Awesome Currie Cup action
Northern hemisphere teams readily criticise the "basketball rugby" played during the Super 12 and Tri Nations. The return to classic test rugby in this years' Tri Nations is contrasted by a effervesant style in this years Currie Cup top 8.
When looking at the scoreline from Friday's match between the Leopards and the Cavaliers (the Leopards shaded the Cavaliers by 50 to 47) one would be forgiven by questioning the quality of defence and the game in general. But what a game of rugby! Whilst I'll disagree with Joost pretty often, he was dead right when he said at the end that it was a pity there had to be a loser. There are some fantastic youngsters coming through the ranks. Jongi Nokwe is something special, and plans must be made to include him in the Springbok squad for the end of year tour.
Talking of wings, Zahier Ryland's explosion onto the scene against the Lions was something to behold last weekend. He lacks height though and he will have to put in many a telling tackle to convince people that he is a top-class contender.
The champagne rugby being played has also proved to be the release of De Wet Barry. He was special against the Lions last week. He was explosive against the Sharks this week. Inside him, Peter Grant has begun to blossom. I wonder how much of an impact the skills of Andre Pretorius and Jaco van der Westhuizen are stifling the Boks on attack. Of course international players are going to have more space in the local competition, but the way our backs have been shut down (including the highly creative Jean de Villiers at 12) when they have made their limited attempts at primary phase attack, one has to look for some weakness.
De Wet's revival has accompanied the explosion of the Western Province backline and today's performance by Jean de Villiers drew a lot on the attacking organisation laid by Barry on his inside. In fact, I am sure Jake White must be thinking of a possible alternative centre pairing with Barry at 12 and De Villiers at 13.
The WP coaching staff must also be congratulated. We saw the Province backs create tries through set pieces today. One move involved Barry on the drift with pop pass from Grant to De Villiers on the scissors. Simple stuff that saw the number 13 in under the poles. On another occassion, the loosies joined Barry in a midfield rush who then popped the ball to another back on the loop round. It was, however, a little worrying that Province took their foot off the gas a bit in the second half. They were even better than the score suggests - as were the Sharks poor.
Sadly today's matches saw some spoiling and bad tempered play by forwards. The Lions were lucky not to have multiple players sent to the bin for repeatedly killing the ball later in the match. It resulted in a match that promised much being reduced to a scrappy affair in the second half. The Cheetahs will have reason to feel aggrieved at the referee's repeated warnings but lack of action. They drew close but struggled against the spoling tactics of the Lions on defence.
This constrasted to the performance of Mark Lawrence at Newlands however. The four yellow cards were a bit of a joke. Especially since the offences that earned them seemed far less serious than offences that went unpunished. Twice the Sharks rucked the heads of Province players. Barry blatantly tripped a Natal player. Those were worthy yellows. Not those earned by Pienaar or Shimange. Poor Shimange must be wondering what he needs to do to spend time on the field.
Lawrence's reading of the scrum also left something to be desired. Early penalties against Eddie Andrews for collapsing the scrum were a load of rubbish and unfortunately just gave those less appreciative of Andrews' efforts and scrum-time laws more to chirp about. The introduction of Frederico Mendez at Province has clearly inspired a new lower packing scrum. Deon Carstens shouders were clearly below his hips - Andrews had nowhere to go but down. When Lawrence did get it right and asked Carstens to lift his bind, John Smit was immediately popped - a sure sign of a front row under pressure.
Province have some under-recognised loosies. Besides the talents of Luke Watson, Henrik Gerber and Adri Badenhorst are workhorses who combined with Joe van Niekerk to utterly dominate the breakdown against the Sharks today. Justin Melk looks to be a find, and with Schalk Burger gives the Province team an embarrasment of riches in this department. Ross Skeate is making fantastic strides and White must be watching him carefully as potential backup to the Tri Nations All Star pairing of Botha and Matfield. Together with Andries Bekker (unavailable through injury today), we may have another star pairing in the making.
The Lions also have some under-recognised forwards in Wikus van Heerden and Willem Stolz. We need to protect these guys and find them opportunities.
If Jake White wants to rest some of his stars, there will be opportunities on the end of year tour to blood some youngsters by either using his stars as impact players or playing them for the first 40 minutes and then bringing on the youngsters.
But the Boks are shining in the Currie Cup and hopefully creating confidence amongst the many new exciting talents around them. Let's hope this can carried forward to the Super 14. We got excited during last year's Currie Cup to be disappointed in this year's Super 12. Skill levels appear to be much higher though.
Two issues that bug me: I was at Ellis Park last week for what has historically been one of the biggest encounters of the year - the Lions vs. Province. Then, as today at the Newlands match, the crowd size was pathetic. SA Rugby, you'ce got to get the crowds through the gates. Local game time support relates to the health of the game outside of the stadiums. The second issue is the booing at Newlands. It started about 12 years ago. It greeted Montgomery's return as a Shark today. Skinstad and Krige appealed to the crowds in their time to stamp it out. It has sadly become typical behaviour. It has no place. Newlands used be known for its knowledgeable support.
When looking at the scoreline from Friday's match between the Leopards and the Cavaliers (the Leopards shaded the Cavaliers by 50 to 47) one would be forgiven by questioning the quality of defence and the game in general. But what a game of rugby! Whilst I'll disagree with Joost pretty often, he was dead right when he said at the end that it was a pity there had to be a loser. There are some fantastic youngsters coming through the ranks. Jongi Nokwe is something special, and plans must be made to include him in the Springbok squad for the end of year tour.
