SA Franchises - have we ever seen such a turn around in form?

Halfway through the first Super XV rugby season if you told me we would have three teams in the top half of the log, I wouldn’t have believed it. The Stormers started the season well, The Bulls started off and narrowly beat the Lions and Cheetahs, the Sharks looked like they were trudging through thick mud, and well the Cheetahs and Lions looked like they were once gain going to fill the bottom of the log.

Same old, same old, at least that was what we expected from our 5 franchises.

But then the turn around came.

The Stormers after losing against the Crusaders at home and then to a poor Chiefs team away, started their most successful Antipodean quest in recent years, They won a close affair with a massive 2nd half comeback against the Blues, saw off the Brumbies in a dire affair, and then trounced the Rebels. Their defensive organisation has been exemplary this season, with Jaque Fourie and Jean de Villiers leading the fray. Although not scoring too many tries they have shown in the last number of weeks that they do have the ability to finish off moves when it counted.

The Sharks looked like they wouldn’t make the play offs, after a fast start of 4 consecutive wins, two of them in Australia, they came unstuck against a Chiefs team who let’s face it aren’t at the top of their game this year. Although they fought back hard against the Crusaders at Twickenham, it looked like the sharks were running out of ideas, they became predictable, kept on attacking the close channels, often with forwards going back in the tackle, then looked clueless against the Stormers to add their third straight loss, it took a rampant sharks team to play against the Lions to break their losing streak. After beating the Hurricanes quite comfortably they again fell apart against a very well defensively organised Stormers team. At the latter part of the competition the inconsistent sharks put themselves under huge pressure and simply had to beat the Bulls to qualify.

The Bulls started their campaign unconvincingly, they just beat the Cheetahs and the Lions. They then lost to a rampant highlanders team at home, got despatched by the Stormers and were then trounced by the Crusaders, lost valiantly against the Reds, lost to the Western force with their only Antipodean win coming against the hurricanes. The Bulls then had the unenviable task of having to come home and win every match from there on in to qualify for the play offs. Well they almost did, until they met the Sharks who on the day showed the intensity and physicality to see off the Bulls in what in my view was the best high intensity match of the tournament thus far.

Giant killers Cheetahs are my SA franchise of the season. Simply because even with Juan Smith and Heinrich Brussouw playing almost no rugby during the season the Cheetahs came away with the scalps of the Waratahs and Crusaders ( being the only SA team to have beaten this champions side) ending their season on 5 wins (their most ever) and no less than 7 matches within 7 points of the opposition. They played a brand of rugby that would excite any rugby fan, turn overs were made by any, I repeat any player that was close to the ruck, you wouldn’t even have noticed that Brussouw wasn’t there, in Ashley Johnson they found a ball carrier akin to Juan Smith, and for a little luck here or there, their season could have ended very different.

Now to the Cinderella team of SA rugby, there was a lot of talk pre season, new investors, new coach, new ideas, but yet mostly the same players, inexperienced tinged with one or two stalwarts such as Doppies le Grange and Jano Vermaak, and even the very experienced slightly over the hill Wickus van Heerden.

If there is one positive that can be taken out of the Lion’s season, it is the favour they did the Sharks and Bulls by taking the scalp of the Highlanders, that loss of the highlanders basically ended their campaign, the loss of confidence after that match was evident in the lack of intensity during the remainder of their season.

You may ask why I am writing this article, and where am I going with it. Well, the truth of the matter is that halfway through this Super XV season, I had visions of despair and frustration at seeing no form, little skill, very little intensity, variation or hope that we could achieve anything.

At one stage it looked like only the Stormers may qualify for the play offs, and that would be disastrous for SA rugby. It would dictate that we had no depth and no idea how to play the modern game of rugby.

But now I feel that over the past 8 weeks we have turned the table, players set to go to the world cup are starting to find form, confidence and shows intensity, hey, even Wynand Olivier this weekend passed the ball twice, and guess what happened, those passes resulted in two tries for the Bulls.

In the last 8 weeks we won 13 out of 17 encounters against the antipodean teams, whereas in the first half of the tournament we only won 8 out of 23 encounters.

Now if that is not a great turn around of form, then I don’t know what is.

The question now remains, will PDV have seen or learnt anything about this turn around, will he stick to his conservative, predictable game plan, or will he realise that there are skills in these franchises and that we can play a balanced game. If he can harnass the defensive organisation of the Stormers, the kicking game of the Bulls, the running game of the Cheetahs, and the physicality of the Bulls and Sharks into a well balanced act, we might just pull off a surprise in the not too distant future.

Another great post Biltong.

I'll admit I'm relieved NZ got 2 teams into the playoffs, I feared pre-tournament that the more even distribution of talent across the NZ franchises would see them cannabalise each other. That happened to a certain extent - all 5 NZ franchises finished inside the top 10 on the overall table, even the disfunctional Hurricanes. But the performance of the Crusaders across effectively 15 away games, and the resurgance of the Highlanders before injuries showed up a lack of depth was heartening.

