Round 5 Super 12 2005 Wrap

Hurricanes 12 Stormers 9
This match had the making of one of the great running games with some of the best carriers of the ball in the two sides. What happened was something totally different and it ended up being one of the most dreadful Super 12 games I have ever seen. The 12 – 9 scoreline in favour of the Hurricanes is not a fair result as a draw would have been more justified.

The Hurricanes were woeful and the Stormers even worse. The number of handling and tactical errors in the match were unbelievable. The two backlines which promised so much before the match would have done better not to take the field. Both teams have very talented players like De Villiers, Paulse, Nonu and Gear on the wings and yet they see no ball! Makes a lot of sense!

The Hurricanes have a lot of hard work ahead, but at least they ended up the winners at home. The Stormers, well I really don’t know what they are going to do. Their stars are not performing and it may be time that the big cut is made and people who want to play the game are picked.

Cats 12 Highlanders 16
The Cats were unlucky to let this one get away at home. The Highlanders were the team to beat, but they can only blame themselves. They got enough balls to do the damage, but like all the South African sides the backline had not rhythm. They tried to score from standing starts and could not penetrate the Highlanders' defense.

The Highlanders would be very happy with the result as this gives them two wins on their SA tour, something which most of the teams have managed to do this year against the Cats and the Sharks.

The Cats had their chances to win the game in the final minutes when the ball was kicked away when they were on the attack outside the Highlanders 22 meter line. A huge tactical error which probably cost them the match.

Waratahs 42 Bulls 12
Paul Honiss is the most hated New Zealand referee after the match between the Springboks and Ireland last year, when Ireland scored a try when Honiss told John Smit to talk to the guys. He did not do anything to improve the situation this year with a very average performance with the whistle in this match. Even the commentators said at four occasions in the first half that the calls against the Bulls were a little harsh.

This does, however, not have any bearing on the final outcome of the game. The Bulls' pack, who should have dominated the Waratahs, reached a new low as they were crushed – not by the Waratahs pack – but by their own pathetic play. They did not have any momentum and have serious issues as they did not even manage to secure their own line out ball. With a tower like Victor Matfield in the line out, there is no reason you should ever loose a line out. The Bulls managed to lose two within the first minute and a half into the game.

The Waratahs did not have a performance to remember either and although they won comfortably, they cannot be too happy with their performance, especially in the first half. They do however seem to be maintaining the momentum and is still unbeaten in the Super 12 this year.

The Bulls, well their hopes are fading fast. They now have four home games and will definitely try and salvage some pride at home.

In 1997 Matthew Burke set a Waratahs record by scoring 33 points against Northern Transvaal in the Aussie Stadium. On Saturday it was the turn of the stand-in fullback, Peter Hewat, to set a new record by scoring 34 points. It once again took place in the Aussie stadium and also against the Bulls, which were created in the place of the old Northern Transvaal. By this performance, Peter Hewat has probably ensured that he will no longer be a stand-in for the magical Mat Rogers, but someone who will be given a place somewhere – more than likely on the wing. The fortunes have sure changed for the man who was on his way to France, until he was given a contract – as a bit of an after thought – by NSW.

Sharks 36 Brumbies 24
You fire your coach two days before the game and have a number of players that are totally out of form, yet the Sharks managed to protect the only record they probably hold in the Super 12 – not to have ever lost against the Brumbies at home.

I shall be brutally honest. I made the call in the tipping that the Brumbies would win this by 20. That was even before they fired Kevin Putt! I do have a lot of respect for Dick Muir as a player, but as a coach he still has many miles to travel.

What we saw on Saturday was one of two things. Either a massive flash in the pan or on of the most remarkable turnarounds I have ever seen. The Sharks never had a chance before the match and yet they came out with a new sense of purpose and blew the Brumbies off the field. Face it, of the 24 points the Brumbies scored more than half of it were from two very soft tries. Two tries they only scored because they are the Brumbies and that you should never relax your guard against them.

The hero of the day was the son of the former Bok fullback, Gysie Pienaar. His son Ruan showed some promise as an understudy for the Cats’ Paul Delport in the SA under 19 squad, but now moved out of that shadow with a faultless performance. I hope that he can maintain the momentum for the Sharks. It is always nice to see new talent on the horizon.

At the end of the day the Brumbies hit their first loss of the season and the rest of the teams who have not yet played the Sharks, are shivering in anticipation to see if the Sharks are going to repeat the performance.

General Super 12 comments
Ali Williams did some ballet on a player's head and got a suspension for it. In a number of matched there were some severe and less severe high tackles. There was also a punch or two thrown which did not seem to be picked up by the officials.

The one thing I cannot understand is that player still makes these types of mistakes in this professional era. I can understand that it was done in the amateur era when, but when there are the huge sums of money at stake – as we currently have in rugby, what will cause anyone to risk that by one silly mistake? Is it really a case that all rugby players are just plain stupid – as many of the fairer sex have claimed over the years? I personally will not go with the latter statement, but have unfortunately no other explanation for it. As an ex player myself, I will just argue against the stupidity charge on principle!

Other Rugby
Congratulations to Fiji for winning the sevens world cup. It would have been nice to see sevens as a serious sport in some of thet bigger rugby nations and have the likes of Joe Rokocoko, Loti Tiquiri, Brent Russell, Tana Umaga, Matt Rogers, Schalk Burger, etc. at the sevens World Cup.

The Final Word
One of the modern day features of a match is the awarding of the man of the match award after the completion of a match. It is a nice gesture, but is something that is ridiculous as it its solely based on the perception of a person. In many occasions there is a financial reward included in the awarding of the man of the match title. What you often find is that when the adjudicator is a forward, the award goes to a forward and when it is a back, the award will go to a backline player.

The biggest problem I have is that we award it to the person who is seen the most by the public and more than often not the person who had a real impact on the game. The chance that the open side flanker will get the award is probably 80% better than the blind side flanker getting it. This although the blind side flanker will make 20 great tackles and for the heart of all the tight play. We so often see – without mentioning names – hookers getting the award because they run around like loose forwards and score a try or two. It is forgotten that in the same match he missed his jumpers four times in the lineout and dropped a tight head. That is what he was selected for in the first place - to perform his basic duties and to do his work in the tight phases. He did not do any of that and gets a man of the match award for it!

What are the chances that a prop that destroys his opposition and ensures that they consistently get bad ball will get awarded man of the match? I can tell you that the answer is zero!

I know that we like to give all types of awards and that it is nice for the public to see someone get this type of recognition, I have to query the fairness of the award and can dig out many examples where people got rewarded for doing something that looked nice as opposed to something that really made a difference in the match.

What do you think?

Futures topics:

• The best player in the world

• The man of the match award

• If you want a short term job, become a coach in SA!

• 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

• The format of the Rugby World Cup and spreading of the game

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!