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By Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town – The Bulls and Stormers took advantage of sultry evening conditions at their respective strongholds to turn the heat on highly-touted Australian opponents in the Vodacom Super 14 on Saturday.
The champions would have been slightly the more contended as they soared to another bonus-point win against the Brumbies in prevailing 50-32 and staying in top spot on the table after two rounds.
At Newlands, meanwhile, the Stormers may have failed for a second successive week to get four tries – this time they notched three – but that didn’t take too much gloss off a really impressive 27-6 shutout of a Wallaby-laden (and increasingly frustrated and tetchy) Waratahs outfit.
With these the only two unbeaten South African sides, the weekend programme will only have strengthened many pundits’ pre-season beliefs that in the Pretoria and Cape Town franchises lie this country’s best hopes of semi-final qualification.
Already the Sharks have a really uphill battle to reignite their own campaign with ominous successive defeats and now a punishing five-match overseas leg which could leave them dead in the water, title-wise, even before they return to home soil.
It remains difficult to escape a feeling that something has gone “cold” at the Absa Stadium, where only some 21 000 people pitched up to see their derby defeat to the Cheetahs – a poor turnout for so early in a new campaign – and on-field buzz and artistry are in short supply.
Perhaps they should not be written off just yet, because the Sharks have a proud reputation for touring comfortably: they won three of four matches in Australia and New Zealand last season.
But first up for them on Friday are the Crusaders, and you could argue that John Smit’s troops are playing them at a really bad time, considering the Christchurch-based team’s shock 41-20 humbling at the hands of the Reds -- redemption is sure to uppermost in home-side minds!
The Bulls and Stormers now play “reverse” matches, with Victor Matfield and company entertaining the Waratahs, and the Brumbies hoping for better fortunes off the Highveld at Newlands.
Aspects of the Bulls’ game were less than perfect at some stages of their victory this week; they trailed by a point at half-time and then 27-20 early in the second period, against a Brumbies outfit impressive initially for their physicality and Rocky Elsom’s powerful ball-carrying.
But the Bulls, sparked by Morne Steyn’s personal avalanche of points (35), which included two twinkle-toed tries, got their defence a bit tighter as the match developed and then moved up an attacking gear themselves as the tourists wilted amidst the demands of repetitive tackling and retreating.
There was a scare for the title-holders in the second half when Pierre Spies, who was all restless energy at No 8 and is showing commendable devotion to donkeywork as well as his trademark barnstorming runs, winced in agony after an awkward fall on a leg.
He appeared, though, to run it off, even if he was replaced with a few minutes left on the clock.
In the late game of the weekend, the Waratahs, like their compatriots from Canberra, started like a house on fire against the Stormers, pinning them back and getting some solid shoves on at scrum-time.
But composure is a key hallmark of the Stormers class of 2010, it seems, and they refused to be rattled in what was really their first big test of mettle after a lukewarm opening win against the frail Lions.
Indeed, as the match progressed it was the Waratahs who were being increasingly “blown” at the set-piece.
The Stormers had to cope with the setback of losing captain Schalk Burger early on to a hamstring problem – it is a concern that he seems more broadly injury-prone at present – but that was the cue for Andries Bekker to take charge of things impressively and for Pieter Louw to come off the bench and fit like the proverbial glove.
You had to give the Stormers pack collectively top marks for work-rate and mongrel in open play, while Ricky Januarie silenced his critics with a really commanding display at scrum-half.
He broke beautifully to set up one of two tries for Bryan Habana, the new darling of Newlands, and also did his bit in getting under the skin of Waratahs captain Phil Waugh, who got involved in more “handbags” than perhaps a skipper should.
Toward the end of the match, in fact, with the Waratahs running repeatedly into a brickwall-like, superbly organised defence, Waugh was seen to elbow Gio Aplon in the face before the wing retaliated with a smack to the flank’s own chops.
