Author: Dru Spork

Highlanders 33 Stormers 15 Robbie Fleck is on his third year trying to implement a Kiwi style of rugby at the “Stoompies”. It can make the Stormers quite entertaining – which is a different matter to being successful against the New Zealand inspiration. Both teams began with plenty of intent. In less than 5 minutes Walden gathered defenders hitting the line and offloaded to Squire for the first try. The Stormers 19 year old fly half, Damien Willemse, quickly hit back with an intercept and length of the field try. This to and fro’ continued through the first half with…

The South African conference provided a fabulous start to the 2018 Super Rugby season. We opened with Stormers at home to the Jaguares in an entertaining tussle. The game of the round followed –  Lions at home to the Sharks is a game that rugby fans will want to watch in full. A note on the refereeing – the new scrum interpretations may well take a few rounds for referees to be comfortable that packs have caught up. STORMERS 28 JAGUARES 20 This game featured a yellow card each; a scrum penalty try to the Jaguares; a Stormers conversion kick legally charged down; and…

The Republic of South Africa muddles through the junk rated rand, state capture, Zexit, drought and water restrictions. But the rugby rolls on. For 2018 the South African conference is reduced to four local franchises and one transnational: Stormers: Western Province – Cape Town, located in the bottom left corner of South Africa. Bulls: Gauteng – Johannesburg and Tshwane, roughly in middle/north of South Africa at altitude on the Hiveldt. Lions: only an hour‘s drive from the Bulls, also in Johannesburg/Hiveldt Sharks: KwaZulu-Natal – Durban, on the coast in the bottom right corner Jaguares: Buenos Aires -Argentina Lions Embed from…

It hasn’t been going well for these two former world beaters. Both teams appear to be in rebuild mode and have plenty to prove. A key step is facing each other in Bloemfontein for Round 5 of the Rugby Championship. The Form Springboks The Bokke mid-season tests started with Head Coach Coetzee in strife but gradually moved to safer ground. In the Rugby Championship, they have had a soft start – wins against Argentina home and away, and a decent draw against the Wallabies in Perth. Some of us even suggested an upset against New Zealand – which it was…

Thankfully we are at the end of the split round 16. There were two South African games in the early hours of Sunday morning. Bulls 30 Kings 31 This is a game that is worth watching. Don’t miss the highlights package at least. Yes, it was occasionally messy. It was also a great sporting contest. The Kings first half dominance pushed the Bulls to attempt to thwart the Kings territory strategy by kicking. This led to some loose handling, messy scrums and ultimately a series of King phases where the ball finally stuck through good hands – try to Mapimpi.…

It was a game of two halves and an additional 200 seconds. The Western Force stayed within two points through to the bell for the Lions to use another three minutes to earn a bonus point victory in Perth. The Force kicked penalties when the Lions took risk. Can you defeat the Lions without scoring tries? Almost, but no cigar. First half For much of the first stanza the Lions had the Force pinned in their own half. The Force exit strategy simply gifted possession back to their opposition. Gritty defence and some good turn over Force ball was neutered…

The injury-ridden Western Force remain one of the few Australian teams showing pride in their jumper in 2017. They are up against a roaring Lions outfit who begin possibly one of the softest Super Rugby tours on record. The Form Western Force They are third in the Australian Conference and only two Super teams have scored fewer points on the table. They earned their points mostly against teams from the bottom half of the log. But history is on their side—the Force have a record of six wins on the trot against the Lions, but it would be an astonishing…

Two of the big teams in Australian rugby met in turbulent times with added impetus – the inaugural Vickerman Cup in support of mental health and in memory of a player highly regarded by the Waratahs and the Brumbies. RIP Dan Vickerman. The wet ground conditions led to some dire rugby as both sides turned over the ball like millionaires.  In the end it was the Brumbies who seized their chances best and put the Waratahs away, easily at the end. First half There are a few nice passages of play early but spillage puts paid to any results. Constant…

This week saw some cracking games in New Zealand and South Africa, with the best of the bunch coming from Argentina. There were some close calls this week, with the Sunwolves coming ever so close to their first win for the season and the Jaguares knocking off the Lions. CHIEFS 26 – 18 HURRICANES Many thanks to the Kiwis for providing a reasonable quality warm-up for the first Aussie derby of the weekend. Those Kiwis are useful on occasions. If you somehow missed this one it might be worth your while to take a look-see. Keep an eye out for…

The Southern Kings boast an improved preparation and more balanced squad this year. There is a long way to go. Kings’ country Home base is in in Port Elizabeth in Eastern Cape Province. If Cape Town is on the western part of the Cape, the Atlantic side, Port Elizabeth on the eastern part, the Indian Ocean side. The Kings’ HQ is about the same distance away from the HQs of the Stormers (Cape Town), Cheetahs (Bloemfontein) and Sharks (Durban). The province is large and features many former “home nations”. It’s possibly the poorest province in South Africa – there are…

