Rugby -Irish u 20's get a shot at 5th, and the Shark beat the Bulls! Alright!

JP Pietersen picture from http://bit.ly/mcEmMP

Super Rugby

The final weekend of results saw the Reds rightly top the final standings with a victory of the chiefs. They’ve been the form team of the competition, and have done really well considering the long list of injuries they’ve sustained. The Stormers came in second after beating the Cheetahs as expected – that’s their second top finish in two years, and they should make the final again. Then it’s Crusaders, Blues, and Tah’s who beat the Brumbies easily in the end.

The last place goes to…the Sharks! After a stunning victory in Pretoria. They stunned me anyway, after seeing the Bulls take out the Stormers last weekend, I thought there was no way they were going anywhere except down. And I thought the match was going to be a turgid kicking affair. But there was lots of running rugby on offer, and for once, a smidgen of brain alongside a whole lot of muscle was enough to beat pure muscle. That’s no mean feat to beat, Matfield, Bakkies and Steyn at home. Their reward now though is to fly to New Zealand to take on the Crusaders who pretty comprehensively dismantled them at Twickenham. Monsieur Michalak at fly half and Lambie at 15 seems to be working a treat, Pietersen is on fire at the moment, so , you never know. The Blues and the Waraths compete for the other play off spot.

Junior World Champs.

Ireland beat Scotland 30-6 in their final pool match. Would have been nice to see the game, but nobody could be bothered to show it I’m afraid. If a tree falls down in a forest, and nobody gets to see it, has it really happened? Tries were scored for Ireland by Andrew Conway, with his fourth try of the tournament, who crossed in the 70th minute and Ulster duo Luke Marshall and Niall Annett followed up with two more. Video highlights are here http://www.irb.com/jwc/video/index.html under 'JWC 2011 - Round 3 Pool C highlights' at8.30 minutes. That means they get the play the Boks again for a shot at 5thplace. 5th would be a really good result. I watched the Boks/England match, which they had bothered to show and again a smidgen of brain alongside a whole lot of muscle was enough to beat pure muscle. The Boks did start to play near the end, but it was too little too late. Christian Wade, who looked good for Wasps when they played Leinster in preseason, scored a sensational try which sealed the game for England. All the results and fixtures are at the bottom.

Saturday , June 18

Chiefs 11 - 19 Reds

Crusaders 16 - 9 Hurricanes

Bulls 23 - 26 Sharks

Waratahs 41 - 7 Brumbies

Cheetahs 34 - 44 Stormers

Friday , June 17

Blues 33 - 16 Highlanders

Melbourne Rebels 24 - 27 Western Force

Super Rugby play-offs:


Blues (4th) vs Waratahs (5th)

Date: Friday 24 June

Venue: Eden Park, Auckland

Kick-off: 19:35 (07:35 GMT)

Crusaders (3rd - NZ Conference winners) vs Sharks (6th)

Date: Saturday 25 June 2011

Venue: Trafalgar Park, Nelson

Kick-off: 19:35 (07:35 GMT)

IRB Junior World Championships

18 Jun, 18:10 Italy 6-56 Wales Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso

18 Jun, 18:10 Argentina 15-48 New Zealand Stadio Plebiscito, Padova

18 Jun, 20:10 England 26-20 South Africa Stadio Plebiscito, Padova

18 Jun, 20:10 Ireland 30-13 Scotland Stadio Mario Battaglini, Rovigo

18 Jun, 18:10 Fiji 36-18 Tonga Stadio Mario Battaglini, Rovigo

18 Jun, 20:10 Australia 25-31 France Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso

9th Place Semi Final

22 Jun, 18:00 Scotland - Tonga Stadio Mario Battaglini, Rovigo

22 Jun, 20:10 Argentina - Italy Stadio Mario Battaglini, Rovigo

5th Place Semi Final

22 Jun, 18:00 Wales - Fiji Stadio Plebiscito, Padova

22 Jun, 20:10 South Africa - Ireland Stadio Plebiscito, Padova

Semi Finals

22 Jun, 18:00 England - France Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso

22 Jun, 20:10 New Zealand - Australia Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso