Week 4 brought a couple of major upsets, and then some fairly predictable results.
The Sharks made it 2 from 2 in New Zealand to set themselves up nicely if they can repeat their form and win 1 or 2 in Australia.

Picks 4/6

Chiefs (31) v Farce (13)
The Chiefs picked up their first win of the season and look to be improving as the competiton is progressing. Unfortunately the best they can hope for is a mid table finish. The Farce will be disappointed, but they lack the depth to challenge week in week out

Worrytahs (15) v Reds (11)
Games between these 2 always have plenty of needle about them. The war if words in the week preceding helped to fire up both teams, it’s a pity the quality of play didn’t match their mouths. The Reds were almost able to pull it off, but the Worrytahs were able to play badly and still win, which is what all good teams do. They simply keep producing the results even if their performances aren’t  that good.

Horrorcanes (29) v Cheaters (12)
A 17 point gap was probably a good result for a Cheaters team that lacks class, quality and direction. Why would they rest Bosman when we was supposed to be their flyhalf for the season. How is he supposed to grow in the position if after 3 games they go back to Potgieter? Stop gap measures don’t work, a broader picture must be looked at. The Horrorcanes now look to be serious contenders after a poor first couple of weeks.

Blues (31) v Sharks (35)
Game of the week. I have said for the last 10 years, rugby was meant to be played during the day when conditions are at their best, not at night for tv audiences and those
 who stay up past my bedtime! To see a crowd of 22000 was fantastic.

The Sharks absorbed much early pressure and on the counter attack were superb. Adi Jacobs was my man of the match and is suck a silky runner, and puts others into space. It is ridiculous that so many coaches have ignored him for so long. Frans Steyn on the other hand doesn’t appear to do that much. Why don’t we make better use of his long range kicking and take the pressure off Pienaar. Pienaar meanwhile is thriving at flyhalf. It is a lesson that in SA we need to put our best players in the key positions. Flyhalf has been our biggest weakness since Stransky.

In the forwards, the pack as a whole played great. The flanks, Daniel and Botes may be small but they punched well above their weight. I still don’t see why Kankowski is rated so highly. He goes missing in tight games and is terrible at the base of the scrum. Spies is light years better. Even Watson is better than Kankowski.

The only criticism was we never finished the job. We needed to play for territory in the last 20 mins, instead we put ourselves under pressure. The bonus point we allowed for the Blues may yet be important at the end of the season…

Islanders (6) v Crusaders (10)
What a drab game. The lowest scoring game in the history of super rugby. It certainly means the Cheaters are likely to finish bottom of the table, and puts immense pressure on the Crusaders who I now think won’t make the semis. Actually a good result for SA.

Bulls (14) v Stormers (10)

The Stormers came to play boring rugby. It is not their strength and you won’t beat the Bulls that way. The scoreline was close, but the Bulls always had grasp of the game.
Matfield was awesome when he came on. He controls play well and adds that missing dimension to the Bulls. They missed a few try scoring opportunities, but their bye alllows them to freshen up and plan their tour well. They really need to win 3 out of 5.
The Stormers meanwhile are in disarray. Plan A didn’t work in the first 3 games, and now the belief is gone and they don’t know what to do. I suggest start planning for next year…