Year in review: Super shift

Some of South Africa's Super Rugby franchises made a major leap in 2014, abandoning the dreaded conservative approach and adopting an expansive style.

Leading the way were the Lions in their first year back in Super Rugby after a year in the wilderness.

With a young crop of loyal fringe players, coach Johan Ackermann forged an exciting brand which earned the team growing support around the country.

Although the Johannesburg side did not make it into the top half of the competition log, they did complete their best ever season in the premier Southern Hemisphere franchise competition.

The Sharks, under the tutelage of World Cup-winning coach Jake White, came closest of the SA sides to claiming the Super Rugby title.

The coastal side started out strongly – with four consecutive victories at home, followed by three wins out of their four matches on their Australasian tour.

Despite beating the Crusaders in their own backyard earlier in the campaign, the Sharks were left with the unenviable task of having to beat the seven-time champions in the semifinal to advance to the Final.

No South African team has ever succeeded in winning a Super Rugby play-off match in New Zealand and, after suffering a 6-38 defeat, that record remained intact.

Following another mass exodus of players, the Bulls fell painstakingly close to reaching the qualifying round of the competition, after winning all of their home matches.

It was their poor record on tour and inability to score tries which ultimately derailed their plans and instead they finished in ninth place on the log.

Despite the change it tactics – from conservative to expansive – the South African teams, in general, struggled to score tries.

The Cheetahs topped the SA try-scoring list, with 38 from 16 matches, followed by the Lions (31), Stormers (30), Sharks (29) and Bulls (28).

However, the Cheetahs conceded nearly 20 more five-pointers than they scored.

The Cheetahs' improved defence last year made all the difference to the side, making it into the Super Rugby play-offs for the first time. Instead of building on their defensive efforts from last year, the Bloemfontein franchise abandoned it entirely in 2014.

This had dire repercussions as they finished at the bottom of the South African conference and only one place from the bottom on the overall log.

A poor start, coupled with a dreadful draw saw, the Stormers tour Australasia after only two matches in South Africa, making it an uphill battle for the Cape Town-based side.

Then, the arrival of Gert Smal as Director of Rugby of the Cape Town outfit saw the team abolish their outright defensive approach for a more ball-in-hand one.

Although they finished in a lowly 11th place on the overall log, the newly adopted game plan paid rich dividends in the Currie Cup competition.

Playing with reckless abandon, Western Province were the early pace-setters in the Currie Cup with the Golden Lions biting at their heels.

The Blue Bulls and the Sharks launched a late bid, but the Lions and Province's ball-in-hand approach proved superior during the season.

Both sides dazzled with the Golden Lions scoring the most tries (44) and Western Province the second highest, with 40, at the end of the Currie Cup round-robin phase.

Facing each other in only four previous finals and the first time in 28 years, Western Province finally won the title on home soil with a 19-16 victory.

This year also saw the Eastern Province Kings and the Pumas returning to the Currie Cup Premier Division.

The Kings were clearly out of their depth managing a single victory, over the Mpumalanga side, in their last match of the season.

The Pumas on the other hand made a fairytale start to their re-entry to the competition, claiming the scalps of the Free State Cheetahs and the Sharks.

Halfway through the campaign, the Pumas seemed to be well on their way to claiming a semifinal berth, but they ran out of the steam in the second part to end in a creditable sixth place avoiding the qualifying matches.

With the Kings guaranteed a place in the Premier Division, Griquas could not avoid finishing among the bottom two teams, setting up a battle for a spot in next year's competition.

Meanwhile, the Blue Bulls showed improvement from last season reaching the semifinal, where they were defeated by Western Province in Cape Town.

After starting the season with two comprehensive defeats to the Lions and Province, the Bulls got their campaign on track while blooding some talent for the future.

The Sharks also got off to a slow start with defeats to Griquas and the Pumas before they ended the regular season with a flourish, only to be denied by the Lions in the semifinal in Johannesburg.

In what can only be described as a rebuilding phase, the Free State Cheetahs, under newly appointed Currie Cup coach Rory Duncan, found the going tough against the more settled sides and were lucky to finish in fifth place.

Source: SAPA