Who said seven is a lucky number? Not Orlando Pirates, that’s for sure. In a derby encounter of much action and excitement for the near-capacity 40 000 crowd at Mmabatho Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the Buccaneers lost 1-0 against Kaizer Chiefs and extended to seven the number games they have gone without a victory against their tradition-steeped rivals.
Conventional wisdom has it that this weekend’s Soweto Derby will be the worst since the PSL was founded. For the first time in years both Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates are having their worst seasons simultaneously. Chiefs are ninth on the log, two places higher than their rivals from across the Orlando railway line.
Orlando Pirates could be forced to face arch enemies Kaizer Chiefs in the Absa Premiership Soweto derby at the Mmabatho Stadium on Saturday afternoon without their midfield talisman, Teko Modise. The Bafana Bafana playmaker faces a late fitness test on an injured toe he sustained in last Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat against Platinum Stars at the Johannesburg Stadium.
Wallaby flyhalf Matt Giteau kicked a penalty just before the whistle to give the Perth-based Western Force a thrilling 22-21 win over the Waikato Chiefs in their Super 14 rugby clash in Perth on Saturday. The Chiefs appeared to have clinched victory when centre Callum Bruce kicked a drop goal with only three minutes left but the Force threw everything at the visitors in the dying stages.
South Africa’s Coastal Sharks face a moment of truth against the toughest team in rugby’s Super 14 when they put their chances of a home play-off on the line against the Canterbury Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday. The Sharks are feeling the effects of five demanding weeks on the road in Australia and New Zealand.
It was all action, but little satisfaction for Kaizer Chiefs and Santos in a helter-skelter 1-1 Premiership draw at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Saturday night that left both teams’ objectives unfulfilled. Chiefs are no better off from sharing the spoils than they were before the game.
The Sharks lost their discipline and unbeaten Super 14 rugby record as the tenacious ACT Brumbies stormed home for a dramatic 27-21 victory on Saturday. Last year’s beaten finalists looked set to stay unconquered after nine matches with a composed opening half to lead 18-7 at half-time, but the Brumbies steamed home in the second term.
The Queensland Reds torpedoed the Western Force’s play-off hopes with a 29-12 upset victory in an all-Australian Super 14 rugby match on Friday. The Reds bounced back from a troubled season for their third victory of the campaign, scoring three tries against the bumbling try-less Force.
Flyhalf Stephen Donald passed 100 points for the season as the Waikato Chiefs beat the Canterbury Crusaders 18-5 in Super 14 rugby on Friday, ending the first-place Crusaders’ eight-match unbeaten streak. Donald kicked two penalties and a conversion and had a hand in the two tries that gave the Chiefs an 18-0 lead at half-time.
Moroka Swallows coach Ian Gorowa and pivotal central defender Bevan Fransman will pay the penalty for their recent penalty protests in the controversial Premier Soccer League game against Kaizer Chiefs. One-game suspensions will sideline the two men for Monday’s key clash against Platinum Stars.
The Sharks believe their efforts to remain unbeaten in the Super 14 became more difficult when their 10th-round opponents, the ACT Brumbies, announced midweek that coach Laurie Fisher would not be re-hired for 2009. Super 14 tradition suggests that teams whose coaches are dismissed in the course of any season respond with an immediate form improvement.
It afflicted Kaizer Chiefs and, for some time this season, it looked as though Mamelodi Sundowns were poised to be struck down as well by what has been called the curse of the top-eight competition. But currently out of the top eight, Sundowns have no intention to fall foul of the curse.
The unpredictable Moroka Swallows were flying high after delivering a crushing blow to Ajax Cape Town’s Premier Soccer League title aspirations with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory on Sunday. In other matches, Sundowns beat Chiefs 1-0; Celtic and Leopards drew 2-2; and AmaZulu and Platinum Stars drew 0-0.
The Canterbury Crusaders will field a largely second-string line-up against bottom team the Lions as they look to extend their six-point lead at the top of rugby’s Super 14 series this weekend. The six-time champions and the team to beat for this year’s southern hemisphere provincial crown are coming off a bye last weekend.
Kaizer Chiefs moved into the top half of the Absa Premiership table after walloping Moroka Swallows 3-1 in a league match at a packed Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg on Sunday. Mabhuti Khenyeza, Jonathan Quartey and Thuso Phala scored for Chiefs, while Swallows’ lone goal came from the boot of James Chamanga.
The Sharks put their unbeaten record on the line in their opening Australasian tour match of the Super 14 rugby series against the Hurricanes in Wellington on Saturday. The Durban-based team, along with table-topping Canterbury Crusaders, are the only two teams yet to taste defeat in the southern hemisphere provincial competition.
