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S14: All-SA final is closer

Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer

Cape Town – Barring a hell-freezing-over occurrence in Brisbane on Saturday, South Africa now boasts two Vodacom Super 14 semi-finalists in the Bulls and Stormers.

That was the outcome after key Antipodean fixtures on Friday where the Crusaders and Waratahs respectively elbowed the Brumbies and Hurricanes out of the last-four picture while nailing down their own spots.

Both teams were impressive in getting bonus-point wins, the Crusaders prevailing 40-22 in Christchurch and the Waratahs thumping the Hurricanes 32-16 in Sydney.

It moved Phil Waugh’s side to second on the table, with a final tally of 43 points, and the Crusaders to third with 41 from their own completed programme.

The Stormers, presently on 39 points and not in action until the much-publicised game against the “Bulls B” at Newlands on Saturday, were bumped into fourth for the time being, but almost certainly cannot slip lower than that now.

For that to happen, the injury-ravaged Reds (34 points) would have to beat the Highlanders by a cricket score on Saturday morning (SA time) and hope that the Bulls second-string also humble the Stormers by a crazy margin.

As things stand, even if the Reds were to draw level with Schalk Burger’s men on 39, they trail by a vast margin in the “for and against” department – the difference is 110 points.

So the Stormers go into the last encounter of the weekend knowing that they are pretty much in the semis – already a happy event as they haven’t managed that since 2004.

But the incentive of a lucrative home semi-final is what will really drive them on against Bakkies Botha’s generally makeshift troops – a straight win would do it, minus even the need for a bonus point.

That would lift them to second spot on 43 points, alongside the Waratahs on that tally but safe in the knowledge that their points differential is again decisively better: it is 69 points as things stand and a Stormers win obviously only improves that.

The likeliest scenario, then, is semis next weekend featuring the table-topping Bulls against the Crusaders in Soweto, and the Stormers facing the Waratahs at Newlands.

Neither South African side would have any special reason to be fearful of that billing, and lick their lips also at the prospect of possibly facing each other - at full strength - a week later in an all-South African 2010 showpiece in the competition.

The Stormers would be buoyed by the knowledge that they impressively shut out the Waratahs 27-6 at Newlands much earlier in the programme, on February 20, while the Bulls recently pipped their likely semis opponents, the Crusaders, 40-35 in a controversial meeting at Loftus where the New Zealanders felt they were a bit diddled by the match officials.

History shows that it is never easy making the long haul for Super 14 semi-finals, especially as the Crusaders had only just returned home from our shores.

And while the Crusaders contemplate packing their bags and crossing time zones anew, the vast nucleus of the Bulls squad have enjoyed a week off rugby to freshen up for the knockout phase.

But Richie McCaw’s street-smart team have notably lifted their game of late, suddenly putting much more faith in their outside backs again: they sealed their bonus point with the fourth try against the Brumbies as early as the 51st minute on Friday, and that takes some doing against such a well-drilled outfit.

In the unlikely event that the Stormers mess it up against the weakened Bulls, they would face the prospect of remaining fourth and tackling the same foes at maximum strength only a week on at Orlando Stadium.

Another possibility is that, if they can only draw against the Bulls ‘B’ and thus earn two points (or perhaps three if it is a high-scoring stalemate), the Stormers would leapfrog the Crusaders into third and have to play the Waratahs in their Sydney stronghold – an entirely different and undesired kettle of fish.

Phil Waugh’s team are tough to beat there and their pack ground the Hurricanes’ eight into submission - particularly in the first half - on Friday, despite the ongoing absence of their destructive loosehead prop Benn Robinson (still to be sidelined for several weeks).

That ought to be all the motivation the Stormers need to put the “Vodacom Cup” Bulls side firmly in their places …
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