Ken Borland

A surprisingly comprehensive 29-10 victory over the Sharks in Durban has confirmed the Brumbies as a top-class side and a certain contender for SuperRugby honours.

It was a win achieved in a brutally efficient fashion, with the Sharks having no response to the sheer physicality, direct approach and excellent ball retention and support play of the Brumbies.

The visitors ran in four tries in a stunning first-half display, with the Sharks managing just a Pat Lambie penalty in reply as they struggled beneath the burden of having just one-third of the possession and territory.

The Sharks lifted their intensity in the second half, but by then they were far too far behind against an uncompromising Brumbies defence and the weather was only getting worse, with heavy rain making it extremely difficult for them to score the host of tries they needed to stage an unlikely comeback.

The Sharks have not often been so outmuscled and dominated in the collisions as they were on Saturday night and coach John Plumtree admitted the players did not really know how to respond.

“Our defence clearly wasn’t up to the mark in the first half, particularly. But I don’t really want to take anything away from the Brumbies attack. The way they kept the ball and built pressure was a real lesson for us and probably a lot of teams.

“Defensively we haven’t had to sustain that type of attack before, so they just ate us up. They sapped our energy levels. It was just a tough night for us and we clearly weren’t good enough,” Plumtree said.

The Sharks loose trio of Marcell Coetzee, Keegan Daniel and Ryan Kankowski, with Jacques Botes coming off the bench, is a potentially damaging one, but it’s lacking the physicality a Willem Alberts or a Jean Deysel brings and it was Ben Mowen, Stephen Moore, Peter Kimlin, Sam Carter and, in particular, eighthman Fotu Auelua who were hitting the ball up, getting over the advantage line and also shoving the Sharks back on defence.

It’s also been a long time since the Sharks scrum was so outplayed, even suffering the ignominy of a tighthead that led directly to wing Henry Speight’s try shortly before half-time that left the home side with an insurmountable deficit to overcome.

The Cheetahs were the only South African side to win on the weekend, with both the Bulls and the Southern Kings suffering at the hands of top-class displays from their New Zealand opposition.

The Bulls were the victims of a predictable backlash by the Crusaders, a quality outfit that was in a desperate mood after losing their first two games, in Christchurch.

The Crusaders’ 41-19 victory was a fair reflection of their dominance and, had their handling and passing been better in the opening quarter, a bigger hiding would have been on the cards.

Centre Robbie Fruean is built like a house but has the pace of the guard dog outside and, after shaking off an awful start in which he dropped practically every ball that came his way, he tore through the inexperienced Bulls backline.

Apart from Wynand Olivier – and he went off injured – and Zane Kirchner, the Bulls backline doesn’t contain the strongest defenders and the Crusaders were able to constantly get over the advantage line.

And, to make matter worse, the Bulls lost another veteran back in Akona Ndungane, leaving a shuffled backline to try and cope with the constant threat. And all this time Francois Hougaard remained on the bench, unused, and it has now been revealed he will be flying home due to an ankle injury. Presumably he suffered it while sitting down, or was an injured player chosen as a substitute?

The young Bulls props – Frik Kirsten and Morne Mellett – also had a torrid time in the scrums and the Bulls were on the back foot throughout the match.

But thanks to the wastefulness of the Crusaders backs, the Bulls were only trailing 9-15 as the halftime hooter went and still in the contest. But the Cantabrians scored a crucial try through the final movement, left wing Johnny McNicholl going over, although there was the suggestion that he had lost the ball forward during the multi-phase build-up.

But the Crusaders added another try, through the impressive right wing Tom Marshall, five minutes after the break and then another, by front-row demolition man Wyatt Crockett, on the hour mark, before the Bulls scored their one and only try with 13 minutes remaining. Therefore there can be no complaints about the outcome.

The Southern Kings went down 35-24 to the Chiefs in Port Elizabeth, but anyone who deems the SuperRugby newcomers to be uncompetitive must have an agenda of some sort after the defending champions were pushed hard at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

A quick supply of ruck ball, the brilliant orchestration of halfbacks Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Aaron Cruden, and the backline’s almost telepathic use of space ensured that the Chiefs won with a bonus point, but it was the incredible tenacity and sheer gumption of the Kings that will remain the lasting memory.

It was sad that such a festive occasion, featuring splendid rugby, was marred by a couple of dreadful TMO decisions by Johan Meuwesen that cost the Kings eight points.

