ANDY CAPOSTAGNO, Johannesburg | Sunday 7.00pm.
THE weekend when South African teams rediscovered the route to the try line came too late to save their Super 12 hopes. For as well as the Stormers played at Eden Park, and as exciting as the contest was between the Sharks and Cats at ABSA Park, the fact of the matter is that the four semi-finalists all played on Friday.
The Hurricanes handed out the first defeat to the defending champions from Canterbury and the Brumbies humbled last year’s beaten finalists, the Highlanders in Canberra. The rugby played by this quartet was as similar to that being played by the rest of the teams as champagne is to soda water.
Of the four, the Brumbies look the likely champions, for they made a team as gifted as the Highlanders look clumsy and uncoordinated in a marvellous 34-15 win at Bruce Stadium. Allegations of obstructive running against the Brumbies should not be allowed to disguise their quality, and as long as the ball carrier is in front of the runners it cannot be obstruction.
South Africans clutching at straws will point to the fact that mathematically the Stormers, Cats and Sharks can still qualify for the semis. But taking into account a full house of bonus points, the Stormers can only reach 37 points, three better than the Cats, four better than the Sharks. Logic dictates that the end of the road is nigh.
But if so, at least the three went out on a high note. The Stormers beat the Blues 39-18, the biggest score ever against the Aucklanders on their home ground. Even more remarkable, when the two met at the same venue two years ago, the Blues won 74-28. Capitalising this time on Blues errors the Stormers scored five tries and, after a barren 18 months, finally got a decent game out of wing Pieter Rossouw.
In Durban the Sharks lost the plot and with it, the chance of silverware. 17-3 ahead with 10 minutes to go to half time, they gave up two soft tries and were only two points up at the break. Cats flyhalf Louis Koen, the villain of the piece in the first two Sharks tries, kicked the last minute penalty which ensured victory for Laurie Mains’ men.
The two teams shared six tries, one of which, sparked by Dean Hall from his own goal line, may be the best of the season however long it lasts. It was ended by a dextrous pass from a back (Chester Williams) to a forward (Rassie Erasmus) who not only caught the ball, but ran a cerebral angle away from, rather than into the defence.
The message seemed to be that South African rugby may not be represented in the Super 12 semi-finals, but there is life in the old dog yet.