Lions Super Rugby 2011

[DPK]

Score only 1 victory against their own countrymen?

Probably, and win against foreign teams at home and gain the most praise even though a fellow SA team will probably win the bloody comp.

 

[PaarlBok]

Score only 1 victory against their own countrymen?

The Lions at home in this new version of Super Rugby wont be easy.

The new jersey

 

[gman]

The Lions at home in this new version of Super Rugby wont be easy.

The new jersey

The guy on the very right is Joshua Struass - here is clip and well all I can say is wow. That beard looks well.....um......ja......

Video Clip - Joshua Strauss

 

[Langthorne]

Now you've gone and done it. Every season I find myself tipping the Lions (I have no idea why), and just when I thought I had this problem under control you go and give them a chance.

 

[gman]

Now you've gone and done it. Every season I find myself tipping the Lions (I have no idea why), and just when I thought I had this problem under control you go and give them a chance.

Who me? It's at your own peril to support the Lions. Not for the feint of heart.

 

[en_force_er]

I know my mate's family who are very proud Johannesburgians support the Stormers in Super rugby, is this commonplace amongst the Saffers?

 

[gman]

I know my mate's family who are very proud Johannesburgians support the Stormers in Super rugby, is this commonplace amongst the Saffers?

Yip will will find more supporters of other teams in Jo'burgers then Lions supporters. A lot of them jumped shipped during the struggling years and also a lot of them live in Jo'burg, because of relocation as the majority of companies H/O are in Jo'burg and in the same breath because the most job's are in Jo'burg a majority will/must move to Jo'burg.

But then you get people, who only support the brand, even though they are born and bred in some other God forsaken place. Got a friend who come's from Nelspruit, a little town/city in Mpumalanga and currently residing in Jo'burg, but support the Stomers/WP.

 

[whatty]

Transvall have not been a good side since Gerald Bosch.

 

[gman]

Transvall have not been a good side since Gerald Bosch.

Beg to differ, the "Transvaal" team of 1994/1995 won the '95 RWC!!!!

 

[PaarlBok]

Yip will will find more supporters of other teams in Jo'burgers then Lions supporters. A lot of them jumped shipped during the struggling years and also a lot of them live in Jo'burg, because of relocation as the majority of companies H/O are in Jo'burg and in the same breath because the most job's are in Jo'burg a majority will/must move to Jo'burg.

But then you get people, who only support the brand, even though they are born and bred in some other God forsaken place. Got a friend who come's from Nelspruit, a little town/city in Mpumalanga and currently residing in Jo'burg, but support the Stomers/WP.

Good okes that. :thumb

 

[gman]

Good okes that. :thumb

Eish, dunno about that.....

Anyways, I read in the papers this morning that Elton Jantjies and Doppies la Grange not going to take part in the mini 3N in CT this weekend. Because Elton was with the Boks with EOYT he missed a couple of weeks conditioning sessions and will need to finish it. Doppies will be resting as the coaching team knows what they have in him and want to test out the reserve section at centre's.

There is a possibility that Jaco Taute will start at inside centre with Waylon Murray as his partner. Will be interresting to see what happens there.

 

[gman]

So the Lions lost 0 - 15 against the Stomers on Saturday (0 - 5 H/T). But remembering last year JM's WF team lost by 50 odd points in the same little 3N comp, but went and beat them, Stomers in the round robin stages.

Lions coach, John Mitchell emphasized after their 0 – 15 loss to the Stormers that the result of a Warm-up match means nothing in the bigger scheme of things.


Speaking after the Stormers match, Mitchell said that he was happy with the direction the team was heading and that they’ll improve and be a better side by February 19th.

“I lost this game last year by 50 points and beat them [the Stormers] in the round robin, so it means nothing at this time of year.”

“The competition starts on the 19th and we’ll look to improve again against the Sharks on Tuesday in a short turnaround. “The education for the group coming out of this trial and going into the next trial is hugely beneficial too because we’ve got 11 boys who haven’t played Super Rugby before.” Mitchell said.

“We’ll get pretty excited come February 19 and we’ll be a better football team by then.”

Mitchell also said that he was satisfied with the Lions’ defense in the match, and they created more than enough scoring opportunities against 2010’s best defensive side.

“I was very happy with us defensively. We’ve made some progress there and we provided ourselves with six opportunities over the line. We didn’t get them obviously but we provided enough opportunities. We just need to create a little bit more momentum in our attack.” Mitchell continued.

On the remaining Warm-up matches, Captain Franco van der Merwe emphasized that these matches are purely for learning purposes.

“With the Sharks on Tuesday and a couple of other warm-up matches, we’ve got a lot to learn before we play the Bulls on February 19,”

The Lions now face the Sharks in Cape Town on Tuesday.

“It means nothing this time of year”

 

[PaarlBok]

This warm ups ain everything about the scoresheet but the fact that the Lions got 0 say something. The Stormers throw their youngsters in the 2nd half and understand they played well.

 

[PaarlBok]

12,000 + attended this warmup despite the 20,000+ at the cricket match the same time. The Southern Kings justify their 30,000 + attending their win over the Brutes on saturday. They sure as hell look like on the right track for Super Rugby and should have been in the S15.

