Pre=Season Friendly Games on 3 February 2019

The SA franchises will play each other ibn two games on Sunday 3 February 2019 at the Cape Town stadium and 50 000 tickets for the two games have been sold already.   

Interesting idea - and the games will for the first time ever be televised.

The teams will be as follows:-

Sharks  vs  Lions

Sharks

15 Lwazi Mvovo, 14 S'bu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Marius Louw, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Tyler Paul, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Hyron Andrews, 4 Gideon Koegelenberg, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Kerron van Vuuren, 1 Juan Schoeman

Substitutes: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Mzamo Majola, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 JJ van der Mescht, 20 Luke Stringer, 21 Wian Vosloo, 22 Phepsi Buthelezi, 23 Cameron Wright

Lions

15  Andries Coetzee, 14  Courtnall Skosan, 13  Lionel Mapoe, 12  Harold Vorster, 11  Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10  Elton Jantjies, 9   Nic Groom, 8  Warren Whiteley (c), 7  Hacjivah Dayimani, 6  Kwagga Smith, 5  Marvin Orie, 4  Ruan Vermaak, 3  Carlu Sadie, 2  Malcolm Marx, 1  Dylan Smith

Replacements   : 16  Pieter Jansen, 17  Danie Minnie, 18  Frans van Wyk, 19  Jacobie Adriaanse, 20  Marnus Schoeman, 21  Dillon Smith, 22  Shaun Reynolds, 23  Sylvian Mahuza, 24  Ruan Combrinck, 25  Vincent Tshituka, 26  Rhyno Herbst  

Stormers  vs   Bulls

Stormers

15  Dillyn Leyds, 14  Seabelo Senatla, 13  JJ Engelbrecht, 12  Dan Kriel, 11  SP Marais, 10  Joshua Stander, 9  Jano Vermaak, 8  Juarno Augustus, 7  Cobus Wiese, 6  Jaco Coetzee, 5  Chris van Zyl (c), 4   Salmaan Moerat, 3  Michael Kumbirai, 2  Scarra Ntubeni, 1  Ali Vermaak

Replacements  :    16  Chad Solomon, 17  Corne Fourie, 18  Wilco Louw, 19  Ernst van Rhyn, 20  JD Schickerling, 21  Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 22  Kobus van Dyk, 23  Herschel Jantjies, 24  Damian Willemse, 25  Sergeal Petersen, 26  Dan du Plessis

Bulls

15  Warrick Gelant, 14  Jade Stighling, 13  Jesse Kriel, 12  Burger Odendaal, 11  Duncan Matthews, 10  Handre Pollard, 9  Ivan van Zyl, 8  Duane Vermeulen, 7  Jannes Kirsten, 6  Paul Schoeman, 5  Lood de Jager (c), 4  Eli Snyman, 3  Trevor Nyakane, 2  Schalk Brits, 1  Lizo Gqoboka

Replacements  :  16  Corniel Els, 17  Simphiwe Matanzina, 18  Dayan van der Westhuizen, 19  Ruan Nortje, 20  Ruan Steenkamp, 21  Thembelani Bholi, 22  Embrose Papier, 23  Manie Libbok, 24  Dylan Sage, 25  Johnny Kotze, 26  Divan Rossouw

Traditionally these pre-season friendlies are used to see how "pretendners" play in a match environment - nut that has not changed.

However, there are a lot of useless players of the past missing - and some top players are not playing at all - eg Etzebeth, Du Toit and Malherbe to name a few,

Interesting youngsters to watch are the following:-

Sharks     Koegelenberg, Van Vuuren, Van der Mescht

Lions

Stormers   Augustus,  Wiese, Coetzee, Schickerling, Willemse

Bulls          Sage, Van Zyl, Papier

SB

I so not know whether E Snyman is a brother, sister or cross-being of RG Snyman   Have never seen of heard of the guy before.

I have not been able to trace down the Lions team as yet,  

BB

There is a lot of players on the bench that would be brought into the game at halftime.   Take for instance the example of Schickerling who is a much better lock than the starters,   The same could apply to Papier and Willemse.

Other key players are not in the team - eg Etzebeth, Du  Toit and  Malherbe.   

Anyway - rugby is back and we can discuss rugby issues and not personal feuds on site.   I have decided not to comment on certain member's postings and  will continue with that and stick to rugby issues and ignore their BS based on total rugby ignorance .          

BB

I looked at the teams and to my mind it would be a hard graft for any of the other five teams to beat Ireland.   They are likely to win all five teams they have to play.

I have a soft sp ot for Scotland and wish them well - hope they are second on the log.

