Tight! The grand old dame of SA rugby lived up to its billing as SA’s premier domestic competition with the opening round delivering 3 games that were separated by just 3 points!
Griquas and Free State got their campaigns off to positive starts with invaluable away victories, while Western Province and the Blue Bulls played to a draw in an epic clash in Cape Town.
But the most significant influence on all three games has to be the new scrum call, which saw teams having to scrap over a straight feed to the scrum after engaging via the “Crouch, Bind, Scrum” sequence.
It was just too beautiful to see referees awarding free kicks for a skew feed to the scrum. It has long been a scourge on rugby, and together with the new engagement, has made the scrum a proper contest again.
One could easily argue that the Griquas win in Durban was built on the performance of tighthead prop Lourens Adriaanse, while the Bulls comeback against WP was driven massively by their dominance come scrum time.
Long may it continue …
Western Province 24 (14) Blue Bulls 24 (6)
Western Province stamped their authority early on and showed fantastic skills to create try-scoring chances, which earned them two converted tries in the first 20 minutes by Gio Aplon and Pat Howard respectively. The Blue Bulls, meanwhile, managed to accumulate only three points in that time thanks to a penalty by flyhalf Tony Jantjies.
With the home team’s confidence up they continued to create try-scoring chances, but mistakes at crucial times denied the team two possible tries before the break. Jantjies, however, slotted the second of his four penalties which saw the visitors trail 14-6 at the break.
The second half proved to be all Blue Bulls as their scrum started to dominate, this despite the home team adding a third try by Nizaam Carr. WP’s ill-discipline combined with a much poorer defensive effort saw the Pretoria team claw their way back into the match. Francois Venter and Jean Cook crossed the tryline in the last 12 minutes to add to a further two penalties by Jantjies, but the young flyhalf missed a conversion in the dying seconds to secure what many would have been happy to call a deserved victory.
Western Province – Tries: Gio Aplon, Nizaam Carr, Patrick Howard. Conversions: Gary van Aswegen (3). Penalty: Gary van Aswegen.
Blue Bulls – Tries: Francois Venter, Jean Cook. Conversion: Tony Jantjies. Penalties: Tony Jantjies (4).
Golden Lions 29 (16) Free State 30 (13)
Free State dominated territory and possession in a physical first half at Ellis Park, showing their attacking prowess as early as the fifth minute via a Robert Ebersohn try. Their ability to balance attack and hard grind up front, along with innovative running rugby, which proved to be far more effective than the Lions’ aimless kicking on attack, paid off again in the 30th minute with captain Boom Prinsloo diving over from a rolling maul to add to a penalty by Riaan Smit. Three first-half penalties by flyhalf Marnitz Boshoff and a fantastic try by in-form centre Stokkies Hanekom following a stunning off-load by Dylan des Fountain put the Lions to into a 16-13 lead.
The Cheetahs continued to pin their hopes of a victory on a balanced effort between the forwards and backs, and this paid off five minutes into the second half as scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius gathered the ball following a strong showing by the forwards to dive over for a try. Nine minutes later centre Johann Sadie took a gap in the defence following a few phases to earn their bonus point try and a 27-19 lead.
But with nothing to lose the home team chose to hold onto the ball, and the change in tactics worked well, earning them two tries in seven minutes to trail 30-29 with a conversion to come.
Unfortunately for the Lions, however, replacement flyhalf Elton Jantjies pushed the kick to the right, and with that proving to be their last point-scoring opportunity, the newly restored Super Rugby team from Joburg were left heart-broken.
Golden Lions – Tries: Stokkies Hanekom, Ruan Dreyer, Willie Britz. Conversion: Marnitz Boshoff. Penalties: Marnitz Boshoff (4).
Free State – Tries: Boom Prinsloo, Johann Sadie, Robert Ebersohn, Sarel Pretorius. Conversions: Elgar Watts, Riaan Smit. Penalties: Elgar Watts, Riaan Smit.
Sharks 30 (20) Griquas 32 (16)
In Durban the Sharks ill-discipline, together with a scrum that got man handled, saw them get off to a truly horrific start to the Currie Cup. Both teams found themselves on the wrong side of the law during what proved to be a tense encounter, but Griquas wing Nico Scheepers’ six penalties to only three by Sharks flyhalf Butch James proved to be decisive in the result. Interestingly the Sharks outscored the Kimberly side three tries to two – two of which were scored by veteran loose forward Jacques Botes, which contributed immensely to their 20-16 halftime lead.
But Scheepers’ accurate boot kept the pressure on in the second half and allowed the team to stay within striking range of a victory despite a try by Springbok wing Lwazi Mvovo. A try after the final, whistle by Griquas replacement loose forward Carel Greeff, which Scheepers converted, sealed the victory.
Bok coach Heyneke Meyer must be having sleepless nights having left Adriaanse out of the Rugby Champs squad, instead opting to use Coenie Oosthuizen as his back up tighthead.
Sharks – Tries: Jacques Botes (2), Lwazi Mvovo. Conversions: Butch James (3). Penalties: Butch James (3).
Griquas – Tries: Carel Greeff, Marnus Schoeman. Conversions: Nico Scheepers (2). Penalties: Nico Scheepers (6).
At last! I have long bemoaned the fact that the Refs are so meticulous in a straight throw-in to the line-out and totally slap on the put-in to the scrum! Dead right Tank – what is the point of scrumming if the ball is going behind the hooker’s feet? That is a windfall benefit to the new Laws and as you say, “Long may it continue”