Bok duo carry WP challenge

Former WP and Bok hooker Charl Marais reckons that at this stage of the domestic season it all comes down to who wants it the most, which team has the most hunger. He lauded the Sharks for their “unbelievable commitment” in their semifinal win over a Blue Bulls team that he believes may not have been quite as hungry and who he feels were too arrogant in the final 10 minutes when they should have been kicking for goal.

Marais reckons though that WP, after a nine year silverware drought which stretches back to his last game for the province in the 2001 final, also against the Sharks, might be the team that wants it the most. And it is interesting to note that he feels it is the Springboks in the team, in particular Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers, who drive and inspire that hunger.

“I was an MC last year at a function where both Schalk and Jean were guests,” said Marais.

“At the time the Boks were doing well, and I asked them if there was anything that could still motivate them after all they had achieved. They both were adamant that there was one thing they still wanted to do, there was one burning ambition, and that was to win a trophy for WP or the Stormers.”

This might be what makes WP different to some of the other Currie Cup teams that have suffered in recent years when their Springboks have returned. Last year, for instance, it was felt in Durban that the Sharks’ semi-final exit to the Cheetahs was down to what became known as “the Bok curse”.

Up to the knock-out stages, the Sharks, with pretty much a no-name brand team, had dominated the Currie Cup, ending the league stage top. However, when the Boks returned, the side struggled to retain momentum. The Sharks had won the Currie Cup the previous season, and it may have been understandable that some of their Boks weren’t as hungry as they should have been.

With WP it's different – there is the nine years of drought to spur them on, and they have in Burger and De Villiers two leaders who have been through too many tough times with both Province and the Stormers.

“When I made my debut for WP while still under-21 in 2002 I really thought I would be winning lots of trophies with the union, but it hasn’t happened and it does hurt quite a bit,” said De Villiers in a recent interview.

“I have grown up with WP, it is in my blood. When it was announced that I would be coming back from Munster, there was a lot of speculation that I might go elsewhere, but that was never an option for me. I wanted to come back to WP, and winning a trophy for the union was a big motivation.”

Burger, who appears to have inspired WP to grow an extra arm and leg since he returned for the last league game against the Sharks, has a similar attitude.

“I am just tired of losing and I want to put that right. We have enjoyed a good year and we have made a lot of progress but we need to win trophies,” said Burger when he returned as WP captain.

For Burger it was a case of so near yet so far in the recent Super 14, where the Stormers lost the final to the Bulls. The experience of finishing second will provide extra motivation for him, while De Villiers admitted to a touch of frustration watching the Stormers successes in the Super season without being part of it.

“I was playing with a great bunch of guys at Munster and we had our own goals that I was absorbed with, but there were times I wished I was back home playing for the Stormers,” admitted De Villiers.

Both Burger and De Villiers have travelled a long road with WP, and for both of them the day that most Stormers fans would like to forget was the nadir of their careers. The match in question was of course the 2005 Super 12 clash against the Bulls at Loftus, a game where the Pretoria team broke a drought against the Cape team by winning 75-14.

The memory of those dark days will be part of the motivation spurring Burger and De Villiers on, and it's a massive plus for WP as the two stalwarts are the most influential players in the team, the men who around which everything happens and the players who inspire those around them.

Burger in particular has almost single-handedly responsible for bringing back the hard edge to WP in the past few weeks, and the way he blotted out the aspirations of the equally talismanic Juan Smith in the semi-final against the Cheetahs should be seen as a warning to the Sharks.

Burger and De Villiers are the men they need to get past in the final in Durban next Saturday, and it won’t be easy against two players who are just so desperate to taste the one success that they for too long have been denied.