SA teams need a reality check ahead of URC play-offs
OPINION: The two-week buildup to the United Rugby Championship play-offs will allow the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers to address their mental shortcomings.
The inconsistency of the South African teams has been a big talking point over the past nine months.
Even now, with the URC league phase done and dusted and three local franchises in the top five, there’s reason to doubt that a South African team will crack on to lift the title.
The URC will take a break this week as the European finals take centre stage.
The absence of South African representation in the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup deciders – bar individuals such as Thomas du Toit, Trokkie Augustus, and Bath coach Johann van Graan – should serve as a timely reminder of where the local franchises stand in the grand scheme of things.
The Bulls, Sharks and Stormers bombed out of the Champions Cup after the pool phase, while no South African team progressed beyond the Challenge Cup quarterfinals.
That was a reality check for the South African game.
While the Springboks lead the way at international level, the South African franchises sit in the middle of the club field – at best.
That said, an early exit from Europe provided the franchises with a chance to focus on the latter stages of the URC.
It’s fair to say that the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers made that opportunity count.
After living in the URC basement for much of the season, the Stormers cracked on to claim four consecutive bonus-point wins at home and finish fifth in the standings.
The Bulls and Sharks certainly made a statement when they won two matches overseas, before recording consecutive wins against Welsh opposition at home.
Going by results, it’s tempting to declare that the better South African teams have turned a corner.
The Bulls, Sharks and Stormers have combined for 12 straight wins since 18 April.
The Lions lost two matches during this period, and failed to make the play-offs yet again – but if you take the Johannesburg side’s results into account, the South African franchises have won 14 out of 16 matches over the last four rounds of the URC.
It’s tempting to get caught up in the hype of those results.
Some will argue that the South African teams are taking momentum into the play-offs, but it’s important to note who they’ve played against in recent weeks.
It’s worth celebrating the Bulls’ wins against Munster and Glasgow, as well as the Sharks’ victories over Edinburgh and Scarlets, because those overseas teams will feature in the play-offs.
But heavyweight clashes have been few and far between recently.
Of the past 16 URC matches featuring South African teams, 11 have involved overseas opposition who have failed to qualify for the knockouts, which says something about their quality and the standard of those fixtures.
The quality of the play-offs, of course, will be on another level.
Former champions such as the Stormers, Munster and Glasgow have all qualified.
The Bulls have featured in two of the past three finals, while a Leinster side stacked with internationals will be a threat.
Now that they’ve qualified, the South African teams should forget about the past few weeks and reflect on the lessons learned from tougher encounters staged earlier in the season, and the moments where poor decision-making was exposed.
Indeed, there have been moments in recent matches that suggest discipline could be a problem for some of the teams in the play-offs.
Damian Willemse’s red card didn’t cost the Stormers a victory over Cardiff this past Friday, but we’ve seen how one ‘lazy’ tackle attempt can swing a contest.
John Dobson will recall how the Stormers dominated the early stages of the match against Ulster in Belfast. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s yellow card, however, allowed the hosts to get back into the game and win 38-34.
The Bulls and Sharks have quality across the board, and in some instances, the results haven’t reflected that quality.
Jake White will be happy with a URC scorecard that reads 14 wins from 18, and home advantage for the quarterfinals and semifinals.
At the same time, White will know that poor decision-making and leadership cost the Bulls a title to the Glasgow Warriors in the Final last season, and to the Stormers in 2022.
The Sharks have picked up results in recent weeks without really gelling.
It’s also hard to forget that a side stacked with Springboks conceded 60-plus against Bordeaux-Bégles in the Champions Cup earlier this season.
They have the players to win the tournament, but as the results suggest, the Sharks habitually drift through games and switch off.
They’ve lacked intensity and accuracy at times, and it’s fair to say that the likes of Munster, Glasgow, Leinster and even their South African counterparts will punish that complacency in the coming play-offs.
It’s been tough to predict a winner in this tournament over the past three seasons, with the Stormers defying the odds to lift the trophy in 2022, Munster travelling extensively during the play-offs yet winning the title in 2023, and Glasgow upsetting the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in the decider last year.
Complacency has been a killer for the likes of the Bulls, Leinster and other more fancied teams in past play-offs.
The South African contenders need to get their heads right before the big show starts next week, or they will finish yet another season without any silverware.
@rugby365com
