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Super Rugby Round 5: The South African Franchises

Super Rugby Round 5 once again highlighted both the strengths and weaknesses of each of the South African franchises.

Crusaders 34 Emirates Lions 6
Crusaders – Tries: Andy Ellis, Penalty Try, Kieran Fonotia, Kieran Reid. Conversions: Dan Carter (4). Penalties: Carter (2)
Emirates Lions – penalties: Elton Jantjies (2)

The Lions played this game wearing their alternative strip – the blue shirts of the historical Diggers club based in Johannesburg and founded in 1893. The change in strip though did not help them continue their winning form from last weekend and were well beaten by the Crusaders. Through the first half, the Lions kept themselves in the game through their dogged defense, forcing the Crusaders into mistakes. The pivotal moment of the game came when Lions tighthead prop, Julian Redelinghuys, was yellow carded for continuously conceding scrum penalties.The Lions disappointment was visible at that point and they were effectively out of the game from then on.

Down to seven men in the scrum, it only took two more scrums for a penalty try to be awarded. The Crusaders then began to put together a much more assured performance reminiscent of their glory years. A final try count of four to zero cannot be disputed and this was a hiding for the men from Johannesburg. Their intent to run the ball from everywhere on the field was noble and was effective in the 2014 Currie Cup, but suicidal against a much more mature defense than they encountered in their domestic competition.

Referee Nick Bryant was 100% correct in his sin-binning of Redelinghuys as that is the decree from World Rugby. This has to be questioned though, hopefully sooner rather than later. It is illogical that a struggling scrum is further compromised by sending the offending front row forward off the field, amplifying the problem. A more logical solution would be either to continue awarding penalties, which forces the offending player to either correct his technique or his team consistently looses field position or the three points for the penalty. Alternatively, the referee can send him to the bench and force the team to send on a replacement.

DHL Stormers 19 Chiefs 28
Chiefs 28 – Tries: Aaron Cruden, James Lowe and Sam Kane; Conversions: Aaron Cruden 2; Penalties: Aaron Cruden 3.
DHL Stormers 19 – Try: Kobus van Wyk; Conversion: Kurt Coleman; Penalties: Kurt Coleman 3 and Demetri Catrakilis.

This match was the litmus test of the Stormers credentials for the 2015 Super Rugby season and they ended up well short of the mark. The players will be very disappointed at the result and cannot be blamed if they shot a few confused glances up at the coach’s box. The Stormers came into this game on a four match winning streak, yet coach Alister Coetzee decided to rotate his half back pairing for this game, benching Nic Groom and Demetri Catrikilis and handing starts to Louis Schreuder and Kurt Coleman. They paid for this with a stuttering kicking game, which the Chiefs easily countered with their flowing running game.

The Stormers greatest asset right now is a young, yet powerful front row. The addition of Vincent Koch on loan from Currie Cup team, the Pumas, has also added a new steeliness to their scrum. They were easily pushing the Chiefs back at scrum time and were very much the dominant scrum. With such dominance up front, the Stormers should have used the scrum to strangle the Chiefs out of the game. Coach Coetzee however decided to make the obligatory substitutions at around the 60th minute, thereby giving up the biggest advantage his team had on the day. After that, the Chiefs had parity in the scrums and were able to close out the game. Very much a case of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

Much was said before the game of the match up between centers Damian de Allende and Sonny Bill Williams. The Stormers possibly allowed themselves to concentrate too much on Williams, allowing is cousin Tim Nani-Williams a lot more space to weave his magic. De Allende also provided a moment of pure class himself by drifting outside Nani-Williams to latch onto a long pass from Kurt Coleman, effectively beating him before he received the ball. A back of the hand pass to Kobus van Wyk ended up in a try for the flying winger.

This game was as much about Chiefs coach Dave Rennie outsmarting Coetzee as it was about Coetzee outsmarting himself.


Toyota Free State Cheetahs 10 Cell C Sharks 27

Cell C Sharks – tries: Francois Steyn, Marcell Coetzee (2), Jack Wilson. Conversions: Pat Lambie (2). Penalty: Lambie
Toyota Cheetahs – try: Francois Venter. Conversion: Francois Brummer. Penalty: Willie du Plessis

The Sharks have had a rather disappointing start to the current Super Rugby season and for their trip to Bloemfontein they shelved much of their preferred expansive play for a back to basics approach. Frans Steyn’s try was a characteristic bash up the middle and both of Marcel Coetzee’s tries were the result of driving mauls off the lineout. No mess, no fuss.

The Cheetahs surprisingly offered very little on attack, other than a few barnstorming runs from tighthead prop Coenie Oosthuizen and a handful of Willie le Roux’s attempts at adding some of his so-called ‘X-Factor’ to the game. For the second week in a row, the Cheetahs were disrupted by a late withdrawal, this time that of flyhalf Joe Pietersen. Replacement Willie du Plessis struggled to settle and never looked the part. Their upcoming trip to Australasia could just be a touch on the testing side.

On the injury front, Sharks lock and Rugby World Cup hopeful Pieter-Steph du Toit left the field with what looked like a fairly serious knee injury and we hope to see him back on the field soon.

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