25 March 2019, by: Quintin van Jaarsveld

SUPER RUGBY ROUND 6 – BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS

The biggest takeaways from the sixth round of Super Rugby from a South African perspective, according to Quintin van Jaarsveld.

How close it was for lightning to strike twice in Wellington. The last time the star players of the Stormers played at the Cake Tin was in the Springboks’ epic win over the All Blacks last September. The Cape franchise attempted to follow the Bok blueprint – banking on territory, set pieces and committed defence to counteract high-octane offence and Kiwi flair.

The 34-28 defeat will serve as a valuable case study for Bok coach Rassie Erasmus and the three other Super Rugby franchises when it comes to solving the puzzle that is New Zealand opposition. The game plan itself, the Stormers showed, was sound.

A good start gave the Capetonians a 6-0 lead and at half-time, they led 21-15, with both teams having scored two tries. It’s in the second half where the heavy reliance on defence started to take its toll on the visitors, yet, they led 28-27 with just over 10 minutes remaining before the hosts took the game away from them.

Seer lywe en harte by . (Foto: Getty)

— Netwerk24 Sport (@Netwerk24Sport)

What the hard-fought clash showed is that for power to trump pace, mistakes have to be kept to a bare minimum. Three of the Hurricanes’ tries were a direct consequence of errors. A botched lineout on the Stormers’ five-metre line gifted the ‘Canes their first try, and Wes Goosen twice exposed SP Marais in one-on-one situations down the touchline. Such mistakes, when one’s counterstrike is largely lineout drives and one-off runners, are tantamount to suicide.

It was a major missed opportunity for the spirited Stormers to pick up their first win in Wellington since 2001, but that they were still in with a shout right until the final whistle will please Erasmus and should motivate the other South African sides to employ a similar territory-based game plan against New Zealand teams.

The first hour wasn’t the most entertaining to watch, to put it mildly, but the Lions didn’t care. They knew they faced a tricky challenge against a Sunwolves side who were rather unlucky to have lost their last two home games in heart-breaking fashion against the Waratahs (31-30) and Reds (34-31) respectively.

With that in mind, the Lions accomplished their mission and did so comfortably in the end (37-24). It was a tough grind to get to the entertaining final quarter, but it was the patience they showed up until then that allowed them to score some great tries to end their tour opener on a high.

“I get the try, but it’s a team try.” -Malcolm Marx, Captain from .

Congratulations on the win!

— Singapore Sports Hub (@SGSportsHub)

It was a very un-Lions-like performance for the most part. The men from Johannesburg were content with sticking to the driving maul as their main attacking weapon, and it worked, with talismanic skipper Malcolm Marx bagging a brace. The forwards won this one: Marx, locks Rhyno Herbst and Marvin Orie, and Stephan Lewies, in the unfamiliar role of flank, were all impressive, and the visitors had the ascendency in the set pieces.

As a collective, they were pretty passive in open play it must be said. They didn’t dominate the collisions as they would’ve wanted to, and it therefore took longer than most expected for them to soften up the Sunwolves. Once the slow poison plan came together on the hour mark, the exciting backline got the opportunity to wake up the crowd and capitalise on the donkey work that had been done in the trenches.

What a way to crash back down to earth…Nepo Laulala’s bone-crunching hit on Rosko Specman summed up the game perfectly. The South African Conference leaders were absolutely smashed by the bottom-of-the-log Chiefs in front of an expectant crowd reduced to stunned silence.

The Chiefs have absolutely rampaged through the Bulls in Pretoria winning by 56-20.
✔
Is this & was this the performance that turns the Chiefs season around?
? ? ?

— SportsTalkNZ (@NZ_SportsTalk)

The Bulls simply didn’t show up, as though they were still on a bye. The competition demands nothing but 100% commitment every time a team takes to the pitch. The shock result was a reminder that if you’re not fully focused on the task at hand, you’re likely to pay for it, and the Bulls did so by being embarrassed 56-20 in front of their fans and losing their place atop the conference standings.

There’s no analysis needed; the Bulls lost the battle before it even began. Once they trailed 24-6 at half-time, there was no coming back against a team who were allowed to play their game at their pace. A humbling lesson for Pote Human’s charges and a “sad day for Bulls rugby” as Bulls and Bok legend Victor Matfield said on air.

Unlike the Bulls, the Sharks used the bye for introspection. The performance they put forth was exactly what coach Robert du Preez ordered. Not only did they bounce back from back-to-back losses, but they did so cleverly and comprehensively (28-14).

The Durban side, who were guilty of chasing tries at all costs prior to their week off, came back smarter, turning to ace goal-kicker Robert du Preez Jr. to keep the scoreboard ticking over against a side known to pile-up penalties. That’s ultimately what separated the sides, with the hosts leading 16-14 at the break despite being outscored two tries to one.

Here’s how the Sharks pulled out of a two-game slump and sent the Rebels back to Australia with nothing to show for their trip to Durbs

— AllOutRugby (@AllOutRugby)

Perhaps the desperation to get their campaign back on track forced the Sharks to abandon the ambitious and play to their strengths. Even with the Rebels competing well in the lineouts, the Sharks were able to build momentum, which they maintained throughout.

The Sharks drove home the psychological effect of leading the dance by doing something no team have done this season, shut down the men from Melbourne completely. It’s one thing for the Lions to stage an epic comeback to end the Rebels’ unbeaten streak last week, but it’s another altogether to keep them scoreless in the second half to emerge as clear victors.

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