Congrats to Blou and His Brutes team on a deserved win on Newlands on saturday. Despite the loss I sure enjoyed the match at a jam pack Newlands. The vibe from the car park to the stadium and back to the car after the match was one hell of an experiense and I sure can vouch Newlands have more Brute supporters then All Blacks supporters. I obvious hate the booing during the match and feel its hell of an unsportmanship shown by the supporters.
Our debt has been paid back to the Brutes (2010 last round B team in the final round) and wish them everything of the best in the rest of their champaign. Would have been a sad day if we knocked out such a great team. The Stormers coaching staff made a few blunders.
1. Hope this was the last time I saw Januarie in a Stormers jerseys. He had me swearing from the losie when he made prymary school errors behind the oven.
2. Dewaldt should have replaced him iso Coleman.
3. Tiaan should start with Fourie from the bench.
4 Our Lineouts was shite.
5 Ginga should started.
6 They should have taken the three points towards the end to get into 7 and that should left some more time to score a try.
Anyway not a train smash for us, we still in the same position or comes win or lose we'll have at least the fourth spot on the log.
Superrugby
A first ever trophy for Stormers
There will doubtless be those who will point to a freak match in 2007 to suggest it might be premature, but the DHL Stormers might as well start dusting off that old trophy cabinet in preparation for the arrival of the franchise’s first ever meaningful silverware.
A trophy is presented to the winner of each of the three conferences in the new Super Rugby format, and with this stage of the competition coming to an end on Saturday, after which the remaining six teams will be playing in the Super Rugby Finals Series, you could say two of the three conferences are now cut and dried.
The Reds made sure of victory in the Australian conference a couple of weeks ago, and while the Stormers always looked poised to do the same, somehow the Sharks and the Bulls just managed to hang in there to take that battle to the final two minutes of the big derby this past weekend between the Stormers and the Bulls.
But when Andries Bekker crashed over for his side’s only try with less than a minute and a half left on the clock, thus bringing his team to within seven, it sealed the South African conference race by making it almost impossible for them to be caught.
Had Bekker not scored that try, Stormers skipper Schalk Burger might well have been left to rue his crazy decisions not to kick for goal when awarded penalties right in front of the posts.
Apart from making it more difficult for his team to end in the top two on the overall log, it would have given the Bulls a chance to overtake them in the race for conference honours if they picked up a full house of five log points against the Sharks and the Stormers were denied any in their last league match against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.
As it stands, it is still mathematically possible for the Bulls to catch the Stormers, for a full house would draw them level with the Stormers on the log before the Stormers play the Cheetahs. However, a Bulls win and Stormers loss would mean both teams end with the same number of wins in the season, leaving the winner to be decided by points difference.
And here the Stormers’ advantage is so massive that it renders any chance of the Bulls catching them unrealistic. That advantage at the moment is 84 points, which means that the Stormers are either going to have to lose by a huge score to the Cheetahs or the Bulls are going to have win by nearly 70 against the Sharks.
Of course, the Bulls have won big in final league matches before. In 2005 they smashed the Stormers at Loftus by 61 points, and two years later they scored nearly three figures in chasing down a big win over the Reds.
But with the Sharks still in contention for a Finals Series spot themselves, comparing them to the Reds of 2007 would be a gross inaccuracy.
So you can take it as read – even before going into the final game against the Cheetahs, the Stormers have achieved the first objective for the season, which was winning the local conference.
It means they are guaranteed a home match in the Finals Series, with Saturday just deciding whether they will come back to Newlands the following Saturday or take a week off before returning to their home ground for a semifinal.
And while it shouldn’t take them longer than a split second to find the space in the cabinet, there is a trophy coming their way at last and theirs will be the first name on a cup that could become quite coveted in the future.
South African Conference
Pos Team P W D L B PF PA PD TF TA BPts Pts
1 DHL Stormers 15
11 0 4 2 356 223
133 29 14 6
58
2 Vodacom Bulls 15
10 0 5 2 393 344
49 38 35 5
53
3 Sharks 15
9 1 5 2 381 316 65 39 26 7
53
4 Toyota Cheetahs 15 5 0 10 2 401 393 8 40 45 11 39
5 MTN Lions 16 3 1 12 1 351 477 -126 36 49 7 25
Combined Log
Pos Team P W D L B PF PA PD TF TA BPts Pts
1 Reds 15 12 0 3 2 410 298 112 44 31 6 62
2 DHL Stormers 15 11 0 4 2 356 223 133 29 14 6 58
3 Crusaders 15 10 1 4 2 420 264 156 45 27 7 57
4 Blues 15 9 1 5 2 372 319 53 40 33 10 56
5 Vodacom Bulls 15 10 0 5 2 393 344 49 38 35 5 53
6 Sharks 15 9 1 5 2 381 316 65 39 26 7 53
7 Waratahs 15 9 0 6 2 357 245 112 43 20 8 52
8 Highlanders 15 8 0 7 2 280 310 -30 29 31 5 45
9 Hurricanes 15 5 2 8 2 319 382 -63 32 40 9 41
10 Chiefs 15 6 1 8 2 321 329 -8 32 29 6 40
11 Toyota Cheetahs 15 5 0 10 2 401 393 8 40 45 11 39
12 Western Force 15 4 2 9 2 306 392 -86 23 40 5 33
13 Brumbies 15 4 1 10 2 307 396 -89 31 37 7 33
14 MTN Lions 16 3 1 12 1 351 477 -126 36 49 7 25
15 Melbourne Rebels 15 3 0 12 2 257 543 -286 28 72 3 23
