RUGBY: Jon Swift
THE pre-season form book on the Super 12 — at least the one written in this country — lies in tatters with only Northern Transvaal, on the strength of a single outing, looking competent to provide a South African challenge.
Transvaal’s campaign is already in ruins. Three defeats in as many games, a growing list of injuries and other debacles and the daunting prospect of finishing the four-match tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Natal, our Currie Cup champions, faded in the last quarter against an under-strength Western Province in their opening match at King’s Park, but somehow held on for a 28-22 victory. But then the men from Natal went to Loftus and were totally outplayed as the Blue Bulls stormed home to a 30-8 victory.
Province suffered their second consecutive defeat at the hands of the rampant New South Wales combination at Newlands, going down 30- 22 to the Warratahs.
This weekend Western Province face the Otago Highlanders, who jointly top the log with Auckland after being the architects of the 57- 17 humiliation of Queensland at Carisbrook and then adding to Transvaal’s woes with that 29- 15 defeat.
Province have stuttered and started under the captaincy of Fritz van Heerden this season and one can only commiserate with the tall flanker for having to shoulder the burden of taking over the leadership of the side from the inspirational Tiaan Strauss.
Van Heerden is man enough and certainly player enough to fill the role thrust on him by Strauss deciding that the national selectors were no longer going to look at him and chasing the Aussie dollar in the recently sidelined Rupert Murdoch rugby league set-up.
Certainly, Otago represent a formidable hurdle in the progression and the coming Western Province tour Down Under represents a journey made even tougher by the sides from the Antipodes, loaded through the draft system, having the added advantage of home fields, crowds and refereeing interpretation.
One suspects that the adventure — especially in the light of the men from the Cape putting the emphasis on youth in the touring party — will harden Western Province for next season rather than produce stirring results this time out. Which leads directly back to the Blue Bulls from Pretoria and the way they tore Province apart last weekend. And while it may be true that there are never any easy matches in front of the Loftus faithful, against the high-flying Warratahs, Northerns will have to perform at peak for the Loftus faithful.
The match represents a stern test for Northerns — and South African provincial rugby — against a side which could quite easily pull the Wallaby jersey over their heads en masse.
It is a mark of the confidence New South Wales show in their ability that they can leave as talented a player as David Campese on the sidelines in Pretoria and opt for Tim Kelher. And that Willie Ofahengaue, so often a thorn in the side of South African teams, gets his first outing on the side of the scrum in the competition.
Northerns started their resurgence as a real rugby force in the Currie Cup last season and nearly made it to the final. The nucleus of that team — with the captaincy in the strong hands of Ruben Kruger and the influx of players as talented as the young Bekker Schutte — has built on the defeat and disappointment of last season. And at Loftus they carry a very good chance of humbling the Warratahs along with the fading hopes of South African rugby supporters in this competition that is.