Sharks face crucial clash after break LOGS & FIXTURES
WHAT a strange and unique competition Super Rugby 2016 is proving to be, with the pause button being hit on the competition just as it gets interesting.
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have to suddenly arrest the Super Rugby competition that has been running since mid-February and get into international mode for touring Wales, England and Ireland, respectively.
And when those three-Test series are done and dusted, the players must switch back into Super Rugby mode and embrace the thrilling climax that is building towards the quarter-finals.
To recap, the top team from each of South Africa’s two pools automatically advances to the quarter-finals, and so does the third finishing SA team on the overall log; and those three join the winner of the NZ Conference, the winner of the Australian Conference and the three next best finishers from their combined logs.
So it could be four New Zealand teams, the Australian side and the three qualifiers from the two African Pools, and these three will not include the sides from Argentina and Japan.
They are too distant on the log to qualify, so it will likely be the Lions and Stormers, as winners of their pools, and one of the Sharks or Bulls, with the Sharks having their noses in front of the Bulls at this stage.
But it would mean an overseas quarter-final at this stage with the Crusaders in Christchurch.
But the Sharks could top their Pool should they beat the Lions in what is shaping up to be one of the crunch matches of this year’s competition, at Ellis Park on July 2, when the competition resumes.
But even if the Sharks take five points out of that match, they will still be one point behind the Lions, and the Johannesburgers will still have their destiny in their hands in their remaining games against the Kings (no problem there with the five points), but the Lions then finish with a tricky match in Buenos Aires against the Jaguares, and a try-scoring bonus point will hardly be guaranteed, never mind the win. ARM WRESTLE: Andre Esterhuizen of the Sharks challenged by Rohan Janse van Rensburg of the Lions when the two sides met at Kings Park in April.
The Sharks, after playing the Lions, have a colossal encounter in Durban with the Cheetahs, who, while being out of the running, showed their intent in their last match when they almost won at Newlands.
It should be remembered that finishing top of your conference brings with it the luxury of hosting a quarter-final, and if you are high enough on the overall log, even a home semi-final.
At this stage the Lions are going for gold. If the Sharks do not derail them, the Lions could go all the way as South Africa’s standard bearers.
If a Durbanite took a con- servative view and realistically believes the Sharks will lose at Ellis Park, then it is probably going to be the Bulls and the Sharks going head-to-head for the wildcard into the quarter-finals.
But it also has to be said that the Stormers are not home and dry in the second Africa Pool.
They have away games against the Rebels and the Force, with the former being tipped to win in Melbourne. The Stormers will surely finish with a bonus-point win over the Kings.
The Sharks, currently three points ahead of the Bulls on the overall standings, would fancy their chances of finishing ahead of the Bulls given that the Pretoria team have one “gimmee” in the Sunwolves in Pretoria, and then have away games against the Jaguares and Cheetahs.
Sharks director of rugby Gary Gold said the Lions match on July 2 was a goal his team would have had five weeks to prepare for (the Sharks had a bye in round 14 of Super Rugby).
“I am excited about facing the Lions first up after the break; I want us to have a tough game over there,” Gold said.
“They are the best team in (A) Lions (A), Cheetahs (H), Sunwolves (H) Rebels (A), Force (A), Kings (H) Sharks (H), Kings (H), Jaguares Jaguares (A), Sunwolves (H), Cheetahs (A) the country at the moment, and we want to know that that is the standard we need to set from the outset.”
The Sharks lost heavily when the Lions visited Kings Park on the eve of the Sharks’ tour to New Zealand.
“We have improved since then. We have gone fairly well against the New Zealand teams, but it will be an unbelievably tough game and have the intensity and speed of the New Zealand games,” Gold reflected.
“I am looking forward to that. We will have some nice preparation time and I am excited we have a game like that up first.” IT MIGHT be stretching the point to claim that Super Rugby had built up a head of steam, but it had established reasonable momentum before this hiatus for the Springbok-Ireland series.
Now we must take a deep breath and let the big boys have their turn.
We’ve had much drama and incident in the South African Super Rugby pools, with two extreme narratives emerging. The first is how the Kings have struggled to adapt to the tournament’s demands, a worrying reality given the team’s historical and political context.
The other is how the Lions have re-written the code for how SA teams perform. They’ve played with swagger and style and added a vibrant dimension to a generally glum tournament for local fans. They stand out for all the right reasons.
Given the troubled history of the Kings, it’s perhaps not surprising that a sense of schadenfreude punctuates almost every conversation about them. This is partly because spiky franchise boss Cheeky Watson inspires strong emotions, partly because the Kings are seen as a political instrument.
The miracle is that the team functions at all, given the difficulties they have endured. They now operate as a proxy of SA Rugby; a good thing, because they may have collapsed otherwise.
The point missed by many fans is that local rugby needs the Kings, no matter how shambolic or embarrassing they may be. Rugby is compelled to have a senior team in the Eastern Cape, the traditional heartland of black rugby.
Not only is this the right thing to do, it’s a political imperative. We know this because of the sports ministry taking a pop at rugby last month. Rugby is always in the crosshairs on account of its blemished history.
What’s more, the team needs nurturing and investment to be able to give life to the ambitions of black players, in particular. It’s naïve to think that this could be any different in a country like ours.
If rugby is to grow and to prosper, particularly in these economically fraught times, this growth will have to come from black supporters. This may seem ironic to traditional white supporters, but the vigour and future wellbeing of the game is utterly dependent on rugby embracing black players and supporters. They, too, are the game’s lifeblood.
This is why any sense of loathing towards the Kings is so misplaced. Just imagine what the team could be if given the chance.
A vivid counter-balance to the ills of the Kings has been provided by the Lions. Coaches Johan Ackermann and Swys de Bruin have done an outstanding job in not only giving the team their freedom, but helping equip them with the skills to play as they do.
Last week was a case in point as the supreme gift of quick ball, supplied in the main by a back row of stellar quality, was exploited by Faf de Klerk. His speed of mind and foot proved the vital difference. When a team plays with such clarity and certainty, it frees them up to dictate large swathes of a game. The Lions also bring tremendous intensity to the contest, as we saw at Loftus, when they strayed far from the comfort zone. Bulls’ heads sagged, but the Lions’ concentration was total.
Discussing their method, Ackermann makes mention that it’s not as easy as flicking a switch and sharing your philosophy. Having players capable of executing risky plays is vital, so too embracing the mind-set to develop skills that enable a team to engage a higher gear.
New Zealand sides do it all the time because they are conditioned to do so. Typically, SA success, which has been scant over the years, has come with the macho bash-it-up approach. Smart teams counter it easily.
The Lions can do macho, too, but the investment in skilful players like Warren Whiteley and Elton Jantjies led them down the high road of daring and ambition.
Occasionally they’ll be caught out, as they were when the Hurricanes put 50 points on them, for the high-octane game is a work in progress.
Ackermann hasn’t refined the playbook. He’s torn it up.
Two teams, two extremes. For both, the reward will come – if we’re patient and understanding.