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Stormers v Highlanders (14/03/02)
Highlanders coach Laurie Mains has never been a great fancier of
the rugby people of the Cape and he will be determined to maintain
the same hold over the Stormers that he did with the Cats. The
Stormers are expecting a physical onslaught, and they will be right
to do so.
The home chances of victory would appear to hinge on their ability
to weather the early storm and not concede points unnecessarily, as
they did against the Waratahs two weeks ago. The Stormers are better
than most at playing catch-up rugby, but against the powerful
Highlanders unit they would rather boost their confidence early by
leading from the outset.
Although the match is being played at Newlands, the Highlanders
boast a good record at the ground. But the Stormers did nearly beat
them in Dunedin last year and were handsome victors the last time
the two sides met at Newlands. This one is really too close to call,
but it is to the Stormers advantage that this will be the first game
the Highlanders play on their tour.
Source: Supersport Zone
Smal targets Lean van Dyk (27/02/02)
Stormers coach Gert Smal has roped in Boland fullback Lean van
Dyk as back up for his depleted back trio. Although Van Dyk, who
represented Namibia at the 1999 Rugby World Cup, is not allowed to
play Super 12 rugby, Smal is going to apply for special permission
from SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd to have the tall Van Dyk cleared to play.
This follows in the wake of a decision last week by SA Rugby to
clear Free State flyhalf Kennedy Tsimba, a Zimbabwean Test player,
to play in the Super 12.
Source: Planet Rugby
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Sharks v Stormers (22/02/02)
It's the battle of the South African Super 12 giants in Durban
Friday night's clash in Durban between last year's finalists, the
Sharks, and 1999 semi-finalists, the Stormers, will see the entire
country gripped by Super 12 fever.
Previous Results:
1996: In Durban: the Natal Sharks won 28-22.
1998: In Durban: the Sharks won 32-17.
1999: In Cape Town: the Stormers won 35-19.
2000: In Durban: the Stormers won 32-28.
2001: In Wellington (South Africa): the Sharks won 23-19.
The teams:
Sharks: 15 Ricardo Loubscher, 14 Stefan Terblanché, 13 Werner
Gey van Pittius, 12 André Snyman, 11 Thinus Delport, 10 Gaffie du
Toit, 9 Craig Davidson, 8 Shaun Sowerby, 7 AJ Venter, 6 Warren
Britz, 5 Mark Andrews (captain), 4 Albert van den Berg, 3 Etienne
Fynn, 2 Lukas van Biljon, 1 Ollie le Roux.
Replacements: 16 Eduard Coetzee, 17 Deon Carstens, 18 Philip Smit,
19 Wayne van Heerden, 20 Chad Alcock, 21 Herkie Kruger, 22 Rodger
Smith.
Stormers: 15 Marius Goosen, 14 Percy Montgomery, 13 Marius
Joubert, 12 De Wet Barry, 11 Pieter Rossouw (vice-captain), 10
Werner Greeff, 9 Johannes Conradie, 8 Adri Badenhorst, 7 Hendrik
Gerber, 6 Corné Krige (captain), 5 Hottie Louw, 4 Quinton Davids, 3
Cobus Visagie, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 Daan Human.
Replacements: 16 Tjoepie van den Heever, 17 Faan Rautenbach, 18 Thys
Stoltz, 19 Pietie Ferreira, 20 Noël Oelshig, 21 Wayne Julies, 22
Jeffrey Stevens.
Kick-off: 19.15 (17.15 GMT)
Referee: André Watson
Source: Planet Rugby
Pienaar to leave Saracens as Lane looms
(15/02/02)
Saracens chief executive, and former South Africa captain
Francois Pienaar has resigned from the Zurich Premiership club and
will leave at the end of the current season, with speculation
mounting in some quarters that on-loan assistant South Africa coach
Tim Lane will take the job.
Former Springbok skipper Pienaar had recently been linked with
the vacant position as South Africa coach, but news emerged that the
35-year-old had not actually applied for that job this week.
The future destination of the World Cup winner could well be
Durban in his native country, that is if current Sharks coach Rudolf
Straeuli is given the job of Springbok coach, as is widely expected.
Kevin Dunkley, the President of the Natal Rugby Union and the
Chairman of the Natal Board, told Planet Rugby that Pienaar is on a
30-man list of possible replacements for Straeuli (should he land
the Bok job), but no approaches had been made to the former Bok
skipper, or, to anyone, for that matter.
The NRU Board will meet next Wednesday to discuss a possible
short-list for the coaching job.
Source: Planet Rugby
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