Ken Borland

Whether the good fortunes of the Bulls and Cheetahs overseas will continue will be occupying the minds of their supporters, but the obvious focus of this weekend’s SuperRugby programme, from a South African perspective, will be at King’s Park in Durban, where the Sharks and Brumbies clash.

Play will be a meeting between two of the three remaining unbeaten sides in the competition, and should be a good measure of the Brumbies’ credentials.

The Brumbies’ three wins have been against the Reds, Rebels and Waratahs, but with the strength of the Australian conference the subject of much debate, the men from the Capital Territory have the chance on Saturday (5.05pm) to show that they are at the same level as the other title contenders from New Zealand and South Africa.

Under Jake White, the 2007 World Cup-winning coach, the Brumbies have married the strong driving play and stout defence the Springbok sides under his tenure were famous for to the different lines of running and interplay the teams of Stephen Larkham and George Gregan were renowned for.

The occupants of the top spot on the combined log do have a member of that championship side of the early 2000s in their starting line-up in the form of George Smith, one of the all-time great loose forwards and someone whose ball-stealing abilities have left many Springboks with mental scars.

The effects of travel and the fact that Kings Park has never been a happy ground for the Brumbies – winning just one of seven matches there – are obvious factors counting against the Australians.

The most obvious problem facing the Sharks is their lack of tries at the moment – and the return of Charl McLeod at scrumhalf suggests adding some spark and better cohesion between forwards and backs (something the Natalians are famous for) is at the forefront of coach John Plumtree’s mind.

The strong kicking game of the Brumbies can be seen as the reason for Odwa Ndungane being preferred to Lwazi Mvovo on the wing, while the rich reserves of loose forward strength the Sharks have is reflected by the lack of worry when Jean Deysel joins Willem Alberts on the injured list: Keegan Daniel, the key link man in much of the attacking brilliance the Natalians have shown in recent years, merely returns and takes over the captaincy as well.

The Sharks are winning ugly at the moment, which has worked for the Stormers over the last two years, so the manner of their victory won’t really matter on Saturday, although they will need to have the firepower to match a team that has scored 10 tries this season already, the third most in the competition.

For the aficionados of forward play, there is a mouthwatering clash to enjoy in the scrums, and not just because Siliva Siliva is the Brumbies’ reserve prop; Springboks Beast Mtawarira and Jannie du Plessis will lock horns with Wallabies Ben Alexander and Stephen Moore.

The Cheetahs were a team that showed a new willingness to win ugly last weekend when they pulled off a famous victory over the Highlanders in Invercargill, and hopefully they have carried that spirit across the Tasman with them to Sydney, where they take on the Waratahs on Friday at 10.40am.

The Waratahs are in some disarray with some of the horrors of last season carried over into the current campaign with the New South Welshmen losing two of their first three matches, including a 35-6 thumping at the hands of the Brumbies last weekend.

Coach Michael Cheika has responded by introducing six new faces into the side for this weekend, but veterans such as Benn Robinson, Dave Dennis, Berrick Barnes, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Lachie Turner are still part of the furniture.

Cheetahs scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius was superb last weekend against the Highlanders and is returning to where he played his rugby last year. But his stay with the Waratahs was an unhappy one, and he will have much to prove against opponents who will also be looking to make a statement.

The game awareness of the Cheetahs was outstanding last weekend and, if they can produce their wonderful attacking instincts at the right time in the right place, they could show that their 23-3 victory in Sydney, which was their first ever outside South Africa, was no fluke.

The Bulls, the other unbeaten team in the competition, are in Christchurch to take on the Crusaders and will not have bought the nonsense that the seven-time champions are a spent force.

While the Crusaders have lost their opening two games, they will be buoyed and motivated by returning to the AMI Stadium for the first time in 209 days due to the earthquakes in Christchurch and they still have plenty of quality in their ranks.

Their backline, marshalled by Dan Carter, boasts Israel Dagg, Robbie Fruean, Ryan Crotty and Andy Ellis, while an all-international front row of Owen Franks, Corey Flynn and Wyatt Crockett has fellow All Blacks behind them in Sam and George Whitelock, Matt Todd and Kieran Read.

The Bulls will need to be clinical from the start and keep the pressure on the Crusaders while their confidence is still low and the crowd has not yet got firmly behind them.

The smart money though is on the Crusaders rebounding, clicking into gear and getting their 2013 campaign up and running, so the Bulls will have to be at their best to win back-to-back matches in New Zealand for the first time. And unfortunately, the Bulls do seem to have a bit of an issue with the second game on tour…

The Southern Kings have shown impressive competitiveness and steel in their debut season thus far, but the first real test of their defences comes on Friday night in Port Elizabeth (7.10pm) when they take on New Zealand opposition for the first time, in the form of the defending champions Chiefs.

There can’t be a sterner defensive test at the moment than coming up against the Chiefs – they even managed to score four tries against the Stormers at Newlands last weekend, even though they couldn’t quite win the game.