The Bulls are the only South African team to have won any version of Super Rugby.  They have been in the final only three times and won all of them. This was in a golden period from 2007 to 2010 and their fans will want them to get back to those good old days. Bulls country The Bulls are located on the Highveld in Gauteng Province. It’s at an altitude of 1,340 metres above sea level – about the same as Thredbo Village in the Snowy Mountains. Gauteng is about half as big again as the Greater Sydney area, but…

Women’s rugby is on a wave of support in Australia. Let’s keep that going! FORM A superb first test by the Black Ferns wit a dominating display for 11 tries to nil. Kiwi rugby is in fine mettle. We hear that “Nothing prepares you like training and then playing together.” (Thanks to Scott Allen!). So the Wallaroos form, by definition is well ahead of, jeez, just a week ago. Well ahead. The last time we played we had 12 uncapped players. If I’m not mistaken this time we have none. TEAM NEWS Mollie Gray was one of better performers; I…

While trying to put together the Wallaroos game preview and struggling for information I was presented with an amazing opportunity to pose some questions via email to Scott Allen, Assistant Coach of the Aussie Wallaroos on the eve of their game in NZ. Being presented with such an opportunity it was always going to be hard to say no, but it was also a daunting prospect with little time to prepare and I really didn’t know much about the Wallaroos. But after speed-reading everything I could find (there isn’t much out there) I put together some question and fired off the email. Here is the…

There is no doubt that New Zealand is ahead in Women’s 15s, but with the women’s game booming in Australia and fresh off the back our Olympic success with the women’s 7’s NOW is the time perfect time for Wallaroos to get some time in the spotlight. Let’s face it, they are our only hope for us to get our hands on some trans-Tasman silverware. But of more importance is that everything the Wallaroos are doing is focused towards the build-up for the 2017 Rugby World Cup in Ireland. Embed from Getty Images WHO ARE THE WALLAROOS? The players are…

Before they last met I suggested that the parallels between these two teams were striking. This time there are two fundamental differences – momentum (with Australia) and altitude (with the Springboks). FORM The Wallabies are coming out of a slump with back to back wins in the Rugby Championship (hardly counts as a “winning streak”). They have now re-acquainted themselves what winning feels like. We came out of a poor Super Rugby season with time to burn in the Wallabies camp. Then we turned up against the All Blacks with the team appearing listless, tired and over-trained. The return game…

Two great rugby nations stand at a crossroads. They face each other at a perfect time and both must use the opportunity to step up. Will we look back and say “I was there when the style of Australian and South African rugby stood up and never looked back”? FORM The Wallabies – not good enough. Well discussed 3-0 to England at home and the Bledisloe Cup is growing roots in New Zealand. There have been concerns as to whether the Michael Cheika game plan is working. Fans can be unforgiving but it is to be expected that the Wallabies…

HURRICANES (voice up) HURRICANES (voice down) HURRICANES [Repeat]. It may be a while before the echo stops in my head. The Kiwis are the first and only conference in Super Rugby where all franchises have won a final. The Hurricanes managed to keep their record clean – no tries have been scored against them in the finals series in 2016 and they have a new club record – eight wins in a row. Pre-game the Lions looked really excited but something in their demeanour suggested that their season highlight was last week. Today was a bonus. The Lions gave the…

The Hurricanes will host the Super Rugby final in 2016. A three try to nil performance over the Chiefs means the Hurricanes have not allowed in a try since before the quarter finals. Embed from Getty Images The Chiefs were better at the set piece and dominated possession. 2 minutes inside the opposition 22 (to the Hurricanes 4 minutes) was not enough. The Hurricanes tested the patience of Aussie referee, Angus Gardner, with 12 penalties to the Chiefs 5 and received a yellow card. Wonderful attacking rugby was played whenever the Hurricanes had the opportunity, but the game was won…

Hurricane Force. Beaufort scale for wind and rain that has vessels racing below South Africa under bare poles trying not to be pooped by the trailing conditions. Wind outside is 140km/h from the north. Inside the stadium it’s solid rain swirling eight points of the compass. At once. There is no evidence that this conversation happened but it is imprinted on my imaginings. Assistant: This hurricane is no good. Beauden: Sure, it’s no good for them. Assistant: (Raises eyebrow.) It’s no good for us either bro’. Beauden: Yep… Yep… BUT. It’s no good… for them! Embed from Getty Images First…

Last week any of four Kiwi teams were a possibility of finishing the season in the top spot. Surely though, not many thought the mathematical possibility in front of the Hurricanes was realistic. They now sit with guaranteed home games through the finals – all they have to do is keep winning. Easy! The Sharks are the only team in the finals race guaranteed to play away for as long as they stay in the battle. Home or away it’s knock out rugby and anything can happen. THE FORM All up in Wellington the Hurricanes have beaten the Sharks five…