Will Waugh escape disciplinary sanction and run out at the helm of his side at Loftus next Saturday? Watch the press, as they say …
Cape Town – The Bulls and Stormers took advantage of sultry evening conditions at their respective strongholds to turn the heat on highly-touted Australian opponents in the Vodacom Super 14 on Saturday.
The champions would have been slightly the more contended as they soared to another bonus-point win against the Brumbies in prevailing 50-32 and staying in top spot on the table after two rounds.
At Newlands, meanwhile, the Stormers may have failed for a second successive week to get four tries – this time they notched three – but that didn’t take too much gloss off a really impressive 27-6 shutout of a Wallaby-laden (and increasingly frustrated and tetchy) Waratahs outfit.
With these the only two unbeaten South African sides, the weekend programme will only have strengthened many pundits’ pre-season beliefs that in the Pretoria and Cape Town franchises lie this country’s best hopes of semi-final qualification.
Already the Sharks have a really uphill battle to reignite their own campaign with ominous successive defeats and now a punishing five-match overseas leg which could leave them dead in the water, title-wise, even before they return to home soil.
It remains difficult to escape a feeling that something has gone “cold” at the Absa Stadium, where only some 21 000 people pitched up to see their derby defeat to the Cheetahs – a poor turnout for so early in a new campaign – and on-field buzz and artistry are in short supply.
Perhaps they should not be written off just yet, because the Sharks have a proud reputation for touring comfortably: they won three of four matches in Australia and New Zealand last season.
But first up for them on Friday are the Crusaders, and you could argue that John Smit’s troops are playing them at a really bad time, considering the Christchurch-based team’s shock 41-20 humbling at the hands of the Reds -- redemption is sure to uppermost in home-side minds!
The Bulls and Stormers now play “reverse” matches, with Victor Matfield and company entertaining the Waratahs, and the Brumbies hoping for better fortunes off the Highveld at Newlands.
Aspects of the Bulls’ game were less than perfect at some stages of their victory this week; they trailed by a point at half-time and then 27-20 early in the second period, against a Brumbies outfit impressive initially for their physicality and Rocky Elsom’s powerful ball-carrying.
But the Bulls, sparked by Morne Steyn’s personal avalanche of points (35), which included two twinkle-toed tries, got their defence a bit tighter as the match developed and then moved up an attacking gear themselves as the tourists wilted amidst the demands of repetitive tackling and retreating.
There was a scare for the title-holders in the second half when Pierre Spies, who was all restless energy at No 8 and is showing commendable devotion to donkeywork as well as his trademark barnstorming runs, winced in agony after an awkward fall on a leg.
He appeared, though, to run it off, even if he was replaced with a few minutes left on the clock.
In the late game of the weekend, the Waratahs, like their compatriots from Canberra, started like a house on fire against the Stormers, pinning them back and getting some solid shoves on at scrum-time.
But composure is a key hallmark of the Stormers class of 2010, it seems, and they refused to be rattled in what was really their first big test of mettle after a lukewarm opening win against the frail Lions.
Indeed, as the match progressed it was the Waratahs who were being increasingly “blown” at the set-piece.
The Stormers had to cope with the setback of losing captain Schalk Burger early on to a hamstring problem – it is a concern that he seems more broadly injury-prone at present – but that was the cue for Andries Bekker to take charge of things impressively and for Pieter Louw to come off the bench and fit like the proverbial glove.
You had to give the Stormers pack collectively top marks for work-rate and mongrel in open play, while Ricky Januarie silenced his critics with a really commanding display at scrum-half.
He broke beautifully to set up one of two tries for Bryan Habana, the new darling of Newlands, and also did his bit in getting under the skin of Waratahs captain Phil Waugh, who got involved in more “handbags” than perhaps a skipper should.
Toward the end of the match, in fact, with the Waratahs running repeatedly into a brickwall-like, superbly organised defence, Waugh was seen to elbow Gio Aplon in the face before the wing retaliated with a smack to the flank’s own chops.
Will Waugh escape disciplinary sanction and run out at the helm of his side at Loftus next Saturday? Watch the press, as they say …
