Rob Houwing

The occupants of rugby’s No 2 jersey, bless their souls, are seldom the first to be exulted in the form of bedroom wall pin-ups or magazine covers. (Cauliflower ears, of course, are only infrequently associated with the perception of good looks.)

And yet their role in the pack is such an important and influential one.

In many respects they represent the stabilising fulcrum of the scrum, their lineout throwing and appreciation of the associated calls and nuances in that department is supposed to assure and mature like a fine cabernet sauvignon, and they are commonly expected, like cricket’s wicketkeepers, to become involved in the general gee-up process for the collective troops.

So I can think of a few people in Durban and Cape Town, ahead of Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup semi-finals at these coastal hubs, who have heaved well-developed sighs of relief that Messrs Bismarck du Plessis, for the Sharks, and Western Province’s Deon Fourie will be at their stations against the Blue Bulls and Cheetahs respectively.

In each case, possible absence might have affected the likelihood of both teams progressing to the October 30 showpiece more substantially than is realised.

And that prospect wasn’t too far away after Saturday’s meeting between these sides in the last programme of round-robin fixtures: Du Plessis limped out of the fray in the second half favouring one ankle, while Fourie was cited for an indiscretion after his hand “made contact with the facial area” ironically of his very opposite number during what might be termed “a spot of afters”.

Now both are clear to play, for the different reasons mentioned, and their respective teams’ prospects suddenly look rosier as a result.

Certainly the Springbok Du Plessis is a very necessary horse for the Absa Stadium “course” against the defending champions from Pretoria.

In many respects he is the answer as an enforcer – or “meanie”, if you prefer – to Bakkies Botha, the combustible tight-five rival who will run out for the Bulls.

Du Plessis gets in faces in other ways, too … his hand-off on the drive is a strong point of his game, while his strength and zeal at the breakdown is a great aid in the turnovers quest.

He is fast restoring his known, best capability after a frustratingly lengthy period of recuperation which saw him miss the entire 2010 Tri-Nations, a competition he had personally illuminated – especially the home leg -- in an altogether rosier Bok campaign a year earlier.

Provincial understudy Craig Burden is making a solid advance himself, but the fitness green light for Du Plessis means a significantly greater chance of the Sharks gaining ascendancy in an area they doubtless desire to on Saturday: the front row.

In tandem with his brother Jannie and Beast Mtawarira, they will seek to heap pressure on the less experienced, expected opposition combo of Dean Greyling, Chiliboy Ralepelle and Werner Kruger.

Burden, after all, is a retreaded wing who falls more greatly into the Schalk Brits-like “run-around” category of hooker, and surrenders some 12kg to the crustier Du Plessis at scrum-time.

Had he been promoted through necessity into the starting line-up (and the Sharks cannot presently call on a certain chunky slab of Springbok captaincy either, let’s not forget) the Bulls might have been feeling a little more optimistic, with due respect to terrier-like Burden, of at least achieving parity in the fiercest heat of the set-piece.

It is also worth keeping in mind that the Bulls are now minus Gary Botha, another no-frills hooker, for the remainder of the campaign and Ralepelle has been given an overdue, if slightly inadvertent, opportunity to demonstrate his mettle as a starter in a truly “crunch” first-class fixture.

But if the Sharks are buoyed by the medical clearance for Du Plessis, then the acquittal of Fourie, down in the Cape, on a foul-play charge – rare, for him, which may have helped a wee bit in saving his bacon? – will have been greeted with equal or even greater in-camp whooping.

Province, remember, have already seen the sidelining for the rest of 2010 of their “number one No 2” Tiaan Liebenberg, so a no-show for Fourie, who was all bustling energy in the 33-21 downing of the Sharks at Newlands, might have been disastrous.

They would have been forced into fielding Hanyani Shimange, who we know can be a very good player and boasts Springbok experience (albeit that his last Test appearance was against Scotland some four and a half years ago).

But the 32-year-old’s slightly cruel nickname of “Splinters” is well-founded because he is so much more accustomed to bench status than involvement in run-on XVs.

When last did he play 80 minutes of rugby at the level of Currie Cups semis intensity? You might have to wind the clock back to the days of Ferdi and Brad in the Big Brother household!

And if Shimmy were to have run out of puff, something for which he could not have been faulted, Province’s decidedly rookie substitute would have been Callie Visagie or Sidney Tobias, the U21 son of flyhalf icon Errol – not ideal when your Cheetahs opponents will field Adriaan Strauss in the position, a high-calibre foe doubtless bidding anew to squeeze himself into the Bok end-of-year-tour mix.

Theirs can be a dark netherworld but suddenly, as far as the Currie Cup semi-finals are concerned, a couple of hookers are basking in the sunlight of kind fortune.

The same no doubt applies to their relieved coaches John Plumtree and Allister Coetzee …

Rob Houwing is Sport24’s chief writer and winner of the New Media category at the 2010 SAB Sports Journalist of the Year awards.

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