Ex Supersport
Even before the 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby season started the Cell C Sharks were installed as favourites to win it, certainly in South Africa, and so far they’ve done justice to the pre-season billing.
With six matches to go, they hold a five point lead over the second placed Brumbies. But here comes the caveat – up to now they haven’t faced any of the other favoured teams away from home. It is at the away venues of the top teams that championship credentials are proven.
So by Saturday night we will know this about the Sharks – either they will have succumbed to the Brumbies and the race for top spot on the overall log will be wide open as the Sharks fall back towards the chasing pack, or Bismarck du Plessis’ team will have confirmed that they do have what it takes to become champions.
The Sharks secured the first win scored by a South African team on foreign soil when they beat the Rebels in Melbourne last week, but the Brumbies in Canberra are an entirely different proposition. While many in the pre-season felt the Brumbies might fall away this year, the systems that current Sharks coach Jake White put in place when he was director of rugby at the Brumbies have ensured continuation of the momentum that he started.
In fact, while they were poor last week, it might even be fair to suggest the Brumbies have grown a bit since last year, which would make sense if you consider that the nucleus of the side has been together for three seasons now and Laurie Fisher has always been a good coach. They destroyed the Chiefs at home last time out so the Brumbies must start as favourites, but the Sharks should relish the challenge of going out to prove that they are indeed championship material.
The big game locally this weekend is Saturday night’s traditional north/south showdown between the Vodacom Bulls and the DHL Stormers at Loftus. Early in the week it appeared something might be taken away from the fixture by the freakish slew of injuries that has cut through the Stormers camp, but when the team was announced there was just about enough experience through the Cape side to give them an outside chance of scoring an upset.(FAIR COMMENT)
The Bulls have a lot more to lose from this game than the Stormers do because the Bulls are still clinging to a faint hope of making the top six and perhaps even usurping the Sharks by the end of it as South African conference winners. A loss for them at home will be a hammer blow to those chances. The Stormers by contrast are seen to have nothing to lose as they are out of the competition and are severely depleted by injury. That though might just make them more dangerous.
One can never discoun t the Mighty Stormers!!!!
