With three rounds remaining in the Super 14, the log has separated itself comfortably into three sections.
The champions, Crusaders and the Waratahs, occupy the A-section. The Western Force and the Cats constitute the C-section, a distant 38 and 36 points respectively behind the Crusaders. The other 10 teams are in the B-section and can be split between those that can still qualify for the semifinals and those that can’t.
The loser of this weekend’s South African derby at Loftus between the Bulls and Sharks will join the also-rans. The winner is dependent on the Hurricanes and Brumbies losing at least one of their remaining matches.
Whatever the case, South Africa will, at the very best, once again have no more than a single team in the semifinals.
The South African Rugby Union met this week to discuss how to remedy the situation in years to come. A press release said, ”As owners of the South African franchises, the governing body [has] to move promptly so as to help key role players regain confidence in the SA franchises. Practical steps will be announced in due course, with a group of experts taking charge of a remedial programme.”
In which case, good luck to the ”experts”. We have been searching in vain for ”a remedial programme” for a decade now and all that anyone seems to agree on is that South African teams hate touring.
It is not enough to say that the Bulls’ methods are too simple to succeed in the Super 14, for the Crusaders also have simple methods. They defend expertly, rarely committing more than two or three players to the breakdown, and when they get turnover ball they send it wide at the speed of light and, more often than not, score. The amount of turnover ball they get is directly related to both their expert defence and the presence in the team of Richie McCaw.
If the Bulls can be criticised for anything it should be for the most damning of all things in professional sport, a lack of ambition. One can only speculate how many tries Bryan Habana would have by now if he played for the Crusaders or the Brumbies. Instead he has to rely on intercepting opposition passes, because no one in his own side thinks it’s a terribly good idea to simply give the ball to the best finisher in world rugby.
That, among many other reasons, is why impartial observers will be hoping for a Sharks victory this weekend.
A home semifinal is no longer an option and we have seen how despondently the Bulls stand in line to have their passports stamped. By contrast, the Sharks seem to relish the challenge of playing in New Zealand and Australia, maybe because their coach, Dick Muir, is a conspicuous hedonist who loved touring as a player.
But if there are chauvinistic reasons to prefer a Sharks win there are also sound rugby ones. The Sharks pack is operating as a formidable unit right now. Tight head prop BJ Botha does not conform to the monstrous South African standard, but technically he is way in advance of most. Binding his strong right arm around John Smit doesn’t hinder matters, either. He is at the peak of his game right now and no one is talking any more about him keeping the hooking position warm for Gary Botha or Schalk Brits.
Get the tight head and hooker right and, traditionally, the rest of the pack tends to click. So it is with the Sharks, but they have aces beyond the forwards, too. If scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar does not become a Springbok before the year is out something will have gone horribly wrong and he is just one of a veritable crèche-load of talent in the Sharks’ back line.
Saturday’s game at Loftus should provide the kind of quality rugby that Springbok coach Jake White has been praying for. It’s scary to think, though, that some of White’s key Springboks will be playing for the Cats against the Force on Friday night. Their motivation? Avoiding the wooden spoon.