Super Rugby Round 7 featured two South African derbies, with only the Stormers facing foreign competition.
The Sharks and Lions faced each other in Durban on Friday night, with the Bulls travelling down to Port Elizabeth to take on the Kings. The Stormers hosted the touring Sunwolves in Cape Town and the Cheetahs enjoyed the bye.
Super Rugby Round 7: The South African Results
Cell C Sharks 9 Emirates Lions 24
Emirates Lions – Tries: Andries Ferreira and Lionel Mapoe Conversion: Elton Jantjies Penalties: Elton Jantjies 4
Cell C Sharks – Penalties: Joe Pietersen 3
The Sharks started the game with an attacking frenzy that has been missing for a long time and the Lions defence was severely tested to keep them out. This was not to last long though and for the remainder of the match the Sharks attacking prowess rarely put the Lions under pressure. The Sharks will also be missing Marcel Coetzee for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.
The continued experiment of using Coenie Oosthuizen as a tighthead prop was exploited by the Lions and the Sharks scrum was under significant pressure and conceded a number of penalties. The Springbok prop was pulled from the game just short of half time. Tendai Mtawarira’s fledging captaincy was severely tested as he chose to argue scrum penalty decisions with the referee. No matter how right you may be, getting on the wrong side of the referee never pays dividends and the Sharks ended up on the wrong side of most of the tight calls. I have stated this before, but I don’t believe Joe Pietersen is able to ignite the Sharks backline and it surely time to hand Garth April a start.
For their part, the Lions continued to pressure the Sharks with their high tempo game and repelled all attacks with a decent scrambled defence, leaving the Sharks tryless.
Southern Kings 6 Vodacom Bulls 38
Vodacom Bulls – Tries: Jamba Ulengo 2, SP Marais 2, Jan Serfontein and RG Snyman Conversions: Tian Schoeman 3 and Deon Brummer
Southern Kings – Penalties: Louis Fouche 2
The Bulls put in a competent display against a Kings side hoping to build on their first win last weekend. The Bulls took the opportunity to play a more expansive game and were rewarded with six tries and recorded an emphatic win. Kings discard SP Marais rubbed salt in the wounds, scoring twice. His counterpart, Bulls discard Jurgen Visser, was made to look less than ordinary and was directly responsible for mistakes that lead to two of the Bulls tries. Kings supporters are flumoxed as to how he retains his starting position every weekend, with very little tangible contribution.
Bulls centre Jan Serfontein produced one of his more lively games in a while and some of the younger players are starting to make an impression. For the Kings, James Hall made an impressive debut at scrumhalf and he looks to be one for the future. Their forwards have proven through the season that they can secure enough possession for the Kings to be competitive. Some of the decision making in the backline has to be questioned though, as well as their ability to unlock defences. They have pace out wide, but their wingers are rarely receive possession in space.
DHL Stormers 46 Sunwolves 19
DHL Stormers – Tries: Sikhumbuzo Notshe 2, Kobus van Wyk, Juan de Jongh, Scarra Ntubeni, Louis Schreuder and Jean Luc du Plessis Conversions: Jean Luc du Plessis 4 Penalty: Jean Luc du Plessis
Sunwolves – Tries: Riaan Viljoen 2 and Yuki Yatomi Conversions: Yu Tamuru 2
The Stormers started this game at pace, using a power scrum and ran the ball at every opportunity to simply overpower the Sunwolves. They did seem to go off the boil in the second half though and despite the try count they should really have put the Sunwolves to the sword with a continued assault. This was mostly due to a tendency to break the defensive line and then be caught in possession – a case of white line fever. There were two highlights in ths game that stick to mind. Cheslin Kolbe’s break out from the Stormers 22 that put Juan de Jongh away for the score will make the 2016 Super Rugby highlights package. Secondly, the vision that young flyhalf Jean-Luc de Plessis possesses is above the norm and some of the decision making he displayed belied his tender age. The son of “The Prince of Wings” Carel du Plessis looks to be a very talent. He has been forced into the limelight due to season ending injuries to Kurt Coleman and Robert du Preez and aside from some inconsistent place kicking he has taken up the challenge with aplomb.
The heartbeat of the Sunwolves is the impressive Tusi Pisi and he was conspicuous by his absence, being rested for this game. Of course they do have talent in the side that keeps them competitive, but the additional edge Pisi brings to the side was sorely missed.
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