Too Much of a Good Thing…

Too Much of a Good Thing…

Its five o'clock on a Saturday morning. Usually you would want nothing more than the sweet sound of silence.Suddenly the door bursts open and you wake to the sound of excitement. Dad’s screaming like a man possessed. The smell of coffee and anticipation is hanging in the air. No time for yawning, as the old chap enthusiastically almost brakes the door in an attempt to wake you. 

It’s an immediate adrenaline rush from the second you open your eyes. You've guessed it…

It’s the Springboks playing the mighty All Blacks in New Zealand.

The two top teams in world rugby gets to slug it out in what becomes the most anticipated 80 minutes of the last 12 months… you get to witness the “HAKA”, as if its performed within your living room, and better yet, you get to see the Boks accepting the challenge by a stare-off. 

Biscuits and sweet cakes are served with the coffee in order to chew on something as this match tends to be a real nerve snapper! This is the only time ever dad will offer you some of his “biltong” at five in the morning, so you literally grab it with both hands. Today is all about, real rugby rivalry.

Before rugby had turned professional, tests would only be played on tours, which in this case would only come round once every five to six years. We have been starved of this spectacle for more than a decade due to the political disarray South Africa had been in and evidently one could understand why the excitement is so highly contagious . Since the famous 1995 World Cup final featuring these two great rugby nations, they got to face each other twice a year and we would sometimes even be fortunate enough to be entertained no less than three times a year, in what was called the Tri Nations, also featuring Australia.

The “rude awakening” is one of my fondest childhood memories and a memory that’s fast becoming an idealistic dream for the future.  It seriously saddens me to think that my boy and I, will never get to enjoy this spectacle with the same hype, enthusiasm  and eagerness as we did in the late nineties. Now you might argue that I'm a wee bit cynical, and so it might be but don’t get me wrong, I'm all for the game being professional, but to what cost I wonder…

The magnitude of rugby we enjoy in the Southern Hemisphere is a topic immensely discussed the last couple of years and rightly so. Not only are the players facing hectic touring schedules, but the number of injuries has increased quite tremendously. Super Rugby transformed into a marathon where squad depth is as important as game plans and defensive structures. Gone are the days where the coach’s biggest predicament was selecting the 15 strongest players. Nowadays, the coach has to deal with player management, rotation policies and more medical reports than  Meredith Grey in Greys Anatomy…

Currently the 2015 Super Rugby season consist of 16 games per team. That’s 1280 minutes of possibly the toughest Rugby competition in the world. Now picture a scenario where a player like Handre Pollard plays a full eighty in all his team’s round robin matches, makes the inbound tour, Castle Lager Championship and plays all the matches on the year end tour, meaning that this player had basically played  2400 minutes of more or less  International Rugby, facing off against the very best of the best… Personally I’d consider this to be a suicide mission!!! Looking at the bigger picture though, we as spectators are spoilt so rotten, that we tend to lose the significance of it all.  Super Rugby has expanded to such an extent that it almost seems to lose its value. As a Springbok supporter, I'm not eager on what a Sonny Bill Williams or Julian Savea could be up to in the mighty black jersey, cause I get to watch them on telly week in and week out and I know all too well what they are capable of…

USA is not considered a rugby nation by any means, and yet they had a sell out crowd of 61 000 fans last year when the All Blacks played the Eagles at Soldier Field, Chicago. They wanted to see their very best taking on the world’s best and though the yanks were annihilated on the score board, they were never humiliated as a team, nor as a nation. In fact, that one night in Chicago went a long way and had meant more to the rugby playing community of America than anything they had ever seen. USA is starving for rugby and subsequently they should be fed, but we should all learn from their hunger and not forget that Southern Hemisphere rugby might be the fat kid suffering from obesity, not appreciating the value of rugby pumping in our veins…

I don’t mean to say that the international rugby games played per annum is too much, by no means. But what I do want to bring across is that too much Super rugby has definitely deprived us of what makes old traditional rivalries so nostalgic.

At this point I quite like the Six Nations format and I love the fact that they only get to play one another once a year. Its keeps the rivalry alive, the intensity up there and the crowd’s bottoms off their seats!

I didn't completely agree with Steve Hansen when he recently stated that rugby union is getting a tad

boring, but he did make a valid point though, and money might just be the one cup-cake we should not place above all else…  we should all fear for the day when the soul of sport and more in particular, rugby, is sold for fame and gold. Lately it’s become quite common for a international player to rather walk in the direction of domestic rugby. Facing that crossroad between domestic rugby and representing your country at its highest level is one where players all of a sudden has no shame on rather banking the cheque, and compromise the opportunity of wearing a jersey that so many others had bled for…    

I truly believe that in this case less will be more and less rugby evidently should be the way forward.

Old habits seem to die hard.

In recent years, the Stormers (and the Western Province)have become quite renowned for 2 things. First up, for their incredible defensive abilities and secondly, for their lack in creativity, failing to run angles, perform switches and generally not being able to get the ball out to the speedsters. 

Stormers supporters became used to tedious rugby where penalty goals and courageous defensive efforts turned the scoreboard to favour the Capetonians. Running rugby seemed to be something of the past and yet the Newlands faithful always turned up in numbers and  never seemed to disappoint.

Obviously something had to be done and after a disappointing 2014 Super Rugby season Gert Smal was appointed as Director of Rugby with both the Western Province and the Stormers. Immediately one could note the difference Smal had made and the faithful was entertained with real running rugby during their 2014 Currie Cup campaign yet again. Between Smal and Coetzee it was as if they got the balance spot on between defence and attack. Between a running game and a kicking game. Suddenly real talented running backs were discovered within the group. Seabelo Senatla, Cheslin Kolbe and even youngster Kobus van Wyk created havoc for opposition’s defensive structures.  Juan de Jong flourished in these conditions and many a folk felt that he was hard done by for not being part of the Springbok squad. 

