2013 Super XV: Fixtures, Results & Table

Cheers guys.

Blues vs Bulls today. Been a good day if you like sport here.

-Kiwis have just won the Softball world champs half hour ago
-The Kiwi cricket side need a small miracle with England down 6 with 117 lead posted
-The NZ Breakers are currently 60-40 in the 3rd quarter to go to 15 straight wins in the Aussie NBL

Now for the rugby...

3-3. This will test the Blues structure on defence.

Panic football from the Blues. Bulls leading 15-6.

Blues will be rueing JKs decision to change 6 players but that was his call, to get everyone on the field before the bye. Errors galore every time they get the ball, and that isnt often. Bulls should be further ahead if not for M Steyn chipping in with the odd error.

geeeeez...evry single time the Blues get it...error. error. error. Rushed and as you say LB- panic has set in. They need to slow it down when they get it and take it 2-3 phases even if just to get some time with the ball.

The subs are all new as well...could be a long second half for us...

Well this is where GH and JK will earn their bucks...the half time chat.

Must have worked. Blues come out a different side. Piatau try through good pressure following a kick through after a Ranger steal.

16-15 Blues.

Bulls score straight back. Amazing match this is turning out to be. 22-16. 3 out wide tries to the Bulls- who would have thought though theyve been doing this in earlier matches.

Spies in a great ru off the back. Having a solid game.

Solid win for the Bulls, didn't see the first half though.

Ali to end the day with a penalty. Great try Ranger. Congrats Bulls...first ever win at Eden Park...in fact for Matfield as well. I like this Bulls outfit. Theyve still got their usual competitive pack but also backs that move the ball quickly. Best match Ive seen Spies for a while.

Gaw Ali could have done better than sulk at the interview. The Bulls deserved this and other than moments of brilliance- Ranger particularly- the Blues only have themselves to blame. Waaaay too many basic mistakes in the first 40.

3 good wins for SA sides over NZ this round. The Blues at least got to give the whole squad a run by round 3 so thats a plus. The Chiefs will survive that loss. Could have gone either way. The Highlanders and Crusaders have some real soul searching to do.

Taylor,
This Blues side must have been the least experienced Super Rugby team I have ever seen.
The Loose Head, Blind Side. and Left Wing were on debut. Out Half had one match, Right Wing had two (though doing very well), and fullback had 4. On the bench three more players on debut and another with only one match. Considering how inexperienced the team was, I think they did very well against a vastly more experienced side.

doctor_grey wrote:Taylor,
This Blues side must have been the least experienced Super Rugby team I have ever seen.
The Loose Head, Blind Side. and Left Wing were on debut. Out Half had one match, Right Wing had two (though doing very well), and fullback had 4. On the bench three more players on debut and another with only one match. Considering how inexperienced the team was, I think they did very well against a vastly more experienced side.

I think Kirwan under estimated the Bulls, sure he gave his full squad a run, but he could have planned it better, now he has given quite an advantage to the Bulls team who now earned 4 log points in a place they never do.

Agree, mate. This looked to me like a planned weeks rest for many of the Blues starters. Clearly underestimated the Bulls - no reason to give a match away top quality opposition. Surprising really.

I agree. The Bulls are not a side that you should pick to experiment with (not that any others are but the contrast here was too great).

They'll be gutted but Kirwan has said from the start hes backing every single member of the squad to stand up and now hes seen his complete squad in action, warts and all. He has the bye and now real things to work with over the next two weeks. So theres good things that come from it and given the Blues could still have ripped it off with a bit of luck, its not all bad as Doc says.

Thats why I'm not overly concerned with that approach- it has JK and GH behind it. The analysis re what it takes over the full season with such a young squad will have been done and theyve taken an all in approach to start with.

I dont think you'll see them falling off like they did continuously over the past few years and instead will learn from this big time. As Ali said theyve worked so hard to get back the fan support and have now just thrown it all away. The loss will burn deep and theyll be better for it.

In JK's words:

"We want to refresh the guys and then we need to get some excitement back. There wasn’t any excitement out there. I’m really disappointed for the fans because there wasn’t a lot of spark. We need to go away, regroup and then get over to the Waratahs and really explode.”

Love it...

On the Bulls I think they'll be the top SA side this year. That was a fairly comprehensive performance and now Stormers have lost their chief weapon in Habana and with the Sharks so so on the weekend, this Bulls side looks the real deal and will get better and better. Actually thought it was a NZ side we were playing for a while there the way they moved the ball.

