Official United Rugby Championship thread

[FalseBayFC]

Evan Roos showing why he was left out of Bok Alignment camp. Great work rate and aggression sure, but he Carrie’s the ball into contact like Danie Rossouw; loses the ball 3/5 times.

A symptom of playing against sub-standard defences. He's expecting to break the first tackle. He needs a couple of seasons in France or the Prem.

[OomStruisbaai]

Evan Roos showing why he was left out of Bok Alignment camp. Great work rate and aggression sure, but he Carrie’s the ball into contact like Danie Rossouw; loses the ball 3/5 times.

A symptom of playing against sub-standard defences. He's expecting to break the first tackle. He needs a couple of seasons in France or the Prem.

Now why do you think he should chicken run?

Next year we join those lot in the European leagues anyway.

[FalseBayFC]

I see Tshituka is fighting hard to get his SA passport. I'm more excited about him and bro than Roos and Louw to be honest.

https://www.sarugbymag.co.za/tshituka-f ... hance-bok/

[Blake]

I see Tshituka is fighting hard to get his SA passport. I'm more excited about him and bro than Roos and Louw to be honest.

https://www.sarugbymag.co.za/tshituka-f ... hance-bok/

Wealth of quality loosies as always. Nice problem to have. Glad I’m not Nienaber. Vincent has been a revelation.

[OomStruisbaai]

How big is the crowd?

[FalseBayFC]

Evan Roos showing why he was left out of Bok Alignment camp. Great work rate and aggression sure, but he Carrie’s the ball into contact like Danie Rossouw; loses the ball 3/5 times.

A symptom of playing against sub-standard defences. He's expecting to break the first tackle. He needs a couple of seasons in France or the Prem.

Now why do you think he should chicken run?

Next year we join those lot in the European leagues anyway.

Honestly I think all the guys who have played overseas have become better players. Maybe next year/season will be better because our local teams will play more regularly against the Euro teams. I feel that all the derbies and local rugby has meant we're getting an inflated impression about some players abilities.

[FalseBayFC]

Jissis Scarra! Just hit your fucking jumper.
You have 2 jobs, scrum well and throw well.

6mins in and he’s popped out of a scrum and missed a Lineout throw 5m out.

Scarra popped again. Invited to the Bok camp. He's looking fatter than ever.

[Blake]

Jissis Scarra! Just hit your fucking jumper.
You have 2 jobs, scrum well and throw well.

6mins in and he’s popped out of a scrum and missed a Lineout throw 5m out.

Scarra popped again. Invited to the Bok camp. He's looking fatter than ever.

It’s infuriating watching him. Hooker is by far our weakest position. Zero depth. Wish we had some money in the wat chest to make Dweba a decent offer

[Blake]

On the bright side, Herschel Jantjies having is best match is 2 years. Still not great, but not terrible rather. Just solid with snappy service.

[Blake]

Scarra with a skew throw in again.

[Blake]

Great try by the Bulls.

Shit that try is on me. Started by a shit kick from Jantjies d followed by a shit kick by Libbok. Great return by Zak Burger and then patients from Hendricks to create space for Moody.

[FalseBayFC]

Canaan Moodie is looking like a young JP Pietersen. Tall smooth runner. Only 19 years old and will fill out to be a big lad like JP.

[Blake]

10 - 10 with 27mins left on the clock.

Feels like the momentum is shifting to the Bulls in the final quarter. Stormers making more mistakes and more players going down.

[Blake]

Canaan Moodie is looking like a young JP Pietersen. Tall smooth runner. Only 19 years old and will fill out to be a big lad like JP.

Very promising prospect for sure. Good temperament on the field also. Makes good decisions, does the basics well and not work-shy at all.

[FalseBayFC]

Jissis Scarra! Just hit your fucking jumper.
You have 2 jobs, scrum well and throw well.

6mins in and he’s popped out of a scrum and missed a Lineout throw 5m out.

Scarra popped again. Invited to the Bok camp. He's looking fatter than ever.

