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Rob Houwing
Provided that the derby-heavy initial stages don’t leave too much blood on the collective South African deck, I believe that a rare trio of our teams (normally it is just one, or maximum two) will be strongly in the running for Super Rugby honours in the re-jigged 2011 competition.
All of the Sharks, defending champions the Bulls and last year’s runners-up the Stormers ought to retain a healthy interest in proceedings as the competition hits its climax as late as the first bit of July.
And yes, the order in which I have placed them above is also my forecast for how they will fare purely in terms of South African bragging rights (let’s disregard for purposes of this article the matter of whether any of them actually wins it).
With respect to the Cheetahs and Lions, I suspect I am not alone in suggesting that notable improvements on their 2010 showings – in the latter case things could hardly get worse, could they? – will be the ceiling of their ambitions.
So it’s the Sharks to head my “podium” from an all-South African perspective, after I gave a lot of thought to the area many critics see as critical to 2011 fortunes: squad depth.
I fancy them to marginally elbow the wily old Bulls into SA “second” slot ... and that, of course, also means I have downgraded the Stormers a tad after their commendable achievement in making the Soweto showpiece last year.
Before any Stormers fans go too apoplectic, a quick whip-around of some senior colleagues at Sport24 indicates just how close and hard-to-pick the South African challenge will be in 2011: publisher/editor Tank Lanning backs Bulls, Stormers, Sharks in that order, while managing editor Garrin Lambley goes Stormers, Bulls, Sharks!
So my strong Sharks expectation is certainly not even shared by the good folk within my own office walls; how can I expect rich levels of concurrence countrywide?
Still, it remains my conviction that the Sharks have the most comforting pool of stubbly customers to head the SA onslaught in a season where players will, almost certainly, drop like the proverbial flies from time to time through injury.
My seemingly doom-laden prediction for the Stormers comes with a proviso: if Lady Luck deals a kind hand to them, and they amazingly steer clear of serious injury setback (though first-choice hooker Tiaan Liebenberg is already a rueful casualty for a big chunk of the event) then there is probably no reason why they cannot press hard again to actually win it.
Bluntly, I do fear for their depth, especially if they were to lose, say, their top lock Andries Bekker or any of their Burger-Louw-Vermeulen obvious loose forward kingpins – they’d be left in that instance with only the workmanlike Pieter Louw boasting known Super Rugby experience/competence.
As much as their intended faith in a number of current or very recent under-21s is admirable in a number of ways, aren’t they forgetting that many of the “kids” in that category do not yet even have Currie Cup game-time beneath their belts, never mind the searing demands of a level even higher than that?
If they do need to call on such rookies as Gary van Aswegen, Siyabonga Ntubeni and the still Currie Cup-light Rynhardt Elstadt, the Stormers will be pretty much asking them to bypass the obvious stepping stone of our premier domestic competition and sparkle straight away amongst the Southern Hemisphere’s finest. It is a tall order.
The Newlands franchise do, at least, have a galaxy of seasoned, skilful and often versatile options among the outside backs, not to mention consistently sound defensive structure throughout the ranks and known comfort in overseas travel.
But I feel the Sharks have an edge this year – arguably even over the been-there-done-that Bulls – in terms of back-up possibilities across the park. And the crucial difference will be that many of their “bench-men” already have very established credentials at first-class level, which is going to be important.
Who wouldn’t want to be in John Plumtree’s position, for example, in picking his “loosies” from a gnarly, proven pool of Willem Alberts, Jacques Botes, Keegan Daniel, Jean Deysel and Ryan Kankowski? Or in mulling over his front-row dilemma where a truly senior Springbok or two isn’t always guaranteed a starting role?
Throw in the ability of backline players like Patrick Lambie, Meyer Bosman, JP Pietersen and even veteran Stefan Terblanche to be able to operate across various positions in emergencies or otherwise, and you have the makings of a compelling, all-bases-covered challenge for honours.
As far as the Bulls are concerned, I’m pretty sure they will be “thereabouts” at the very least, especially with that maestro Fourie du Preez back pulling the scrumhalf strings (and fiery little Francois Hougaard for dream cover, by the way) and particularly buxom stocks at loose forward and lock.
They have at least five enticing options in the second row, for instance, in the Matfield-Botha old firm, plus Danie Rossouw, Flip van der Merwe and Juandre Kruger – any of the last three would waltz into starting berths at many other Super Rugby franchises.
Yet the champions don’t seem to have nearly as impressive a reservoir at fullback, wing or centre and may be in just a spot of front-row bother if standout prop Gurthro Steenkamp (touch wood he doesn’t, of course) gets crocked.
I am also tipping the Sharks for South African supremacy partly on the grounds of their Currie Cup semi-final triumph over the Bulls at the end of last season, in which they really fronted up to the Pretoria visitors physically.
That may have been a wee signal of a change in 2011 to the domestic bragging-rights barometer ...
