It’s Valentine’s Day, and for most people it is a day spent with your loved one, spending too much money buying corny gifts to get into the good books of someone special. For me though, it is a sign that Super Rugby is close.
So close, actually, that the first round starts tomorrow!
Super Rugby 2014 – Round 1 Preview
While the wait for Southern Hemisphere rugby season to start has been long, the start has crept up on us. It is a watered down start to the season, only two matches happening and only South African teams competing. The real start is next weekend, when we will have the usual seven game weekend, which is what any rugby supporter can only dream of. 560 minutes of some of the best rugby action you are likely to see.
But that is next weekend.
This weekend our focus is on the four teams doing battle as well as looking at some minor changes at the start of the new season.
Firstly, SANZAR has finally come to the party to scrap the idiotic bye points system. How this worked was that every team not playing on a weekend would receive four bye points to keep them in touch on the log. Every team would have the same amount of bye weekends, so every team would end up with the same amount of bogus points. It was a theoretical system which simply caused confusion and was a failure from the start. The idea has finally been given the boot and we can rest in peace, knowing that our teams have the points that they actually deserve.
Looking at the actual rugby matches, I will preview them individually below:
Cheetahs vs Lions – Bloemfontein – 17h05 SA time, 02h05* Aus time, 04h05* NZ time
The first match of the year sees the battle of the big cats, but the match in itself might be a little disappointing. The Cheetahs had their best ever Super Rugby season last year, making it into the play-offs, while the Lions didn’t even play in Super Rugby. They managed to beat the Kings in a promotion/relegation bun fight, a fight that hardly offers anything more than last place on the 2014 Super Rugby log.
Looking at the team announcements, the Cheetahs look likely to kick on from where they left off in the 2013 season while an inexperienced Lions team hope to save face and somehow prove their competitiveness. My prediction, if you haven’t figured it out as yet, is for the Cheetahs to run away with this match quite comfortably.
Toyota Cheetahs: 15. Willie le Roux, 14. Cornal Hendricks, 13. Johann Sadie, 12. Francois Venter, 11. Raymond Rhule, 10. Johan Goosen, 9. Shaun Venter, 8. Philip van der Walt, 7. Lappies Labuschagné, 6. Boom Prinsloo, 5. Francois Uys, 4. Lood de Jager, 3. Coenie Ooshuizen, 2. Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1. Caylib Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16. Ryno Barnes, 17. Trevor Nyakane, 18. Maks van Dyk, 19. Ligtoring Landman, 20. Jean Cook, 21. Sarel Pretorius, 22. Elgar Watts, 23. Rayno Benjamin.
Lions: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Deon van Rensburg, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Stefan Watermeyer, 11 Ruan Combrinck, 10 Marnitz Boshoff, 9 Michael Bondesio, 8 Warren Whiteley (capt), 7 Derick Minnie, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Franco Mostert, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Robbie Coetzee, 1 Schalk van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Willie Britz, 20 Warwick Tecklenburg, 21 Francois de Klerk, 22 Coenie van Wyk, 23 Alwyn Hollenbach.
Sharks vs Bulls – Durban – 19h10 SA time, 04h10* Aus time, 06h10* NZ time
With not much to choose from, this is still the match of the weekend. The Sharks are the best looking South African side ahead of the tournament start, with many pundits including myself tipping them to top the South African conference at the end of the normal season. The Bulls, even though they are the most successful South African team with three Super Rugby trophies, their team this year looks young and they simply cannot be rated in the top three South African sides.
The Sharks have seen some massive changes since they last played Super Rugby, with legendary hooker and Springbok captain John Smit taking the reins in the Sharks boardroom, being announced CEO. The new broom quickly proved the best cleaner, with John Plumtree getting the boot and a host of changes being made behind the scenes. First Brendan Venter took the Sharks to Currie Cup glory, before Smit teamed up with Jake White, who will lead his first South African team into the Super Rugby season.
With all the positivity at the Sharks, the Bulls have that in terms of negativity. They have lost a host of big name players to foreign clubs, Europe in particular, and have been left with a squad of up and coming talented youngsters, but with no experience whatsoever. A late bid to bring back Victor Matfield has some Bulls supporters positive, but for a man who has missed two years of first class rugby, don’t expect too much from the big man.
My prediction, even though I am a Sharks supporter and would like to remain unbiased, is for the Sharks to win this match. They will simply be too strong and too experienced for the young Bulls outfit who boasts a number of debutants, especially given that the Sharks boast eleven Springboks.
Cell C Sharks: 15. SP Marais, 14. Odwa Ndungane, 13. Paul Jordaan, 12. Frans Steyn, 11. Lwazi Mvovo, 10. Patrick Lambie, 9. Cobus Reinach, 8. Ryan Kankowski, 7. Willem Alberts, 6. Marcell Coetzee, 5. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4. Anton Bresler, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Bismarck du Plessis (captain), 1. Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16. Kyle Cooper, 17. Dale Chadwick, 18. Lourens Adriaanse, 19. Stephan Lewies, 20. Jean Deysel, 21. Charl McLeod, 22. Heimar Williams, 23. S’bura Sithole
Vodacom Bulls: 15 Jurgen Visser, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies (capt), 7 Jacques du Plessis, 6 Jono Ross, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Paul Willemse, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Callie Visagie, 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Frik Kirsten, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Jacques Engelbrecht, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Ulrich Beyers.
If I were a betting man, which I am, my Best Bet for the weekend would be to take a double, the Cheetahs and the Sharks. I already have half my house on this bet, and would suggest you put some on as well.
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