SA derby lives up to the hype
With both teams out to prove a point and with Africa 2 bragging rights up for grabs, Saturday’s derby was always going to be an enthralling game, and one in which did not disappoint. The game between the Sharks and Lions was a great exhibition of South African Rugby, with plenty of high quality, attacking rugby being played.
Bookies had the hosts as clear favorites but they certainly did not live up to the favorites tag, having to claw their way back after trailing 16-6 at a stage. It was Etienne Oosthuizen’s sin binning which swung the game in the hosts favor as they scored two converted tries, either side of the break, during the locks’ time on the sidelines. However the visitors did not give in and Curwin Bosch slotted a monstrous penalty from 65 meters out, only for Elton Jantjies to respond with a three pointer of his own to leave both sides dead locked at 29 all heading into the final stages. The Sharks were caught trying to chase the win, and sevens specialist Kwagga Smith stepped two defenders and timed his pass to perfection to put Kriel away for the match-winning try in the corner.
South African supporters, regardless of who they support, would be throughly impressed with the quality of rugby on display at Ellis Park. As I have mentioned, Curwin Bosch is a definite star for the future, and once again proved me right, winning his second man of the match performance in as many weeks. His Fracois Steyn like ability to knock over a penalty from his own half, albeit at altitude, would have made Springbok coach Alistair Coetzee sit up and take notice.
Smith notches up 100 in style
Aaron Smith put in a stellar performance on Friday in his 100th Super Rugby match and became the eighth player in Highlanders colors to achieve this milestone. Pure speed and skill was the order of the day in Dunedin which saw the Highlanders outscore the rebels six to two and claim a bonus point win under the roof.
Aaron Smith has been struggling on and off the pitch for quite some time since his bathroom incident during the All Blacks tour last year. It was evident his off field antics had affected his performance on the field, but Friday night proved he is clearly on the rise and a happier player than he was six months ago. While he may not be in the form of his life, he is definitely on the up. There is no denying Smith is a world class halfback and one of the best in the game, and with the Lions test around the corner don’t be surprised if we see Smith return to form sooner rather than later. Smith is aware there is plenty of healthy competition for the number nine jumper with fellow All Blacks Perenara, Pulu and Kwerr-Barlow all playing great rugby, so he will look for another solid performance against the Blues on Saturday to ensure he remains one of Steve Hanson’s first picks.
Another horrible weekend for Australian rugby
Its gone from bad to worse for Australian rugby with all four of their sides in action this week suffering defeats at the hands of their New Zealand rivals. The Crusaders, Hurricanes, Blues and Highlanders made it New Zealand 4, Australia 0 and put even more daylight between the two nations on the overall log.
The overall log has the Brumbies sitting fourth, thanks to the conferencing system. However the next best placed team is the Waratahs who sit in 12th position with all five New Zealand sides ahead of them. In fact, all five New Zealand sides have more points than the Australian table-topping Brumbies as well. If the log worked on a points based system alone, the Brumbies would fall from fourth to eleventh. In a recent article shared this week it was made clear that Rugby Union is unofficially the 26th most popular sport in Australia. Rugby Union in fact has the same number of participants as ballroom dancing down under. In fifteen years, an alarming 93 000 Aussies have given up the game with just 55 000 players playing the sport currently.
Although this does not directly relate to the success/failure of the Australian teams in this years Super Rugby campaign, it does however not make for good reading if you are an Australian rugby fan with the future of the sport in a spot of trouble, especially seeing as one team will definitely get the axe come 2018.
Bulls show some signs of improvement
There is no doubt the Bulls would of shocked the rugby world taking a 9-3 lead into break in Waikato on Saturday, and looked as if an upset was very much on the cards. However the Bulls ran out of steam and the home side secured a 28-12 bonus point victory.
Not many would have given the Bulls a chance against the undefeated Chiefs side, and deservedly so. The Bulls have had a season to forget but finally looked like a side that has won this competition on three separate occasions. It just seemed as if the visitors had simply just run out of steam in the last quarter. They matched the Chiefs physically as well as on attack. The Bulls look threatening with ball in hand but are struggled to cross the chalk and have been outscored nine tries to two over the last two weekends. The Bulls looked a different outfit than the one that turned out in Auckland a fortnight ago, and they will take a lot of positives from their defeat to the chiefs. They next face the Sunwolves in Tokyo in a must win game to restore some sort of pride in their woeful start to the season.
Someone give TJ a whistle
The Hurricanes ran out 34-15 winners on Saturdays clash with the Reds. However it wasn’t the Canes win that captured the headlines but rather TJ Perenara dishing out a slice of humble pie to referee Angus Gardner.
Gardener was clearly getting quite annoyed with Perenara early on in the video with his running commentary but was forced to accept he made a mistake and agree with TJ’s call that reminded Gardner that it was a Cane penalty and not a Reds scrum, the decision he first went with. Thankfully Gardner was humble enough to recognise his mistake and accept the correction from a player that had irked him for majority of the game.
By Tristan Renaud