Hits and misses: Bulls' shining stars, SA U18 clean sweep
OPINION: Rugby365 contributor Wynona Louw dissects some of the biggest talking points over the weekend.
In the last weekend of rugby action before the Springboks take on the All Blacks in the first Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry epic, the South Africa Under-18 teams secured impressive results in the annual U18 International Series, while the Bulls were outplayed by the All Blacks at Loftus Versfeld in their third of four matches against the South African franchises.
In Fiji, the Springbok Women clinched their two-Test series against the Fijiana XV.
We look at the highs and lows from the weekend’s rugby.
Hits:
Bulls’ shining stars in Loftus loss
Captain Marcell Coetzee was a one-man show in the Bulls’ 19-50 defeat to the All Blacks at Loftus, and if there’s one thing to take from that display, it’s his performance.
The 35-year-old made 16 tackles, while he made more carries (13) and gained more metres (75) than any of his teammates.
He also contributed a try and won a turnover in a mammoth performance, and if age isn’t a factor for Springbok recognition – as seems to be the case given Deon Fourie’s call-up – then this is one seasoned campaigner who has every right to harbour such ambitions.
The only Bulls player who came close to Coetzee’s efforts is fellow back-row forward Jeandre Rudolph.
Rudolph made a match-high 16 tackles and devoured metres in his five carries, but probably the finest aspect of his game was how he menaced the breakdowns to win three turnovers and the overall go-forward he provided.
The Bulls collective may not have produced a match-winning performance, but these two certainly did.
SA Under-18 clean sweep
You can’t blame South Africans for being confident that they will rule the sport for years to come.
From the Springboks to the Blitzboks to the Junior Boks, South Africa are at the very top of the rugby world. Add in there the recent performances of the U18s, and that firm grasp on the sport appears almost impossible to loosen anytime soon.
South Africa completed an unbeaten U18 International Series campaign at the weekend after defeating England 68-40 in the final round of action at Stellenberg High School in Cape Town.
In the first two rounds, the South Africans dealt with France and Ireland, while the SA U18 ‘A’ side also produced a series clean sweep and thrashed France U18 51-26 in the final round.
South Africa are simply unmatched at the moment.
Springbok Women and a dazzling debut against Fiji
Swys de Bruin’s team clinched their two-match series against Fiji with a hard-fought 29-22 victory in Lautoka on Saturday, and while it was a big box ticked, it was the performance of debutant Maria Tshiremba that stole the show.
The result saw South Africa win their sixth Test in seven matches. In the first match of the series against the Fijiana XV, they came out on top with a resounding 55-12 victory, and while the second Test wasn’t a runaway like the first, it was still a valuable result.
Tshiremba scored a second-half hat-trick, with her first handing the visitors a 12-10 lead. While the hosts refused to stay down, Tshiremba’s third try late in the game sealed the deal for the Bok Women.
What a way to announce yourself on the world stage.
*Also read: Boks must rise above All Blacks’ goading game
Misses:
TMO Talk: pedantic or thorough?
Television match officials have a role to play, and that’s not going to change. But has it become detrimental to the flow of the game?
In the Bulls game, Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli stamped down his authority in one particular instance and overruled the TMO decision of no try (who stated that Ruan Vermaak was held short of the try line) and opted to award the Bulls the five-pointer early in the second half.
The replays were inconclusive, yet the TMO told Amashukeli to rule out the try for what he believed was a knock-on from Vermaak. Amashukeli responded that there wasn’t “any clear evidence to overturn this try” and awarded it anyway.
In the Stormers-New Zealand game, there were more lengthy TMO interventions. When is too much too much… should TMOs only intervene upon referee request, and should there be a limit of the number of TMO interventions per team per game, requested by the captains (similar to Varsity Cup’s white-card system) to protect the fluidity of the game?
Timing of the franchise games
The attendance figures of the three matches against the Stormers, Sharks, and Bulls reflect the interest in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, but does the lack of competitiveness by the franchise teams give fans the best possible experience?
The All Blacks put more than 50 points on two of the three teams, beating the Stormers 38-21, blanking the Sharks 54-0, and outplaying the Bulls 50-19.
The Stormers are the only team that held their own against New Zealand, with the score deadlocked at 14-14 with 15 minutes to go, but against the Bulls and especially the Sharks, it was pretty clear what the outcome would be early on, it was just the extent of the damage that had to be determined.
In the week building up to the match, Bulls coach Johan Ackermann was critical of the timing of the match, saying that they would have preferred to focus on their pre-season and that their resting block has been shortened as a result of the All Blacks match.
The South African teams are currently in the middle of their pre-season preparations, with the United Rugby Championship kicking off on 25 September.
When you consider the risk of injuries even before the URC starts (like the Stormers suffered with scrumhalves Imad Khan and Dewaldt Duvenage) and the lack of match fitness, alternative scheduling would perhaps boost the appeal of the series by making the franchise teams more competitive.
While these run-outs still offer an opportunity for teams to test themselves and assess their work-ons against one of the best teams in the world, imagine a fully prepared, physically ready Bulls or Stormers side against South Africa’s arch rivals.
We could then see iconic clashes even before the Springboks come out in the big ones.
