URC Play-offs

First topic message reminder :

It's play off time, quarter finals up first this weekend.  Thread will be updated as we progress into the Semi's and final.

All games on Premier Sports, URC TV and SuperSport.

Quarter Finals
Ulster v Munster- 36-17
Vodacom Bulls v Cell C Sharks- 30-27
Leinster v Glasgow Warriors- 76-14
DHL Stormers v Edinburgh Rugby- 28-17

Semi Finals

Leinster v Vodacom Bulls- 26-27
DHL Stormers v Ulster- 17-15

FINAL

DHL Stormers v Vodacom Bulls
Result- 18-13

Champions- DHL Stormers

As I say, plenty of calls went against Stormers.

But one that sticks in my mind is Warwick getting penalised when the ball was called to be 'out' of the ruck (or scrum?).
Penalised for tackling the player rather than going for the ball. But Jantjes had his hands on the ball. Not yet lifted from the ground, but still, is he not 'in possession'?

Ah well, theres probably more calls in that game we could debate that I could count on my fingers. At least the calls seemed equally strange at times against both sides.

Adamson is a terrible ref, always has been but URC didnt have any better options. Upgrading the quality of referees definitely needs to be a priority.

The good thing is he was equally rubbish all round

The buy in from the SA sides this year has completely shocked me especially after seeing the failure of the Cheetahs and Kings in the competition. I've been surprised by how good the attendances have been, if only they could lift the rediculous 50% capacity rule, they'd be even better.

The Superport panel was just saying the same thing, begging the president to remove the limitations for the final

You also need to remember that we haven't been able to go to sport stadiums for about two years, everyone is hungry for live sport.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:The buy in from the SA sides this year has completely shocked me especially after seeing the failure of the Cheetahs and Kings in the competition. I've been surprised by how good the attendances have been, if only they could lift the rediculous 50% capacity rule, they'd be even better.

cheetahs and Kings had one sixth the budget of the big four teams in SA, they are merely a breeding ground for the big four.

Old Man wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:The buy in from the SA sides this year has completely shocked me especially after seeing the failure of the Cheetahs and Kings in the competition. I've been surprised by how good the attendances have been, if only they could lift the rediculous 50% capacity rule, they'd be even better.

cheetahs and Kings had one sixth the budget of the big four teams in SA, they are merely a breeding ground for the big four.

Well the new SA sides also started this league a bit slow but are really motoring now. Disapointed for Ulster and Leinster but happy the SA sides are really buying into it.

Hope it will inspire the Welsh sides to be more competitive too.

Old Man wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:The buy in from the SA sides this year has completely shocked me especially after seeing the failure of the Cheetahs and Kings in the competition. I've been surprised by how good the attendances have been, if only they could lift the rediculous 50% capacity rule, they'd be even better.

cheetahs and Kings had one sixth the budget of the big four teams in SA, they are merely a breeding ground for the big four.

What about Cheetahs being in the second European comp now though, will they get more money? You still see their players spread about everyone’s teams, proof that they were good when they kept their players!

SARU promised the Cheetahs a pro comp, and the club has been very patient in that regard. I must be honest I have no idea how it came about that they got a spot in the challenge cup.

Whether they get enough money to retain players is highly unlikely, Bloemfontein has a very small population and that limits their potential for big money or sponsorhips. They are reliant on SARU to improve their budget.

Even during the time they spent in Super Rugby they had to rebuild a squad on a continuous basis. Grey College is probably the best rugby school in SA, so they source their talent from one really good rugby school.

Collapse2005 wrote:

Old Man wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:The buy in from the SA sides this year has completely shocked me especially after seeing the failure of the Cheetahs and Kings in the competition. I've been surprised by how good the attendances have been, if only they could lift the rediculous 50% capacity rule, they'd be even better.

cheetahs and Kings had one sixth the budget of the big four teams in SA, they are merely a breeding ground for the big four.

Well the new SA sides also started this league a bit slow but are really motoring now. Disapointed for Ulster and Leinster but happy the SA sides are really buying into it.

Hope it will inspire the Welsh sides to be more competitive too.

Ospreys were pretty competitive in fairness. Won the same number of games as Edinburgh and Glasgow (10), and only one less than Munster, Sharks and Bulls. Scarlets at 8 wins yes could have been more competitive and I think they could/should have won a few more than they did. I remember a few games that they threw away in the last quarter. So fairly competitive. I think they’ll be looking for improvements next season for sure.

Blues and Dragons - 100% these two were poor this season and I hope will want to improve for next season. I can only talk about my team (Dragons) but the signings they’ve made and the players they’ve released suggests a genuine attempt at becoming more competitive next season.

Well Oracle that’s good to hear.

With the English premiership cutting back on spending I hope that means that all URC sides can hang on to more of their home grown players too. From what I read the budget for players in Wales is equal to or exceeds that of most premiership clubs now.

Old Man wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:The buy in from the SA sides this year has completely shocked me especially after seeing the failure of the Cheetahs and Kings in the competition. I've been surprised by how good the attendances have been, if only they could lift the rediculous 50% capacity rule, they'd be even better.

cheetahs and Kings had one sixth the budget of the big four teams in SA, they are merely a breeding ground for the big four.