Instead I think the spreading of Australian talent across too many teams was the telling factor. The weakness of the Rebels, Brumbies and Force gave the Reds a pretty easy ride to the "Minor Premiership" and a potential home final. Tellingly, for the final month of the round robin there were 8 teams chasing the 6 playoff spots. And it was SA and NZ supplying the "extra" third teams.

Kiwireddevil, Yes NZ is still placed well in the depth stakes, I am hoping that the cheetahs can retain their players even though they are the poorest financially of the five SA Franchises.

THey have shown this year that any team taking them lightly are in for a big surprise.

I still believe however that if we want this to be truly a Super competition there should be less teams.

As you say the Australians are spread a bit thin, perhaps in years to come this may change to benefit them as the young people will see more opportunity to play professional rugby in australia.

I do think however that australia needs to do something about a sustainable domestic competition similar to the Currie Cup or ITM cup.

So for me four teams should be the limit in the super Rugby competition per country.

Alternatively someone must whisper in SANZAR's ears that they must expand to 18 teams with a premier division and a 2nd tier division.

I agree with you on the number of teams Biltong. Though it's hard to see how the NZRU would be able to get dropping a team past the provinces ...

The 2-division competition has been knocking around here on V2 for a few weeks - maybe in 3 or 4 years the Southern Kings, an Argentine side and either a Japanese or PI side could make up the 18. 2 divisions of 9 with promotion/relegation could play home and away, presumeably each of the original Tri-Nations would insist on having 2 teams minimum in the top 9.

The two divisions makes sense, however I would prefer to keep it between the three countries, New Zealand can definitely add another team, and australia might struggle in the beginning to find another strong team, but then they will have a six franchise system.

As far as the guarantee of two teams, yes it makes sense financially, but in reality teams must qualify to play in the top tier.

biltongbek wrote:The two divisions makes sense, however I would prefer to keep it between the three countries, New Zealand can definitely add another team, and australia might struggle in the beginning to find another strong team, but then they will have a six franchise system.

As far as the guarantee of two teams, yes it makes sense financially, but in reality teams must qualify to play in the top tier.

Hmmm, so a North Harbour/Northland team split off from the Blues might work (with possibly Counties-Manakau moving back from the Chiefs to the Blues, and Taranaki joining the Chiefs*), or possibly an Auckland-based PI team. And either a West Sydney outfit or a Central/Gold Coast one for Aus, alongside the Kings.


*INL Cup splits by franchise currently, heartland unions in italics
Blues: Auckland, North Harbour, Northland
Chiefs: Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Counties-Manakau, King Country, Thames Valley
Hurricanes: Wellington, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, Wairarapa Bush, Horowhenua-Kapiti, East Coast, Poverty Bay, Wanganui
Crusaders: Canterbury, Tasman, Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury, West Coast, Buller
Highlanders: Otago, Southland, North Otago

Kiwireddevil if we start thinking about this in a logical fashion.

We would like to see sustainability with a two tier tournamnet system.

Think about this, the money coming in from broadcast rights, currently is spread amongst the franchises right? Then the franchises make money out of ticket sales, sponsorships and merchandise.

Now if SANZAR looks at how to award finances to these franchises, they can basically look at a two tier system, where those teams that have qualified for the Premier division gets a little more money than the 2nd tier franchises, this way we will be able to get more money as there are more games to televise, this in turn will allow us to pay our top 3 franchises(assuming three qualify in the top tier) more money, to help retain our players in our own countries, rather than have them move for the almighty Euro of Pound.

It will also help us to fund the additional 2nd tier teams to create a sustainable 6 franchise system per country.

I tell you what, the Premier division will be an almighty competitive and tough tournament.

Eight home games and eight away matches against arguably the toughest franchises in world rugby

I'm getting excited at the thought Biltong. Now how to persuade SANZAR its a good idea ...

Certainly will make for a very interesting 3N and RWC. All three countries have a good pool of players to choose from. Just goes to show the importance of the tail-end of the season and coming into form at the right end of the tournament.

Lessons the ABs can learn for September and October. Now it´s a question of player management and getting the right balance in the 3N. No point in peaking too soon there but you don´t want to give away psychological advantage especially in the home games. Some fascinating rugby still to come before the big one this year. What a treat!

Agree all, we have 4 huge months ahead starting this Friday (or last Friday).

I too have been impressed with the way the lesser teams have performed Biltong and the Cheetahs especially play a game that warms to the Kiwi's hearts with their incredible use of space and pace. The Lions to an extent were similar, were very unlucky not to pick up several more wins- especially in those first few. My issue is we still saw a lot of this last year with some of the SA sides and come 3N it all just seemd to evaporate.

