URC WRAP: The SA statement was made

Of course there had to be some weird kind of consistency, and that came in the latest round of Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixtures in the form of the red card that effectively cost the Vodacom Bulls their game against Scarlets.

Lots has already been said and written about the vagaries of the URC refereeing, which if we stick to the consistency theme, is just consistently bad. Or maybe consistently abysmal brings a more honest appraisal of the level of officiating in the competition. What can be done about it? Well there doesn’t seem to be too much confidence that the URC refereeing manager Tappe Henning is strong enough to sort it out, so maybe it should start there.

When it comes to the Bulls incident in Llanelli, where Springbok hooker Johan Grobbelaar was red carded for a supposed head contact that many couldn’t make out, there are some people you will bump into, and we’re talking about people who have done refereeing courses, who will tell you that it was the correct call within the full letter of the law.

But those people are in the minority. Most rugby people, and perhaps that is the key word, for maybe the laws are becoming out of touch with the sport itself, say the opposite. I was in Durban on Saturday for the Hollywoodbets Sharks game against Glasgow Warriors, so we are not talking about Bulls supporters here.

THIS ONE COST THE BULLS

A week ago the Bulls had a red card that was subsequently overturned. Fortunately that did not cost the Bulls the game. But this one did. Just like, in my view anyway, the refereeing errors made by Ben Whitehouse against the DHL Stormers the previous week in Edinburgh may have cost them the game. And two weeks before that there were calls that cost them against the Ospreys.

Anyway the weird kind of consistency referred was what prevented the South African teams from recording a full house of victories in a round where every one of them except the Bulls made a statement. To be fair, it was clear that the Bulls/Scarlets game would be closer than we might initially have thought it would be once Jake White had announced a much changed up team.

But the game, which the Bulls should still have won, did not in any way dent the perception that the Pretoria franchise has grown its depth. They were just unlucky on the night, and the Welsh challenge, particularly at home, is stronger this year.


UGLY WIN SAID POSITIVE THINGS ABOUT THE LIONS

The South African challenge is much stronger too, and we ended the weekend with confirmation that all four local sides have a proper interest in a top four finish. The statements made included the one made by the Emirates Lions.

Some might refer to their win in Parma against lowly Zebre - well, historically lowly Zebre anyway, for they too have improved - as a “smash and grab”. In reality though it was a massive statement. The game was not played at lunchtime at home in Johannesburg with the altitude and dry heat on the Lions’ side. It was played in inclement conditions in the northern hemisphere.

Zebre actually made a full fist of their challenge, but were thwarted by a Lions side that produced an unbelievable defensive effort, and kudos to former Bok centre Jaque Fourie for that in his role as defence coach. They also got their tactics right on a day where they were never going to be able to produce their favoured tempo game.

The upshot was that they won ugly. We were saying about the Sharks a few weeks ago that their credentials for success were improved by their new habit of finding a way to win when they should lose. The Lions have now done that two weeks in a row. They sit with four wins in four starts, and are the only team in the competition outside of Leinster who remain unbeaten.

Even at this early stage of the competition the imperious Leinster charge stamps them as likely champions. Yes, they’ve looked like that at times in the past three seasons too, and then fell short at the end, but there have been some additions, most notably Bok lock RG Snyman, a French prop and they will shortly be joined by All Black centre Jordie Barrett, that potentially take them to another level.

So you can take poison that they will be in the top four. Which means there are three other places up for grabs in the top four, and that could conceivably be three South African teams given how the local challenge is shaping up.

STORMERS REVERSED EDINBURGH EXPERIENCE


The Stormers should be kicking themselves for not picking up any points in Bridgend and Edinburgh, but in their other two games they’ve won with bonus point tries. And their first home game against a Munster team they had hitherto never beaten was a big statement that they will be looking to take further when they host Glasgow Warriors in Stellenbosch next weekend.

There were times that the Stormers again appeared to overdo the flash, particularly in the first half, yet that is the way the Stormers play. They have steppers galore and X-factor galore and make profit out of chaos. But they also had more control, the kind shown in their big win over Zebre two weeks ago, after halftime.

Indeed, in many ways the Stormers’ win at DHL Stadium was built around the ingredients that the opposition teams used to run up flattering winning margins in the earlier games in the competition. The essential one being taking the lead and making the opposition chase. The Ruhan Nel intercept try that secured the try scoring bonus point and made the Stormers winning margin a flattering 15 points was always on the cards given that Munster were chasing.

It happened in reverse the previous week. Edinburgh profited from the Stormers chasing in a game that was never 38-7 in terms of the difference between the teams.

ETZEBETH IS HUGE FOR SHARKS

That of course was similar to the score that Benetton managed against the Sharks on the same day, so it was great from a South African perspective to see the Durbanites, with all their Boks back, making their own statement by convincingly beating the champions, Glasgow, at Hollywoodbets Kings Park.

When the Sharks led 28-12 three minutes before the end it was a slightly flattering scoreline, but the end margin of four points that transpired from Glasgow’s two late tries that got them two bonus points out of the game, and will send them to Stellenbosch this week feeling more emboldened than they might have been, was flattering for the visitors.

Making Eben Etzebeth the captain was a smart move on the part of coach John Plumtree. It does appear to give him more drive. Etzebeth was massive and it is probably reasonable to suggest that when Etzebeth is present and firing like that, the Sharks won’t lose. Ox Nche was huge too once some early scrumming issues were sorted out, Jordan Hendrikse made a good transition back to flyhalf from fullback, and Aphelele Fassi’s time with the Boks has matured him.

There was some rust, which you’d expect when you are assimilating so many Boks back into your system at the same time, but for a first hit out of the season for the top team, Plumtree could not have asked for more.

We already knew after the Bulls and Lions had made a strong start to the season that there’d be South African presence near the top of the log, but the Stormers and Sharks wins confirmed that this year the challenge from this country will be stronger and have more depth to it than ever before. It was a statement weekend.

WEEKEND VODACOM UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Ulster 38 Ospreys 12

Scarlets 23 Vodacom Bulls 22

Zebre 9 Emirates Lions 10

Hollywoodbets Sharks 28 Glasgow Warriors 24

DHL Stormers 34 Munster 19

Edinburgh 27 Cardiff Rugby 8

Dragons 21 Benetton 31

Connacht 12 Leinster 33