Crusaders Bulls will be interesting. I'm more impressed with this Bulls side than any other so far this comp. Absolute delight to watch and SA rugby at its best. Crusaders will have learned a lot from last weeks muck up but I just think this Bulls side is too slick. First time I'll be picking an offshore side to beat them here that I recall.

LB, it seems those home town decisions goes both ways mate.

WOW Cheetahs win on the road again.

Biltong wrote:LB, it seems those home town decisions goes both ways mate.

Like the leg across the line the ref missed you mean? Yeah sure mate.

Linebreaker wrote:

Biltong wrote:LB, it seems those home town decisions goes both ways mate.

Like the leg across the line the ref missed you mean? Yeah sure mate.

The line moved there.

There was a sysmic event, 4.3 on the scale. AR confirmed it, it was parallax ambiguation.

Good win for the Cheetahs. The Tahs made too many silly errors but it was a good game to watch despite the end scoreline.

The Cheetahs are obviously funneling bribe payments through a network of ex-Lions players... who make sure Garratt Williamson's family receive the money in dodgy hotel lobbies in New Zealand - after a phone call is secretly made - just prior to kick-off.

How do you know so much about their doings? Its supposed to be secretive.

Connected (made man)?

Expect to see some breaking news shortly.

It turns out they used 24 hour convenience stores to offload the biltong - who then sold it to unsuspecting 'dried meat' customers both here and in NZ. No wonder the refs are flush with cash. It's a brilliant plan when you think about it...

I sometimes watch the Ozzie program where foodstuff at airports are confiscated.

You need to tell Customs they are slipping.

They're heavy handed when it comes to certain things.
I reckon you could slip a few strips in your top pocket and the dogs wouldn't notice. If it does... you just lean over to pat it and stick a pre-chewed portion down its schmackers. That's what Strauss does.

I better update the table...

Yeah, come on, give those Cheetahs another 4 log points.

Yeah very well done. They normally get owned at home though dont they?The Sarel Pretorius Goosen link looks effective, Pretorius probably the form half back of the series so far.

TJ Perenara is getting stronger with each game and both Savea and Gear ran strongly in the earlier match. Ben Smith got a taste Dagg got last week care of Owen Franks but otherwise did well. Too good hard wins earned tonight.

Blues have Tahs after a lesson and a break next week so Tahs need to start improving to stay off the bottom.

So the Crusaders decide they will gain form against the Bulls and simply blasts them off the park

Once again it proves when you commit numbers to the ruck you gain front foot ball, the Crusaders had so much momentum the Bulls were just never in the game.

The coaching staff of the Crusaders were smart here, they attacked the abull's set phases and that was all she wrote, the Bulls are nothing if they don't control the set phases.

Another thing, all those who thought the Crusaders will be bottom dwellers don't know their culture well enough.

Only kia hinted at that and that will have been out of frustration as hes their biggest supporter here. And what needed to happen is the newer guys needed to stand up. And they did- McNicoll and Marshall particularly. The older hands also improved considerably- Read, Carter, Dagg, Whitelock all managing attack after attack and the front row dominating the scrums.

It was an impressive win though and until now have been stale or error ridden- and they started this match that way- until Fruean dropped that pass. Then they just got angry and everything stuck from there. Theyll be wanting to get Guilford back on the park but so impressive were McNicoll and Marshall he may have a longer wait. Carter certainly impressed again.

But I thought theyd lose and was way off so fair call. Maybe when Ritchie pops up on Letterman again he'll have a little smile.

Serfonteyn looked good when he was on. Very physical type and squared off nicely with Fruean in one exchange.

I'm allowed to be downcast Biltong because I'm a Cantab!

Have to give credit where credit is due. You could sense the team had the same frustrations as I. They needed this win and you could sense their hunger.

Was impressed by the young wingers and they'll grow from that experience. This Bulls side looks the goods so knowing they can beat the best will do wonders for their belief. What they must not do and what they have done all too frequently in recent times is let their standards slip against inferior sides.

The senior players fired as well and now they have to sustain it. Can't remember the last time the Bulls won in Christchurch but it needs to be a fortress once again for visiting teams.

The Bulls just weren't up for this match, last weeks effort has taken its toll, and combine that with the sleeping giant waking in time to dish a thrashing it happened

They've still had a good tour away from home. It would've been interesting to see how they would've played if the Crusaders were first up. If tonight had happened last week I don't think we would've lost to the Hurricanes if we'd played them tonight. Like you say Biltong, the Bulls encountered the sting from that loss tonight.

What's clear is that the Bulls look a handful and have a more rounded game than last year. SA franchises look strong in general and whoever can pick up points travelling there will have a big advantage in their own conference. Much like the Bulls will be reasonably satisfied with their points plunder on the road.