He firstly ruled that Demetri Catrakilis had tackled Tim Nanai-Williams late and dangerously, which was an appalling decision because the Kings flyhalf was already committed to what was a perfectly legal but crunching tackle, when the Chiefs outside centre dropped the ball.

Meuwesen then missed two forward passes in the build-up to Lelia Masaga’s second try, which rather detracted from the magical interplay between Cruden and Nanai-Williams in the build-up.

The Kings were trailing 13-18 at halftime, buoyed by Sergeal Petersen’s scintillating 85m try, but had had no luck, especially considering they also lost captain Darron Nell, in the warm-up, and fullback SP Marais to injury.

The Chiefs quickly extended their lead to 32-13 after the break and at many other venues in South Africa a pall would have descended over the stadium. But, with the large crowd giving boisterous support, the Kings mashed together some phases, playing enterprising rugby and were rewarded with a try by eighthman Jacques Engelbrecht. They spent much of the final quarter hard on attack and, with two Catrakilis penalties cutting their lead to just eight points, the Chiefs were forced to kick at goal to keep themselves safe.

The Kings could have pushed the Chiefs harder by committing more players at the breakdowns just to slow down their ball, and also to clean out the many Kiwis hampering their own recycling, but up till now the Eastern Cape rookies have done themselves proud in the toughest of competitions.

While the mood was buoyant in Port Elizabeth, there were bound to be several nights on the tiles in Bloemfontein as the Cheetahs pulled off a second consecutive victory overseas as they edged the Waratahs 27-26 in Sydney.

The smoke from the fireworks had still not cleared from the air as the Cheetahs scored a breathtaking opening try, Willie le Roux regathering his own deft chip and sending Robert Ebersohn dashing down the right wing.

Le Roux was at it again with 10 minutes remaining when he again chipped over the defence and then palmed the ball on to Raymond Rhule in an astonishing moment of skill. Rhule was brought down inside the Waratahs 22, but was unstoppable a couple of phases later as he weaved his way through to the line for a wonderful try.

The try was also the match-winning one as it gave the Cheetahs a 27-23 lead, but their fantastic defence in the closing minutes was probably the premier reason for a victory that seemed unlikely for lengthy periods when they were being dominated by the home side.

 http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-03-18-superrugby-wrap-cheetahs-keep-sa-flag-flying/#.U_x0SPmSxe8

The man behind the favourites to become SuperRugby’s 18th franchise is French-born, studied in Paris and has citizenship in Mauritius.

Eric Series is the brains and financial muscle behind Singapore’s bid to host one of SuperRugby’s expansion franchises from 2016 and will be in South Africa this week to have discussions with SARU chief executive Jurie Roux.

The 18th franchise – debuting in 2016 alongside the Southern Kings and an Argentinian team – will be playing in the South African Conference and Singapore’s bid is the favourite because the Republic is firmly in their corner.

Sanzar have confirmed that Singapore and Japan are the two bidders remaining in contention, having rejected proposals from South Africa’s Mpumalanga Pumas, Namibia, Kenya, three interested parties from the United Kingdom and two from North America.

The main reason for South Africa to favour Singapore ahead of Japan is that the city-state is only a 10-and-a-half hour flight away, while the 2019 Rugby World Cup hosts are a further eight hours north-east. Flying to Australia and New Zealand from Singapore is also much easier than from Japan.

Series, a businessman who studied law and economics, has been heavily involved in rugby for the last three years through his ownership of the Asia Pacific Dragons, a Barbarians-style invitational team that showcases the talent outside of Australasia. Getting strong Pacific Islanders representation into SuperRugby would be another big attraction for Sanzar.

The 37-year-old also has major business interests in New Zealand – Sealegs, the makers of amphibious vehicles, are the “Marine” sponsors of the All Blacks and last year Series became an investor in the Chiefs. He is also the chairman of Samoa Water.

Counting against Singapore is the fact that Japan has much more of a rugby culture, the IRB (who have no say in the Sanzar decision) would obviously favour the 2019 World Cup hosts and they have much better local players and a thriving league.

But Singapore’s team would be built around Pacific Islanders, who have the physicality to survive in the most gruelling competition on earth (largely because of the travel), and Series has pointed out that there is already a precedent for getting other players in Asia involved through the Asia Pacific Dragons.

“We firmly believe that the Pacific Islands players must be strongly represented in the expanded format in 2016 and the composition of our Asia Pacific Dragons side is the ideal platform to include these players and also to capitalise on the growth in Asia,” Series told The Sunday Samoan.

