Andy Capostagno rugby
It is safe to assume that not too many people in their pre-season crystal ball- gazing would have dismissed the Brumbies as no-hopers in their match against the Cats at Ellis Park this weekend. After all Eddie Jones’s men had beaten the Cats twice last year, scoring 92 points in total and conceding the grand total of one unconverted try.
On April Fools Day the Brumbies won 64-0 in Canberra in the league section of the competition. Seven weeks later the Cats, having fought their way into the semifinals, were not flattered by a 28-5 scoreline at the same venue that included a rash of scoring in the final 10 minutes.
Even though they lost in the final the Brumbies were everybody’s team of 2000 and, after a 51-18 revenge against the Crusaders in this year’s opening round, it seemed safe to assume they would be among the elite this time round too.
But that demolition at Bruce stadium was followed by an abject performance in Durban last week, a performance that suggested not simply that the Brumbies reserve strength is not up to scratch, but that the whole squad and management team are in a funk over rugby’s born-again law interpretations.
Oddly enough the so-called “Brumbies Law” prohibiting cross running has been less of a problem than the tackle ball situation where players accustomed to diving and bridging are struggling to convince themselves that two feet are better than four.
Recognising the growing paranoia in the Brumbies camp, Cats coach Laurie Mains got his retaliation in early this week, becoming in the process the first Super 12 coach to openly welcome the new interpretations.
Mains said: “We, the Cats, have conceded only one penalty in two games for diving in off our feet. There is nothing wrong with the law, it’s only certain teams who have a problem. It suits our bigger, taller loose forwards who stay on their feet.
“We conceded a few unnecessary penalties against the Highlanders, but it was because we didn’t release in the tackle, or played the ball with hands in a ruck situation. We didn’t transgress the new law.”
If it were within his character to do so Mains could be forgiven for gloating. For in addition to not conceding unnecessary penalties against the Highlanders last week, the Cats produced the best performance by a South African side since the last hurrah of a generation of great players took the Sharks to the semifinals in 1998.
But less than 30 minutes after the final whistle Mains could be heard at the press conference saying: “We’ve got to keep our feet on the ground and remember that this competition is about peaking at the right time.”
And Rassie Erasmus added: “We mustn’t get carried away with a home win; we would struggle against them at Carisbrook.”
Wise words from the captain and the coach who are well aware that the truism still holds: there are no easy games in the Super 12. But the draw has favoured the Cats this year. They play their first six games on South African soil and with the next four divided between Johannesburg and Bloemfontein they have a chance to stake a claim for a semifinal spot before the competition is half finished.
This week they are aided by the non- availability for the Brumbies of Stephen Larkham, Andrew Walker and James Holbeck. But there is more concern in the Brumbies pack where Patricio Noriega, Brett Robinson and Troy Jacques are no longer available to the franchise.
Noriega was the Argentine hard man in the front row, Jacques the adaptable bench man who could cover all five lock and back row positions, and Robinson was the forager at flank in the manner of David Wilson who also captained the side for the first four years of its existence.
By contrast the Cats pack that began the game on Saturday was the same one that played against the Sharks a year ago. Mains is in the happy position of having continuity in key positions, something that all the South African coaches have been crying out for from the South African Rugby Football Union for the past three years.
In Durban Rudolf Straeuli has had to do a little more making it up as he goes along. Where Mains can draw from the experience of reaching the semifinals last year, Straeuli has to mix and match a few hardened veterans with a bunch of enthusiastic but raw newcomers.
In the circumstances it is hard to criticise him for producing dull rugby, because two wins out of two speak for themselves. The opening match against the Bulls was a demeaning display and there was not much to recommend last week’s effort, other than the fact that the defence was superb and at no stage were the Brumbies able to relax and play their game.
Even so, had Joe Roff’s last, eminently kickable penalty been successful, the Brumbies would have prevailed and the Cats’s win would have stood in glorious isolation among the four South African teams.
This week Straeuli has the benefit of watching a video that very effectively deconstructs the Highlanders. He will know that if the Sharks can keep the ball close to their forwards and not concede too many scrums, they can win. Three in a row and the season-ticket sellers at King’s Park might be able to relax a little.