The team went back into its shell and pdv and co effectively created another sxv team in the Boks in that they didnt produce a team capable of lifting to another level despite the wider selection capabilty.

Key for me is who pdv goes for at fly half. If he goes for Steyne then it suggests more of last year. Percentages, kicking, tight forward play as a foundation.

PDv's ability to select, coach and devise a game plan after last years 'lessons' dont seem to have changed and after a great sxv I just hope he doesnt muck it up again. SA rugby has shown it is moving more towards the open game over the last 2 seasons and given their hard and fast grounds they should be leading the way in this- NZ having the softest grounds of the 3 SANZAR country's.

Once the sxv is over all eyes will again turn to pdv, who's profile last few weeks seems to be quite low, so it may be that he's planning something. I sure hope so.

Interesting Comments as always Biltong,BUT most years at the death SA have had two very strong sides.One middle table,and two lower table no matter what combinations.
S14/15 has`nt translated to the national sides,anyone with any real knowedge of SA Rugby has never doubted .
That you could play any style you liked Stormers last year ran the ball,Bulls went the muscle route.Bulls from a slow start have been the form Bok side recently.
In most years the final round of the S14/15 is crucial in deciding qualifying for knockout rounds and Home advantage.
In last years 3Ns Boks proved they could run the ball too,but did it too late,with a little more luck the Boks could have won at least 4 and should have won 3.
You can`t give anyside in the 3Ns a position where in a 6 match series where
all they need is a single bonus point from there last 3 matches to win the series
Eden Park for the Boks in 2010 was as certain as night follows day after 2009 All Blacks losses.
All the major sides have suffered injuries during S15 for the Blues and especially the Crusaders,playing half the season with skeleton sides to reach the play offs is phenomanal.
The turn around by the Highlanders despite tailing off after losing the likes of Colin Slade is very pleasing.

the S 14/15 there are always teams of spoilers Highlanders beat the Bulls home and away in 3 years.The Lions beat an over confident Bulls on the road when the Bulls were in ther pomp.
All the three 3Ns sides will be to some extent use players not expected to start in the RWC.
In the case of the Boks players like Smit,Matfield,and Bakkies Botha are not the force they once were.But would you bet on them not having a last hurrah come RWC time.
The fact the Boks may adopt a more flexible style,will probably be countered by a more pragmatic All Black approach.

Yes Alan and the kick and chase game is very much back in the fold, both long and particularly the little chips through- Rangers, Guilford's tries for example. Many sides are putting the ball behind to create the errors and because of the turnover ball rule are in an advantage. So that will further encourage PDV to go with his Steyne/ Fourie combination, both specialising in boot to ball..

Biggest fault with this sxv format is to expect the 6th team to have travel to potentially all 3 countries to even be in the final. We have it in the NRL but the distances even for the Warriors are nowhere near what the Sharks will have to endure if they win. Luckily they're not so injury ridden as others but that might change quickly after this weekend.

Big, big faux pas on behalf of the organisers. Yes they're lucky to have a chance but to win from there would be a miracle considering the season length and toll on the players to have to travel. The emphasis on home matches during the 15 weeks then a sudden switch to international fixtures is just weird.

Frankly I'd prefer a NZ win but I'd be happy whoever wins this one. Its been a very weird year- the format, injuries the earthquake all in a world cup year as well.

Alan, this is sport, and as I am often reminded history and statistics can be blown out of proportion.

We all know PDV has his own ideas on how the game should be played, as you say we know South Africans can run the ball, but the last time the Springboks played a well balanced game plan was when Nick Mallet was around, 13 years ago.

I think the time is for SA rugby to mature to the point where we continue playing to our strengths which is structured forward orientated rugby, but to use that advantage in maintaining posession and not kicking it away, keep ball in hand and become less predictable on attack.

This is not really about what the All Blacks or any other team for that matter will do to counter the boks (currently it is easy, because they are predictable), it is what the boks must do to maintain more posession.

Any team starved of possession gets frustrated, and none more than the All Blacks.

SA gererallly plays with less possession no matter who they play against. We kick a higher percentage of our possession away than most teams, and if the kick chase is not executed effectively it is turnover of possession.

Just look at the Bulls in the last 6 weeks, why did they do better, because of one fundamental issue, they chased the kick and Bjorn Basson caught many of them.

The All Blacks are like any other team, they score points when they have possession, granted they score more points than most other teams with possession, but that is the key.

The other issue is the line of attack, we use our forward runners to run itno the close channel often from a standing start, we bunch up in two's or three's showing the opponent where the ball will go.

The sharks has been predicatble for long periods this season, and as soon as they varied their attack, points were scored.

So in summary, I am all for a team playing to their strengths, but don't be predictable. Robbie Deans and Graham Henry has had it easy against SA over the past few years, simply because there has been no innovation or new ideas. The day we start focusing on being less predictable and maintaining more possession, they will actually have to start thinking again.

actually I think you might find SA did alright in 2009