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Last season the Stormers shocked everyone by nearly making the semi-finals and the Bulls were the ones suffering a hang-over from their 2007 success coupled with the departure of coach Heyneke Meyer. But now the Pretoria based outfit joins the Sharks in being the South African flag-bearers.
The Bulls are back to their best form and have rediscovered their old momentum, while the Stormers, after two defeats in three home matches, are staring down the barrel at the start of a season which includes a nightmare away leg featuring two trips across the Tasman Sea.
It all starts in a sense for the Stormers this weekend, when they get a chance to refute the theory that the Bulls and Sharks are a level above them by locking horns with their old enemy at Loftus. However, while the Bulls looked vulnerable in the last quarter of their win against the Lions, and will be without Bryan Habana this weekend, you wouldn’t bet much on the Stormers given the tense, mistake-ridden rugby they are playing.
They were again left to lament missed opportunities after their 14-8 defeat to the Blues at Newlands, but frankly the elementary errors they are making appear to be symptomatic of another problem.
Clever coach that he may be, Rassie Erasmus has never been renowned for his willingness to embrace the extra pressures that come with the job, and the media policy which so many in the Cape are unhappy with, and which in some quarters is interpreted as a lock-out of the public, gives the impression of a laager mentality.
When adopted by the Springboks over the years, this laager mentality has never been seen to work, and instead of easing pressure it only creates more pressure for a team that suddenly falls prey to a “it’s them against us” syndrome and instead of seeing friends and supporters in the stands, they see imaginary ogres and enemies.
Perhaps just a few adjustments here and there will see the Stormers click, but for now it does seem that the Stormers are a team that are more petrified of the consequences of failure than they are hungry for success, and this could be fuelled by the culture developing around the team.
While the Bulls are first and the Sharks are third after three rounds, it is not going to be plain sailing for either of them from here, with the Sharks in particular facing a potentially massive problem as they seek to replace blindside flank Jean Deysel, who went off with a knee injury against the Chiefs.
Deysel was a massive loss, and while the Sharks did well to repel the narrow driving assault of their opponents in those desperate final minutes of the game, it is probably true that the Chiefs wouldn’t have been so keen to back this avenue of attack had Deysel still been present.
Deysel was responsible for much of the Sharks go forward last year in the Currie Cup, and it was no coincidence that it was after he was introduced that the season turned for the better for the Durban team.
The Chiefs were extremely unfortunate to go down to the Sharks in a match where they lost out to several marginal TMO calls. The Sharks did not deserve to lose, but a draw would have been a fair result from a fixture where the quality and strength of the Chiefs forward play was most surprising.
Full marks to the Sharks though for the way they resisted the Chiefs in the final minutes, when the Hamilton based team were throwing everything in a driving assault with their forwards near the Sharks line.
Earlier it was a tactic that had brought them a try, but the Sharks repelled it by showing great determination and strong wrestling skills, perhaps a legacy of the many hours they spend doing just that in a sand-pit under the watchful eye of a martial arts expert in the off-season.
The Sharks nearly paid for a brain explosion from the unpredictable Frans Steyn, who tried to run the ball out in what should have been the final move of the match and ended up being turned over, conceding a free kick. Clearly this was a time when he should have kicked the ball out of there, so it did blot his performance.
Generally though the Sharks did make the right decisions, and as well as the defence it was their field kicking that got the Sharks home. They gained a lot of field position by exposing weaknesses in the Chiefs back three. Two of the three Sharks tries also came about because of perfectly weighted chips behind the quickly advancing Chiefs defence.
There are several teams under early pressure in the competition. Apart obviously from the Chiefs, the Crusaders are in the rare position of having to come back from a start which sees them with only one win from three matches.
Their play was much more encouraging though against a Hurricanes team that suddenly looks much more the part of title contenders than it did previously, and a bit of luck in the final 10 minute assault could have seen the champions home. Richie McCaw was back for the Crusaders, and he does make a massive difference to their game.
Weekend results
Reds 22 Cheetahs 3
Chiefs 15 Sharks 22
Brumbies 16 Western Force 25
Lions 9 Bulls 16
Stormers 8 Blues 14
Crusaders 24 Hurricanes 30
Waratahs 34 Highlanders 16