Rob is Sport24's chief writer
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
Provided that the derby-heavy initial stages don’t leave too much blood on the collective South African deck, I believe that a rare trio of our teams (normally it is just one, or maximum two) will be strongly in the running for Super Rugby honours in the re-jigged 2011 competition.
All of the Sharks, defending champions the Bulls and last year’s runners-up the Stormers ought to retain a healthy interest in proceedings as the competition hits its climax as late as the first bit of July.
And yes, the order in which I have placed them above is also my forecast for how they will fare purely in terms of South African bragging rights (let’s disregard for purposes of this article the matter of whether any of them actually wins it).
With respect to the Cheetahs and Lions, I suspect I am not alone in suggesting that notable improvements on their 2010 showings – in the latter case things could hardly get worse, could they? – will be the ceiling of their ambitions.
So it’s the Sharks to head my “podium” from an all-South African perspective, after I gave a lot of thought to the area many critics see as critical to 2011 fortunes: squad depth.
I fancy them to marginally elbow the wily old Bulls into SA “second” slot ... and that, of course, also means I have downgraded the Stormers a tad after their commendable achievement in making the Soweto showpiece last year.
Before any Stormers fans go too apoplectic, a quick whip-around of some senior colleagues at Sport24 indicates just how close and hard-to-pick the South African challenge will be in 2011: publisher/editor Tank Lanning backs Bulls, Stormers, Sharks in that order, while managing editor Garrin Lambley goes Stormers, Bulls, Sharks!
So my strong Sharks expectation is certainly not even shared by the good folk within my own office walls; how can I expect rich levels of concurrence countrywide?
Still, it remains my conviction that the Sharks have the most comforting pool of stubbly customers to head the SA onslaught in a season where players will, almost certainly, drop like the proverbial flies from time to time through injury.
My seemingly doom-laden prediction for the Stormers comes with a proviso: if Lady Luck deals a kind hand to them, and they amazingly steer clear of serious injury setback (though first-choice hooker Tiaan Liebenberg is already a rueful casualty for a big chunk of the event) then there is probably no reason why they cannot press hard again to actually win it.
Bluntly, I do fear for their depth, especially if they were to lose, say, their top lock Andries Bekker or any of their Burger-Louw-Vermeulen obvious loose forward kingpins – they’d be left in that instance with only the workmanlike Pieter Louw boasting known Super Rugby experience/competence.
As much as their intended faith in a number of current or very recent under-21s is admirable in a number of ways, aren’t they forgetting that many of the “kids” in that category do not yet even have Currie Cup game-time beneath their belts, never mind the searing demands of a level even higher than that?
If they do need to call on such rookies as Gary van Aswegen, Siyabonga Ntubeni and the still Currie Cup-light Rynhardt Elstadt, the Stormers will be pretty much asking them to bypass the obvious stepping stone of our premier domestic competition and sparkle straight away amongst the Southern Hemisphere’s finest. It is a tall order.
The Newlands franchise do, at least, have a galaxy of seasoned, skilful and often versatile options among the outside backs, not to mention consistently sound defensive structure throughout the ranks and known comfort in overseas travel.
But I feel the Sharks have an edge this year – arguably even over the been-there-done-that Bulls – in terms of back-up possibilities across the park. And the crucial difference will be that many of their “bench-men” already have very established credentials at first-class level, which is going to be important.
Who wouldn’t want to be in John Plumtree’s position, for example, in picking his “loosies” from a gnarly, proven pool of Willem Alberts, Jacques Botes, Keegan Daniel, Jean Deysel and Ryan Kankowski? Or in mulling over his front-row dilemma where a truly senior Springbok or two isn’t always guaranteed a starting role?
Throw in the ability of backline players like Patrick Lambie, Meyer Bosman, JP Pietersen and even veteran Stefan Terblanche to be able to operate across various positions in emergencies or otherwise, and you have the makings of a compelling, all-bases-covered challenge for honours.
As far as the Bulls are concerned, I’m pretty sure they will be “thereabouts” at the very least, especially with that maestro Fourie du Preez back pulling the scrumhalf strings (and fiery little Francois Hougaard for dream cover, by the way) and particularly buxom stocks at loose forward and lock.
They have at least five enticing options in the second row, for instance, in the Matfield-Botha old firm, plus Danie Rossouw, Flip van der Merwe and Juandre Kruger – any of the last three would waltz into starting berths at many other Super Rugby franchises.
Yet the champions don’t seem to have nearly as impressive a reservoir at fullback, wing or centre and may be in just a spot of front-row bother if standout prop Gurthro Steenkamp (touch wood he doesn’t, of course) gets crocked.
I am also tipping the Sharks for South African supremacy partly on the grounds of their Currie Cup semi-final triumph over the Bulls at the end of last season, in which they really fronted up to the Pretoria visitors physically.
That may have been a wee signal of a change in 2011 to the domestic bragging-rights barometer ...
Rob is Sport24's chief writer
Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.
