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JJ Harmse
It is understood the Sharks are furious with the Chiefs.
The Waikato-based side has picked a below-strength team to play the Blues in Auckland on Saturday and with the home side expected to win easily as a result, the Sharks will lose out on a possible eighth spot on the log.
Listen to this pathetic excuse by Chiefs coach Ian Foster when announcing a team with a backline of players from his wider training group.
“The Super 14 is a tough championship to bring young players into, especially tough when a number of them come in together at one time, but the lessons learnt over previous weeks and good preparation means they remain excited about the opportunity to perform for the Chiefs.”
Ha ha, and we should fall for that? Yes, they have a couple of injuries and some niggles, but how dare the Chiefs try and manipulate the final standings of the competition to help the Blues stay ahead of the Sharks?
Just to bring you up to speed.
Trent Renata will start in the No 10 jersey for the Chiefs. Renata, who turns 22 today, has been a member of the Chiefs wider training group and played a few minutes of Super 14 rugby when replacing Callum Bruce during the Hurricanes match a fortnight ago.
He will combine with experienced scrumhalf Brendon Leonard. The Chiefs midfield is made up of another Chiefs wider training group back, Phil Burleigh, who will start at inside centre with Jackson Willison at No 13.
The Chiefs back three sees Jason Hona return to the left wing, with Save Tokula on the right wing and Tim Nanai-Williams at fullback.
Foster said: “There is no hiding the fact we have lost a lot of experience in our backline. The new faces among the backs have a big challenge facing the Blues, but there is a sense of excitement in the squad about seeing the new level of Chiefs coming through.”
Is Foster using the last round of the competition to build experience in his squad? Is he allowed to that?
I suppose, to be fair to the Chiefs, they have been hit hard by injuries and there is not much a coach can be about that? Or can he?
Well, maybe he can rest some players at certain times of the season.
Either way, it is hard to justify a backline full of rookies in the world's premier rugby competition. It is just not fair on the supporters, spectators and sponsors of the competition.
They deserve the best. I mean, look at teams like the Bulls and Stormers.
The home side will go into the last round of the competition at Newlands with a backline consisting of three capped Springboks (Bryan Habana, Peter Grant and Jaque Fourie) and a touring Bok (Juan de Jongh), plus two national Sevens players (Gio Aplon and Joe Pietersen).
The only uncapped player, Dewaldt Duvenage, is having a great season and one of the real talents in the country, as well as being a South African age group player.
The Bulls will go into battle with two capped Springboks (De Wet Barry and Jaco van der Westhuyzen), a touring Bok (Heini Adams), a Sevens Bok (Deon Helberg), an Emerging Bok (Tiger Mangweni, playing for his third Super franchise) and two very experienced Super Rugby players in Jacques-Louis Potgieter and Stephan Dippenaar.
Potgieter is in his third season of Super Rugby and is three points short of 100 competition points, while Dippenaar started in six of the nine matches he played for the Bulls this season!
In the pack it is pretty much the same.
The Stormers have capped Boks in Schalk Burger and Andries Bekker, a touring Bok in Tiaan Liebenberg, an Emerging Bok in Duane Vermeulen and three very talented (soon to be Boks?) in Francois Louw, Wicus Blaauw and Brok Harris.
In the Bulls pack Pedrie Wannenburg and Bakkies Botha are capped Boks, Bandise Maku is a touring Bok, Derick Kuün and Gerrit-Jan van Velze played for South Africa at Under-19 and Under-21-level and Flip van der Merwe has been a revelation this season, his third in Super Rugby. Bees Roux of course played for the Cheetahs in Super Rugby (and Clermont in the Heineken Cup) and Jaco Engels will play in his 40th Super match for the Bulls.
Both teams can even boast Springboks Ricky Januarie (Stormers) and Chiliboy Ralepelle (Bulls) on the bench!
SANZAR should look seriously at teams like the Chiefs fielding a group of rookies. They should be reprimanded about a lack of depth in their squads and for using Super 14 to build experience for the future.
It is just not fair that some teams are allowed to pick players from their wider training groups and get away with it.
Oh yes, and by the way, hopefully the Melbourne Rebels will field an experienced and competitive team when they start participating in next year’s Super 15. We don’t want to disappoint fans, sponsors and supporters of this great game, do we?
Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
It is understood the Sharks are furious with the Chiefs.
The Waikato-based side has picked a below-strength team to play the Blues in Auckland on Saturday and with the home side expected to win easily as a result, the Sharks will lose out on a possible eighth spot on the log.
Listen to this pathetic excuse by Chiefs coach Ian Foster when announcing a team with a backline of players from his wider training group.
“The Super 14 is a tough championship to bring young players into, especially tough when a number of them come in together at one time, but the lessons learnt over previous weeks and good preparation means they remain excited about the opportunity to perform for the Chiefs.”
Ha ha, and we should fall for that? Yes, they have a couple of injuries and some niggles, but how dare the Chiefs try and manipulate the final standings of the competition to help the Blues stay ahead of the Sharks?
Just to bring you up to speed.
Trent Renata will start in the No 10 jersey for the Chiefs. Renata, who turns 22 today, has been a member of the Chiefs wider training group and played a few minutes of Super 14 rugby when replacing Callum Bruce during the Hurricanes match a fortnight ago.
He will combine with experienced scrumhalf Brendon Leonard. The Chiefs midfield is made up of another Chiefs wider training group back, Phil Burleigh, who will start at inside centre with Jackson Willison at No 13.
The Chiefs back three sees Jason Hona return to the left wing, with Save Tokula on the right wing and Tim Nanai-Williams at fullback.
Foster said: “There is no hiding the fact we have lost a lot of experience in our backline. The new faces among the backs have a big challenge facing the Blues, but there is a sense of excitement in the squad about seeing the new level of Chiefs coming through.”
Is Foster using the last round of the competition to build experience in his squad? Is he allowed to that?
I suppose, to be fair to the Chiefs, they have been hit hard by injuries and there is not much a coach can be about that? Or can he?
Well, maybe he can rest some players at certain times of the season.
Either way, it is hard to justify a backline full of rookies in the world's premier rugby competition. It is just not fair on the supporters, spectators and sponsors of the competition.
They deserve the best. I mean, look at teams like the Bulls and Stormers.
The home side will go into the last round of the competition at Newlands with a backline consisting of three capped Springboks (Bryan Habana, Peter Grant and Jaque Fourie) and a touring Bok (Juan de Jongh), plus two national Sevens players (Gio Aplon and Joe Pietersen).
The only uncapped player, Dewaldt Duvenage, is having a great season and one of the real talents in the country, as well as being a South African age group player.
The Bulls will go into battle with two capped Springboks (De Wet Barry and Jaco van der Westhuyzen), a touring Bok (Heini Adams), a Sevens Bok (Deon Helberg), an Emerging Bok (Tiger Mangweni, playing for his third Super franchise) and two very experienced Super Rugby players in Jacques-Louis Potgieter and Stephan Dippenaar.
Potgieter is in his third season of Super Rugby and is three points short of 100 competition points, while Dippenaar started in six of the nine matches he played for the Bulls this season!
In the pack it is pretty much the same.
The Stormers have capped Boks in Schalk Burger and Andries Bekker, a touring Bok in Tiaan Liebenberg, an Emerging Bok in Duane Vermeulen and three very talented (soon to be Boks?) in Francois Louw, Wicus Blaauw and Brok Harris.
In the Bulls pack Pedrie Wannenburg and Bakkies Botha are capped Boks, Bandise Maku is a touring Bok, Derick Kuün and Gerrit-Jan van Velze played for South Africa at Under-19 and Under-21-level and Flip van der Merwe has been a revelation this season, his third in Super Rugby. Bees Roux of course played for the Cheetahs in Super Rugby (and Clermont in the Heineken Cup) and Jaco Engels will play in his 40th Super match for the Bulls.
Both teams can even boast Springboks Ricky Januarie (Stormers) and Chiliboy Ralepelle (Bulls) on the bench!
SANZAR should look seriously at teams like the Chiefs fielding a group of rookies. They should be reprimanded about a lack of depth in their squads and for using Super 14 to build experience for the future.
It is just not fair that some teams are allowed to pick players from their wider training groups and get away with it.
Oh yes, and by the way, hopefully the Melbourne Rebels will field an experienced and competitive team when they start participating in next year’s Super 15. We don’t want to disappoint fans, sponsors and supporters of this great game, do we?
Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
