Andy Capostagno Rugby
A few weeks ago I was lamenting the fact that after a promising beginning the Currie Cup had gone a little flat. Anyone who saw Sunday’s 24-17 win for Free State over Western Province at Newlands may well have concurred. We have reached that stage of the season where results are far more important than performances and the fear of failure in Cape Town was there for all to see. Ironically, the result may have ensured that both of last year’s finalists fail to make the semi-finals this time around.
Traditionalists, particularly those in the Cape, may lament this state of affairs, but the fact of the matter is that both teams are reaping in spring what was sown in winter.
Free State forgot their lines against Northern Free State in Welkom back in July, losing a match 34-33 that should have been theirs on a plate with parsley around it. Province slipped up against the MTN Falcons in Brakpan in August, losing 17-13 to a team who have at times produced some of the best rugby seen from anyone in this year’s competition.
As a result of those defeats both Free State and Province have to an extent placed their destinies in the hands of others. Which is not to say that either will fail to qualify, but to point out that you get what you deserve. Province played poorly against Border and won by the width of an upright when Border’s scrumhalf John Bradbrook hit the post with the last kick of the match.
They played poorly against Eastern Province (EP) and if the TV referee had been in place to adjudge an over- ruled EP try good, Province would have lost, as they did in convincing fashion to Boland last month, 39-25.
Free State can look to defeats by Eastern Province and Griquas in addition to the upset against the purple people eaters for the reasons why they are unlikely to make the last four. They also fought out a desperately stale 19- 19 draw with Natal at Free State Stadium which cost them points and set their minds on to the fear of defeat evident again last week.
With all that said, the way the fixtures are arranged, Province and Free State could yet qualify for the semis in style, it’s just that the way both have played and are playing at the moment suggests otherwise. And anyway, if the Currie Cup is to retain its allure as the premier domestic competition, it should be won by a team who have played consistently attractive, winning rugby. It is more than a happy coincidence, then, that Griquas and the Blue Bulls, the two teams who best fit that description, have been at the top of the log for most of the season.
Indeed, had Griquas not lost the plot in the dying minutes of their opening match against Province, they would already be celebrating a home semi- final instead of regarding it as a near certainty as they wrap up their campaign with matches against the Eagles and the Falcons. On that fateful July day at Newlands, Peet Arnold scored the winning try for Province in the last minute from a set penalty move that Noah might have formulated on Mount Ararat.
And if anything is to scupper Griquas’s title hopes it will be a certain naivety. Away from home they can sometimes look like tourists in bermuda shorts, dripping with camera equipment, asking directions in Johannesburg city centre. But in Kimberley they are so at home they are likely to haggle over the price of a stick of drowors. Accordingly, if the Currie Cup final is in Kimberley, Griquas will win.
The only way it will not be in Kimberley is if the Bulls are also in the final. With a new player-friendly coach in Eugene van Wyk, the Pretorian guard have reinvented themselves this year. The back line, sparked by Franco Smith on the inside and the great Jacques Olivier on the outside, has become the best in the country. The regular back row of Schutte Bekker, Nicky van der Walt and Ruben Kruger is the best unit in the country although in terms of sheer individual quality the Free State back row is better.
The Bulls’ only problem is in the tight five, or to be heartlessly specific, the front row. The Loftus faithful have not had a proper tight head prop to cheer for many years, and while Pierre Ribbens contribution in the loose is to be commended his scrumming at loosehead is not yet good enough.
The Bulls have camouflaged this area of weakness during the course of the season, but on the run in they have to take on Province, Free State and Natal, teams who still base much of their approach on the old fashioned virtues of scrumming. Without wishing to seem overly pessimistic, it could be a case of a bridge too far to expect the Bulls to go from also rans to champions this year.
Which leaves us with Natal and what can we say about the Sharks this year? Underachievers who have quietly slipped into contention and may yet upset the apple cart at the last hurdle. They alone are playing better now than at any time previously this season. Check how the hotel occupancy stands in Durban for October 31. It’s always wise to book now to avoid the rush.
ENDS