Super Rugby Round 8 turned out to be a bleak Easter weekend for the South African Franchises, with only the Emirates Lions able to register a win.
Hurricanes 25 DHL Stormers 20
Hurricanes – Tries: Nehe Milner-Skudder, Julian Savea and Beauden Barrett; Conversions: Beauden Barrett 2; Penalties: Barrett 2
DHL Stormers – Try: Huw Jones; Penalty try; Conversions: Demetri Catrakilis 2; Penalties: Demetri Catrakilis and Kurt Coleman
The Stormers unproductive tour to New Zealand continued with another loss, this time to the high flying Hurricanes. The return of Duane Vermeulen and Eben Etzebeth added some starch to the Stormers forward pack, but for the third game in a row they were unable to convert forward dominance into victory and eventually succumbed to the Hurricanes superior running game. Three tries underlined the Hurricanes ability to play an attacking game plan and the try scored by Beauden Barrett is an early entry for the try of the season. Deciding to run the ball ten meters from their own try line, they were able to demonstrate their slick passing abilities to eventually have Barrett score. The Stormers continue to struggle against teams that are able to move the ball around and look to be desperately missing former defense coach Henning Gericke.
At the halftime break, the Hurricanes were 25 to 3 up and the Stormers were staring down the barrel of a big hiding. To their credit, they managed to keep the Hurricanes quiet and scoreless in the second half, while scoring 17 points of their own. The truth be told though, the Stormers are one dimensional on attack, with very little science to their back line play. The Stormers look to be a distracted team and we can only hope for their own sake that they are able to refocus on their game and start producing the type of results that this Franchise should be delivering.
Brumbies 20 Toyota Cheetahs 3
Brumbies – Tries: Christian Lealiifano, Blake Enever Conversions: Lealiifano (2) Penalties: Lealiifano (2)
Toyota Cheetahs – Penalty: Joe Pietersen
Most South Africans love the Cheetahs for their running style of rugby, but the continuous churn of players will always be their Achilles heel. They simply do not have the financial resources to retain the massive number of quality players they are able to produce every single year. While they continue to be competitive every year, but not in a position to be considered tournament contenders.
Against the Brumbies, they were once again competitive, but never in with a real shout of winning the game. Their defense was better than it has been in recent games, but then again the Brumbies rely on multiple phases to attack and the Cheetahs were able to repel most attacks to the sideline with their drift defense. It was sad to see that the Cheetahs most potent combination, Willie le Roux and Cornal Hendriks, were only able to combine once on attack, nearly producing a try. This game was error-strewn and neither side should take pride in their performance. The Cheetahs will face the Force in Perth on their long journey home.
Cell C Sharks 10 Crusaders 52
Crusaders – Tries: Andy Ellis, Israel Dagg, Kieron Fonotia, Ryan Crotty, Colin Slade, David Havili, Matt Todd and Tom Taylor Conversions: Colin Slade 5 and Tom Taylor
Cell C Sharks – Try: Odwa Ndungane; Conversion: Fred Zeilinga; Penalty: Pat Lambie
The best way to summarize this game is to do it backwards. Head Coach Gary Gold and captain on the night Pat Lambie issued apologies to their loyal fans for their insipid performance….
Firstly, let’s take a look at what was good about the game. The Crusaders saw a struggling team in front of them and put the Sharks to sword. Israel Dagg was electric from the fullback position and cut up the Sharks defense many times. They were fully deserving of their victory and they leave the Shark Tank with a full house of five points.
On to the not so good… The Sharks were lethargic throughout and they looked out of their depth against the Crusaders, which should never be the case with the quality players they have at their disposal. Discipline was absolutely shocking during this game and this is the one area that the Crusaders will also have some work to do. Both Kieron Fonotia and Lepo Laulua were yellow carded for rather nasty shoulder charges within minutes of each other. Nemani Nadolo was yellow carded a few minutes later after kicking the ball away after the Sharks had been awarded a penalty, preventing them from taking a quick tap penalty. In the blink of an eye, the Crusaders had been reduced to 12 players against the 15 of the Sharks.
Jean Deysel decided to even the match up a bit a minute later, dropping his knee onto the unprotected head of Matt Todd. There is only one sanction for this and a red card was produced and the Sharks were down to 14 men for the rest of the game. Deysel can expect a rather long time out of the game as he was red carded against the same opponents in 2014, for the same offense. The Sharks have now been on the receiving end of three red cards in three games, which is an unacceptable statistic. I am personally of the opinion that ill discipline on the field mirrors ill discipline off the field and the Sharks need to return to the very basics of squad discipline.
Further news from the Sharks camp is the Patrick Lambie may be out for between 4 and 6 weeks with injury, so the situation does not get any better.
Emirates Lions 22 Vodacom Bulls 18
Emirates Lions – try: Akker van der Merwe Conversion: Elton Jantjies Penalties: Jantjies (5)
Vodacom Bulls – penalties: Jacques-Louis Potgieter (6)
This game proved to be the tough arm wrestle that trans-Jukskei derbies are all about. No quarter desired, nor required. Occasional rain showers did not assist matters and the greasy conditions made handling tricky and up to the 78th minute the game was all about the kicking shootout between the two flyhalves, Jacques Louis Potgieter of the Bulls and Elton Jantjes of the Lions. They traded penalties until the final five minutes, with the Bulls leading 18 to 15.
Throughout the game, it was obvious that the Bulls were missing the direction offered by Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard, who missed the game through a knee injury, as well as the leadership of lineout supremo Victor Matfield. This can be no excuse though, as their replacements would either need to step up or the game plan adapted to account for their absence.
The Bulls started conceding penalties short of their own tryline in the final 5 minutes, but the Lions refused to take the penalty kick that would square the game up. They continued to go for the corner in the hope of scoring the winning try. In the 78th minute, a short tap penalty saw replacement hooker Akker van der Merwe crash over for the winning try.
This result will not go well down with the powers that be at Loftus and their fans. They arrived at the Emirates Stadium with a squad boasting numerous Springboks, but were beaten by a team with a greater will to win. For the Bulls, the positives to come out of this game would be the ability of Grant Hattingh to stand in for Victor Matfield at lineout time, as well as the continued improvement of Trevor Nyakane at tighthead prop. He has not been exposed since his move over from loosehead and is starting to look a real prospect in the position. For the Lions, the takeouts are all positive. They pulled together as a squad to deliver the result they wanted. What more can you ask?
If the Lions win against the Sharks this weekend and the other franchises lose, they will top the South African Conference. Who would have put money on that ten weeks ago?
“Main Photo:”
