Sharks catch wake up call

A 71st minute Curwin Bosch penalty helped the Sharks avoid an embarrassing defeat to the Kings at home when they won 19-17 on Saturday. The visitors felt somewhat insulted when the Sharks chose to rest a number of regulars for their encounter and nearly exacted their revenge when Lionel Cronje missed a tough touchline penalty and give them their second win of the campaign.

This narrow win against the Kings in a game where they would of felt they could of picked up a bonus point victory, will be a massive wake-up call. The game itself was very scrappy and handling errors were aplenty. It was a tough debut for flyhallf Bernard Janse van Rensberg who got the nod ahead of Garth April and Inny Radebe. The Sharks forwards didn’t make it any easier for the debutant and he will be eager to prove that he belongs in Super Rugby in weeks to come.

Brummies on top of Aussie conference

In what is probably the most disappointing conference thus far, the Brumbies beat the Waratahs to move them four points clear of their rivals in the Australian conference. The Brumbies are the only team from the Australian conference that find themselves in the play-offs at this stage, with 4/5 New Zealand teams all in the mix.

There is no denying that the Australian teams are suffering this year and have only managed five wins combined. This weekend saw the Reds suffer their third loss on the trot, and the Rebels go down to the Chiefs. It was a valiant effort by the Rebels but ultimately blown away by the New Zealanders at the end. The trend looks set to continue and at this stage it looks as though it will only be one Australian team in the play-offs thanks to the conferencing system.

Sunwolves come close, again

The Sunwoves narrowly missed out on an upset in Bloemfontein a week ago and came close again in Pretoria on Friday, losing 34-21 to the Bulls.

As I mentioned last week, a bonus point not picked up against the Sunwolves at home, is a point lost. The Bulls enjoyed a bye last week after suffering two defeats in local derbies and would of looked to get all five points up for grabs. Unfortunately it was not meant to be and they hung on with 14 men to win their first game of the 2017 campaign. The Sunwolves have showed that they are prepared to play at the highest level and look to be a more complete side game by game. They host the Stormers on Saturday for their first game on tour. There are a host of big name players who have been left in Cape Town and this game could be closer than most people think.

Highlanders’ woes continue

Despite Beauden Barret being wayward off the kicking tee, the Hurricanes managed a thumping victory of the Highlanders on Saturday. The Highlanders went into the break trailing 10-8 but were thoroughly outplayed in the second half and only managed seven points to the Canes’ thirty-one losing 41-15.

The Highlanders’ draw saw them in their fourth New Zealand derby in as many weeks. A draw which saw them face tough opposition and who now sit at the bottom of the New Zealand conference. Four New Zealand derbies in four weeks is a tough ask even for the strongest teams out there but they will try and see this as a blessing and not a curse. They next face the Brumbies who have won their last two, albeit weaker opposition. The Highlanders will see this game as do-or-die in order to try and salvage a play-off spot.

Cooper & Bothma in trouble

Bulls’ loose forward Renaldo Bothma and Reds’ flyhallf Quade Cooper managed to get themselves red cards this weekend and if found guilty, could face up to six weeks on the side lines.

We have seen that refs have a zero tolerance for dangerous tackles in the years competition. Both teams are struggling with form and injuries respectively, and cannot afford any of their key players suffering suspensions. The Reds and Bulls both only have a single victory in 2017 and with Bothma and Cooper looking to get up to four weeks minimum on the sideline, this year might be one to forget for both sides. Although it is not all doom and gloom for the Bulls, as a number of players have returned from injury, they will need to tighten up on their discipline order to get something going.

By Tristan Renaud