Kings coach Matt Sexton will need to conceive of better ways of starving the opposition of ball otherwise it will be difficult to see quite how the Eastern Cape men can win this one.

Better skills in hanging on to their own ball would be a start, but this could be where it all starts to go wrong for the Kings, who depart on tour next week.

But this has been a season of surprises so far and this Kings team certainly has heart, so there is hope yet for the rookies.

Teams

Cheetahs: Hennie Daniller, Willie le Roux, Johann Sadie, Robert Ebersohn, Raymond Rhule, Johan Goosen, Sarel Pretorius, Philip van der Walt, Lappies Labuschagne, Frans Viljoen, Francois Uys, Lood de Jager, Lourens Adriaanse, Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane. Replacements – Ryno Barnes, Coenie Oosthuizen, Ligtoring Landman, Heinrich Brüssow, Piet van Zyl, Riaan Smit, Ryno Benjamin.

Southern Kings: SP Marais, Sergeal Petersen, Ronnie Cooke, Andries Strauss, Marcello Sampson, Demetri Catrakillis, Shaun Venter; Jacques Engelbrecht, Wimpie van der Walt, Cornell du Preez, Steven Sykes, Darron Nell, Kevin Buys, Bandise Maku, Schalk Ferreira. Replacements – Edgar Marutlulle, Jaco Engels, David Bulbring, Daniel Adongo, Nicolas Vergallo, George Whitehead, Hadleigh Parkes.

Bulls: Zane Kirchner, Akona Ndungane, JJ Engelbrecht, Wynand Olivier, Jürgen Visser, Morné Steyn, Jano Vermaak, Pierre Spies, Arno Botha, Deon Stegmann, Juandré Kruger, Flip van der Merwe, Frik Kirsten, Willie Wepener, Morné Mellett. Replacements – Chiliboy Ralepelle, Werner Kruger, Grant Hattingh, Jacques Potgieter, Francois Hougaard, Louis Fouché, Jan Serfontein.

Sharks: Louis Ludik, Odwa Ndungane, Paul Jordaan, Frans Steyn, JP Pietersen, Pat Lambie, Charl McLeod, Ryan Kankowski, Keegan Daniel, Marcell Coetzee, Franco van der Merwe, Anton Bresler, Jannie du Plessis, Craig Burden, Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements – Kyle Cooper, Wiehahn Herbst, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jacques Botes, Cobus Reinach, Meyer Bosman, Lwazi Mvovo.

Other fixtures: Highlanders v Hurricanes (Dunedin); Reds v Force (Brisbane).

Byes: Stormers, Blues, Rebels.

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The SuperRugby season kicks off on Friday with Australian teams getting the competition started. The five South African franchises join the fray next weekend with several burning questions still to be answered. Foremost of these is whether the Southern Kings have procured enough firepower to avoid totally embarrassing themselves and the South African Rugby Union administrators who promoted them with scant regard for on-field performance.

The Southern Kings have brought a dozen new players to Port Elizabeth, but they can best be described as SuperRugby journeymen. Even though hooker Bandise Maku and centres Waylon Murray and Andries Strauss are all Springboks, they are not what one would term star players capable of dominating at SuperRugby level. The Kings have also signed two seasoned Argentinean internationals in scrumhalf Nicolas Vergallo and flank Tomas Leonardi, as well as former Toulouse hooker Virgile Lacombe.

The role of captain Luke Watson, of whom opinions vary from sulky trouble-causer to inspiring team-man and leader, is going to be very important in melding such a disparate group of players into a team. Massive expenditure is no guarantee of success in a sport that depends so greatly on team cohesion and attitude.

The Kings have also incurred the wrath of many South African fans who believe their inclusion in the competition is purely on political grounds and the pressure will be on them from the outset.

All eyes will be on their opening game when they host the Western Force, who are also trying to find their feet in SuperRugby. Then, before heading off on their overseas tour, the Kings face daunting meetings with the Sharks and defending champions the Chiefs.

The other game the Kings could possibly target in search of that morale-boosting first victory will be against the Rebels in Melbourne on 13 April, but that will be the last game of their overseas tour and whether they will still be on two feet remains to be seen.

On the positive side, this year provides an ideal opportunity for talented players such as flank Daniel Adongo, flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis, centre Ronnie Cooke and lock Steven Sykes to make their mark on this semi-international stage.

The Bulls will be looking to build on their achievement in making last year’s playoffs as they showed there is still life in the union after so many of yesterday’s heroes moved on.

Pierre Spies’s team will include two new faces in utility back Lionel Mapoe and talented young lock Paul Willemse, but the Pretoria faithful will be relying on remaining stalwarts such as Morne Steyn, Spies, Flip van der Merwe, Francois Hougaard, Werner Kruger, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Dewald Potgieter, Deon Stegmann, Wynand Olivier, Akona Ndungane and Zane Kirchner for bigger and better things in 2013.

