South African teams have done well in the Super 12 so far, but they will have to keep concentration for the full 80 minutes of the game if they are to survive in this competition
RUGBY:Jon Swift
PERHAPS the Afrikaans phrases are the most apposite. They talk of murg en been in the context of nothing left behind; nothing left to give. On two fronts, this has real meaning for South African rugby.
Our latest national coach, Carel du Plessis, had this quality of never giving up, seldom deviating from his chosen business of crossing the tryline. It made him the prince of the wings of his era. Gert Smal, the man he has named as his assistant, was also one who gave everything down to the very marrow of his bones in pursuing the less flashy task of forward play. It earned him the nickname Tarzan.
Together, one feels, they have much to give the game in this country. Whether that can be translated into pushing the Springboks to new levels remains to be proven in a tough 13-Test season ahead, but there can be no doubt that the vital ingredients are all there in our new national management.
That only gets its chance to be showcased for the first time when South Africa take on Tonga on June 10 in a warm-up for the tour of the British Lions. Right now, the realities for the game in this country are centred on Super 12.
In this respect, the qualities of inner toughness and playing through the full 80 minutes are especially relevant if Du Plessis and Smal are to apply their own in- built criteria to the three-nation southern hemisphere provincial championship.
For, while Du Plessis has – rightly – said that he will not ignore the claims of foreign-based players such as Francois Pienaar and Joel Stransky, it is largely from among the ranks of the players on display in the Super 12 that he will shortlist the 27 players who will make up his initial Springbok squad of 21 for the Tongan Test.
Here, Du Plessis will take some pleasure from the performances of Natal, Transvaal, Northern Transvaal and – even though they have yet to register a win – Free State in the toughest competition in world rugby below international level
Yet, that said, he will surely also be concerned by the seeming inability of both Natal and Transvaal to sustain their defensive walls through to the final whistle.
Natal can hardly be faulted in racking up a record 75-43 victory over the Otago Highlanders in the muggy heat of Durban last weekend. Yet questions on how, with such dominance and with 50-point debutant Gavin Lawless in such superb form, they managed to concede six tries to a team outplayed for most of the game. Not even the fierce Durban humidity can be blamed for that. Otago is not renowned for beachfront weather, and yet they seemed to adapt.
This weekend, Natal have a chance to contemplate the margin of their success and tally their defensive failures before taking on the Brumbies at Kings Park on Sunday.
For Transvaal, there is less respite. And they, too, have some thinking to do before taking on the inventive Highlanders at Ellis Park in a Friday evening floodlit game.
In atrocious – at least by local standards – weather, Kobus Wiese’s men let slip a 20- point lead in the last quarter hour of a match they had sewn up, despite struggling in the line-outs against the ACT Brumbies. For the final 44-36 scoreline could have shrunk even further if Brumbies flyhalf John Knox had landed a last-minute penalty. But then perhaps this is carping. Transvaal played the majority of the match without a lock after Hannes Strydom went off streaming blood from a kick over the eye. The refereeing also left something to be desired, although that was true for both sides.
And it was, after all, enough to put Wiese’s men on top of the Super 12 log.
With Northerns on their way to the Antipodes and an opening away encounter against ACT next Friday, it is left for Free State to fill out the local fixtures. The Bloemfontein side have played willing and attractive – if not winning – rugby and will surely be counting on opening their account against Queensland on Saturday.
And through all of these matches, Du Plessis will be weighing the commitment of the available players against the standards he will set for his squad. Expect some extra fire this weekend.
ENDS