

Speaking of which, I read your post last night saying that, in the event of a post-extra-time draw, the Cup goes to the team with the most tries scored. I never knew this new ruling. Any idea which team currently has most? Province has more points. Is it safe to assume that they also have more tries at this stage?

Not that I think a draw is likely, but you never know.

[Sojourn]

Ahhhhh yes the tender process. Thanks Fallen !
You will often see names that seem to have vanished pop up in teams of the 1st division.

One name I could do with never spotting again is Earl Rose. I heard he will be going to Kimberley...
One name that should have vanished, but keeps popping back in top teams is Andre Pretorius. Srsly... retire already.

[fallen_angel]

Tries as it stands now is sharks 62 wp 59 for the season

[ADT]

Sojourn sorry on your team's loss, but seriously what happened?
it looked like the Cheetahs had no oemf to play on saturday, what's your say on the matter?

[Stuart]

Tries as it stands now is sharks 62 wp 59 for the season

Where did you find this statistic? Am I just a complete n00b?

[Sojourn]

WP en route to copy what only the BBulls could do before....
They still have it all to do in terms of winning the trophies, but WP will be action in all three finals at Absa Stadium.
A triple of successes – Currie Cup, under-21 and under-19 competitions – is something only the Bulls have managed to pull off in recent years and having three teams in the finals is certainly a major step forward for the WP union, who last year had no representation in the showpiece day of the domestic season.

[fallen_angel]

Tries as it stands now is sharks 62 wp 59 for the season

Where did you find this statistic? Am I just a complete n00b?

Supersport website and a calculator

Plus I'm the cup regulator at work... I have to keep tabs on everything for the competition every super cup and currie cup

[Stuart]

According to this--and speaking of this past weekend's semis--if there was a draw, the winner would be determined by whoever scored the most tries IN THAT MATCH, not throughout the tournament. (If the tries were equal, then it was by whichever team ended higher on the log.)

It says,

A winner is necessary to make a final possible, and nowadays a winner of the Currie Cup Final must also be decided. No longer is the Currie Cup shared.

So, if I am reading this correctly, in the event of a draw in the final, the Cup will go to whichever team scores the most tries IN THE FINAL (and not throughout the tournament), or if they are level in that regard, whichever team ended higher on the log (the Sharks).

Am I off base here?

[fallen_angel]

Very well spotted Stu but that was with regards to the semi-finals. the final works on the same principal but they take into account the tries over the season after the match tries are still equal. after the season tries they go to log position

[Sojourn]

Sojourn sorry on your team's loss, but seriously what happened?
it looked like the Cheetahs had no oemf to play on saturday, what's your say on the matter?

I can write up a 15 point list of excuses, in my opinion valid within my own bias, but I'm not going to do that. To be honest and quite frank, they were out-classed.

If you look at our team on paper, they are consistently performing over their capabilities, that is why we are able to pull 10 wins from 14 games, incidentally the same number of wins for the Sharks and Province in the run-up to the semi's.

If you draw a graph of CCup games since 2004 you always see us at the bottom half of the log up to the 5th/6th game and then we skrik and make a comeback to contest for a semi position. Same happened this year with the difference that we won games that should have been lost and lost one game that was rated a sure-win before the time. The Lion's revival also worked against us in the bigger picture.

So what happened on Saturday? We didn't arrive for that game.
It was almost as if we decided before the time that this will be pointless.
You cannot win a game with defense, we have oodles of defense, but if you cannot attack when you have the ball... WP didn't allow us to.
Two of the 3 WP tries were opportunistic with no lines of defense in place, another indication that we were just not up to the pace set by the WP.

The object of that game was to let the better team progress to the final, that is exactly what happened.

[KatrynKat]

Ron is indeed a Shark!!
so am I...

[Stuart]

Two of the 3 WP tries were opportunistic with no lines of defense in place, another indication that we were just not up to the pace set by the WP.

And one was a reasonably obvious forward pass. Not that it would have mattered in the end.

I was really surprised by how many players from both sides were losing their footing on Saturday. It was bone dry, so there really was no excuse, but they did it nevertheless.

[fallen_angel]

I was really surprised by how many players from both sides were losing their footing on Saturday. It was bone dry, so there really was no excuse, but they did it nevertheless.

By mentioning that... I see a hard time for the sharks if it comes pourring down again in the final. WP is according to me much more capable to change from running to kicking rugby than the Sharks. Hopefully the rain and bees stay away next weekend

[ADT]

Ron is indeed a Shark!!
so am I...

Plus ME

[Stuart]

Historically speaking (or at least in the years I have been watching rugby) Province have never played particularly well in the rain. It's strange, because you'd think they'd be better at it than most other teams, but that does not seem to be the case. If there is rain, I will be nervous.

[fallen_angel]

I did see something interesting though with the wet game... I noticed that the sharks kept with the running game but started playing close quarters. Intersting strategy however it leaves the wider field open

[Stuart]

I think WP's best bet in Durban is (assuming the rain stays away) to spread the ball down the backline like they did two weeks ago. They always play best when the wings get the ball. When it only gets as far as the inside centre before the crash tackle tactic kicks in, they founder.

[fallen_angel]

Judging by the last 2 games of the sharks I saw... The WP game I seriously don't know what happened there. It looked like the sharks were holding back at some stage. Got my theory about it though.... The bulls game showed a sharks team I haven't seen in 15 years. we dominated the bulls from the word go. So I'm rather interested to see how the sharks will face up to the WP. espescially the wings and centres

[Stuart]

Bryan Habana finally started clicking for WP over the weekend, so there is some hope out wide. De Villiers was a workhorse as usual, although somewhat patchy at times, so if he plays well it could turn into a very interesting game on Saturday, especially if it remains dry.

I just think that the home ground advantage will be a huge obstacle for WP to overcome. They always have pretty decent support, no matter where they play, but the Shark Tank and Loftus are without a doubt two of the most formidable venues in the country.

[fallen_angel]

I agree. the sharks definitely have a massive following in the shark tank AND IMA BE THERE!!! but then again WP is our kryptonite in durban

[ADT]

Bryan Habana finally started clicking for WP over the weekend, so there is some hope out wide. De Villiers was a workhorse as usual, although somewhat patchy at times, so if he plays well it could turn into a very interesting game on Saturday, especially if it remains dry.

I just think that the home ground advantage will be a huge obstacle for WP to overcome. They always have pretty decent support, no matter where they play, but the Shark Tank and Loftus are without a doubt two of the most formidable venues in the country.

The Aplon/Habana combination is starting to look like a dangerous one

[Stuart]

The Aplon/Habana combination is starting to look like a dangerous one

They started looking good on Saturday. Habana has had a really sucky time with the Stormers/WP this season, imho. There were finally some glimpses of the old Habana on Saturday. I seriously hope he can carry it through to the final.

[japie_my_skapie]

At the end of the day, the Sharks will win it with their ability to move the ball tightly and securely through the open spaces in wet as well as dry weather. The WP scored most of their tries with the suprise factor, balls popping into Habana's arms and so on. Plus home grown advantage for the Sharks, I think we can conclude (in my opinion not to offend anyone) that the Sharks will take the cup this year. There's no stopping the Nik Nak Shark Attack!