It is fairly well known that there is bad blood between the sea-side cousins from Western Province and Natal. Apparently, things culminated in the signing of a Natal boy (Bob Skinstad) and the "theft" he inspired of the Natal black for the Stormers’ jersey.
These bad tempers and Frederico Mendez's shocking line out throws conspired to make the first 40 minutes of today's Province Natal match some of the worst I've seen at this level.
It is difficult to blame Tappe Henning for the poor flow of the game - most agree that the best a referee can do is blow the game. It is amazing, however, that SOuth Africa's most pedantic ref attracts these error filled games.
Bringing Shimange on after 30 minutes must represent a lifeline to the Bok reserve hooker. His first line out was solid, but his scrumming was instantly shown as inferior to both Mendez and his opposite number on the day, his Springbok captain and opposition for the Bok jersey, John Smit.
Mendez has been a revelation in the way he has transformed the Province scrum. His low packing has resulted in opposition struggling for power. Just as the Argentinean "Bajada" was inspired by their German coach, let's hope Mendez can impart the technique to Shimange.
But today's match is concerning. Concerning because of the gulf between the number one side in the country, the Bulls and the apparent number two, Western Province. The gulf exists because of a number of factors:
Poor tackling (example: Seconds' poor position on Reese allowing the big Natal centre to drag him 15 meters over the goal line).
Abysmal support play (exemplified by the loss of a possible two tries due to lack of support at the breakdown - once in the 28th minute as Gus Theron sped to within 20 meters and no one had run up in support to protect and recycle the ball, and again in the 35th minute as a Province ruck within 10 meters was turned over)
Poor phase play (WP have potent backs, but their lack of successful penetration off primary phase ball is because it is off primary phase ball - their success is almost always from counter attack)
50/50 play (as demonstrated by Schalk Burger's poor pass to De Villiers that resulted in a Sharks' try).
The Egon Seconds show in the second half aside, this match left as many question marks as the WP win over Natal at Newlands. In addition to some good grubbers, Grant and De Kock played well for position. But the quality of the game was hardly much better.
If Province make these mistakes against the Bulls in the loose - like they did last week - they are going to get hammered should they play them in the final.
All that aside, I do feel sorry for Neil de Kock. Scrum and fly halves typically look as good as the quality of ball they receive. Neil de Kock played exactly that well today, as he struggled to fight off marauding Natal players at the loose. Frankly maybe he played a bit better.
For Natal, there is not much to be said. I worry about the enigma that is Monty, however. He had two vintagely shocking moments under the high ball today, and then an equally vintage moment 15 minutes into the second half, as he backed himself and ran through the Province line. Come on Mont, get your head together. With your growing maturity and solid kicking, South Africa needs more of your sniping runs - and some guts and presence under the high ball.
The whole Russell debate was given some resolution today. It seemed that De Wet had been given the task of marking him. Twice Barry expertly took him around the ankles – despite the difference in pace between the two. I wonder if South African rugby can provide the play that creates opportunities for game breakers. Witness the marking of Monty after his match in Edinburgh. It poses some questions for how we use De Villiers and Habana going forward. But I believe that Russell’s brilliance and lack of ideas as to how to put him into space have resulted in the end of his international aspirations.
Today's game also asks some real questions about whether South Africa can field five competitive sides for the Super 14. It remains my opinion that a Super 10 was the best format for the competition - less rugby for our tiring players and higher quality.
