Ex Superport:The Golden Lions and Western Province have sounded loud warnings to the Sharks that they shouldn’t book a place in their trophy cabinet for the Currie Cup just yet but the Blue Bulls have emerged as dark horses who could yet ruin the aspirations of all three.
A few weeks ago the Bulls were also-rans in the competition and it wasn’t long ago that people were scoffing when their coach John Mitchell said his team would still make the semifinals. At that point they were well outside of the top four bracket and with Mitchell doing a study of his resources and thus spreading his selection net wide, the Bulls had yet to settle after a poor start to the domestic season.
When the Bulls went to Durban for a Currie Cup game during a break in the Rugby Championship, Mitchell’s reluctance to field his returning Springboks told us he felt he’d settled on his best Currie Cup combination. Since then the team has remained pretty unchanged and in that time they have shown tremendous growth. (As predicted by Beeno and some others)
The Pumas have suffered injuries in the latter part of the season and the side that the Bulls smashed at Loftus wasn’t the confident unit that did the same to the Bulls in Nelspruit back in August. But the Bulls were still light years better in their final league game and look a different team to the one that started out the campaign looking like it hadn’t been coached.
Can the Bulls complete a fairy-tale rags to riches scenario? Well, the Sharks must start as strong favourites to win their semifinal against the Pretoria team in Durban on Saturday. They did falter against WP in their final league game, but the Cape side was desperate whereas the Sharks had nothing to play for aside from retaining winning momentum.
It might well hurt the Sharks that they have lost that momentum after a long winning sequence. Only Saturday will tell us. However, in a situation like the one the Sharks faced this past weekend, where they were facing a side that is pretty much on the same level as them on their day and had more to gain, it is invariably the other side that wins. Just ask WP, because as the Stormers in Super Rugby they are probably a better equipped side than the Sharks but lost in Durban in May when the Sharks had more to gain.
But while the Bulls will travel to Durban as underdogs, the Sharks won’t enjoy having to face them in their current form. With Warick Gelant in such tremendous form at fullback and the Bulls finding the width and attacking continuity to their game that they only dreamed about before Mitchell’s arrival, the Pretoria team is suddenly a dangerous prospect and the Sharks will be under a lot of pressure to clinch a home final.
In many senses, the Bulls are going to Kings Park with nothing to lose. After all, they have progressed further than anyone would have expected them to a month ago. They can give it their best shot and regard the semifinal as their final. It won’t be the same for the Sharks, who would have marked 28 October down in their diaries for a Kings Park final a long time ago.
Those who have a historical perspective might also note that the Bulls are in the same position that their 2002 predecessors were. Back then, 15 years ago, the Bulls under the coaching of Heyneke Meyer had started poorly and were in fact relegation threatened for a while. But they made a Durban semifinal where they produced a massive shock win before going on to beat the Lions in the final.
With the Lions starting to look their most formidable again and in with a good chance of winning their semifinal even though they have to travel to Cape Town to do it, don’t bet your house against history repeating itself.
After the positive of the Boks’ excellent performance against the All Blacks the week before, this past weekend was more of the same for South African rugby, with a good quality of rugby being produced. WP stepped up where they knew they had to, at forward, against the Sharks, and reversed the pattern of the Newlands clash between the sides, where it was the Sharks who won all the possession. (the mincers were put in trheir place by the Mighty WP)
WP played clever rugby and for once weren’t seduced into running too much. Having a clever kicking scrumhalf and a big flyhalf operating in tandem works for them, and it wasn’t the first time that Robert du Preez was man of the match when playing against a team coached by his father Du Preez is rated by none other than Beeno!!). A more pragmatic and less flashy approach might also suffice against the Lions, but the Johannesburg team is going to be hard to stop.
Their big win over the Free State Cheetahs at Emirates Airlines Park was in some ways another positive for South African rugby in that the Cheetahs were well beaten and yet have been very competitive at home against northern hemisphere teams in the Guinness PRO14. Perhaps the last league game in the Currie Cup exploded the myth that PRO14 is streets ahead of the Currie Cup.
Let’s not forget though that many of the Boks were back in action, and it is because it is mostly an under-strength competition that the modern Currie Cup is so under-rated. The Boks made a difference this past weekend, particularly Malcolm Marx, who almost single-handedly turned what was shaping as a close game into a one-sided one when he came onto the field shortly after halftime.(BEST HOOKER IN THE WORLD. THAT PRETENDER DAN COLES BUT JUST STEP ASIDE!!)
WP won’t have to think too hard about where the biggest threat to their quest for a place in the Currie Cup final will come from on Saturday. Stop Marx and they might be halfway there. That though is easier said than done.
WEEKEND RESULTSBlue Bulls 52 Pumas 32
Sharks 20 Western Province 31
Golden Lions 44 Free State Cheetahs 17
