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Hammer time for the Thormers on SuperHero Saturday

rugby27 February 2019 03:53| © SuperSport
By:Johan Coetzee
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SuperWrap - week two, 2019:

The first two rounds of Vodacom Super Rugby this year have set the scene up our first SuperHero Saturday this coming weekend as well as any of us could have hoped for.

Round Three is teed up like freshly dubbined Super Springbok leather ball taunting Naas Botha with its smack-ready bottom.

We’re expecting a bang because the results of the last two weeks have left all four South African sides with reasons to believe they can emerge victorious from either of the two local derbies we have scheduled for our afternoon’s entertainment.

Both matches will also feature at least one team that is both willing and able to play a brand of rugby that won’t have us all nodding off before the half-hour mark.

The Sharks, the Bulls and the Lions have all had a chance this year to show us that they can win and entertain at the same time, and there is nothing to suggest that this attitude will change dramatically in the next couple of days.

The Stormers are the odd ones out, having only one try to show for two matches’ worth of effort. They haven’t set anyone’s world alight as yet, but we should hold our breaths according to their assistant coach John Dobson.

“We were under tremendous pressure last week, under siege and with our backs against the wall,” wallowed Dobbo in front a Netwerk 24 reporter on Tuesday.

“Hopefully we can be more attacking this weekend, in our actual play but also in our general approach to the match. We want to play at a much higher tempo,” he then dreamed.

Let’s hope that Durban weather permits, but more importantly, that those sentiments are shared throughout the Newlands precinct.

Anyway…

Round Three is all set to fly, but by Saturday evening the lot of them will have had to come back to earth – and for two of our teams that landing won’t be soft.

It may be early in the season still, but can it ever be too early to spot a red flag?

The Stormers are most vulnerable. Another bad derby loss on Saturday could all but kill off their chances for conference honours and bury any realistic playoff hopes. It will be a nail in a coffin that was - fans will tell you - mostly constructed away from an actual playing field.

A loss won’t be nearly as fatal a blow to the Sharks. Still unbeaten after two striking wins, they will be least affected out of all our teams if they were to drop some log points on Saturday, but look past the points ladder and you’ll see that this is not a good week for them to be forced into introspection.

Natal’s Sharks learned on Monday that their vastly richer Sale namesake has bought two of their stalwarts. Akker van der Merwe and Robert du Preez will ply their trade in England later this year, and this is bound to play on their teammates’ minds.

Losing both an angry warthog and a flawless impression of an 80s spietkop at the same time is a blow few outfits can handle.

Now add a loss in Saturday’s grudge match on top of that and it is easy to imagine this being the first place you’d point to when asked in the post-season where things started going wrong for the Durbanites in their 2019 campaign.

The Lions and the Bulls, on the other hand, are in exactly the same boat and they will stay there until Saturday’s final whistle.

They both had rousing starts to the tournament only to have their respective bubbles burst the following week thanks to two highly disappointing performances.

Both of these young outfits would love dearly to get back to winning ways this coming weekend, as momentum is everything in Super Rugby. It would be a crying shame if those week-one wins were in vain.

This weekend’s Joburg clash will be like the dammit part of a best-out-of-three game of rock-paper-scissors. It can decide everything.

Round Three of this year’s tournament is teed up like a politician’s face at the bottom of a ruck. We must savour every moment - because this being Super Rugby and local derbies being in ample supply, we know the excitement won’t last forever.

We should savour this build-up week, because by the time the dust has settled on Saturday night at least half of us will know that there is a long season ahead.

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Time for us to have a look at what happened elsewhere in the world of rugby.

Best tries of Round 2

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The Best of Social


Don't you long for the days when it was still the Bulls fans known for their whinging about refs?

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A different spin on "Hammer time!"

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What a silly thing to say.

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How low can a chariot go?

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Got Carter

French club Racing 92 was forced to respond to a lot of criticism after their decision to bring back All Black legend Dan Carter as a medical replacement for the retired Pat Lambie.

Carcassonne coach Christian Labit believes the French game would be better to invest in youth at a time when there is great debate over the effect imported stars are having on the national team.

"Everybody talks about the big return of the star whereas it's a guy of 37-years-old who will take the place of a young Frenchman," he told stuff.co.nz.

"I take offence to those who boast of signing these men and who advertise that it is the messiah who arrives. I would have preferred, if we are Racing, that we take a lesser number 10 and prepare him, but we prefer to be reassured by going looking for Carter. It annoys me."

But Racing 92 boss Laurent Labit hit back at his namesake and noted that this criticism was coming from a second division coach who also employs overseas players who are long in the tooth.

He told RugbyRama: "In French rugby, everyone gives advice to everyone but does not apply to himself.

"Frankly, when I see Carcassonne, who are 10th in Pro D2, I wonder… Karena Wihongi, whom I know well, is 40 years old and Josh Valentine, their Australian halfback, is 36 years old."

Don't we just wish we had the problems of pro players hanging around South African teams for too long?

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Tell us an udder one

The website rugbyheaven.co.nz shared a story about how All Blacks star Beauden Barrett celebrated winning the 2015 Rugby World Cup by drinking cow's milk from the Webb Ellis Cup on his family's farm in Taranaki.

In an interview with CNN, All Blacks Beauden, Scott and Jordie Barrett provided an insight into their younger years spent growing up on a farm on the west coast of the North Island.

Beauden also recounted a hilarious story when he brought the Webb Ellis Cup back to the farm after winning the World Cup.

He said their father Kevin filled the trophy with milk from their cows.

"Creamy white milk looks so good in the gold cup," Beauden said.

Now many liquids have been poured down Bill's throat through the years, but this must be its first taste of milk. All the more reason to never let the Kiwis win it again!

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