By the time they run on to the field this weekend, the Bulls and Sharks will know either that it is too late or the exact size of the mountain they have to climb. It all depends on the Crusaders doing them a favour by thrashing the Brumbies. And so the Super 14 enters its final weekend of log play with the sounds of regret on the wind in Pretoria and Durban.
The regret is for trifling points that slipped through buttery fingers in February and March. In rounds two and three the Sharks lost by a point to the Cheetahs in Durban and by two to the Crusaders in Timaru. In the entire campaign Dick Muir’s men have lost six games, five of which have been by seven points or fewer.
Those five narrow defeats resulted in five bonus points, the equivalent of one whole win with four tries, hence the fact that they are still in with a shout. If they had turned just one of those narrow defeats into victory they would be favourites to overhaul the Brumbies and finish fourth, rather than rank outsiders.
Against the Cheetahs they scored three first-half tries, but managed just two second-half penalties to go down 27-26. A week later it took a 72nd minute drop goal by Dan Carter to deny the Sharks a deserved victory against the Crusaders. AJ Venter summed up the post-match feeling when he said: ”There is anger, disappointment, frustration and excitement.” The excitement for the 32-year-old veteran was seeing the obvious talent in the team let down by youthful impetuousness.
Two weeks later in Canberra the Sharks might have beaten the Brumbies, had it not been for the curious decision by referee Paul Honiss to sin-bin Deon Carstens. The loosehead prop was given his marching orders in the 35th minute for straying offside. The Brumbies scored three tries in his absence, yet only won 35-30.
The following week in Dunedin the Sharks took out their frustrations on the Highlanders, winning 26-11 to break a four-match losing streak. They should have beaten the Hurricanes a week later, but after dominating a low-scoring encounter, allowed their hosts in for two tries in the final quarter, losing 23-17.
Add up all those iffy scenarios, add just the brush of a velvet glove from Lady Luck, then divide by two and the Sharks might easily have had nine points from their five early-season defeats instead of the four earned, and they would now be level on points with the Brumbies. Let your imagination run riot and don’t divide by two, and they are on 47 points, fighting it out for first place with the Crusaders.
Bulls supporters might argue in similar fashion, and with some justification. In week two, Heyneke Meyer’s team let their foot off the pedal with five minutes remaining against the Brumbies. The kings of multi-phase play took the ball up field and Stirling Mortlock crossed the try line just ahead of the hooter. The Brumbies won 27-21.
Wins either side of their bye against the Waratahs and Highlanders were followed by the most contentious match of the tournament, against the Hurricanes at Loftus. With the blue steamroller in unstoppable form, Akona Ndungane fell on the ball over the Hurricanes’ line and the referee referred it to the telly ref for a decision.
Sadly, Linston Manuels in the hot seat got it wrong, seeing a knock-on where there was none and the Bulls lost their menace thereafter, succumbing to a second-half comeback 26-23. A former Bulls captain asked Manuels at the time whether he understood the import of his decision. It might mean the Bulls would miss the semifinals by a point, he said. Many a wise word is spoken in anger.
The Bulls subsequently went on tour, beat the Force, lost to the Blues and then drew a game with the Chiefs that they should have won. They got two points instead of four, but it all went pear-shaped when Meyer announced prior to the final game against the Reds in Brisbane that a win for his side would make it the most successful touring team in Bulls history. They lost 20-19.
Back home a week later they demolished the Cats, then played sublime rugby for half an hour against the Sharks, before falling asleep like so many blue-clad Rumpelstiltskins. It presaged a performance of unforgivable ennui against the Crusaders last week, where they were made to look like a dustcart up against a Ferrari.
The deep-seated insecurity that haunts the Bulls acknowledges that a well-coached hare with a plan can sometimes beat a tortoise. It doesn’t help, of course, when the tortoise replaces Bryan Habana with Frikkie Welsh on the basis that the former is out of form. If anyone bothered to actually give Habana the ball they would be in a better position to make that judgement.
The moral of the story is that after four years of hegemony in the local game, the Bulls are in need of a face-lift. If they don’t get one, the Sharks will become the dominant force in South African rugby. And who would have dared suggest that when they failed to reach the semifinals of the Currie Cup last year?