Saturday 12th May 2007
Niki Moore from South Africa

South Africa Dominate the Super 14 Action . . .

It has been a heady week reminiscent of 1995 Rugby World Cup fever, when South Africa came from nowhere to become world champions. And this weekend relived those days - alright, so it’s only the Southern Hemisphere Super 14, some may say. But let’s not forget that this Southern Hemisphere contains the legendary All Blacks and former World Champions the Wallabies - so we feel like the kings of the world all over again. Last year the South African teams were bottom of the Super 14 log and the outcome was a foregone tussle between Australia and New Zealand. This year it has only been in the last few weeks that South Africa dared hope that things would change - and so they did. This week, rugby has been on the front pages of every newspaper, topping every news bulletin. The points system of Super 14 rugby meant that both semi-finals would be played - for the first time in Super 14 history - at King’s Park in Durban, and Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. 

  34 - 18 

Saturday afternoon turned into a dream afternoon. The heat was on in Durban, both literally and figuratively, as the Sharks and Blues trotted out into the sultry (29 degrees) Durban autumn day at 3pm. The King’s Park 50,000 strong crowd was a wave of black and white - if there were Blues’ supporters in the crowds they were keeping quiet about it. The cheering started from the kick-off and, just when you thought it was impossible for it to get louder, it got louder. Watching the game brought a tear to the eye: firstly in sympathy with the players taking a pounding in an incredibly physical game, and secondly, the sheer emotion of witnessing history being made.

The game started fast, with the tried-and-trusted rolling maul, huge kicks from both teams that made the territory swing wildly from side to side (it was like watching tennis). The Sharks started strongly and then just got better. By half-time the score was 14-6 to the Sharks and victory seemed assured. Then their concentration appeared to slip in the second half and for a while the Blues racked up the points. It looked as if South Africa was playing its typical game - a strong start that falls apart in the second half. But then a penalty from Percy Montgomery let us edge forward by one point, and the Sharks never looked back. The defining moment of the game was when Butch James started a series of runs for the goal line that kept hitting solid Blues defence. Then, just as all the Blues players were bunched together, the ball was passed wide, James slipped through the gap and sailed over the try-line with a huge grin on his face.

The spectators, many of whom had travelled long distances to see the game, were ecstatic and kept up a solid cheer until the final whistle went. On the whole, they were kind to the visitors, applauding politely when the Blues did something clever (there was, for instance, one slippery try by Isa Nacewa that deserved the cheer it got from the Durban fans). My only reservation was that the crowd booed Nacewa whenever he took a penalty, but I was assured that this was something started by the New Zealand crowds and therefore they were only getting a taste of their own medicine.  But I still don’t like it - it smacks of bad sportsmanship from the crowd and I hope that it does not persist.

Kings Park Stadium has a wonderful view over the Indian Ocean - as the afternoon progressed and the sea mist came in, it seemed as if the ships on the horizon were listening to the cheers rolling out over the sea.

  27 - 12   

Pretoria was certainly listening to the cheers - the second semi-final started immediately after the first, as the Bulls launched into a winning game in front of 51,000 delirious fans. But despite the euphoria, in many ways it was a game of missed opportunities. The first try (a game attempt by Gary Botha of the Bulls) was a no-show as the balled rolled forward. The attack from both sides was a blunt instrument, the defence a desperate smash and grab. (In several tackles the players ran the severe danger of losing their shorts.) Richie McCaw of the Crusaders was yellow-carded for collapsing a maul and had a closely-televised walk to the sin-bin. The man of the match was undoubtedly Derick Hougaard, who scored every single point for the Bulls - all 27 of them from eight penalties and a drop goal. But the fact that all the points were scored from the boot shows that the contest, although a tussle between two-well-matched teams, lacked the tremendous excitement of a running game.

The deciding factor, actually, was the crowd. The Bulls supporters, well-known to be the most loyal and vocal of rugby supporters in the country, almost won the game themselves by sheer force of will. The stands were awash with blue flags. Derick Hougaard has a special theme song - Liefling (Darling), an ancient syrupy pop-tune - that played ear-splittingly every time he trotted up to take a kick. What made the victory over the reigning champions the sweeter, was that not many South Africans had dared to hope that the final would play out between two South African teams: the Sharks were fairly confident because of their place in the ratings, but for the Bulls supporters it was a dream come true. At the final whistle, the television commentators and interviewers could not be heard over the noise of the spectators. Captain Victor Matfield - who looks like a World War 2 flying ace but speaks an unexpected Afrikaans - was almost drowned in adulation when he thanked the crowd. 

Just to give you an idea of how reluctant many South Africans were to get their hopes up, the sporting television schedules scheduled next week’s final for New Zealand time.  Now, a reshuffle is in order!

A South African Super 14 final - who’d a thought it? 

Oh, and in other news, as they say, the Springbok squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup has been announced. The big surprise in the inclusion of Stormers’ captain Luke Watson, who has a famously stormy relationship with Coach Jake White. There are some surprise omissions, notably some young players who have shone in the this last season, like the Sharks’ Brad Barritt or the Bulls’ Derick Hougaard, and some surprise inclusions - but no observer has ever, in the history of rugby tournaments, been completely happy with their international squad.

Here are the 2007 Springboks that are now seriously mentioned in the same sentence as World Cup winners:

Props:  BJ Botha, CJ van der Linde, Os du Randt, Deon Carstens, Guthro Steenkamp, Eddie Andrews.
Hookers:  John Smit, Gary Botha, Bismarck du Plessis.
Locks:  Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Johan Muller, Albert van den Berg, Gerrie Britz, Johan Ackerman.
Loose forwards:  Schalk Burger, Luke Watson, Juan Smith, Kabamba Floors, Pierre Spies, Bob Skinstad, Danie Rossouw, AJ Venter, Wikus van Heerden, Joe van Niekerk. 
Scrum-halves:  Fourie du Plessis, Rickie Januarie, Ruan Pienaar.
Fly-halves:  Andre Pretorius, Butch James.
Centres:  Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie, Wynand Olivier, Waylon Murray, Wayne Julies, Jaco Pretorius.
Wings:  Akona Ndungane, Odwa Ndungane, Ashwin Willemse, Bryan Habana, Breyton Paulse, Tonderai Chavhanga, JP Pietersen.
Fullbacks:  Percy Montgomery, Francois Steyn, Bevin Fortuin.