RUGBY
Andy Capostagno
The southern hemisphere international season is over and the Springboks came through with a record of played seven, won three, lost three, drew one. One of the best cures for a sense of inadequacy is to follow the old dictum and “pick on someone your own size”. Accordingly, it is time to get stuck into the Currie Cup.
The log section is coming to an end and there seems little reason to look beyond Western Province and the Natal Sharks for a repeat of last year’s final. This despite the fact that both teams struggled at times at the weekend, Province in a 33-28 defeat of the Pumas at Newlands, and the Sharks in a 58-7 drubbing of Eastern Province in Port Elizabeth.
Province captain Corne Krige was at pains to point out that WP’s Springboks had only begun training with the team on Tuesday and that training was a bit of a misnomer in the middle of the worst rain Cape Town has seen for 45 years. Consequently they were a little underdone against Chris Grobler’s Pumas.
There was little chance to study the flyhalf comparison between Chris Rossouw and Nel Fourie, for the latter was so confused after an early clash of heads with Franco Smith that he was little more than a passenger until he was replaced at half time. Had that not been the case Fourie’s place kicking might have reversed the result.
But the most significant aspect of the game was the contribution of Bob Skinstad. The Springbok captain created two of his team’s three tries and generally gave the impression that, at the level below international rugby at least, he is beginning to come right.
Should Skinstad continue to improve in the Currie Cup, the post-season tour of Europe and the USA could be as significant as the one he undertook in 1998, when he shook off the tag of impact player and announced himself as the future of Springbok rugby.
At Newlands on Saturday Skinstad’s contributions raised the game above a level of mediocrity that the close scoreline blinded many to. There have been a few false dawns of late but those who remember how the Stormers fell apart in 1999 after Skinstad’s infamous injury may care to note that he, and he alone, was the difference between success and failure for Province on Saturday.
Sharks coach Rudolf Straeuli would never permit the excess associated with lionising one player. The success of the union under his guidance has been based upon a return to rugby union’s roots, where the team is all and winning is several million times more important than style.
It seems churlish to suggest that, in scoring seven tries and hoisting a half-century of points against the Elephants, the Sharks did not play well. For one thing that takes no account of the opposition, who tackled their hearts out for 40 minutes and were then stung by three tries in seven minutes, two of which might have been overruled by a telly ref with more powers than the IRB currently allows.
But for the immediate future it seems that EP will have to continue to play the role of fly in the ointment. The union cannot afford to pay its better players to stay in Port Elizabeth. It is a melancholy fact that of the EP side that beat the Sharks at Telkom Park two years ago, only Chad Alcock and Barry Pinnock played on Saturday.
In two years time, when the Super 12 expands to 14, the fifth franchise is almost certain to go to the Eastern Cape. Then there may be enough money available for EP and Border to keep their players at home, but for now they are forced to play the role of also rans.
As for the Sharks, they know they can get a lot better and they must be odds on to reach their third successive final of a major competition since Straeuli joined in June last year. Which makes it fairly astonishing that the South African Rugby Football Union has yet to get around to telling Straeuli that he will coach the Sharks in next year’s Super 12. Given the results of the national side this year, perhaps South Africa has to accept that it was simply born to follow, not lead.