A former Blue Bulls player, Warren Brosnihan, uttered a prophetic line last Saturday afternoon. About three hours before the Bulls were due to kick off against the Reds in Pretoria, Brosnihan considered the fact that his former team needed to win by 72 points or more to host a Super 14 semifinal and said, ”72 points? Heyneke Meyer loves a challenge”.
And so it was that we discovered, post-match, from Bulls captain Victor Matfield the scope of his coach’s ambition. Meyer wanted his players to go for broke and win not by 72, but by 76, the coach’s lucky number. Matfield, for one, thought he was joking. ”That was a big ask, but the longer we listened to him the more we became part of his plan to give everything to finish second on the log instead of playing safe and merely making sure of a place in the semifinals”.
In a year we might look back on that quote from the Bulls captain and consider that the road to World Cup glory began right there. South African rugby has struggled with the concept of expansive rugby for a century and more. The Bulls may be said to be the conscience of the Springbok game, the tortoise that constantly defies the hare with the motto, ”slow and steady”, wins the race.
Well, slow and steady is fine if you have lumbering forwards and a kicking flyhalf, but it won’t do when you have forwards of the calibre of Matfield, Gary Botha and Pierre Spies, and backs like Fourie du Preez and Bryan Habana.
This is the moment that New Zealanders have secretly feared all these years, when the Bulls shake off their Calvinist shackles, eschew the idea of physical domination as the true meaning of the game and start inflicting damage on opponents by means of the scoreboard. It was, after all, the Reds who were penalised for over-robust play during their 92-3 goring. The Bulls found a belief within themselves that made their normal vacuous machismo seem utterly pointless.
Looking back, it was clear to see where it came from. First a resounding victory over the old enemy at Ellis Park and then the upper hand in the best game of rugby the competition has seen in 2007, against the Blues at Loftus. The controlled fury of that performance is the Holy Grail of rugby teams the world over and it led to the realisation that, if they could do that to the Blues, then the Reds were in for an awful hiding.
Now it’s the turn of the Crusaders and here is where Meyer has the chance to prove his own greatness. His teams have been given grudging respect locally over the past few years, but internationally they have failed to cut the mustard.
Against the Bulls last year the Crusaders adopted the painfully simple tactic of kicking down the middle of the field to Jaco van der Westhuyzen at fullback. They did so in the sure and certain knowledge that Van der Westhuyzen did not possess a powerful enough boot to return with interest and the Crusaders habitually won the ball back at the subsequent tackle.
Then there was the year that the Crusaders joined the Peace Corps. They were coached to stand back from any situation that might conceivably develop into a ruck or a maul. This did two things. First, it confused the hell out of the opposition, who couldn’t find anyone to fight against and, second, it meant that the offside lines were never drawn, allowing Crusaders to stand all over the field to block and intercept opposition ball.
Be sure that the Crusaders will have a plan this week. Be equally sure that their coach, the estimable Robbie Deans, doesn’t believe for one moment that it will work. It has been the Crusaders’ competition for too long.
Down at the coast, the Sharks host the Blues, safe in the knowledge that a win will give them a home final. The Blues are in disarray. Injury has robbed them of All Black centres Luke McAlister and Sam Tuitupou, while a bad attitude has seen All Black lock Ali Williams sent home in disgrace.
The Blues were a good side, it seems, right up until the moment halfway through the campaign when their All Blacks returned from the 22-man reconditioning squad. Then a different dynamic was put in play and they lost three games in a row.
The Sharks beat the Blues in log play in a bad-tempered match at North Harbour Stadium. That was the day that Dick Muir’s team enjoyed their Oedipal moment.
Until then they were a bunch of talented kids and hoary old campaigners who had punched above their weight. Afterwards, they were experienced enough to rue the bonus point they allowed the Blues to grab with a last-minute try. Now they sit atop the log and whatever happens from here on in no one can ever take away from the Sharks.
Consider, too, the season of JP Pietersen. During the six-match unbeaten home run at the start of the season, he could do nothing right except score tries. Now he is still scoring tries and looking like a thoroughbred at the same time. Confidence is a wonderful commodity and right now both our teams have it in abundance. Prepare for a gala day next Saturday.