By tweaking their attacking formation from 9 to 10, avoiding the old South African approach of kicking away all the ball possession, and just running angles, they created space on the outside and played really well balanced rugby. Province did not deviate from their well-organized defensive structures and the tight five still played their part. With the tight five taking care of business, the loose forwards had less hard work to do and guys like Nizaam Carr thrived with ball in hand. The results came automatically. Western Province qualified for the finals and won a hard fought battle with 19 points to 16 against the regiment of Johan Ackermann’s Golden Lions. Not only were Western Province crowned 2014 Currie Cup Champions, they were also honoured with being named South African team of the year. Nizaam Carr also strode along home with being awarded the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division Player of the year.

Stormers fans had hoped that they could feed off this energised Currie Cup squad and that the momentum they had generated would only be the tip of the iceberg come Super Rugby time. And so it was, with the opening round fixture against old foe in the Bull ring. All hopes and prayers did not go unanswered as the Stormers played with real intensity and stability. They dominated in scrums, stood tall in the line outs and never shied away from any of the physical stuff. The first five-eight didn't try to steal the show by attempting to perform miracles and played with no sideshows what so ever. He just did the basics right and laid a good platform for the centres to cause mayhem, and that they did. Damian de Allende had a fantastic performance and  outright outplayed Springbok centre pair Serfontein and Engelbrecht. 

Admittedly the Bulls were not at their best but as my Old Man always argues, "you only play as well as the opposition allows you to play"…  

Week two however saw the Stormers revert back to “winning rugby” where the ball was met more by the boot than by the outside backs. Admittedly they did face a Blues outfit that played rather negative footy and it felt like the match never really got into full motion. All facts considered though, the tight five was fending most of the time not contesting the rucks and malls. Even with the advantage of an extra man on the park for most of the 80, it seemed like the men from Cape Town struggled to get over the white chalked line. 

Round 3 saw  the Stormers even deeper in the game plan that kept their trophy cabinet empty for quite some time. The forwards did not commit to any of the rough stuff, the line outs was nothing short of a mess and the centres were used as main defenders, rather than ball carriers. Taking nothing away from the Lions, (except the game) they displayed heaps of character and one couldn't help but feel for them with the end result. 

Point is, although the Stormers won three from three and are currently topping the South African conference, I miss the intensity, the ball skills and outright class act they ought to be. Personally, I believe that relying only on your defence will only get you so far, and "that" far is definitely not far enough. They have to maintain the balance they had in the Currie Cup if ever they would like to raise some silverware in Super Rugby. 

I would love nothing more than to see the tight five get into the rough stuff,  the loose trio playing towards the ball and the backs just turning on the magic with those jet shoes we all know they wear…

Keeping your eye on the ball

If round two of Super Rugby has learned us anything, it’s to play your own game, focus on what you've prepared for, and play accordingly. I believe that most Blues fans will not only forgive me but most likely agree with me that had the Blues played their own game against the Stormers of South Africa, they most probably would have won their round 2 fixture against a team who seemingly lacked creativity.

Watching the game reminded me so much of the “Coyote” and the “Road Runner”. The Coyote was forever trying to catch the Road Runner by setting up traps, ambushes and using explosives. The Road Runner on the contrary, would just go about doing his own thing, surviving by doing what he does best, running!

So often we witness  teams trying to slow down the opponent’s ball, disrupting them at the break-downs, playing on the offside line and generally getting on the wrong side of the whistle. The Blues made themselves guilty of this phenomenon  on Saturday and the reality of it is that they were actually the more dangerous side on the park. When the game became more of a running game the Blues, playing with only 14 men, were indeed very dangerous and at times had the Stormers’ defence at sixes and sevens. The fact that they couldn't dictate their own game plan and became more focussed on disrupting the opposition, halted their own momentum and was as useful to them as the explosives to the Coyote.

Ireland and Samoa are two international sides that very often find themselves in similar situations. While the Irish have it well within their capabilities to beat any Northern Hemisphere side at any given day, they seem to struggle against New Zealand, South Africa and the Australians. Whenever Ireland play in the Six Nations, they play towards their own strengths. The forwards are big and heavy and they tend to dominate the breakdowns, creating good go forward ball for a first five-eight who pretty much always dictate matters.

This formation seems to fly out the window whenever Ireland face up with the Heavyweights of the Southern Hemisphere. Before you know it they are setting up traps and planting explosives which pretty much explodes in their own faces and they end up on the wrong side of the score board, not because they were the inferior team but ultimately because they didn't play towards their own strengths and abilities.

Samoa tend to be so physical that they start playing towards the contact and not the space. Rugby is all about creating space and then playing into those spaces created.

Late in 2013 the All Blacks got flabbergasted by an Irish side that played like men possessed. There were no niggles , nags and no off the ball nonsense from the Irish. Just 15 men playing for the spaces and most importantly playing for each other. The Irish were very unfortunate when Crotty scored in the dying seconds and Cruden converted on his “second” attempt. With that performance Ireland proved that they are serious 2015 World Cup contenders and playing the World Cup very close to their own backyard, they are definitely not to be underestimated and could dish up some controversy come September.

I sincerely hope to see less of this Coyote slowing up our game, and more of the Road Runner just going about, doing what he does best, RUNNING.