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Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town – There was enough quality and dogged commitment on view from both the winning Crusaders and vanquished Stormers at Newlands on Saturday to suggest that both teams ought to remain among the key glory-seekers in Super Rugby 2011 as the run-in looms.
But there was also no doubt that the New Zealand visitors were going to revel in their massively satisfying 20-14 plunder of the home fortress before a huge crowd of some 48 000 – a significant proportion of whom, it must be said, stuck around afterwards to fete them and, in particular, the hottest new name in the rugby world, outrageously skilled inside centre Sonny Bill Williams.
Williams may not have earned the man-of-the-match award – that went to bulldozing Crusaders loosehead prop Wyatt Crockett, who almost unbelievably got both their tries – but he was heavily involved in the first and his wondrous ability in the off-load was again in glittering evidence.
More than an hour after the final whistle, hundreds of Capetonian supporters of the Cantabrians were still milling around in the street outside the Grand Stand, chanting “Sonny Bill, Sonny Bill” as they awaited the team’s emergence to board the team bus.
“Yes, it felt a bit like being at AMI Stadium (in Christchurch) at times,” quipped a philosophical, still fairly relaxed Schalk Burger, the Stormers captain, at the after-match press conference.
It had been a nail-biting game mostly of high calibre, with the lead switching hands several times and both teams having good try-scoring chances that were not taken, either through lack of composure or error at critical moments or because of awesome cover defence.
In the final analysis – Burger and Stormers coach Allister Coetzee were similarly magnanimous about the outcome – justice was just about done on the scoreboard, for this was a case of a visiting outfit overcoming great adversity to bring home the bacon.
Not only had the Crusaders been jinxed by injuries to key personnel ahead of the vital encounter, but the first half became a bit of a joke in disruption terms as a procession of backline injuries stretched their bench resources to the very limit.
And yet they somehow held firm to secure four precious log points to the Stormers’ one for finishing within a seven-point radius – the otherwise impressive Mat Berquist missing a late dropped goal by a narrow margin at least meant the home side banked something for their troubles.
In terms of the new-look tournament’s stipulations, the Stormers technically remain third overall because each of the three respective conference leaders must, dubiously, automatically occupy the top three slots under all circumstances.
But they have dropped to fourth in real terms, although they have a game in hand over all of the three teams now ahead of them.
The Blues top the standings with 47 points, next are Australia’s current finest the Reds with 45, then come the Crusaders (44) and the Stormers (43): the last-named team have played 10 matches to the others’ 11.
But the extra game can arguably be a curse, really, because the Stormers do not have any further byes while several teams around them will be guaranteed four bonus points when their last “off weekends” come around.
Also not helping the Stormers is that the gradient now looks steeper in their avid wish to finish in the top two overall and secure a home semi-final, whilst simultaneously staving off an extra, punishing sudden-death game during the finals series.
They are about to embark on their four-match overseas tour, starting with the Chiefs in Hamilton next Saturday, and it is probably the latest in the competition that a title-aspirant South African side will ever have made the long haul, given the greatly expanded season.
The fixtures facing them do not look too harrowing under the circumstances – save perhaps for the showdown in a fortnight with the pace-setting Blues – but it will be another serious test, all the same, of the Stormers’ reputation as good, comfortable tourists.
Of their remaining six matches in total, five are away, and even the last remaining home game on June 11 is a potentially taxing one: regardless of whether defending champions the Bulls are still in the race or not, the men from Pretoria are sure to “pitch up” for another derby bruiser, especially as Springbok considerations will be getting ever more important by then.
A further aspect to consider is that the Sharks, presently the next best South African conference side, earned a hard-fought full house of points in beating the Brumbies in Durban in the late kick-off on Saturday – they are now only four point adrift, although they have played an extra match, and will still believe they can haul in the Stormers.
Yet you also get a strong feeling that the Newlands-based franchise, so much steelier over the past two years, are not about to raise a white flag to anyone.
As Todd Blackadder, the Crusaders coach, pointed out on Saturday night: “There are still some 25 to 30 points waiting out there ... the competition has a long way to go.
“As it always does, I think it will go right down to the last couple of weeks.”