None more so than Steyn whose eye will still be on the Springbok number 10 jersey. He can count on Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer still valuing his experience and goal-kicking ability, but he needs to play more like the dashing flyhalf of 2008/9 than a gout-ridden has-been turning out for the Blikkiesdorp over-35s.

Loose forward CJ Stander has moved on to new pastures, which counts as a big loss for the Bulls, but the likes of lock Juandre Kruger and backs JJ Engelbrecht, Francois Venter and Bjorn Basson are ready to take the next step and dominate at SuperRugby level.

The Cheetahs will be well aware that their neighbours in Gauteng are smarting over their exclusion from SuperRugby and the way their former allies in Bloemfontein helped betray them. So they will be nervous going into the SuperRugby season, desperate to avoid finishing last in the South African conference and having to face the Lions in a promotion/relegation series.

Their build-up to the campaign has not been good, with the final bell having rung on Juan Smith’s superb career and another favourite, prop Coenie Oosthuizen, still taking the first steps on his way back to recovery. The front row has been one of the Cheetahs’ premier areas of strength in recent years, but with WP Nel and Marcel van der Merwe both having left, coach Naka Drotske is a worried man, with his job under some pressure as well.

Twenty-year-old Johan Goosen is a potential match-winner for the Cheetahs and a popular choice for the Springbok number 10 jersey – he will be a key man for Drotske.

Captain Adriaan Strauss is a respected leader and brilliant hooker, but the state of the rest of the tight five will be the key factor in determining whether Goosen and other exciting backs like Sarel Pretorius, Robert Ebersohn, Johann Sadie, Raymond Rhule and Willie le Roux are able to play with the flair they are famous for.

The Cheetahs also have a bad draw: they have just a solitary home game against the Sharks before they head off overseas, their opening tour matches being against the defending champions, the Chiefs, and then the Highlanders at the House of Pain in Dunedin.

The Stormers topped the log in 2012 and are the Currie Cup champions, and there is plenty of optimism in Cape Town that they are heading into another golden age of Western Province rugby to rival that of the late 1990s/early 2000s. The SuperRugby title is the one they really want and they certainly have the players to become the second South African franchise to claim the trophy. Though their defence was famously committed and superbly organised last year, they will need to sharpen up on their attacking skills.

Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana and Schalk Burger are household names, but they have also added some potential superstars in fullback Jaco Taute and flyhalf Elton Jantjies.

Their pack also boasts Springboks in Eben Etzebeth, Duane Vermeulen, Andries Bekker and new signing Pat Cilliers, while much is expected of loose forwards Siya Kolisi and Rynhardt Elstadt.

But items up for debate are whether they have enough depth in the tight five should injuries strike, whether scrumhalves Dewaldt Duvenhage, Nic Groom and Louis Schreuder have the star quality to get the best out of a phenomenal backline also featuring Juan de Jongh, Gio Aplon and Joe Pietersen, and when Burger will actually return to action after a succession of leg injuries.

It will be necessary for the Stormers to hit the competition running as their first three games are key away trips to conference contenders the Bulls and Sharks, followed by a meeting with the Chiefs at Newlands.

The Sharks have such a wealth of talent at their disposal across almost all positions that it is becoming inexplicable that they still haven’t managed to win a SuperRugby crown.

The only items causing some concern down Durban way will be the second row, where Franco van der Merwe is the experienced import among the greenhorns, who is going to start at hooker while Bismarck du Plessis continues his rehab from knee ligament surgery, and will Frans Steyn continue to captain while Keegan Daniel recovers from a knee injury?

A dreadfully slow start to the 2012 campaign was to blame for the Sharks only finishing sixth on the log and scraping into the playoffs. Travelling to Australia, Cape Town and then to New Zealand was a bridge too far for them and they will be mindful of the need to earn home playoffs this time round.

Although the Currie Cup ultimately ended in a shock defeat to Western Province in the final, the potential was plain to see in the likes of lock Anton Bresler, scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, centres Paul Jordaan and Tim Whitehead, wing Sibusiso Sithole and fullback Louis Ludik.

The Sharks loose trio was arguably the best in the competition last year and Ryan Kankowski is back from Japan to join Marcell Coetzee, Daniel, Willem Alberts, Jean Deysel and Jacques Botes.

In Butch James, the Sharks have experienced cover for Pat Lambie in the flyhalf position, while Steyn provides muscle in midfield and JP Pietersen and Lwazi Mvovo were inspirational on the wing last year.

The Sharks will also be spending the first eight weeks of the competition in South Africa, playing teams like the Stormers, Brumbies and Crusaders in Durban, so they should be in good spirits by the time they head overseas in the last week of April.

The Sharks will surely be in contention and, provided they don’t get in their own way, 2013 could be the year they finally get their hands on the SuperRugby trophy.

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