Zeena Isaacs
5 January 2009
Johannesburg — SA's die-hard rugby fans are in for a real treat this season, one of the highlights of which will be the British and Irish Lions tour.
Most senior Springbok players will attest to the fact that the only series that comes close to matching the Rugby World Cup is a British and Irish Lions tour, and this year Springbok coach Peter de Villiers and his team will have the luxury of testing themselves against the best from the northern hemisphere.
With a successful 2008 year-end tour behind them -- with victories against Wales, Scotland and England (42-6) -- the Springboks will have gained the confidence they need to tackle the Lions in June and July.
But that said, the narrow victories against Wales and Scotland could also have been the perfect wake-up call for the Springboks not to take their opposition for granted.
The season only gets tougher after the tour as they have just a few weeks to prepare for the Tri-Nations series.
This time round, though, SA's rugby faithful may not be as forgiving if the Springboks were to win only two of six Tri-Nations clashes, as De Villiers and his assistant coaches -- Gary Gold and Dick Muir -- can no longer be considered rookies at international level.
Following the Springboks' first win ever in Dunedin last year, when Springbok scrumhalf Ricky Januarie scored a brilliant try in the dying minutes of the game for a surprise 30-28 scoreline, and the team's record victories against Australia (53-8) in the final Tri-Nations clash at Ellis Park, and against England at Twickenham (42-6) on the year-end tour, there were enough positive signs to suggest that the team should be successful in the international arena this season.
Having developed a talented pool of players of his own, with a healthy mix of youth and experience, De Villiers has all the ingredients to be a successful Springbok coach and to lead the team to the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. However, the team's results this year, particularly during the British and Irish Lions tour, could go a long way in winning over the fans who still doubt his abilities as an international coach.
On the domestic scene, the Super 14 and Currie Cup competitions are again expected to produce the magic they have in the past and, in the Super 14 specifically, expectations will be high for SA's teams.
Following the Sharks' impressive third-place finish in the Super 14 last season and their thrilling victory against the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup final -- their first trophy in 12 years -- they are one of the teams to watch among SA's franchises.
Aside from featuring consistently as one of SA's best domestic teams for the past few years, the Sharks' Currie Cup victory undoubtedly proved to the players and coaches that the team has the big match temperament and talent to be the best.
With top Springbok players including Bismarck du Plessis, utility forward John Smit, prop Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira and utility back Ruan Pienaar, the team has the skill and confidence to be crowned the Super 14 champions for the first time.
While the Bulls and Stormers have the quality players to feature consistently on the top half of the log table, they will have to lift their standard of play significantly to compete with the likes of the Crusaders and the Waratahs.
It remains to be seen, however, what influence the reported dissatisfaction in the Bulls' ranks on their annual training camp in George last month will have on the team dynamics after the senior players and coaches were allowed to stay in luxury accommodation while the rest had to stay at a hostel.
This created rifts in the team, with the junior players expressing their dissatisfaction and disappointment in the media.
Unfortunately for the Lions and Cheetahs, their lack of top international players could again count against them as they attempt to defy all the odds and finish at the top end of the log this season.
Given the great depth of quality players in the Sharks team, they could also enter the Currie Cup series with an advantage.
However, the competition among the big five -- the Sharks, Blue Bulls, Cheetahs, Lions and Western Province -- is expected to spice up the series significantly, which has forced the competition down to the wire for the past few years.
Unfortunately for the struggling Boland Cavaliers and the Leopards, they may be forced to settle for the last two places on the log standings as the smaller unions have traditionally been out of their depth in the Currie Cup premier division.
Other events to look forward to this season are the International Rugby Board's (IRB's) Sevens Rugby World Cup in Dubai in March and the under-20 world championships in Japan in June. With back-to-back victories in the Dubai and George IRB Seven s competitions late last year, the Sevens Boks will enter the World Cup with a good omen and the necessary confidence to earn the world champions title.
That said, one of the team's biggest downfalls could be the constant chopping and changing of personnel due to Super 14 commitments, which has forced coach Paul Treu to select new players constantly to plug the gaps.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
