By the time the Super 12 starts in earnest next week, there is a distinct possibility that some South African franchises may already be battling fatigue. The Stormers, for instance, have been playing warm-up games for three weeks in places as far apart as the Boland, Dubai and England.
The Sharks lost to the Bulls in 38 degrees Celsius heat at Sun City a fortnight ago and wrapped up their preparations in Pietermaritzburg against the Leopards in similar conditions. In between they braved sub-zero temperatures to take on Harlequins in London.
The Bulls began their Super 12 preparations with a three-week training camp in George, not in itself unusual until you factor in the fact that it ended shortly before Christmas. Gary Botha, the Bulls’ gifted hooker, was late on parade, having to fly back from an appearance at Twickenham for the Barbarians against the All Blacks.
In the circumstances, perhaps the question must be asked: Is there such a thing as being too well prepared? South African team performances over the decade that the Super 12 has been in existence would suggest otherwise, of course.
There is also an awful lot of vested interest in the tournament this season, for South Africa has been awarded an extra team franchise when the competition morphs into the Super 14 next year. Ordinarily that would be an opportunity for the existing franchises to sit back and watch the newcomer struggle to come to terms with the competition, but this is South Africa: we do things differently here.
The Bulls, Sharks, Cats and Stormers have all had to apply for the honour of playing in the Super 14. The South African Rugby Union (Saru) was demanding in its requirements, and full financial and developmental business plans were required to be part of the bids lodged with the governing body last Tuesday.
Presentations will be made in March and Saru will announce the results on April 15. Saru reserves the right to make the ultimate decision regardless of the merit or otherwise of each bid, leading to the possibility — albeit a remote one — that the five franchises will be based in East London, Kimberley, Wellington, Potchefstroom and Welkom.
Notwithstanding that possibility, it remains likely that the status quo will remain, with the fifth team earmarked for the Eastern Cape or the central unions. Whichever franchise is successful in the bid, however, it will be a huge stretch to provide a further 45 players — the average size of a Super 12 squad — remotely good enough to compete in the Super 14.
The dearth of quality was thrown into sharp relief this week when the Stormers lost hooker Dawid Britz to a drug inquiry. Britz failed an out-of-season test and has allegedly tested positive for the synthetic anabolic steroid, Boldenone. He faces a two-year ban if found guilty, but the problem for Stormers coach Gert Smal is that Britz cannot be involved in rugby until his case is heard.
So the search is on for an immediate replacement for Britz and Smal is less than enthused by the choice that presents itself. He said, ”Looking around the country it does not appear there are many obvious candidates … at this stage I have no names to work with, but I will exhaust all channels in my search.”
The irony of Britz’s case is that in the same week that it came to light, the Sharks re-signed Herkie Kruger, the flyhalf who has just come to the end of a two-year ban for failing a drugs test.
Time was when this would have generated headlines around the world, but this is the professional era and players are deemed as clean as a Cape Town cleric once they have served their sentence.
That should come as a dim ray of hope for the 23-year-old Britz in the difficult days ahead.