New format will suit Cheetahs - Drotske

[beige]

Coach Naka Drotske believes that his Cheetahs side will benefit from a newly restructured Super Rugby competition this year.

The men from Bloemfontein have battled in Super Rugby in the past, especially on their travels, and are yet to pick up a victory in Australia and New Zealand.

The Cheetahs have had a much better time of it in the Currie Cup, South Africa's domestic tournament - crowned champions as recently as 2007, while making it through to the semi-finals in last year's tournament.

The Super Rugby competition has now been expanded to 15 teams and will feature more derby matches, meaning that the Cheetahs will have more fixtures against their local rivals.

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,2...648973,00.html

[GIGS20]

That's probably accurate for drotske, the cheetahs have performed far better against SA opposition in super rugby. Of course, they still need to perform against international opponents to get anywhere near finals footy, because the bulls and sharks will always be in the mix, and the stormers sure looked the goods last year, so you'd think first spot in the conference is unattainable, and second spot will only allow them to compete for the three open finals spots.
Personally I think two of those three will be taken by kiwi teams (since they usually flood the top of the table pretty nicely) and am hoping the last one will be occupied by a west Aussie mob.

[James]

On last year's table it would have been the Reds and Brumbies.

I don't agree with Drotske. The Cheetahs haven't beaten the Bulls in the last 5 years of Super rugby. The Stormers will be far too good for them this year. Unless they are hit by the same degree of injuries as last year, the Sharks should be too good for them too. The only real advantage is getting to play the Lions twice but even the Lions should be a bit better this year.

[jargan83]

Cheetahs are crap

/End Thread

[JediKnight]

They'll only benefit as they don't have to play every team in the competition to qualify for the finals.

I reserve judgement on how competitive the S15 will be with the division/country groups. We're in danger of going down the NFL route and a contrived route to the finals!

[beige]

They'll only benefit as they don't have to play every team in the competition to qualify for the finals.

I reserve judgement on how competitive the S15 will be with the division/country groups. We're in danger of going down the NFL route and a contrived route to the finals!

Us you mean? It'll only get worse if the South Africans add a 6th team in 2013.

As long as they don't start calling the first week of finals "Wildcard Weekend"...