“The issue has always been where the Pacific Islands team could play and how it could work commercially. This is where the Asia Pacific Dragons provides the perfect platform. Pacific Islands players are the heart of our squads, with other players being selected from the whole region.

“Sanzar have already publically stated that any new team must be competitive. That would be a given with Islanders being at the core of our squad, but we would also see the option for more Japanese players having opportunities to gain SuperRugby experience as well and create a meaningful pathway for Asian players in the future.”

Cherry Blossoms coach Eddie Jones has revealed himself as the president of the Japanese bid’s fan club and Australia are also favouring them.

The former Wallabies coach has been an eager basher of Singapore’s bid, describing it as “a joke”.

“Sanzar will lose all credibility if Singapore is selected to serve South African interests with a less demanding travel load. If travel is the deciding factor, then Dubai should be selected and rugby ethos and history ignored altogether,” Jones said.

But Sanzar have shown they are not asses when it comes to spotting the best financial deal and the deep pockets of Series, and the answer he provides to the Islander “problem”, could well see Australia isolated.

The strong support of the Singapore government, who are driving large sums of money into sports development, adds further lustre to the Series bid.

Ultimately, however, the three founding nations – South Africa, New Zealand and Australia – have to agree or else the decision will have to go to mediation, as was the case in 2009 when the Melbourne Rebels won a franchise ahead of the Southern Kings.

The Lions finished their most successful SuperRugby season in style with a 60-25 thrashing of the Cheetahs at Ellis Park on Saturday night to claim seven wins in a campaign for the first time.

“Obviously we’re very pleased and it was good to see everything come together tonight. The players have always been positive, even in those bad patches just before and on tour, so I’m very pleased for them,” Lions coach Johan Ackermann said in the wake of the Lions’ biggest SuperRugby triumph.

It is a wonderful story of the underdog, who everyone expected to be the whipping boys upon their return to SuperRugby, rising above their individual talents and proving that hunger and good coaching can take a team a long way. Although they only finished in 12th place, the Lions had as many wins as the three sides immediately above them on the log – the Stormers, Blues and Bulls.

“We have a good team profile, although maybe we don’t have the biggest guys, but they can run and play. They’ve shown the willingness to work hard, they were asked to play with commitment and pride, and that comes from deep inside. The challenge is to keep that hunger,” Ackermann said.

Even the overwhelming win over the Cheetahs was not achieved without the hard work that has become the hallmark of this Lions side.

The Cheetahs dominated the first quarter to lead 10-3 and the opening exchanges of the second half were fiercely contested as the visitors closed to within seven points.

But the forward dominance of the Lions – especially in the scrums – was tiring the Cheetahs and forcing them to try and cut corners, leading to ill-discipline and yellow cards. Plus the visitors’ defence was once again weak at critical moments.

The Lions seized control from the 52nd minute when the selection of Coenie Oosthuizen at tighthead once again failed and the Springbok was yellow-carded for yet another scrummaging offence under pressure from Schalk van der Merwe. The lineout and rolling maul were set by the Lions, and hooker Robbie Coetzee scored the try that stretched the lead to 34-20 with sharpshooter Elton Jantjies’ conversion.

Things rapidly turned sour for the Cheetahs thereafter as eighthman Warren Whiteley, after wing Anthony Volmink had pounced on a spilt ball by Willie Roux, Andries Coetzee, running the length of the field after an intercept, wing Lionel Mapoe, from turnover ball deep in his own half, and replacement prop Corne’ Fourie, with a thrilling run and dummy, all scored tries.

Apart from the excellence of their front row, the Lions loose trio foraged and attacked like a pack of wild curs, while Jantjies, making a rare start, dished up an accomplished performance at flyhalf, not least of all with the boot as he succeeded with nine of his 10 kicks at goal.

Cheetahs wing Cornal Hendricks did have the pace – and the football skills – to score a breakaway try from his own 22, but it’s clear the Central franchise have serious problems.

“We’re our own worst enemies,” captain Adriaan Strauss admitted. “In the first half we created one or two chances, so we weren’t out of the game from the get-go. But our discipline let us down, we gave them easy exits and let them run at us.

“When you have cards, it messes with the roles and responsibilities of guys in the defensive line. There are guys missing so the opposition attack that space, and when you adjust, they attack other spaces.”

The impressive Lions squad obviously now have a price on their heads, with the other franchises sniffing around at Ellis Park.

“Obviously the players are now being hunted and I hope we can hang on to them. But the core of the squad has already been signed up and we hope to build on that. A new year brings new challenges and you can’t rely on what you did the previous year. The hard work starts all over again,” Ackermann said.

