When the Currie Cup concludes next month, six elite teams will be divided from eight others and to allow everyone to get used to the new look, that’s the way it will stay for two seasons. That’s why Louis Koen’s injury-time conversion against the Pumas in Witbank two weeks ago was so important; if he had missed, it would most likely have condemned the Lions to two seasons in the B Section, an ignominy which has never befallen the union in its history.
That’s also why a couple of controversial tries last weekend have caused such debate. The Eagles were within minutes of beating the Bulls in George when replacement flyhalf Derick Hougaard dropped the ball over the try line and failed subsequently to place any part of his upper body upon it.
Contrary to popular opinion the try was not awarded by referee Andre Watson, but by touch judge Deon van Blommenstein. He thought he saw a good try, but video evidence proved otherwise. It is a sad fact of television life that when a decision is referred to the telly ref in the correct manner video evidence is frequently inconclusive, but when it is not referred it is as plain as the nose on Ken Rutherford’s face.
If the try had not been given, it is conceivable that the Eagles would have hung on for an unlikely victory, although Watson subsequently suggested he might have considered a penalty try for interference in the ruck. Be that as it may, victory would have meant that the Eagles would have qualified for the Super Eight section with nine points, a tally that would have given them an excellent chance of a semifinal spot and a place in the A section for 2003 and 2004.
But there was a silver lining for the Eagles. They earned a bonus point and would still have qualified with a game to spare if the Pumas had failed to register a bonus point against the Sharks in Durban. The Pumas were well beaten, but close to the end of the game flanker Pierre Uys was awarded the score that gave the Pumas a four-try bonus point and thereby kept alive his team’s slender hopes of reaching the Super Eights.
Once again the telly ref was not consulted and again video evidence showed that Uys had grounded the ball short of the line and then knocked it on. If Tappe Henning had referred the decision the Pumas would have probably ended the match pointless and the Eagles would have been celebrating.
They would have been able to rest key players for this week’s trip to Witbank, thereby giving them a better chance of performing well in the Super Eights. Instead they need to either earn a point from the match or stop the Pumas getting five. It makes for a more competitive game, but seems rather unfair to the Eagles because, with the judicious use of an existing system, it was avoidable.
But whatever your viewpoint, we have reached that stage of the season where some home truths have to be told and some basic philosophies have to be explained.
The crowds have returned to the Currie Cup this season and one of the most passionate filled Outeniqua Park last week. That crowd witnessed a spectacle that was either thrilling or moribund depending on what you want from your sport.
The Eagles scored an early try from a breakaway and spent most of the rest of the game in their own 22, tackling with the kind of intensity that Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli must dream about. So much for the edge-of-the-seat thriller, now consider this; with 70% of territory and possession, a dominant scrum and a monopoly on lineout ball, the Bulls nearly lost. Given those facts, which team deserves to spend two years in the B section, the never-say-die Eagles or the tactically challenged Bulls?
Next question: is strength against strength the be all and end all of any sport, or is there always a place for the underdog who wins against all odds? The new Currie Cup cannot have both so is there room in our crowded season for a competition that pits A section teams against B section teams?
Answer: of course there is. Get rid of the Vodacom Cup and replace it with a meaningful club competition. The elite players appear in the Super 12 while this happens. Play a knockout cup competition during the time that the Springboks are in action and play the strength against strength Currie Cup over the final three months of the season.
And if you think this structure sounds familiar, go back just 10 years to a time when the Currie Cup was contested by six teams and the Lion Cup — a knockout competition — by all the provinces. The Super 10 was played at the start of the year and the Springboks were in action in June, July and August. It worked then, it can work now.