I had a read over all that I’d written in the last few months and I noticed a certain sport that was missing entirely from my repertoire. That sport is of course, the wonderful game of rugby union. I certainly have spoken extensively on the issue, usually with a late night conviction that can only come after one too many Rovers drinks specials. Those observations have ranged extensively, from Meyer Bosman’s poor defence to Charl McLeod’s general descent into fully fledged “Januarie madness”. Just like the aforementioned Springbok scrumhalf he seems to have lost all ability remain calm at the foot of a ruck or if a referee raises his arm to indicate a penalty. That gesture seems push him over the edge into a frenzy, similar to the state you may find yourself after ingesting a dose or two of adrenochrome. I have even spoken many times on the subject of Bismarck tucking Janie in every night in what can only be considered as a rather perplexing expression of their brotherly love. Get a TV in your room Janie, you surely have a few buffaloes lying around considering you are a doctor and a springbok. But let me not drag myself off topic here.
The true reasoning for this article is that the Super 15 has finally entered the playoff stages, although for some teams, like the Sharks and the Waratahs, they have been playing knockout rugby for some time now. This is not a moment of reflection on the season but rather of the spirited, bloody-minded display the Sharks put on at fortress Loftus last weekend and a look forward to their mouth-watering clash in Nelson this weekend. The Sharks it must be said have coughed and spluttered throughout the campaign, failing to hit top gear for anything near 80 minutes of rugby. They had threatened on occasion to unleash a commanding, composed performance but that performance never came until this past weekend. The difference from that performance to any other is that they started in minute 4, not minute 40. It must also be noted that this performance came against the defending champions, who were on a six game unbeaten run at a venue that they had gone 20 games unbeaten at until going down to the Highlanders earlier this season. It was no mean feat, and on the day that stalwarts, Victor Matfield, Fourie Du Preez and Bakkies Botha, in his hundredth match, were to bow out and say goodbye to the supporters that they had bled blue for. And bleed they did.
This was a game of test match intensity and it produced an epic performance from both teams to show that SA rugby is in rude health ahead of the defence of the William Webb Ellis trophy later this year. In a season that has stopped and started for the Sharks, with constant rotation to keep players fit for the ludicrously extended tournament, it came as no surprise that the Sharks clicked on the day in which John Plumtree finally selected his strongest combination. This combination included an ace in the pack, Frederic Michalak, and relegated the Springbok captain to the bench. Surely Peter De Villiers has to see now that Bismarck should get the nod ahead of John Smit for the big matches in New Zealand. Perhaps it is better that Smit should find himself on the field in the dying embers of a game where composure is essential. We need only look at the 2007 Super 14 final between these same two sides as an example of what his experience means at the end of a match. On that day both he and Percy Montgomery found themselves hopeless on the bench while Bryan Habana tiptoed his way through the Sharks tiring defence and shattered the dreams of each and every Sharks supporter.
Looking ahead to the upcoming clash with the Crusaders, the Sharks can take a certain degree of confidence into the match. Reflecting on their previous meeting, all the way across the equator in London, we see a couple things have changed since then. On that day in sunny Twickenham the Sharks were torn apart in the midfield by a rampant Sonny Bill Williams. I wouldn’t go so far as to say he hasn’t reached those heights since, but he certainly has lost a bit of his unstoppable aura since the humble cheetahs managed prove PDV at least partially correct. And we must not forget that the midfield that the Sharks fielded that day was without the irrepressible Patrick Lambie and the newly acquired mercurial talents of a certain French playmaker. On that day, like many others throughout the season, the Sharks only managed to show up in the second half after haemorrhaging points throughout the first 40 minutes. One only feels that if they manage to show up as they did against the Bulls then it may be a different kettle of fish this weekend. Another aspect of that match was the lack of clean set piece ball the Sharks were able to lay their hands on, especially at scrum time. Need I remind you that John Smit started that day at loosehead prop, which probably won’t be the case this coming weekend. The lineout, so often an Achilles heel for the Sharks this year was solid this past weekend, against perhaps the strongest lock pairing this country has ever seen and was the platform for arguably the set piece try of the season with the born again JP Pietersen sending the evergreen Stefan Terblanche over in the corner.
It is Terblanche and Meyer Bosman who will have to be at the top of their game this weekend. One gets the sense that Dan Carter and co will attack the channel between Frederic Michalak and Meyer Bosman more extensively than the Bulls did. For all the Frenchman’s brilliance on attack, there are still questions to be asked about his willingness and ability to stop a rampaging Sonny Bill. Looking at the Crusaders they have also not been in prime form in the past few weeks but they have made a habit of winning tight matches. They will also be boosted by the return of Sonny Bill Williams and their top try scorer Shaun Maitland as they seek to make the semi finals for the 13th time in franchise history. They have however lost at “home” this season, going down to the Highlanders in week 10 at the same ground. The weather may also prove to be a factor with heavy rain predicted Friday and a good chance of it repeating on Saturday. If this is the case then it should play into the Crusaders hands as it will negate the ability of the Sharks to throw the ball around as they like to do. There is also a certain Daniel Carter, with his tactical kicking skills to consider should the match turn into a muddy battle.
Let us hope that it doesn’t get to that and these two sides put on a showcase for the game as they did when they met at Twickenham. Hopefully the Sharks will show up from the first minute and leave it all out there on the field. If the Sharks manage to overcome the difficulties surrounding travel and start the match with a full strength side there is no reason that they won’t be able to continue this unlikely run and head to the table topping Reds next week. Either way, next week will produce a matchup of a couple of the world’s best ball playing fly halves and hopefully both teams will serve up a classic of a semi-final.
Sala Kahle
Commodore Vegas