But, as this match graphically illustrated, it’s not how you start but how you finish that counts.

The Cheetahs started brightly, with Le Roux setting up the opening try in the 17th minute as he found Raymond Rhule with a long pass, the wing striding past fullback Coetzee and then passing inside for the Springbok fullback to score.

But the Lions struck back with the first of Mapoe’s hat-trick of tries, a lovely break by Jantjies going a long way to setting him up, and the much-improved scrumhalf Ross Cronje then showed nifty footwork to beat a couple of defenders and score the home side’s second try.

The Lions’ penchant for long-range tries was once again on display six minutes before the break as they counter-attacked from their own 22. Practically everyone handled the ball until Mapoe gathered a half-charged grubber from impressive centre Stokkies Hanekom and burst through to score.

Cheetahs mentor Naka Drotske complained of a “19-5 penalty count and four yellow cards” against his team – the actual stats were 12 penalties against 11 and three dismissals – but such spurious outbursts are a clear sign of a coach whose job is in the balance.

Given that the Cheetahs, with several Springboks in their ranks, finished in 14th position, having featured in the playoffs last season, it seems entirely fair that serious questions should be asked about Drotske’s future.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke hinted at the end of his side’s Vodacom SuperRugby campaign this weekend at Loftus Versfeld that he hopes the squad will be boosted by some “special players” for next year’s campaign.

The Bulls finished on a high by hammering the Rebels 40-7 to end in ninth place on the log, second in the South African Conference, beaten only by the playoffs-bound Sharks. But they are painfully aware that they were just one win short of joining the KwaZulu-Natalians in the knockout rounds.

Before restoring some pride against the Rebels, the Bulls suffered successive defeats to the Lions and Stormers, as well as being beaten by the Cheetahs earlier in the season.

“Although we enjoyed the way we finished, there were some vital games where we didn’t get the result we needed. But for one or two losses, we would have easily made the playoffs. But we haven’t played well enough away from home, it wasn’t good enough and there are no excuses.

“You need special performances to win away from home and the margins are small. We created some big moments and finishing those off is how you win. We have a good squad, some great players who will definitely get better.

“But we are obviously looking at some players. In 80% of the games, nine of the starting line-up had not played SuperRugby before this year. Special players make special things happen, but I think I must stop there,” Ludeke said after the match.

The point about acquiring some marquee players was rammed home, though, by captain Victor Matfield.

“To win this competition, you need two or three players that would make a World XV and five or six Springboks. We have youngsters who can become world-class and we finished within seven points of the Waratahs in Sydney so we’re not that far off,” Matfield said.

The Bulls, beset by the overseas exodus and poor recruitment, tackled this SuperRugby campaign with too many players that were merely of Currie Cup quality. Some of the youngsters are certainly developing rapidly, but the negotiations with Adriaan Strauss should solve a problem at hooker and the management really should be on the phone to a quality openside flank as well.

The areas of strength looking to the future are amongst the backs – the midfield, with Jan Serfontein and JJ Engelbrecht possibly the future Springbok centre pairing and the most exciting young flyhalf in the country in Handre Pollard.

Up front, so much still depends on Matfield and, with fellow lock Paul Willemse heading to France, prop Marcel van der Merwe and injured flank Jacques du Plessis are the only young forwards with genuine international aspirations.

The injury-enforced absence of experienced forwards such as Pierre Spies, Deon Stegmann, Dewald Potgieter, Flip van der Merwe and Arno Botha has also greatly hindered the Bulls.

“We’ve lost a lot of loose forwards this year and half-a-dozen of our players are still U21, so if they come through, we will do well,” Matfield said.

It was also encouraging to see Francois Hougaard shrug off a season of grief for him personally and start to look like his old exuberant self on the left wing, while the Bulls looked a slicker outfit on attack thanks to the service of Piet van Zyl at scrumhalf. Springbok considerations have obviously played a part in Ludeke’s selection at nine this year, but perhaps the Bulls will start 2015 as they ended the 2014 competition.

“The new combination worked well. Francois had a lot of energy and looked for work, he was always sniffing for gaps, and Piet van Zyl played very well too.

“Francois’ first choice is to play nine and Piet was unfortunately injured while we were on tour. Only time will tell, but it’s great to keep both involved and I think it was satisfying seasons for both,” Ludeke said.

If all the young talent can continue to grow and the senior players (boosted by a couple of acquisitions) can stay uninjured, then the time of grieving at Loftus Versfeld may be over very soon.