They were both capable of pulling 15k+ though when they were in SR. I couldn't understand why the Cheetahs in particular were so poorly attended, if the fans turned out they would have surely been forced to keep them in the URC.

Sour grapes will be the claim, and I'm not even denying it... but I've just rewatched the last 7/8 minutes of the Ulster v Stormers semi.

Just for fun, have a watch and see how many times you think the ref failed to call something questionable.

Perhaps the most blatant must surely be this though. After the hooter too. Blatant clear out coming in at the side and beyond the ball by Stormers 17 where it looked like Ulster players had hands on the ball.



I know plenty of decisions went in Ulster's favour in that game too... but at that point in the game, when it is so tight, it really is shameful for a ref not to call those kinda of instances when the stakes are so high.

Ulster fans moaning at refereeing decisions. This is absolutely delicious.

Any mention of the 3 metre forward pass for the 1st try?

Haha, in fairness, my gut reaction was that it was forward too. But I always forget that it's the direction of the hands, not the trajectory of the ball. If the passer is stopped as soon as he releases the ball, the ball continues to move forward as he would also have. Forward momentum and all that.

In saying that, it's still a lucky call for Ulster I'll admit it.

Difference being, Ulster didn't intentionally throw a forward pass in order to score.
The number 17 in the above clearly was committing foul play in desperation to not lose possession.

I have stopped keeing track of poor refereeing decisions, in the first month I blew my top at every match due to referee interpretations at the breakdown.

Soon gave that up and just accepted that in every match decisions will go for you and against you.

Singling out any specific infringement that wasn't picked up by the referee doesn't really change anything.

The Stormers could have had a penalty try (which was awarded, then retracted) and the Ulster men could have had a man in the bin.

But it didn't work out that way.

In every match there are moments we can recall that could be argued influenced the match. However teams know by now that a matchcan swing on the smallest of margins, only way to negate that is to factor refereeing decisions in the outcome of games.

Very true Old Man.

Referees are going to miss stuff and some refs are worse than others, it's just a fact of the game. In the end Ulster couldn't hold out against a side that was down to 14 men and that is what lost them the game.

Best we can hope for from refs is to get the really big calls that they get to see again on TMO etc right. Stuff like cleaning out rucks from the side and stuff, that happens about every ruck along with a million other things. Ulster still had chances to stop the try after that, unless that stuff leads direct to the try we can't hope for the ref to see it all.

Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes against.

We can however work to identify poor referees and either make them better or get rid, only however once we have enough good quality referees to do so. Therefore URC needs to make that a priority.

I shouldn't be continuing the discussion about refereeing in that Ulster/Stormers but I think I can sum things up with what I thought I heard on the ref mike to Ian Henderson:

"I didn't see what happened but I don't want to see any more of it"

Maybe it is just my sense of humour ...

Do you recall at which incident that was?

Old Man wrote:Do you recall at which incident that was?

No 'cause I didn't see it and wasn't able to say if there was any more

It was during the second half, well after the general pushing and shoving of the first half. It just confirmed my view that Adamson (and the TMO) hadn't a clue what was going on. I agree that they were consistently bad for both sides.

I fancy bulls to win this one but it will be different from last week. And they're not playing Benetton in the final.

I think the Bulls will win too, they have better structure and their game plan isbetter suited for finals rugby

WP @ home. Converted try.

Good start bulls.

Bulls are controlling this match. Stormers are struggling in these conditions, but Bulls backrow is nullifying Evan Roos.

Bulls leading 7-3 at break, tight physical game. Coetzee is a beast.

It is a shame it is so slippery, Stormers would have a better chance in drier conditions, Bulls just seem to physical in direct play, not much on wide out

They definitely manage the conditions better than Stormers in these slippery conditions.

That's great play by Roos to reach out and get the try there.

This is so cool.

You enjoying it Doc?

Stormers storming back into it in the second half. Exciting match.

That Stormers maul has been outstanding this year

Old Man wrote:You enjoying it Doc?

Absolutely. Great way to spend an afternoon. Good on WP, though this ain't over.

Yeah Stormers coming alive

I just saw a graphic indicating this is the first time in about 10 years that Stormers and Bulls are meeting in a final. Was that final the one in which Bryan Habana scored a try at the death to nick it?

No that was against the Sharks

2007

Thanks.
This is a great end of the game...

Strong defence by both teams

Stormers are the first URC champions, congratulations to them, well worth the title.

If some of the games we have had this season are any indication we are going to have a great league going forward.

Well done Stormers, much better performance in the second half

Well deserved.

Stormers are now one of the best teams in Europe!

Nice to see how much it meant to the Stormers

Stormers went through hell this past couple of years, SARU took over their management, they were almost bankrupt, no investors, lost many of their Springboks and were under pressure. Very much a deserved trophy

Nice touch having local school kidsgive out the medals

A moment they will never forget I'm sure, little things like that can help build a following for the league in communities.

Ah. I see. I thought for a moment there that the competition was run by 10 year olds.

That was a really exciting ending. I’m delighted for the Stormers. They’ve played with ambition and skill. What a great end to the first URC!