Yeah the teams that made the play offs lst year collected around 12 points on the road.

I am a little late, but I loved watching the Cheetahs victory. They wont win the title, but they are a lot of fun to watch. Almost like rugbys version of the LA Clippers, in that they have so many highlight reel tries.

Well theyre doing better than the lakers!
Cheetahs have been good. Good to see one of the lesser sides doing well. They seem to do well vs overseas sides then get owned at home...odd.

And the Guppies were just plain sh%^t today.

That's probably true. Brumbies look the goods so far. I think the jury's still out on everyone else. Not sure how we have two wins. Happy to have them though. Go the mighty canes.

Yes Brumbies do look good. But so do the Chiefs who are at least on a par with them.
The Saders were superb from the moment Fruean dropped the ball. 4 months to go is a long haul and we cant fall on our swords every second week. Fact is some teams prime themselves better for some matches than others. The Bulls for instance spiked a week earlier. Generall its all going as per normal. NZ slightly ahead of the SA sides with Oz sides generally struggling bar the Brumbies. Similar to last year.

I liked TJ Perenaras strength for his try. He shouldnt have been able to muscle that one over. The outside backs are certainly putting their hands up- Ranger and Folau, Savea and Hosea Gear, even McKillop and Marshall, Masaga and Tim NW. All having great matches. The form of both Cruden and Carter is stunning so that will have to be managed so they dont burn out or prove high injury risks. Hansen must be very happy with the form of some presently, as well as the number of newbies starting to perform.

Brumbies looked very impressive. Their Eightman was very good... we've got our work cut out if we are going to stop their run next week.

How these guys have been ignored by the Wallabies I don't know.

Goosens out for 6 months for an injury while goalkicking practice? c/- Reunion.
I predicted he'd be injured but not that way.. gets his share of bad luck.

Doors open for Steyn...kind of predicted that as well.

That's shocking Taylor. Poor bloke. I can't believe all these injuries... especially in the last 3-5 years?

Moving house tomorrow so I'll be busy the next few days and might take a bit of a break from here for a while.

I really do enjoy everyone's comments on here - I've learned so much about rugby in other countries to a level I never would have known otherwise... if I hadn't been on here chewin' the rugby fat with you guys..

You're a great bunch of blokes!

I've just organised the Fox guy to set up the new kit early Thursday morning so I shouldn't miss any live matches.

I'll chime in to update the scores & tables as much as I can but at this stage I need to spend less time posting away on these boards.

Given Steyn is joining SF at the end of the season I assume Meyer will use either Lambie or Jantjies. No point flogging a dead horse.

Shame about Goosen... he has JW written all over him in terms of injuries (hope not anyhow).

Have a good one Linebreaker.

We need some AUS perspective for the upcoming lions tour so you're needed back asap.

Esp given everyone thinks we're just going to come and steam roll your pack and pick up the trophy..... (both unlikely).

Where you going to LB?
Fa Whether Steyn goes end of season I think is immaterial to Meyers wanting to win the RC. You play your best available and Steyn missing on any NH tour is negligible. And I believe Steyn will pick himself. Lambie isnt proving he has the goods at 10 as much as hoped and I think Jantjies is too lightweight experience and otherwise for the postion.

Steyn is getting on the front foot with the Bulls a bit more and at times does make huge differences with his positional kicking.

Once very much a Steyn anti-fan I think he's a more well rounded player now that he's been shown the door and frankly the best SA have with Goosen gone.

Pen him in for the RC. SA will have a stronger pack this year and just need to get the backs right.

Goosen I'm afraid has so far proven he's too brittle for this game. I mean how many 21 year olds have an injury from goalkicking practice enough to put them out for 6 months. Havnt heard that one before. Havnt seen it yet but if anything its likely a thigh injury if caused by the kicking motion itself?

...was going to add...unless he slipped...which he did. Torn right knee ligament. Thats bad, especially for that age. Real shame cos he looks the goods. He must be devastated. I hope this year they leave him out of all rugby to give him time to build himself up.

Reminds of Kahui who's been plagued throughout his career with injuries but who, ironically, is available for the Chiefs this weekend.

So far the games going to plan. Picked the Bulls to win this by 6.

Saders got the expected win.

Cooopers going well- even put in a good tackle or two. Bulls unlucky not to draw with kick to come with a foot out...

Taylorman wrote:Cooopers going well- even put in a good tackle or two.

Ah, c'mon man. Don't spill it for me. I had a late night last night and woke up in time for the second half of the Force-Cheetahs. Was planning to watch the Reds-Bulls next. At least now I have a chance to see something I have never seen before......