It’s infuriating watching him. Hooker is by far our weakest position. Zero depth. Wish we had some money in the wat chest to make Dweba a decent offer

Andre Hugo Venter is a great prospect but did his ankle quite badly a few weeks ago.

[Blake]

Good counter-ruck by Roos there.

It’s why I think that the comparisons with Spies are very unfair. Britney would never be found dead in a ruck. He was a wing wearing a No8 jersey. No mongrel.

[Blake]

For a former Sevens player Ruhan Nel has terrible distribution skills and special awareness.

[FalseBayFC]

Good counter-ruck by Roos there.

It’s why I think that the comparisons with Spies are very unfair. Britney would never be found dead in a ruck. He was a wing wearing a No8 jersey. No mongrel.

For sure! The only similarities between him and Spies is the hype that they attract/attracted. Spies had no rugby brain.

[Blake]

Harsh penalty against Scarra there. Thought he was diving on the ball, not diving into a ruck. Ball was out IMO.

[Blake]

Massive shift in tempo since De Wet replaced Jantjies.

16 - 10 to the Stormers heading into the last 10mins.

[Blake]

Willemse shifts the lead beyond 7 with a cheeky droppy.

19-10, 8mins left.

[FalseBayFC]

Clinical stuff.

[Blake]

Bulls reply with a try from the kickoff return. SMH.

Dyamani might also going to get a card for a high tackle. JFC Stormers…you were so close.

[FalseBayFC]

Lucky to get away with that.

[Blake]

Hmmm…lots more happening there than I initially thought.

Looks to me as if Arendse lost the ball forward. But also shocked that Diyamani looks like he’s going to get off with a warning. For me it’s a straight yellow.

That being said, should’ve been a penalty try and yellow card IMO.

[Blake]

Haha. Chaos.

Okay, think it was the right decision in the end.

Knock on, too far out to be a clear try. Diyamani carded.

[Blake]

Even better result for the Bulls in the end.

Score under the posts for Louw. And Stormers down to 14 for the rest of the match.

19-17 with 5 mins to go and Stormers a man short.

[FalseBayFC]

Elrigh Louw playing like Vermeulen today.

[Blake]

Stomers really let down by poor kicking execution today. Pretty much all the Bulls points can be traced back to a poor kick by Jantjies, De Wet, Libbok or Willemse.

They actually look quite good ball in hand, so god knows why the persist with the bad kicking.

[Blake]

Tense finish to the match!

Stormers hold on in the end for a 19 - 17 victory.

Pretty entertaining match. Gut punch for the Bulls.

[FalseBayFC]

Enjoyed that. But you're right. Poor kicking is a plague on our domestic game. Jantjies was looking so much better when he was just clearing the ball as soon as he could. He should be modelling his game on Aaron Smith. Just firing stinger missiles from the base of the ruck and then making the odd lightning break when there's an opening.

[Blake]

Conditions terrible in Durban, Lions playing like crap in said conditions.

Sharks making the most of it, leading 14-0 after 14 mins.

[Blake]

Blood in the water at scrum time. Sharks front row munching the Lions front row.

And Bosch fucks up the corner kick from the scrum penalty. Oh Curwin, never change...but please also never move to Cape Town or play for the Boks please.

[Blake]

Lions scrum doing better there now that the pack is back to full strength.

C'mon Lions!

[OomStruisbaai]

Only watched the highlights of the Stormers match. Thought 5 bar was full value. Again some big decisions from ref and tmo. The Stormers can't afford to buy them so thought they got it right.

The next two rounds will be decisive for the Stormers and Sharks to end up in the top 4. Bulls still have the easier run in.

