Heartbreak for SA franchises won’t deter Boks
| Dismal results by South African teams echo past failures
BEFORE this weekend’s Super Rugby games were played local teams had not won a single match outside of South Africa at the halfway stage of the tournament.
It’s a statistic that harks back to the dark years of the early 2000s when SA teams could barely buy a win on the road. It is worrying, but not necessarily a cause for panic considering SA’s touring return has always been paltry.
Also, it doesn’t always follow that bad years on tour will translate to poor Springbok seasons. In 1998 SA teams had two away wins in Super Rugby but the Boks dominated the year, winning the Tri-Nations and claiming 11 wins in 12 tests.
So should the South African rugby public and the Springbok coaching staff worry about Super Rugby results as a gauge of where the Springboks stand?
Sharks coach Jake White, who coached the Springboks between 2004-07, doesn’t believe so.
“There is no correlation between how South African sides do in Super Rugby and how the Springboks will perform,” White said.
“The most successful times the Boks have had, with the odd exception, have been in years where Super Rugby sides have failed. In those
It is not a cause for panic considering SA’s touring return has always been paltry
years the players actually have more time off because they don’t make semifinals and finals in Super Rugby.”
This season the Cheetahs and Stormers slumped to a collective eight losses in Australasia and the Bulls, before taking on the Western Force in Perth yesterday, were 0-3 on tour. Eleven matches, 11 losses on the road hardly makes for happy reading.
Considering that over the previous seven seasons (since the Bulls became the first SA team to win Super Rugby in 2007) South African franchises had won 31.7% of matches in Australasia, this year represents a stark decline.
Is it a reason to panic, are SA teams becoming worse or Australasian teams improving faster, or are we just going through a cycle?
Four away wins a season over 19 years of Super Rugby is the average for South African teams and there is still time to hit that low mark.
Former All Black and Western Force coach John Mitchell believes the recent slump is partially due to the fact that SA teams have fallen behind in aligning their skills (see table, right), but there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.
The Stormers have had massive injury problems and lack the ability to score tries, yet they remained competitive in every match on tour.
The Cheetahs disregarded defensive discipline in search of try-scoring and paid the price after winning three tour matches in 2013.
The Bulls are in a rebuilding phase but have at least been competitive in their matches.
Interestingly, some of SA’s worst years on tour always appear to be in the third season after a World Cup.
In 1998 SA teams won only two of 17 matches. In 2002 it was one in 16, 2006 four wins in 23 games and even 2010 was poor by recent standards with six wins in 22 matches.
The Sharks and Lions still have to tour in 2014 and while it’s unlikely that the Joburg franchise will cause major upsets, it would be surprising if the Sharks didn’t pick up a couple of wins.
“In this competition the margins are so small and little mistakes seem to be more costly away from home,” injured Bok and Sharks flyhalf Pat Lambie said. “It’s a mental thing on tour as well, but ultimately it is the same size pitch and the same four white lines wherever the stadium is.
“Sometimes the 50/50 calls tend to go for the home side, but look, if you play well enough you should be able to win even with those calls going against you.”