Super Rugby Round 18 delivered some rather disappointing rugby from the four competing South African franchises, with the Lions being the odd team out in fifteen and had the bye in the final round.
Cell C Sharks 34 DHL Stormers 12
Cell C Sharks – Tries: Lionel Cronje, Stefan Ungerer, Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane and Bismarck du Plessis; Conversions: Lionel Cronje 2 and Fred Zeilinga
DHL Stormers – Penalties: Kurt Coleman 4
The Stormers rang the changes for this game and rotated 14 of their starting 15, allowing them to rest their squad in preparation for a home playoff game against the Brumbies. They faced a Sharks side determined to give Jannie and Bismarck du Plessis as well as Willem Alberts a victorious sendoff.
The first half was a truly turgid affair, riddled with errors and uninspiring rugby was the order of the day. It was only in the second half that the Sharks turned up the heat and started to put the more inexperienced Stormers combination under the cosh. Although it wasn’t a vintage performance, the Sharks will be happy that they put away the team put in front of them. The Sharks have already started to work on their 2016 season, with current Head Coach Gary Gold assuming the Director of Rugby position and they have started putting their feelers out for a new Head Coach. They have also announced a few new signings in Springboks Willie le Roux and Jacques Potgieter as well as the versatile Joe Pietersen. On a more poignant note, it was humbling to see the raw emotion from the two Du Plessis brothers as they bid farewell to their loyal fans in Durban.
For the Stormers, they head back to their home ground of Newlands to face the Brumbies. Their preparations will certainly have been better than the Brumbies, with the weekend off given to their marquee players. The Brumbies on the other hand come off a home loss to the Crusaders and face the prospect of a long flight to South Africa before they can start to prepare for this match up. Alister Coetzee will also be on tenterhooks as each game could be his last in charge with his pending move to Japan. The Stormers are also on the lookout for a Head Coach for 2016 and I wonder if a new coach might decide on a more inspiring brand of rugby.
Vodacom Bulls 29 Toyota Cheetahs 42
Vodacom Bulls – tries: Francois Hougaard (2), Pierre Spies, Jesse Kriel Conversions: Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Tian Schoeman (2) Penalty: Potgieter
Toyota Cheetahs – tries: Neill Jordaan, Henco Venter, Clayton Blommetjies, Sarel Pretorius, Steven Sykes, Ryno Benjamin Conversions: Niel Marais (6)
As expected, the Cheetahs arrived at Loftus Versfeld with every intention of running the ball and playing a fast paced game of rugby. This attacking intent usually proves to be their downfall as their shaky defense allows their opponents to outscore them. This proved to not be the case in Pretoria this weekend, as they came up against a Bulls side that appeared to have given up and the 13 point winning margin flattered the Bulls more than the Cheetahs.
Before the game the Bulls announced the departure of 8 regular squad members and within minutes of their embarrassing loss to the Cheetahs at home, the first time ever in Super Rugby, it was announced that Head Coach Frans Ludeke would no longer head up the Bulls’ Currie Cup and Super Rugby campaigns. After the game, captain Pierre Spies told the press in an interview that the 2015 season had been a roller coaster ride. As one wag pointed out, a roller coaster ride has high points, not continual lows.
It has been a rather poor Super Rugby season for the South African franchises, with only the Stormers remaining in the competition for the playoff stages. The one positive I take out of this season though is that bar the Lions every single franchise will have a new coach in 2016 and I hope they take the opportunity to build a more attacking style of rugby at their franchises.
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