Welcome to this week’s foreign dispatches. There were three oh-so-un-Australian games this weekend, with the first being very close to the author’s heart, but not in a good way.
Let’s have a look what the great unwashed got up to this past weekend.
Chiefs vs Bulls in Hamilton on Friday
Chiefs won 28-12
The Cowbells rang in Hamilton, but not to welcome any Bulls.
I will admit that I did not know all that much about the new Bulls coach, Nollis Marais, before he took the reigns last season. He talked up a good game, waxing lyrically of transforming the great on-dimensional crash-and-bash machine into one with more imagination and finesse and of using the fantastic athletes he told us he has in this Bulls squad.
Well if the first six rounds are anything to go by, someone forgot to tell the players. The first half of this game was a perfect blueprint as to why the old Bulls style of play is dead, buried and cremated. Just like work choices.
I bet if you asked any Bulls player what an “angled run” is, they would think it is something you do if you had the shits but you didn’t quite sit down on the dunny in time.
So a game of two halves it was. The Chiefs absorbed all the pressure. All they had to do was put two tacklers on the fat lug running straight at them because they knew that they were not about the get caught out wide. The pill never made it past the second pass.
Once the Bulls had literally run themselves senseless, all the Chiefs needed to do was spin it wide and their speedsters would take advantage of the space that would inevitably come as the Bulls got tired.
Too easy.
What a waste of talent in Pretoria. There appears to be no silver lining. Pollard is a shadow of his former self. Whether it is because of his injury and illness last year, the plan he is supposed to play under this coach, or a bit of both I don’t quite know.
This Chiefs team is not quite the finished article. But that pack is pretty impressive. The Coach of the Blackness will be looking at the Chiefs props with a smile on his face. Dominic Bird is also starting to look like an All Black. The young wingers have a great future.
Highlights:
Sharks vs Lions Johannesburg on Saturday
Lions won 34-29
South African rugby fans have reasons to feel a little bit more upbeat after the Sharks and Lions dished up what has to be one of the bet derbies played in The Republic in many years. This game had everything: Incredible physicality, great skills with ball in hand and a master class in kicking from Elton Jantjes and the precocious young Sharks 10, Curwin Bosch.
If you want to see an excellent display of creating space, watch the highlights when replacement back rower and Blitzboks Seven star, Kwagga Smith, puts Jaco Kriel into space down the touchline to clinch the game. It was a thing of beauty.
Bosch is a future Bok in the making. I just hope he is managed properly. South Africa has a history of somehow finding ways to coach creativity and flair out of young players. And he is a 10. He needs to play there and not get wasted at 15.
The Sharks were let down by their great nemesis: ill discipline. It seems to be engrained ion the brand. They gave away crucial penalties and a yellow card, which cost them. I am not sold on Mtembu as captain. He looked flustered at times. But this team is headed ion the right direction and Coach di Preez has an air confidence about him.
Highlights:
Stormers vs Cheetahs, Cape Town on Saturday
Stormers won 53-10
I knew the final score before watching the replay so I was keen to learn whether it was a great attacking performance by the Stormers, or a dismal defensive display from the Cheetahs. After watching the game I thought it was pretty much 50/50. This was the awful version of the Cheetahs. They fell off tackle after tackle and their attack was non-existent. I found this very concerning as their coach, Franco Smith, has been tasked to coach the Bok backline. Are the players at his disposal this bad?
Look, the Stormers are playing an expansive game behind a pretty solid pack so maybe I am being hard on them? We will see how they go against the Kiwi teams. That will be their true test.
I hope they don’t revert to a conservative style once they go on tour. That would be a shame.
Highlights:
