Splendid Sharks......the first great game of the S15

For about 20 minutes the Reds were parting the black sea. But things turned late in the half. After that the Sharks scrum improved and they dominated the breakdown. Kudos to Bismarck, he may give away a few penalties, but he is the best fetcher in SA rugby.

For the rest Mcleod had a great game, Bosman was solid apart from that one intercept. Whitehead stiffened his resolve after missing many a tackle.

Movovo vs Ioane was instructive. While Mvovo was on his wing, Ioane played the whole field. The Australian edged him in the long chase, and when Mvovo tackled him....he allowed Ioane to release. That was the time to wrap up the runner. Mvovo has a lot to learn.

In the forwards Alberts was pure muscle, and Marcel Coetzee showed up well again....a real competitor. Daniel likewise score a fine try and covered a lot of ground.

But lets face it Bismarck was the difference between winning and losing.

I would hardly say it was the best game of the Super XV, but it was exactly what the Sharks needed to do. Reds not the same quality side as lst year though. Alberts my man of this game.

I would not get carried away Mozart! here is what Kafu had to say pre Red's games in SA

 Queensland Reds won't win either of their matches in South Africa, Fox Sports rugby commentator and former Wallabies utility Rod Kafer says.The unbeaten Reds take on the Sharks in Durban on Saturday night (Sunday morning AEDT) before facing the Bulls a week later in Pretoria.

Ewen McKenzie's side have already beaten New South Wales Waratahs, Western Force and Melbourne Rebels, but Kafer believes the defending champions aren't travelling as well as it would seem.

"Well, they've been less than impressive so far," Kafer told foxsports.com.au.

"What they haven't been able to do is replace Quade Cooper - that's really obvious - and that was always going to be their challenge."

 Last year, the Reds managed to win both of their games in the Republic, with their round-nine victory over eventual semi-finalists the Stormers regarded as one of the wins of season.Kafer said the Reds would once again be aiming for two wins on tour but doubted their ability to achieve back-to-back victories in South Africa for the second straight year."I think that would have been the goal - to go over there and win (both games)," Kafer said"But I'll be surprised if they do, it wouldn't surprise me to see them drop both of those games."But, you know they're a team with a great amount of internal belief.

"So, if they can muscle up and deal with the physical challenge that South African teams typically pose then they're a chance.

"But I don't think they'll win either match."

Mike Harris has been doing an admirable job at fly half in the absence of Cooper, particularly with the boot in front of goal.

The ball control and fluency in attack from last year, however, has been missing and Kafer said that could result in the Reds using the same tactics against the Sharks as they did in their win over the Stormers in 2011.

"Possibly, what the Reds have done is they've tried to continue on in the same vein as the way they played last year," Kafer said.

"Teams have now had the opportunity to look at the Reds and analyse the way they've played.

"Any team they come up against will have made some modifications to their own gameplan to deal with the Reds.

"I think the Reds, last year, had so much variety in their game and they've probably lacked a little bit of that variety so they might well go back to more of a kicking game."

Despite his frank assessment of their hopes in South Africa, Kafer said the Reds' season would come down to how well they managed without Cooper.

The Wallabies No.10 this week indicated he would not return until May at the earliest, meaning the Reds will be without him for a minimum of four matches - once they return from South Africa.

"The Reds season will come down to how well they hold together in this period of time until they get Quade Cooper back and then how they keep their players on the field - like it does with every team.

"They've done it pretty well so far, winning their local matches but they're going to come up against some better quality opposition soon and that will start to see them challenged a lot more.

"At the moment they've been sort of eeking out wins but it's certainly not the same quality in performance that we saw last season from them."

 Moz have to disagree on Bosman, he was very poor. Poor decision making passing the ball to players in a worse position than him, never trying to set anything up, all he did was pass poorly. The guy is a very average player. Bismark as usual was huge and one clown on here does not rate him - MOM 2 weeks in a row - says it all really

I thought Whitehead was good, as was Lambie and Mvovo. The Sharks loosies were great and Coetzee continues to have Bok written all over him. I liked the look of young Marais who replaced Sykes at look. They said he was a good prospect and he showed why.

The Sharks missed JP at 13 and they should really bring the exciting Jordaan into the equation

Bismarck had ONE good half, incidentily his first good half of rugby at Super level since the early rounds last year. Fact.

 der your take on Bismark is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever read and thats no lie - for that very reason I give your posts very little weight. 

I read your take on backline play and had a little chuckle - your profess rugby wisdom and then tell us how crap class acts like Bismark and Jean are - the sums just dont add up

You're welcome to your opinion Dave. Did I not credit Jean this week? I think you'll find that I did. Quite flexible I am, simply reading the story as it unfolds on it's own. As per Bismarck, he's been having howlers thus far; even his most ardent supporters are not happy!! He was nowhere in the first half this weekend. Sad but true.


 

 der yes each to their own - I just dont get your takes at all. I'm not talking about crediting Jean this week, I'm takling about your take on him over the years - its all complete nonsense - this guy has been our best 12 since I have watched the game.

As for Bismark, how the hell does a guy win MOM having done squat all first half - again complete rubbish - the same guy who won MOM last week, the same guy Sean Fitz says is the best hooker in the game.

You talk rugby and then make calls like this on class acts - not marginal players, players that are the best in their positions - how then am I supposed to take you seriously? If we were talking some marginal player like Deysel for instance then fair enough - but with you is players like Lambie, Jean, Bekker and Bismark. Seeing so many negatives in these guys when the general conseus is that they are great players, makes me question your rugby mind - I really cant take you seriously and its for this reason alone. 

Lambie I rate highly as a fullback. Even before he played there for the Boks I predicted he would spring to life at fullback. He's not cutting it at 10.

I rate Bismarck as an impact player. That's when he makes his best contributions; such as the Reds game where he stood out in the second half. (download the game and we can discuss this in more depth later)

Bekker is a talented player. I have often hailed him as the best lock at Super level over three years. His propensity for injury and inability to handle the physicality of test rugby are the issues I am having. He has excelled exclusively in very loose games. That said, I recently mentioned that I think Etzebeth is bringing out a better side to him, it looks like a duo that seems to click.

That's the complete picture of my views; details very often omitted by my critics in dark places.
 

 Ive seen the Sharks game it was on Sky. Why on earth would anyone want the best hooker in the game as an impact player - that makes no sense at all. There is not a single hooker in the game today who comes close to Bismark - he strength is second to none.

Disagree re Lambie as a flyhalf, he has always been good there, certainly better than Morne. But we dont need him at 10 given we have Jantjies and Goosen, so yes Lambie at 15 - but only for that reason.

Bekker is injury prone but that does not detract from his ability. Last year he was the best lock in the game

BIsmark wa HUGE and showed why he is so highly rated - the best hooker in the world right now. An immense force in the tight loose. Woul dnever agree t oBissie a san impact players.

In the same vein I wonder also about Ashley Johnston being paleyed as an impact player. It worked you could argue this time but rather get 60 minutes etc from yur best no 8 and you might not find yourself in such a tight game. H ei sessentia lt othe running game the Cheetahs want to play.

I seem to recall Movov running down Ioane. Is faster than Digby?

The sharks played with guts and determination and desreved their win. Unfortunately it seess injuries could again prove problematic as they go on tour.

I noted Bismarck having a big performance in that second half. It was not the defining feature of the game though. The Reds were already struggling without Cooper, but lost two flyhalves against the Sharks; they ended up with Genia slotting in at 10. Furthermore the entire Shark's pack mauled the Reds. It wasn't a classic but the Sharks put so much pressure on the Reds up front that their creeking backline simply fell apart. In the greater scheme of things it's difficult to say just how much the Sharks have improved as the Reds were always going to be fighting against the odds and will continue to struggle. Something to keep note of is that Bismarck has been more often than not driven out of rucks and stopped dead in his tracks as a ball carrier this year. Teams are having very little trouble handling him. As a defender I have seen very little of him at all. He is struggling to make any impact as a player having actually been mostly counter-productive. Conceding crucial penalties, offering little go-forward, poor lineout throwing, disappearing for large chunks of time... Bismarck is a long, long way from being the best hooker in the world!

I have no idea about Mvovo outrunning Digby, I cannot recall it. They both seem to be about the same pace; though Digby is more of a track runner. He has this odd limp-eqsue running motion that aids his momentum. Quite funny to watch really. Mvovo is the better all round player, but Digby is the smarter of the two and knows how to make positive contributions.