[OomStruisbaai]

Games left (Games played/Log points):
Leinster (15/60) - Sharks (A), Stormers (A), Munster (H)
Ulster (15/50) - Munster (H), Edinburgh (A), Sharks (H)
Glasgow (15/50) - Stormers (A), Bulls (A), Edinburgh (A)
Munster (15/47) - Ulster (A), Cardiff (H), Leinster (A)
Stormers (15/47) - Glasgow (H), Leinster (H), Scarlets (A)
Sharks (15/46) - Leinster (H), Connacht (H), Ulster (A)
Edinburgh (15/44) - Zebre (H), Ulster (H), Glasgow (H)
Bulls (15/43) - Benetton (H), Glasgow (H), Ospreys (A)
Scarlets (14/37) - Dragons (H), Dragons (A), Ospreys (A), Stormers (H)
Connacht (15/32) - Lions (A), Sharks (A), Zebre (H)
Ospreys (15/30) - Scarlets (H), Dragons (H), Bulls (H)
Lions (15/30) - Connacht (H), Benetton (H), Dragons (A)
Benetton (14/24) - Zebre (H), Bulls (A), Lions (A), Cardiff (H)
Cardiff (12/23) - Scarlets (H), Ospreys (H), Munster (A), Dragons (A), Zebre (A), Benetton (A)
Dragons (12/11) - Scarlets (A), Scarlets (H), Zebre (A), Ospreys (A), Cardiff (H), Lions (H)
Zebre (13/2) - Edinburgh (A), Benetton (A), Cardiff (A), Dragons (H), Connacht (A)

[Blake]

Only watched the highlights of the Stormers match. Thought 5 bar was full value. Again some big decisions from ref and tmo. The Stormers can't afford to buy them so thought they got it right.

The next two rounds will be decisive for the Stormers and Sharks to end up in the top 4. Bulls still have the easier run in.

Willemse was okay, but not great. His kicking game was very poor, as was Libbok's. Kicked away a lot of posession and kicked too deep, which allowed for Bulls counter attacks or better kick returns.

The TMO intervention was annoying, but I think in the end it led to the 100% correct decision, which I didn't think was going to happen while the review was unfolding.

[fishfoodie]

Games left (Games played/Log points):
Leinster (15/60) - Sharks (A), Stormers (A), Munster (H)
Ulster (15/50) - Munster (H), Edinburgh (A), Sharks (H)
Glasgow (15/50) - Stormers (A), Bulls (A), Edinburgh (A)
Munster (15/47) - Ulster (A), Cardiff (H), Leinster (A)
Stormers (15/47) - Glasgow (H), Leinster (H), Scarlets (A)
Sharks (15/46) - Leinster (H), Connacht (H), Ulster (A)
Edinburgh (15/44) - Zebre (H), Ulster (H), Glasgow (H)
Bulls (15/43) - Benetton (H), Glasgow (H), Ospreys (A)
Scarlets (14/37) - Dragons (H), Dragons (A), Ospreys (A), Stormers (H)
Connacht (15/32) - Lions (A), Sharks (A), Zebre (H)
Ospreys (15/30) - Scarlets (H), Dragons (H), Bulls (H)
Lions (15/30) - Connacht (H), Benetton (H), Dragons (A)
Benetton (14/24) - Zebre (H), Bulls (A), Lions (A), Cardiff (H)
Cardiff (12/23) - Scarlets (H), Ospreys (H), Munster (A), Dragons (A), Zebre (A), Benetton (A)
Dragons (12/11) - Scarlets (A), Scarlets (H), Zebre (A), Ospreys (A), Cardiff (H), Lions (H)
Zebre (13/2) - Edinburgh (A), Benetton (A), Cardiff (A), Dragons (H), Connacht (A)

Looks like the most important battle will be between Bulls & Scarlets over 8th, Scarlets could easily get BPs in three matches

[OomStruisbaai]

There are going to be fireworks in the top teams coming up. Stormers and Sharks can easily drop down.

[Chilli]

There are going to be fireworks in the top teams coming up. Stormers and Sharks can easily drop down.

Congrats to the Stormers & $harks.
Stormers we good value.

The win for the $harks finally disproves the theory that they can't play in the rain.

The Bulls, for all their firepower, are not a team good enough to go much further. Maybe the Bulls shouldn't be written off so soon, and they have the easiest run into the end of the log stages.