 

[en_force_er]

The Southern Kings justify their 30,000 + attending their win over the Brutes on saturday. They sure as hell look like on the right track for Super Rugby and should have been in the S15.

I'm sure they are no more then 2-3 years off though I'm not sure how they'll fit them in.

I figure it's not called Super rugby because they want to stick with 15 teams, if you know what I'm saying.

 

[PaarlBok]

I'm sure they are no more then 2-3 years off though I'm not sure how they'll fit them in.

I figure it's not called Super rugby because they want to stick with 15 teams, if you know what I'm saying.

Will be S18 from 2013. The Kings showed a huge improvement from a year back. Pretty sure they will qualify for the CC from 2012 and Superr Rugby 2013. They have the support , they have the rough schoolboy talent and on their way up.

 

[en_force_er]

Will be S18 from 2013. The Kings showed a huge improvement from a year back. Pretty sure they will qualify for the CC from 2012 and Superr Rugby 2013. They have the support , they have the rough schoolboy talent and on their way up.

This is a tangent but you have sparked my interest, where do you think hypothetical team 17 and 18 come from?

NZ and Australia are at critical mass Super team wise, Argentina could surely support 2 teams in a heartbeat (Tucuman and Buenos Aires) but how would this be logistisised by the fixture?

An idea I had about another side is they could base an Islands team out of Samoa's new huge fancy rugby development center under the basis it would have players from Fiji and Tonga as well. It could be joint funded by the 3 unions and the IRB and would be vastly better then any development options available now. They could play all their home games against NZ teams in Auckland (it has been previously suggested such a team should base themselves entirely out of Auckland) and all their home game against Saffas/Aussies out of either Samoa, Fiji or Tonga.

Obviously such a team would be disadvantaged and they wouldn't have the operation budgets and thus the profitability of other Super sides but it's a misconception that they would fail to function. Connacht rugby has a small operation budget compared to the other Celtic league sides, particularly the Irish ones. They still chug along causing occasional upset results and creating a great development tool for Irish rugby.

The other option for a team would be either Japan, Hong Kong or Singapore based off their expat populations. Obviously Japan would be the best option but rugby over there is hindered by the fact that the locals are contracted to companies, not sporting organisations, and thus are fiercly loyal and looking for a "job for life" status.

Anyway, these are half-baked ideas with millions of problems but still, how would a Super 18 work? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[PaarlBok]

This is a tangent but you have sparked my interest, where do you think hypothetical team 17 and 18 come from?

NZ and Australia are at critical mass Super team wise, Argentina could surely support 2 teams in a heartbeat (Tucuman and Buenos Aires) but how would this be logistisised by the fixture?

An idea I had about another side is they could base an Islands team out of Samoa's new huge fancy rugby development center under the basis it would have players from Fiji and Tonga as well. It could be joint funded by the 3 unions and the IRB and would be vastly better then any development options available now. They could play all their home games against NZ teams in Auckland (it has been previously suggested such a team should base themselves entirely out of Auckland) and all their home game against Saffas/Aussies out of either Samoa, Fiji or Tonga.

Obviously such a team would be disadvantaged and they wouldn't have the operation budgets and thus the profitability of other Super sides but it's a misconception that they would fail to function. Connacht rugby has a small operation budget compared to the other Celtic league sides, particularly the Irish ones. They still chug along causing occasional upset results and creating a great development tool for Irish rugby.

The other option for a team would be either Japan, Hong Kong or Singapore based off their expat populations. Obviously Japan would be the best option but rugby over there is hindered by the fact that the locals are contracted to companies, not sporting organisations, and thus are fiercly loyal and looking for a "job for life" status.

Anyway, these are half-baked ideas with millions of problems but still, how would a Super 18 work? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

They went the conference route with the S15, so they'll fit one team per conferense to make it S18. The Southern Kings will come in at SA conferense. Luckily we have Vodacom and CC competitions to get them up to Super Rugby level. The Kiwis can fit in an extra one in their conferense. Pretty sure they have the their ITM provinces to provide another team with ease. Question if Australia can fit in another team. The Argentinians maybe the answer, already playing in our Vodacom competition and settled in Potchefstroom in SA. Easy to move them to settle in Australia. Comes 2013 they'll be in a settled enviroment.

 

[PaarlBok]

Oh there is already two byes worked in the current S15 fixture list, making it easy to fit in the extra team in each conference.

 

[en_force_er]

They went the conference route with the S15, so they'll fit one team per conferense to make it S18. The Southern Kings will come in at SA conferense. Luckily we have Vodacom and CC competitions to get them up to Super Rugby level. The Kiwis can fit in an extra one in their conferense. Pretty sure they have the their ITM provinces to provide another team with ease. Question if Australia can fit in another team. The Argentinians maybe the answer, already playing in our Vodacom competition and settled in Potchefstroom in SA. Easy to move them to settle in Australia. Comes 2013 they'll be in a settled enviroment.

Domestic rugby is NZ just doesn't have the dollars, even worse in Australia. Perhaps if one could find some super keen financial backers but all the key population centres in both countries are taken.

I can understand why you wouldn't understand this, given rugby's climate in South Africa but it just wouldn't work.