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In case you missed it, the Bulls met the Carter-less Crusaders in Timaru and were totally destroyed. And it wasn’t because the Bulls weren’t interested.
They arrived pumped and ready to take heads because they wanted to beat the team whose exciting play made headlines around the rugby world when it defeated the Sharks at Twickenham. But they didn’t even get close.
No sniping try from du Preez, no scything five-pointer from Kirchner, no try-saving tackle from Spies, not even three points from Moyne Steyn. And, most surprisingly, Matfield was beaten in the lineouts by the veteran, Chris Jack.
Given the strength of the teams the game could be viewed as a mini-rehearsal for the Tri Nations. If so, will the ABs slaughter the Boks or will the Boks come up with a workable game plan? They sure didn’t have one on show at Timaru.
Everybody in the park knew that the Bulls had their instructions: stop Sonny Bill or he’ll rip through the line just as he did at Twickenham.
So what happened? Less than fifteen minutes in, Sonny Bill Williams sprints through on a great angle and scores. And the way he went past Olivier, who had a nightmare game, was almost a carbon copy of the way he went past Bosman at Twickers.
As the game progressed, the Bulls started to get ornery – partly because they were upset by Jonathon White who pinged them again and again, and partly because their scrum, with their heavy front row, monster locks and big No. 8, failed to fire.
And just to spoon the icing off the cake the Bulls repeatedly spilt the ball in the tackle.
Why did this happen? Why didn’t two of the best teams in Super Rugby each score two or three tries apiece with the final score influenced by a penalty goal or a missed conversion?
Could it have been because of the NZQ – the New Zealand Quotient?
It’s axiomatic that every team enjoys an advantage playing at home, but some places are harder for visiting teams to win at than others. And the Bulls, who are used to playing at sunny Loftus Versfeld, capacity 52,000, had to play a night game on a moist field at Timaru’s AE stadium, capacity 12,000.
A small stadium with the hometown crowd close to the action is always intimidating for visitors, but when it’s located in NZ it’s even more so.
It’s a long, long haul for a South African team, and for a team from any of the Six Nations it must feel like interplanetary travel by the time they reach NZ.
This is another reason why the All Blacks have to be favoured for the RWC. Even though they’re not immaculate playing at home – since 2004 the ABs have lost once to the Boks in NZ, once to France in NZ, and once to the Wallabies (2003) in NZ – just about anywhere they play in the Shaky Isles (except Carisbrook) is an unbreachable fortress.
It’s a little like the Russo-Japanese war of 1905 when the Russian fleet steamed 33,000 kms to the Tsushima Strait while the Japanese simply waited for them to arrive then blew them out of the water.
NZ is the All Blacks’ playground. It’s their park, their ball, their weather, their crowd. And even though it won’t be their ref come the Rugby World Cup, they’ll still have all the other advantages.
And another advantages is the aforementioned Sonny Bill Williams. After watching a video of the game Deans and de Villiers must surely know that when they go into the Tri-Nations, curtains raiser to the RWC, they’re going to have to devise a defence to stop him, much as the Boks did to stop Jonah in the Rugby World Cup in South Africa.
And that leads me to believe, in the Wallabies’ case, that JOC won’t be playing opposite Sonny Bill. Mortlock will.
Incidentally, if Sonny Bill Williams had had to make another yard he wouldn’t have scored that try against the Bulls because he was cut down right around the sprigs by a copybook tackle. But that tackle was made by a player flying across the field in cover not head on. SBW can be stopped.
But apart from playing outside Carter, he’ll always have an edge in the WRC – he’ll be playing in NZ. And so will the rest of the All Blacks.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.