After all the endless mediocre, soulless PSL games played in front of near-empty stadiums, Mamelodi Sundowns’ penalty shoot-out victory over rivals Kaizer Chiefs in the Nedbank Cup at King’s Park in Durban on Sunday evening provided high drama and exceptional entertainment.
Waikato wing Lelia Masaga scored twice as the Chiefs outplayed Otago Highlanders 39-24 in an all-New Zealand Super 14 clash in Hamilton on Saturday. Masaga scored either side of halftime as the Chiefs piled on six tries to secure a bonus point and remain in the top half of the standings midway through the season.
A full moon seemed to smile benignly on SuperSport United as they thrashed Free State Stars 6-1 at the Super Stadium in Atteridgeville on Sunday night and took the Premier Soccer League log lead from Ajax Cape Town. SuperSport’s new-found potency was nothing less than stunning.
The Bulls will be without Bryan Habana for their Super 14 match against the Chiefs in Roturua on Saturday. The 2007 IRB Player of the Year has not been considered due to a recurrence of a shoulder injury, and Danwel Demas will replace him on the left wing.
A win for the Black Leopards on Wednesday will not get them out of the relegation zone and victory for Mamelodi Sundowns will not take them in to the top half of the Absa Premiership table. That is what both teams want and obviously won’t get. However, victory will take them closer to their destinations.
All the talk before Monday’s Nedbank Cup draw centred on a potential final between Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns — with the gnawing proviso, of course, that the Premier Soccer League glamour clubs were not pitted against each other in the last-16 round. But the improbable did occur, amid gasps of amazement and disbelief.
There were mistakes all round — and it was one final error by hapless referee Thabo Nkosi that paved the way for Kaizer Chiefs to enter the last 16 of the Nedbank Cup with a tense 2-0 extra-time victory over Ajax Cape Town at King’s Park Stadium in Durban on Friday night.
New Zealand’s Wellington Hurricanes stretched their winning streak to four games with a 33-15 Super 14 smashing of the ACT Brumbies at Canberra Stadium on Friday. The Hurricanes blew away the weakened Brumbies by five tries to two and condemned the Brumbies to their first home defeat in seven matches.
After a flying start to the season, the powerful Canterbury Crusaders are giving key players a breather for their Super 14 match against tail enders the Cheetahs on Saturday. Despite making six changes, the match remains crucial for the Crusaders with pressure on the regular bench-warmers to maintain the team’s unbeaten record.
New Zealand’s Waikato Chiefs staged a brilliant second-half comeback to beat South Africa’s Cheetahs 22-20 in a Super 14 match at Hamilton on Saturday. The Cheetahs looked to have the game sewn up when they raced to a 17-0 lead at half-time, but the Chiefs suddenly turned things around.
Platinum Stars maintained their impressive record against Kaizer Chiefs as they held the Soweto club to a 0-0 draw in a Premier Soccer League match at the Loftus Stadium on Wednesday evening. Chiefs remain in 12th place with 24 points from 21 games and Stars stay put in ninth place with 26 points.
Auckland Blues edged ahead of Canterbury Crusaders to continue New Zealand’s early season dominance of rugby’s Super 14 competition with comprehensive victories in South Africa this weekend. The Blues and Crusaders, who between them have won nine of the 12 Super tournaments back to 1996, maintained their unbeaten starts to the Southern Hemisphere provincial series.
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/ 29 February 2008
The Wellington Hurricanes beat the Waikato Chiefs 39-19 with a six-try blitz in their Super 14 rugby clash on Friday. The Hurricanes finally played to their potential as they eliminated the errors that had plagued their opening two matches. They started with a roar and their wide running game ensured the bonus-point fourth try within 25 minutes.
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/ 24 February 2008
He may not have scored the most goals in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) this season, but Elias Pelembe can arguably be credited with the most valuable goals — as SuperSport United’s Mozambican midfielder proved once again at a stunned Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night while adding to Kaizer Chiefs’ woes.
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/ 23 February 2008
The Waikato Chiefs scrambled to a 20-17 Super 14 victory over the New South Wales Waratahs in Hamilton on Saturday thanks to a last-gasp penalty from Stephen Donald. In a volatile final eight minutes, the Waratahs fought back from a 5-17 deficit to level the scores — only to see Donald break the deadlock with a minute to spare.
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/ 19 February 2008
Chiefs are thirteen points behind log leaders Ajax Cape Town and are occupying 12th position in the Premier League log. Now, with a bitter attack from chairperson Kaizer Motaung on the tactics of coach Muhsin Ertugral, can things get any worse for the tottering PSL giants?