Rugby - Swinging Handbags!

[finbar]

Originally posted by Havak
Another morning meeting - but i'm keen to pick through Eddie's thoughts later.

He's waiting with bated breath!

[Havak]

He should be - my words carry weight after all.

Sadly afternoon meetings beckon as well - so he will have to wait.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Havak
He should be - my words carry weight after all.

Sadly afternoon meetings beckon as well - so he will have to wait.

You have to work for yourself! Today, after planting some Mini Cos Lettuces and Swiss Chard seedlings, I stretched out on the couch to watch The Untouchables, which is being played on cable from episode 1 all the way through!

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by finbar
Chiefs 29 -d- Stormers 14

So the Chiefs keep their finals hopes alive. Big effort from them, particularly as undermanned as they were. The Stormers reverted to their ways of old - scrappy, mishandling, et al. Oddly enough, as badly as they played, they could probably have won the match if they hadn't coughed up the ball so often in great attacking positions.

It's also bound to be Corne Krige's last ever S12 match. Old habits die hard. A ruck had degenerated into a mass of bodies. Corne dived in, apparently to shift a Chiefs player off a Stormer. He twice head butted the Chiefs player. Two separate, quite deliberate head butts. He's bound to be cited. And, as I think this is his last season, it should be his last ever match. A great player, tragically flawed. Such a shame.

I won't get to see this game so it doesn't matter if I know the result.

Good job Chiefs!

I reckon they'll make it to the playoffs this year because:

The Sharks will probably beat the Reds and leap-frog the Chiefs, but the Chiefs may eventually edge out the Stormers. The Chiefs should beat the Bulls, and the Stormers will probably lose to the Crusaders. Also, with Krige gone the Sharks will probably beat the Stormers in their last game.

The only team that might spoil the Chiefs' chances are the Waratahs. Even if the Waratahs lose to the Brumbies tomorrow, they should be able to beat the Highlanders in Sydney, and the Reds at Ballymore. Hmmm....then again, the Waratahs usually struggle when they play the Reds in Queensland don't they?

[finbar]

Yes, the Reds have had it over the Waratahs recently. Particularly up there. But the Reds are in the absolute pits at the moment. They've had five different 5/8s this season due to injury. Last week they dragged a guy out of retirement after the guy before him - Walsh, dragged back from playing in England to fill the role - failed.

The problem for the Chiefs is that they have to do it again next week. And again. As I noted in my post, they played all over the Stormers tonight, but the Stormers could well have won if they'd hung onto the ball in some very threatening positions. A late intercept try to the Chiefs actually inflated their score.

[Havak]

Walsh? I have a feeling he was in a National league side as the name doesn't ring a bell...

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by finbar
The problem for the Chiefs is that they have to do it again next week.

I don't imagine the Bulls causing too many problems for the Chiefs. They barely scraped past the Reds in their last game.

How did the Chiefs' front row look?

[Frozzy]

The problem for the Chiefs is that they have to do it again next week. And again. As I noted in my post, they played all over the Stormers tonight, but the Stormers could well have won if they'd hung onto the ball in some very threatening positions. A late intercept try to the Chiefs actually inflated their score.

Not really. They should have had at least 3 more tries.

[finbar]

And the Stormers could have had five if they - the full back, in particular - hadn't coughed up so much easy ball.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Caligastia


I don't imagine the Bulls causing too many problems for the Chiefs. They barely scraped past the Reds in their last game.

How did the Chiefs' front row look?

Okay. The scrums were a bit of a mess on the night. Lots of penalties. What was truly odd was the Stormers' decision not to contest lineouts for about the first 20 minutes. Their lineout killed the Blues last week but they opted to defend rather than jump. As soon as they started jumping, they applied pressure. Most odd.

[finbar]

Originally posted by Havak
Walsh? I have a feeling he was in a National league side as the name doesn't ring a bell...

Tim Walsh. He was playing with Leeds. Probably not in the top grade judging by his efforts here.

[Frozzy]

Originally posted by finbar


Okay. The scrums were a bit of a mess on the night. Lots of penalties. What was truly odd was the Stormers' decision not to contest lineouts for about the first 20 minutes. Their lineout killed the Blues last week but they opted to defend rather than jump. As soon as they started jumping, they applied pressure. Most odd.

Maybe they didn't realise Keith Robinson wasn't starting? Jono Gibbes was a monster in the lineouts though. He didn't lose one thrown to him.

[finbar]

Even if they hadn't known Robinson wasn't starting, which I find hard to believe, how long would it have taken them to realise? It had to be a tactical decision not to contest. And I can't fathom why. And why aren't they playing Paulse? He's not injured. He sat out last week too.

[finbar]

Crusaders 40 -d- Bulls 21

A win and a bonus point for the Crusaders who played a mixture of good rugby and pretty ordinary rugby, particularly in the second half. They led 33-8 and the Bulls pulled it back to 33-21 before the Crusaders' final try. Extraordinary number of turnovers by both teams. One thing is for sure and certain - having seen most of their matches this season, the Crusaders' defence is nowhere near the wall it once was.

[LDiCesare]

Tamerlin is probably ill, drunk or something like that since he didn't post the following bit of news:
Toulouse will make the final of the HCup.
Toulouse bet Biarritz by 19-11.
I didn't see the whole match. I saw only a small part, but arghhh... these are two of the very best teams in France! The number of handling errors has been apalling. That Toulouse managed to score a try only thanks to their powerhouse Isitolo Maka and not thanks to their backs is very understandable, as the backs would knock on every time they touched the ball (disclaimer: even though I'm a forward, and hooker even, this is totally unbiased and objective - the ball could never be handled properly even when they had nice 4 vs.2, the second or third back would knock it forwards). Now Biarritz was hardly better.
I think Tamerlin choked to death laughing when he saw Yachvili make a blind pass which ended up right in the hands of the opposite scrum half (Michalak). Too bad Michalak is not yet in full shape, as he would probably have scored a try after that mistake.

Anyway, Toulouse will have to lift their game if they hope to win the final.