Andy Capostagno RUGBY
It is week nine of the Super 12 and for South African teams it has all become academic. This is the nightmare which the organisers of the competition have long feared, in which one country falls so far behind the other two that the motto of the competition – strength versus strength – becomes redundant.
The genuine contenders for honours – Brumbies, Crusaders, Highlanders, Hurricanes – were identified long ago, and it is now just a question of seeing whether one of the quartet will fall off the bus and allow one of the Reds, Blues or Waratahs to sneak a semi-final berth. As for the rest, it is now only a question of a basement pecking order between the Chiefs and the four South African teams.
If this seems overly pessimistic given the mathematical possibilities of the Stormers and Cats, then surely the Hansie Cronje affair should have taught a few Pollyanna optimists a harsh lesson. It is, of course, possible that the Cats will beat the Crusaders at Ellis Park on Saturday, but it is not probable.
The Cats have had the benefit of a week off to recover from their disappointments in the Antipodes; the Crusaders put a lot into beating the Sharks in Durban last week. But there is still the question of quality. Remember how the Brumbies gave the Stormers a rugby lesson in Cape Town one week and then employed one cylinder to beat the Bulls in Pretoria the next?
The Crusaders are not capable of such mood swings, they are a team of reliable quality. Those with masochistic tendencies might care to compare the half-back combinations this weekend; Justin Marshall versus Werner Swanepoel at scrum-half, Andrew Mehrtens versus Louis Koen at fly-half.
Marshall has serious competition from the likes of Byron Kelleher and Mark Robinson for the All Black position, but his understanding with Mehrtens tends to get him the nod. Swanepoel is a shadow of the player who first forced his way to the front as the number two scrum-half to Joost van der Westhuizen. His service was once the best in the land, but he has developed a disconcerting habit of getting the ball back from rucks with all the ease and grace of an octopus eating with chopsticks.
Mehrtens is not impossible to play against – as Stephen Larkham can sometimes be – but he does well all the things that great fly-halves always have; he makes the right decision under pressure 90% of the time and he kicks beautifully.
Koen has been lauded by his coach as the most assiduous practiser in South African rugby. Laurie Mains would rather have a hard worker at fly-half for the Cats than the allegedly “difficult” Hennie le Roux. Which suggests all over again that the biggest problem with rugby in this country is not a lack of talent, but a lack of man management.
George Best once encapsulated the “difficult” player syndrome when explaining his extra- mural activities thus: “If I’d been born ugly, you’d never have heard of Pele.” Liam Brady once received the British footballer of the year award and found himself sweating under the television lights. He ran a finger down the side of his face and said, “The coach would be proud of me”.
There is a widespread fear of talent in this country. Keep the players out of the night clubs and in the sweat suits and you’ll have total control. You’ll also have a race of sporting automatons who’ll run all day and won’t create a damned thing. You’ll never get a Best or a Brady, or a Le Roux or a James Small.
Mains will have a few tricks up his sleeve and the Cats will be competitive against the Crusaders, but the Kiwis will not fear their opponents because familiarity with South African play has bred contempt. That is where a few short years of professionalism has brought us. Sad, isn’t it?