Round 3 Super 12 2005 Wrap

Chiefs 6 Reds 20

The weekend started with a shock when the first of the upsets took place in the day of the weekend. The Reds, managed to ease out the Chiefs at home. I must admit that I never saw this one coming. I really did not think that the Reds had the ability to beat the Chiefs at home.

This was the first time since 1999 that the Reds managed to pull off a victory in Hamilton!

Hurricanes 12 Bulls 21

This must the biggest shock of all. We have all known that the fire power does exist in the Bulls to beat a number of teams, but the way that they have performed up to know has been woeful.

The Hurricanes looked like a team that was out before they started and that can be attributed to the terrible jet lag you get from flying against the clock – something I hinted to in the tips for the weekend. I did, however, never expected them to drop out this badly.

The Bulls recorded their first win of the year and the Hurricanes their first loss. The Hurricanes should bounce back quickly from this loss and the Bulls have posed a warning that they may not be a pushover for teams visiting South Africa.

Blues 19 Crusaders 41

As predicted, the Crusaders were far too strong for the Blues. The Crusaders have a very nicely polished outfit and is without any doubt still the pacesetters in the competition with the Brumbies.

Dan Carter had another blinder and has proven how dangerous he can be. Aaron Mauger also showed that the All Black selectors must not forget him as he had the Blues grabbing in the air.

The final results is actually not a true reflection of the game as the Blues got three soft tries closer to the end of the game, after the Crusaders had wrapped it up already. The half time score of 34-0 shows how the Crusaders dominated the play.

Waratahs 25 Stormers 10

The Waratahs came home after the long flight from SA and did not show the after effects from the trip. This was only due to the fact that the Stormers were very bad.

This was the one game that the Stormers could have won. They had all the bullets in their arsenal to beat the Waratahs on any day, but losing eight on nine lineouts on your own throw is just part of the problem. This lineout problem was there last year and is again there this year. The coaching staff/selectors do not seem to learn from their mistakes. The question must surely be posed as to how long will Peter Dixon still have to throw in so badly when you have the Springbok reserve hooker, Hanyane Shimange on the bench? Their magnificent backline cannot operate without the ball. More questions can be asked about the resting of Breyton Paulse. There is a screw loose somewhere.

The Waratahs took their chances and they would be happy with the result after a week of turmoil through the withdrawal of Justin Harrison after some racial slurs against the Cats. They were ready for the picking and the Stormers were not able to capitalize against a “wounded” team.

Morgan Turinui made the Springbok centre pairing look like amateurs in the midfield and the misunderstanding between Barry and Joubert to let Morgan score a great try, does not reflect that this combination has played together since high school. It looked like their first outing together!

Cats 29 Brumbies 34

The Brumbies continued on their winning streak and managed to hold off a big effort by the Cats. It was the brilliant return of matt Giteau that made it possible. He was dearly missed in the Brumbies backline and he could not have returned at a better time when Stephen Larkham had to withdraw after an operation to remove a malignant growth.

The Brumbies dominated most of the play in the first half and would have lead even further if it was not for solid defense by the Cats. The introduction of Jacques Fourie in the Cats midfield in the place of the struggling Jorrie Muller made a big difference.

At the end of the day, the Cats can count themselves unlucky not to win as they let a number of opportunities slip, but the Brumbies did what we expected them to do – win another game in the Super 12. A great result for a wonderful team. They have created a love-hate relationship in SA as the SA public hates it when their teams play the Brumbies, but their style of play is always attractive and an example too many others in the competition. Like I said before, I cannot see them being stopped on their way to the final. The only team that has any chance to match them at this stage is the Crusaders.

Sharks 7 Highlanders 43

The Sharks gave their worst performance of the season against the Highlanders. I expected a lot more from the men in Durban, especially after the previous weekend when there were flashes of their form returning. They did however not manage to do so and was destroyed by a very mediocre Highlanders team.

