It seems a lifetime ago, but it is in fact a slender 12 months since Harry Viljoen selected what would turn out to be his final Springbok squad. One of Viljoen’s most frequent gripes was that the pervading weakness of the Currie Cup competition forced him to compromise and the result was a squad filled with bad selections based upon muddled thinking.
A jaundiced eye might look at the results of last week’s final round of Super Eight fixtures and conclude that not much has changed. All four of this week’s semifinalists demolished their opponents and only the Bulls failed to register a half century of points, having instead to make do with a 45-0 demolition of the Falcons.
Why then is the country suddenly pervaded with Pollyannas who believe that we are on the verge of a great new era? It is because the much-maligned Currie Cup has rarely produced a better vintage than the 2002 variety. Consequently Viljoen’s successor, Rudolf Straeuli, despite a number of high- profile injuries and retirements, has an embarrassment of riches from which to choose his end-of-season touring squad.
It is, of course, around about now that Straeuli will be crossing fingers, holding thumbs and crossing the road to avoid any loitering black cats, in the probably vain hope that none of his preferred choices gets injured over the next fortnight. His incumbent captain, Corné Krige, should be able to remind him of how pear-shaped things can get around now. Krige missed both an end-of-season tour and a world cup by picking up injuries in Currie Cup finals.
Inevitably, there has been much talk of lingering injuries ahead of this week’s semifinals. Since returning from a foot operation Rassie Erasmus trains in takkies all week and only puts on his boots for the match, while Joe van Niekerk has been playing every other game due to a persistent groin strain. Both will play, however, unlike poor Ollie le Roux who will miss the rest of the season after breaking his ankle in the dying minutes of the Sharks big win against Griquas last week.
The Cheetahs have a plethora of injuries of various degrees of seriousness and took the wise precaution of cancelling training until Wednesday. They are in the happy position of having a home tie against the Lions, whom they beat on the same ground just two weeks ago.
That day they put points on the board early and hung on grimly as the Lions came roaring back in the second half. While the Lions may have a better organised defence this time around, the Cheetahs have begun to play like a team that believes its time has come. The return of Os du Randt has given their pack the missing intimidation factor and Andre Venter’s decision to retire at the end of the season has given the team focus.
What gives this match real spice, however, is the fact that man for man they are so perfectly matched. The front rows will have a ding-dong battle and if CJ van der Linde continues his upward curve at tight-head for the Cheetahs he may play himself into Straeuli’s squad. The Lions have more grunt at lock, but the Cheetahs have the edge in the back row.
Neil Powell is a far better scrumhalf than Benny Nortje, but Ken Tsimba and Andre Pretorius are wonderfully matched at flyhalf. The outside backs are also hard to part, although Lions’ fullback Jacque Fourie looks, at the tender age of 19, to be a certainty for the end-of-season tour. Home advantage should swing it in the Cheetahs’ favour, but whatever the result it is likely to be a game for the memory books.
We are less likely to get a classic in Durban. It is true that the Bulls were written off when they last played the Sharks at this stage in 1998. It is also true that they confounded the critics by winning both that match and the final. But if they win this one it will be a shock bordering on seismic proportions.
Put simply, the Bulls are too simple. They have a reasonable pack of forwards and a gifted kicker. Comparisons are odious, but in the 1980s they had a great pack of forwards and in Naas Botha a kicker so gifted that his manifold talents in other areas have been conveniently forgotten over the years.
The Sharks have too many ways to hurt the Bulls to come short this time and whoever they play in the final had better bring their A game. For the record, and since every other person I meet asks the same question, here are the permutations for the final in my personal order of likelihood.
Sharks v Cheetahs, Durban
Lions v Sharks, Johannesburg
Cheetahs v Bulls, Bloemfontein
Lions v Bulls, Johannesburg