Hits & Misses: On-fire Faf de Klerk and Stormers XXIII shocker
OPINION: Round two of the Currie Cup was a blinder of a weekend for some teams, while others will be hoping to produce better performances next weekend.
While Boland Cavaliers and the Cheetahs ran rampant to make it two on the trot, thrashing the Sharks XV and Stormers XXIII, respectively, the Lions and Griquas bounced back from their round-one defeats. The Lions beat the Pumas 52-29 in Johannesburg, while Griquas thumped the Bulls XV 56-26 in Kimberly.
The Bulls and the Pumas remain winless after the first two weeks.
We look at the highs and the lows from the second round of Currie Cup Premier Division action.
Hits:
Bobby Alexander’s Hat-Trick Brilliance in Griquas Milestone
Alexander was the star in his 50th game for Griquas in a sparkling team performance by the home team in the Diamond City.
After losing their campaign-opener against the Stormers XXIII, the defending champions returned to winning ways in style in Kimberly.
Alexander notched three of his team’s eight tries, each one a sensational representation of their style of play as every area of the field was used as a points origin. But their dominance stretched further than just their incisive attack as they also tortured the Bulls at the scrums.
The scrumhalf scored two of his tries within the first 25 minutes, with his first stealing the early lead from the opposition and his second stretching their scoreboard advantage from 14-12 to 21-12.
His first try captured his sublime support play and sharp reaction as he got back up on his feet, placed the ball, and scooped it up again after being tackled in what seemed like a second at most before diving over to score, while his second highlighted his athleticism as he vaulted over the whitewash in the corner.
A performance worthy of the occasion.
On-Fire Faf
The Springbok scrumhalf’s radio chat with coach Frans Steyn “changed the game” against the Sharks XV according to the former Bok utility back, and while we don’t know what was said during that break in play, his on-field presence was clear for all to see.
No player was more influential than De Klerk as the Cheetahs pummeled the Sharks XV 43-21 in Bloemfontein on Friday.
While he scored two tries – including a superb intercept try in the 78th minute to rub salt into the opposition’s gaping wounds – he created several others in a commanding and electric performance.
He may not be in the Springbok mix, but his latest performance made sure that he won’t be forgotten any time soon.
Early Currie Cup vigour
With the focus on the United Rugby Championship and the Champions Cup and the South African franchises using the Currie Cup more as a developmental platform, the competition has lost much of its lustre.
But the competition once almost deemed sacrosanct in South Africa was being described as “watered down” even before SA’s attention shifted to the north.
Probably for good reason.
It became the third-tier dwelling ground for those returning from injury short on game time, discarded and forgotten Boks, and franchise fringe players. It wasn’t even necessarily a platform for talented juniors to get a taste of senior rugby as many of them shot straight into the URC squads.
And while teams stacked with Springbok stars aren’t a feature of the Currie Cup anymore, intensity and excitement didn’t lack in the first two rounds of yet another season.
The Currie Cup has certainly taken many blows, but it’s far from dead.
In round two, 39 tries were scored across the four weekend games with hat-trick heroes in all but one game, youngsters made the step-up to senior rugby as the Bulls and Lions featured a Junior Springbok flavour, and the top of the table is already hotly contested.
Misses:
Stormers XXIII Shocker
Boland Cavaliers came out to play in front of their home crowd in Wellington, humiliating the Stormers XXIII 41-3 in the process.
The visiting side were kept to a purely defensive role, but even that they couldn’t get right.
In the first half, the visitors made 48 tackles and missed 27, while they made 96 tackles in the full game and missed 33. They also struggled to get over the gain line, failed numerous times at the scrums and were particularly dismal at the lineout, and were frustrated at the breakdown by the hosts. Their second-half performance wasn’t much better.
Boland won every major battle in the Cape derby, and their potent attack saw them score six tries while the visitors didn’t manage a single try-line visit.
The Stormers XXIII have bucket loads to fix before taking to the field in round three.
They weren’t the only team to struggle in round two, but they were by far the worst.