Ben Blair showed good form in knocking the Shark over early with two of his hat-trick of tries and showed overall that he is a much underestimated rugby player. Paul Miller lead the pack from the front and lead the pack is the demolishment of the Goldfish – eh, Sharks.

This gave the Sharks their third home defeat on the trot and it looks like it may take a big effort from any other team to keep the Sharks out of the last place in the 2005 Super 12 log!

General Super 12 comments

We had and unfortunate incident this past week where first Nathan Grey and was accused of racial slurring, but later admitted by Justin Harrison. This is part of the world phenomenon called “sledging” and has always been very controversial in sport. The problem with this last incident is that it referred in a derogatory way to a player of colour. Something that the world is over-sensitized with at the moment. You can basically call someone anything you like, as long as it does not have any reference to the colour of the person.

The incident that took place is unfortunate and I personally think blown totally out of proportion, but in today’s society public figures, like professional sportsman, must realize the sensitivity around it and take care not to fall into an old trap.

Comments like the ones that Mark Ella made that he did not mind when people called him racial names. It may be true, but that is unfortunately not the way to go Mark. Those kind of statements only fuel the type of behaviour and you must also remember you were in a totally different era.

I feel sorry for Justin and hope that he does not get a too harsh sentence for his mistake. I just hope that the rest of the teams all learn from this mistake.

On a lighter note, the confusion between who actually said what had Nathan Grey initially accused of making the comments. A reported noted that it was now obvious why the Cats are struggling in the tournament; they do not know the difference between Harrison and Grey – or put differently, the difference between the locks and the centres. No wonder their game plan seemed cock-eyed against the Waratahs!

Other Rugby

Wales grabbed their first grand slam in 27 years when they beat the Irish by 32 – 20 in the Millennium stadium. The Welsh were brilliant and deserved their success to become the Six Nations champions. This was their first title since 1994 and they seem to have the makings of a very good side in future. Maybe this was the first steps towards the glory days in the seventies when they destroyed all opposition. The re-emergence of Welsh rugby started last year when they had good results against both the All Blacks and the Springboks.

The Final Word

The concept of the best player in the world is asked often and is a difficult one to answer. The question must be posed as too how do you qualify someone as the best player as it is difficult to measure the impact of a prop in the scum to flyhalf. who has a lot mere visible play. The prop can therefore be very solid in the scrum and do all the hard work, but will never catch the headlines like the flyhalf.

I intend to look at the best players on the following basis. There are a number of people who make an impact on the game and who is missed when they are not playing. Think in the past of players like the legendary Gareth Edwards; Phil Bennett; JPR Williams; Serge Blanco; Jo Maso; the Spangero brothers; Sean Fitzpatrick; Zinzan Brooke; Colin Meads; Michael Linagh; Tim Horan; John Eales; Frik du Preez; Danie Gerber; Naas Botha and Joost vd Westhuizen – just to name a few.

In the modern game, we also have a number of players who are starting to make that impact on the game. Within the Tri Nations I can think of a few, e.g. Schalk Burger; De Wet Barry; Jean de Villiers; George Gregan; Matt Gitau; Stephen Larkim; George Smith; Daniel Carter; Justin Marshall; Joe Rokocoko; Richie Macaw; Chris Jack.

If I have to make a decision of whom I regard as the current best player in the world, I have to go with one of the most devastating players on attack that can create tries out of any situation. That is the captain of Ireland, Brian O’ Driscoll. O’ Driscoll has been the top centre in the world for a number of seasons and although he also makes his mistakes, I would much rather have him in my team than play against him. He is very talented and can step off both feet and makes a major difference to the Irish team when he is not playing. Can you imagine if we could have had O’ Driscoll playing behind The All Black, Aussie, Springbok or England pack at their best? He would have destroyed any opposition and set a number of records in his career.

Any other ideas?

Futures topics:

• The best player in the world

• The man of the match award

• Referees and their impact on matches

• Ex rugby players who play analysts

• International tours

• The English bubble

• Bonus points in competitions

• Yellow and red cards in rugby

There are many more, but if there is something you would like me to add to the list, please feel free to let me know!