Top of the food chain can be a lonely place
Ask the average rugby fan what their memory from 2007’s Super Rugby is and the answers will have one central theme. I guess most would say Bryan Habana’s dramatic try in injury time at King’s Park that enabled the Bulls to beat the Sharks to become the first South African side to win the competition.
Sharks fans still nursing their wounds might remember Dick Muir’s side playing the perfect game to take a 19-13 lead through substitute Albert van der Berg’s try, only for Frans Steyn to screw up his casual conversion attempt and fatally leave the door open.
Bulls fans on the other hand might also vividly recall how Heyneke Meyer’s team slaughtered the Reds 92-3 in their last group match at Loftus Versfeld when they had to win by 72 points or more to earn a home semifinal.
Everybody will have their own special memory and rightly so, because it was a special year in many ways for South African rugby. On the evidence of the almost impossible task our teams face in winning play-off matches abroad during the first decade of the competition, local fans finally got their wish with a home final, To make things even better, the trophy was guaranteed its first stint in Mzansi when it became an allSouth African final.
But in the glory of South Africa winning the war in this historic tournament, vital little battles have faded from our memories and have been reduced to mere footnotes in the rugby annals. And the little details will in fact show that is wasn’t just the Sharks and Bulls that deserve all the accolades for finally putting South Africa on the map.
On face value the Stormers, Cheetahs and Lions’ respective final log positions of 10th, 11th and 12th might indicate forgettable campaigns, but they actually proved to be significant allies to the two finalists.
You see, after the group stages the Sharks topped the table with 45 points, followed by the Bulls on 42, who finished ahead of the Crusaders and Blues only on points difference. The Brumbies and Chiefs were only two points back on 40 after a tremendous scrap for the top four.
During the season, the Lions held on for a nailbiting 9-3 win against the Crusaders at Ellis Park, the Stormers beat the Blues 33-20 at Newlands and the Cheetahs beat the Brumbies 38-20 and drew 22-all with the Chiefs in Bloemfontein. Had they lost these games, things might have been vastly different. It could easily have meant that the Bulls didn’t even make the semis and the Sharks’ campaign would have died a familiar death with a semifinal in Christchurch.
The big difference between 2007 and 2017 is that if the Lions want to create their own slice of history this season, they will have to sadly do it with little help from their fellow South African sides. Even if the Lions win their remaining four matches, they might still not top the overall combined standings if the Crusaders keep their unbeaten record going or if the Chiefs win their remaining five matches. And the top spot potentially means a home final, one of the crucial ingredients for winning the title.
Besides the Stormers’ solitary win against the Chiefs, the rest of their efforts alongside fellow Africa 1 Conference teams the Bulls and Cheetahs against the Kiwi title contenders have been poor, resulting in the Lions’ task of being the masters of their own destiny extra tough.
It will be a shame if the Lions’ decision to field an understrength side in Buenos Aires comes back to haunt them yet again.