In the case of France the question remains - which French team turn up for the match,   Would be that they lose some teams they normally would beat and win in games they should not win.  

However, I am really looking forward to the series - Scotland have a good go.  

The question of ... "which French team will turn up" ... should no longer be in question, as we've seen nothing from them, their flair or any type of passion for many years now.

The last time they played top tier rugby was when they were robbed against the All Blacks in the 2011 WC final.

Since then ... nothing.

CC

What happened  yesterday is typical what France does in games.    Played exceptionally well and hen surrendered whatever opposition comes at them.   Yesterday they managed tos narch defea from the jaws of victory.

Scotland the Brave - a very good team playin attractive rugby ,       

I was not overly impressed  by the Sharks – Lions game.    The Lions won , but the game was despoiled  by way too m,any errors by the players,    There were  way too many errors  and of the players I took note  of  Dylan Smith are two.    These two teams will have to imp[rove 100%  to make an impact.

As to the Stormers-Bulls game it was a much more interesting game to watch.    The problem is the two teams used their  top players sparingly or not at all.    Vermeulen played for a while, but unlike his opposing number Augustus he was  rather invisible.    However,  it was an interesting game  and  despite sound defense  there were a lot opf tries scored with much less errors than was the case  in the first match.   The two Springboks who impressed were Pollard and De Jager

The following are the match reports om the games from news:24:-

Stormers - Bulls Game

The Stormers have beaten the Bulls 33-28 in a thrilling Super Rugby warm up match at Cape Town Stadium. 

The Stormers were fastest out the blocks and off to a flying start with two tries within the first 13 minutes thanks to wing Seabelo Senatla and flyhalf Josh Stander.

SP Marais converted both for to give the home side a 14-0 lead. 

Marais then pushed the score out to 21-0 in the 18th minute, scoring and converting his own effort to leave the Bulls reeling.

The visitors finally stemmed the bleeding with a try of their own in the 21st minute with flyhalf Handre Pollard scoring and converting to make the score 21-7.

The Bulls cut into the lead again in the 30th minute as scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl crossed  the whitewash for Pollard to convert and put see the score out to 21-14.

The pace of the game was showing no signs of slowing down as the Stormers extended their lead to 26-14 in the 33rd minute after Juarno Augustus collected his own charge down to score an unconverted try.

But the Bulls hit back almost immediately thanks to a converted try from Warrick Gelant which made the score 26-21 just before half-time.  

Just after half-time, the Bulls took the lead for the first time with flanker Paul Schoeman the scorer.

Pollard added the extras to make the score 28-26 in favour of the visitors. 

The Stormers regained the lead in the 74th minute as captain Chris van Zyl crashed over a period of sustained pressure.

Replacement Damian Willemse landed the conversion to give the home side a 33-28 lead, a position they held till the final whistle in what was a pulsating encounter. 

Scorers

Stormers

Tries: Seabelo Senatla, Josh Stander, SP Marais, Juarno Augustus, Chris van Zyl

Conversions: SP Marais (3), Damian Willemse 

Penalties

Bulls

Tries: Handre Pollard, Ivan van Zyl, Warrick Gelant, Paul Schoeman

Conversions: Handre Pollard (4)"

Lions -  Lions Game

The Lions have beaten the Sharks 19-14 in a Super Rugby warm-up match played at Cape Town Stadium on Sunday.

The Sharks were first to score with winger Makazole Mapimpi speeding away for an intercept try in the 24th minute.

Curwin Bosch added the extras for the coastal side to lead 7-0.

The Lions hit back through Malcolm Marx after a relentless waves of attacks in the 35th minute.

Elton Jantjies converted as the two teams went into half-time locked at 7-7. 

The Lions took the lead early in the second half when winter Courtnall Skosan crossed the whitewash for a unconverted try and a 12-7 lead on 50 minutes. 

Akker van der Merwe then put the Sharks back into a 14-12 in the 55th minute thanks to a converted try after he drove over from a 5 meter lineout. 

The Lions were back in the lead in the after winger Sylvian Mahuza pounced on a loose pass to score.

Jantjies slotted the conversion to give the Lions a 19-14 lead in the 67th minute. 

Despite relentless pressure in the final 10 minutes of the match, the Sharks were unable to breach a resolute Lions defence.

Scorers

Sharks

Tries: Makazole Mapimpi, Akker vd Merwe

Conversions: Curwin Bosch (2)

Lions

Tries: Malcolm Marx, Courtnall Skosan, Sylvian Mahuza

Conversions: Elton Jantjies (2)