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| Photo: Supersport |
The champagne rugby being played has also proved to be the release of De Wet Barry. He was special against the Lions last week. He was explosive against the Sharks this week. Inside him, Peter Grant has begun to blossom. I wonder how much of an impact the skills of Andre Pretorius and Jaco van der Westhuizen are stifling the Boks on attack. Of course international players are going to have more space in the local competition, but the way our backs have been shut down (including the highly creative Jean de Villiers at 12) when they have made their limited attempts at primary phase attack, one has to look for some weakness.
 |
| Photo: Rugby365 |
The WP coaching staff must also be congratulated. We saw the Province backs create tries through set pieces today. One move involved Barry on the drift with pop pass from Grant to De Villiers on the scissors. Simple stuff that saw the number 13 in under the poles. On another occassion, the loosies joined Barry in a midfield rush who then popped the ball to another back on the loop round. It was, however, a little worrying that Province took their foot off the gas a bit in the second half. They were even better than the score suggests - as were the Sharks poor.
Sadly today's matches saw some spoiling and bad tempered play by forwards. The Lions were lucky not to have multiple players sent to the bin for repeatedly killing the ball later in the match. It resulted in a match that promised much being reduced to a scrappy affair in the second half. The Cheetahs will have reason to feel aggrieved at the referee's repeated warnings but lack of action. They drew close but struggled against the spoling tactics of the Lions on defence.
This constrasted to the performance of Mark Lawrence at Newlands however. The four yellow cards were a bit of a joke. Especially since the offences that earned them seemed far less serious than offences that went unpunished. Twice the Sharks rucked the heads of Province players. Barry blatantly tripped a Natal player. Those were worthy yellows. Not those earned by Pienaar or Shimange. Poor Shimange must be wondering what he needs to do to spend time on the field.
Lawrence's reading of the scrum also left something to be desired. Early penalties against Eddie Andrews for collapsing the scrum were a load of rubbish and unfortunately just gave those less appreciative of Andrews' efforts and scrum-time laws more to chirp about. The introduction of Frederico Mendez at Province has clearly inspired a new lower packing scrum. Deon Carstens shouders were clearly below his hips - Andrews had nowhere to go but down. When Lawrence did get it right and asked Carstens to lift his bind, John Smit was immediately popped - a sure sign of a front row under pressure.
Province have some under-recognised loosies. Besides the talents of Luke Watson, Henrik Gerber and Adri Badenhorst are workhorses who combined with Joe van Niekerk to utterly dominate the breakdown against the Sharks today. Justin Melk looks to be a find, and with Schalk Burger gives the Province team an embarrasment of riches in this department. Ross Skeate is making fantastic strides and White must be watching him carefully as potential backup to the Tri Nations All Star pairing of Botha and Matfield. Together with Andries Bekker (unavailable through injury today), we may have another star pairing in the making.
The Lions also have some under-recognised forwards in Wikus van Heerden and Willem Stolz. We need to protect these guys and find them opportunities.
If Jake White wants to rest some of his stars, there will be opportunities on the end of year tour to blood some youngsters by either using his stars as impact players or playing them for the first 40 minutes and then bringing on the youngsters.
But the Boks are shining in the Currie Cup and hopefully creating confidence amongst the many new exciting talents around them. Let's hope this can carried forward to the Super 14. We got excited during last year's Currie Cup to be disappointed in this year's Super 12. Skill levels appear to be much higher though.
Two issues that bug me: I was at Ellis Park last week for what has historically been one of the biggest encounters of the year - the Lions vs. Province. Then, as today at the Newlands match, the crowd size was pathetic. SA Rugby, you'ce got to get the crowds through the gates. Local game time support relates to the health of the game outside of the stadiums. The second issue is the booing at Newlands. It started about 12 years ago. It greeted Montgomery's return as a Shark today. Skinstad and Krige appealed to the crowds in their time to stamp it out. It has sadly become typical behaviour. It has no place. Newlands used be known for its knowledgeable support.
posted at 11:04 PM
4 Comments:
Hi there.
I just love to read your posts. I picture you sitting with a pen & paper watching the games and jotting down your comments. Ever thought of kicking Joost out of his job? I agree with most of what you said, especially the booing at Newlands. I however must disagree on Dewet Barry. Yes, he performs brilliantly at Curriecup level, but he has a temper that he can't control. He just does stupid things, like sticking his boot out and tripping someone.
Don't want to ruin the budding friendship, but I feel that I have to tell you that I am a Bulls supporter, just in case...
De Wet is typical of a South African disease. I watched some old footage (SA vs NZ in Eden Park 1997). I think it was Glen Osborne who got away from the Boks and James Small's reaction was to chase after him and try and trip him.
These "brain explosions" need to be weeded out. Something like an attempted trip, stamping on heads, etc should result in the loss of the players match fee and suspension.
What is a Blue Bulls supporter doing in PE? Hopefully the new EC franchise with Pieter de Villiers in charge will enjoy your support.
I guess I should be unbiased n this blog, but the memory of that 75 - 14 embarrassment that the Stormers suffered is still fresh in my memory. I hope the Bulle get carrots this Saturday...
I have always been a Bulls supporter. I think I was about 8 or 9 when I started watching rugby with my dad. I wanted to play and thought it was very unfair that girls weren't allowed to play. I know ladies play now, but I think I am a bit old to even try to start now. Maybe someone is looking for a couch somewhere.
I support EP rugby whenever I can, but we don't have anything to support at the moment. To think of all the great players that started playing here and had to move away to be recognised. It is so sad.
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