Is this the Super 14 year of the South African teams?

 

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By Spiro Zavos, 2 Mar 2009 Spiro Zavos is a Roar Expert

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 Bulls, International Rugby, Northern Bulls, rugby, Rugby Union, Sharks, South Africa, Springboks, Stormers, Super Rugby, The Springboks

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The two outstanding sides in the 2009 Super 14 tournament after the third round are the Sharks and the Bulls. Not far behind them are the Waratahs. It’s early days yet but I expect these three sides, especially the Sharks and Bulls, to make very strong runs for the finals.

Both the Waratahs and the Sharks have won a match in New Zealand, always a difficult thing to do. The Waratahs match against the Hurricanes involved an Australian referee (Stu Dickinson). The Sharks got their victory at Hamilton over the weekend against the Chiefs with a New Zealand referee (Bryce Lawrence). So if this was a diving competition you’d have to say that their degree of difficulty was higher than that of the Waratahs. It was rainy, too, and these conditions usually suit New Zealand teams.

It’s been mentioned by some readers of The Roar that the local referees have tended to be more generous with their impartiality to the visitors. Certainly Ian Foster, the coach of the Chiefs, was probably correct when he said the video referee at Hamilton gave several decisions on tries against the Chiefs that seemed to be somewhat harsh on the home side.

What the Sharks have going for them is a side that has a terrific defensive system. Their statistics on defence, apparently, are the best in the tournament. They are resilient and courageous under pressure. The Chiefs spent minutes at the end of the match hammering away near the Sharks tryline. Admittedly it was one-off barging stuff that was not clever. But the Sharks line never looked like being broken.

During the rest of the match the Sharks had the ability that good South African sides tend to have of converting any break-out or bit of luck into points. There is tremendous pace in the forwards. The lineout and scrum are strong. And the five Springboks in the backline are all high quality players.

The Sharks also have a great draw. On Saturday they play the Blues at Eden Park after the home side has had to fly all the way back to Auckland from South Africa following their splendid victory against the Stormers, which also involved a tremendous late-game defensive effort.

The Bulls play their fourth match in South Africa and their fourth on the veldt against the Stormers. If they play with the hard-shouldered, smart aggression and skill they have in their previous matches, especially the demolition of the Blues in the second round at Pretoria, they will be well-placed for their overseas matches.

The Bulls have a mighty pack, even without Victor Matfield who has been injured, with the monster Bakkies Botha playing at his very best. They’ve got the best halfback in the world in Fourie du Preez; a strong kicking five-eight in Morne Steyn (South African teams generally play well with a kicking five-eights); the best number 8 in world rugby Pierre Spies; arguably the best winger in Bryan Habana.

More importantly, they are playing very smart rugby. The comparison with the heady, not-much kicking and lot a running game of the Bull and the headless-chooks play of, say, the Chiefs (another team loaded with talent) is very stark.

The Zavos rule is that the only teams that win a tournament as gruelling as the Super 14 are those teams whose rugby nous is matched by talent from the number 15 jersey through to the number 1 jersey.

Another Zavos rule that comes into play every four years is that the play of teams from a country that is hosting a tour by the British and Irish Lions invariably improves for that touring year.

We saw how good Australian rugby at all levels was in 2001 when the Lions toured here. And the same in 2005 when the Lions toured New Zealand.

The 2009 Lions tour of South Africa seems, at this stage in the Super 14 tournament, to be having a similar uplifting and energising effect.

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