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RUGBY: Jon Swift
IT was, in the light of hindsight, perhaps too much to expect that this country could hold two World Cups simultaneously. The Fijians, certainly, were not going to allow that to happen and duly donned the sevens crown with a handsome, come-from-behind 24- 21 victory over South Africa in the final of the Melrose Cup in Hong Kong.
In the same vein, Natal took their ambitious assault on this season’s Super 12 to the Free State Stadium and duly came away disappointed, on the wrong side of a 45-40 beating at the hand’s of Helgard Muller’s Cheetahs.
Equally, Northern Transvaal have stuttered and stumbled their way to successive defeats on their tour Down Under after displaying magnificent fortitude on home ground to hold the mighty Auckland Blues to a 40-40 draw in what must be one of the matches of the decade.
And if you add the way the Gauteng Lions – for such is now the title of the Ellis Park side which so flummoxes hardened Transvaal fans and professional commentators alike – bludgeoned their way to a 36-27 victory over New South Wales in the tri-nation provincial series, you have a neat encapsulation of what South African rugby is all about.
In short, there is power, there is speed, there is tackling ability and there is individual flair aplenty. It showed in the sparkling semi-final victory the sevens Springboks recorded over a thoroughly beaten New Zealand combination. The 31-7 scoreline is only a scant indicator of the dominance the South Africans held and must have represented a chastening experience for the All Blacks.
There is surely nothing smug about applauding this in the light of last season’s Test series defeat at the the hands of Sean Fitzpatrick’s tourists; it is a natural reaction.
Equally to be applauded was the way Free State took the game to Natal, sniping and niggling harrying and chasing. And, for good measure, playing some superb rugby as well as riding on the largely unsung skills of Braam Els in the line-outs where he proved more than a match for Mark Andres and the ever-willing John Slade.
Free State, perhaps more than any side in the country, represent the South African rugby conundrum. They have always had the talent. They breed these farm boys tough. They have seldom had the real depth.
But it should also be noted that among the standouts in the sevens final were Andre Venter and Steven Brink, both Free Staters, both talents which grow with every outing, and imbued as they are with the Free State ethic of running rugby, revelled in the space and freedom of the seven-a-side game.
That said – and Muller’s childish histrionics when a penalty try that would have really wrapped it up in the second half was not awarded aside – they played some superb rugby to strand the ineptly- named Sharks in the shallow waters of indecision, hesitation and, ultimately, desperation.
It was an object lesson in doing best what you can with what you have available. A physical demonstration in the art of doing the basics properly, doing them consistently and doing them at speed. Against this, Natal had few answers. Neither on the day, one would hesitate to add, would many sides in the world.
In patches, the Lions were equally impressive. This is a very powerful side and they are top of the Super 12 log. The forwards though lacked something of the real bite and one would hope that the World Cup pairing of Kobus Wiese and Hannes Strydom will start getting more ball than they did against the Waratahs, where retreaded loose forward Tim Gavin caused them endless headaches.
Of passing interest is the fact that Japie Mulder, ruled unfit for the sevens in Hong Kong, looked one of the better players on the field against the Warratahs and added immeasurably to a backline that that lived through a firestorm of New South Wales attacks. A case, one feels, of for King Louis or foreign country.
This weekend, the Gauties come up against Wellington at home in a match they will want to use to reclaim the peaks they scaled in the earlier part of the competition before heading off for the Australasian leg of the series.
Free State have already left and face Otago at Invercargill on Sunday in the knowledge that the home side, having failed to secure a point in South Africa, became the latest side to hobble the limping Blue Bulls.
One feels that Free State will fare reasonably well in New Zealand and Australia, playing as they do with few pretensions and full commitment. Certainly, they will prove popular tourists if they continue to produces the rugby they have of late.
Natal on the other hand have the same road to travel as Gauteng, albeit a steeper slope following their defeat in Bloemfontein, before they head for the Antipodes.
The Sharks take on New South Wales at King’s Park this weekend and it will be of more than passing interest to see whether the inventive Warratahs have studied the videos of the way Free State went about their victory.