The 5th round of the Super 14 bought with it the second consecutive round no Aussie team won and have we finally seen the fact that South African teams have the belief they can win in Australasia? I say belief because the talent has always been there and this week showed we can win without necessarily playing fantastic rugby, we just need to be better than the opposition. Another first was no South African team lost on a weekend where we all played against foreign opposition (Although the cheaters didn’t hold their end of the bargain!)

Super 14 Log

Team Played Points
Blues 5 18
Sharks 4 16
Lions 5 16
Bulls 5 13
Horrorcanes 5 13
Farce 5 12
Crusaders 5 12
Cheaters 5 12
Islanders 5 11
Brumbies 5 10
Stormers 5 10
Worrytahs 4 7
Chiefs 5 7
Reds 5 6

Blues stay out in front

The Blues kept up their momentum in the Vodacom Super 14 log by comfortably beating the Islanders 28-9 at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday
Blues 28: Tries by Isaia Toeava (42 min & 64 min) and Troy Flavell (69 min). Luke McAlister kicked two conversions and three penalties.
Islanders: 9: Nick Evans kicked three penalties

Aussie battlers play to a draw

Two Aussie battlers, the Worrytahs and the Western Farce produced a lacklustre 16-all draw. A brain implosion by Sam Norton-Knight denied the Worrytahs a chance to win in it the last minute with a penalty kick. What was he thinking?
Worrytahs 16: Try by Morgan Turinui (20 min). Peter Hewat kicked a conversion and three penalties.
Farce 16: Tries by Drew Mitchell (24 min) and Matt Giteau (42 min). Cameron Shepherd kicked two penalties

Stormers blow away the Horrorcanes

The stormers had lady luck on their side as they won 30-17 by scoring 2 intercept tries to put away the Horrorcanes. It wasn’t vintage rugby but it showed that leading on the board and putting pressure on the opposition allows you to capitalise on their mistakes. However don’t let that fool you, the Stomers have much to improve on if they want to seriously get themselves back into super 14 contention, which means they will have to win at least twice more on the road.
Stormers 30: Tries: Jean de Villiers, Justin Melck, Corne Uys, Breyton Paulse. Conversions: Peter Grant 2. Penalties: Peter Grant 2.
Horrorcanes 17: Tries: David Smith, Corey Jayne. Conversions: Jimmy Gopperth 2. Penalty: Jimmy Gopperth

Bulls win in Canberra despite going to sleep

The Bulls beat the Brumbies in Canberra 19-7, becoming only the second South African team to do so. Forward dominance coupled with Hougaard’s boot lay a strong platform in the first half. However of concern will be the fact that they went to sleep again in the second half and decided they wanted to practice tackling for the second half. They were outstanding and only conceded 1 try but will have to improve against sides that are more clinical in attack.

Bulls 19: Try by Pedrie Wannenburg (32 min). Derick Hougaard kicked a conversion, a dropped goal and three penalties
Brumbies 7: Try by Gene Fairbanks (46 min). Julian Huxley kicked a conversion.

Lions show great character to win in Brisbane

The Lions showed great character and hunger to beat the Reds 26-20 in Brisbane on Saturday. The magic of Andre Pretorius closed the deal with field position after the first half threatened to get away from them as Queensland played attacking running rugby. However the boot of Pretorius in the second half allowed the Lions to exert pressure on the reds and the Lions capitalized on their mistakes to seal the deal in the 76nd minute.
Lions 26: Tries by Jaque Fourie (54 min) and Ernst Joubert (75 min). Earl Rose kicked four penalties and two conversions
Reds 20: Tries by Quade Cooper (20 min) and Will Genia (27 min). Clinton Schifcofske kicked two conversions and two penalties

Miracle try keeps Sharks unbeaten

Odwa Ndungane scored the try of his life two minutes after the hooter to secure a 27-26 victory for the Sharks over the Crusaders in Durban. Considering he blew a try by letting the ball slip out of his grasp diving over the tryline, this was a second chance to redeem himself. Ruan Pienaar then stepped up to win it with a sideline conversion. However the Sharks can consider themselves lucky as they were outplayed for most of the game against a Crusaders B team. The injuries to Percy and John Smit will be of concern and Butch James once again showed he is not really the answer at flyhalf on a consistent basis.

Sharks 27: Tries: Albert van den Berg, Bismarck du Plessis, Odwa Ndungane. Conversions: Percy Montgomery (2), Ruan Pienaar. Penalties: Montgomery (2).
Crusaders 26: Tries: Kieran Read, Mose Tuiali`i. Conversions: Stephen Brett (2). Penalties: Brett (3). Dropped goal: Brett