Nick hit nail on the head

Nick Mallett is not always everyone’s cup of tea, but sometimes you simply just have to agree with him. Mallett, the former Springbok coach and nowadays the very outspoken but respected analyst for SuperSport, made the opinion that Sanzaar was justified by cutting two South African teams from next year’s reduced and revised Super Rugby format.

And one can’t really blame Mallett for making the statement after the dismal showing by the Sharks against the Rebels in Durban which ended in a stalemate and tryless 9-9 circus.

The quality on display was simply embarrassing and coach Robert du Preez rightly remarked that the Sharks players should actually refund the spectators the money they wasted by attending.

You would have to dig deep to find mitigating reasons for the lack of any kind of constructive play and the only one would be the red card handed to Sharks centre Andre Esterhuizen for a lifting tackle after the whistle had gone which brought him a six-week suspension.

But Mallett didn’t only have a go at the Sharks, but also at the Bulls and the Cheetahs for their performance at Loftus Versfeld which earned a 20-14 win for the men in blue.

And, as Mallett pointed out, that game was a big bore until the 70th minute when centre Jesse Kriel scored the Bulls’ match-winning try which was the only real big highlight of the arm-wrestling contest.

Surprisingly, the Lions were also short of their entertaining selves in edging the Jaguares, the Kings brought some respite with their win over one of the worst Waratahs teams in years, while the Stormers suffered a record defeat in their tour opener against the Crusaders.

It’s simply a waste of time for people to argue against a reduction in SA sides, because the fact remains that South Africa simply doesn’t have the player resources to warrant six teams in the competition.

The Cheetahs and the Kings are, from the looks of it, not going to surrender without a proper fight as they appear the two franchises to be kicked out of the competition.

The Kings are the source of a mountain of black talent coming out of the Eastern Cape, while the Cheetahs have produced countless provincial and Bok stars to find their niche elsewhere, most often in Durban.

The biggest cancer however is understandably the temptation of foreign currency.