Cape Town – There was enough quality and dogged commitment on view from both the winning Crusaders and vanquished Stormers at Newlands on Saturday to suggest that both teams ought to remain among the key glory-seekers in Super Rugby 2011 as the run-in looms.
But there was also no doubt that the New Zealand visitors were going to revel in their massively satisfying 20-14 plunder of the home fortress before a huge crowd of some 48 000 – a significant proportion of whom, it must be said, stuck around afterwards to fete them and, in particular, the hottest new name in the rugby world, outrageously skilled inside centre Sonny Bill Williams.
Williams may not have earned the man-of-the-match award – that went to bulldozing Crusaders loosehead prop Wyatt Crockett, who almost unbelievably got both their tries – but he was heavily involved in the first and his wondrous ability in the off-load was again in glittering evidence.
More than an hour after the final whistle, hundreds of Capetonian supporters of the Cantabrians were still milling around in the street outside the Grand Stand, chanting “Sonny Bill, Sonny Bill” as they awaited the team’s emergence to board the team bus.
“Yes, it felt a bit like being at AMI Stadium (in Christchurch) at times,” quipped a philosophical, still fairly relaxed Schalk Burger, the Stormers captain, at the after-match press conference.
It had been a nail-biting game mostly of high calibre, with the lead switching hands several times and both teams having good try-scoring chances that were not taken, either through lack of composure or error at critical moments or because of awesome cover defence.
In the final analysis – Burger and Stormers coach Allister Coetzee were similarly magnanimous about the outcome – justice was just about done on the scoreboard, for this was a case of a visiting outfit overcoming great adversity to bring home the bacon.
Not only had the Crusaders been jinxed by injuries to key personnel ahead of the vital encounter, but the first half became a bit of a joke in disruption terms as a procession of backline injuries stretched their bench resources to the very limit.
And yet they somehow held firm to secure four precious log points to the Stormers’ one for finishing within a seven-point radius – the otherwise impressive Mat Berquist missing a late dropped goal by a narrow margin at least meant the home side banked something for their troubles.
In terms of the new-look tournament’s stipulations, the Stormers technically remain third overall because each of the three respective conference leaders must, dubiously, automatically occupy the top three slots under all circumstances.
But they have dropped to fourth in real terms, although they have a game in hand over all of the three teams now ahead of them.
The Blues top the standings with 47 points, next are Australia’s current finest the Reds with 45, then come the Crusaders (44) and the Stormers (43): the last-named team have played 10 matches to the others’ 11.
But the extra game can arguably be a curse, really, because the Stormers do not have any further byes while several teams around them will be guaranteed four bonus points when their last “off weekends” come around.
Also not helping the Stormers is that the gradient now looks steeper in their avid wish to finish in the top two overall and secure a home semi-final, whilst simultaneously staving off an extra, punishing sudden-death game during the finals series.
They are about to embark on their four-match overseas tour, starting with the Chiefs in Hamilton next Saturday, and it is probably the latest in the competition that a title-aspirant South African side will ever have made the long haul, given the greatly expanded season.
The fixtures facing them do not look too harrowing under the circumstances – save perhaps for the showdown in a fortnight with the pace-setting Blues – but it will be another serious test, all the same, of the Stormers’ reputation as good, comfortable tourists.
Of their remaining six matches in total, five are away, and even the last remaining home game on June 11 is a potentially taxing one: regardless of whether defending champions the Bulls are still in the race or not, the men from Pretoria are sure to “pitch up” for another derby bruiser, especially as Springbok considerations will be getting ever more important by then.
A further aspect to consider is that the Sharks, presently the next best South African conference side, earned a hard-fought full house of points in beating the Brumbies in Durban in the late kick-off on Saturday – they are now only four point adrift, although they have played an extra match, and will still believe they can haul in the Stormers.
Yet you also get a strong feeling that the Newlands-based franchise, so much steelier over the past two years, are not about to raise a white flag to anyone.
As Todd Blackadder, the Crusaders coach, pointed out on Saturday night: “There are still some 25 to 30 points waiting out there ... the competition has a long way to go.
“As it always does, I think it will go right down to the last couple of weeks.”
