TALKING POINT: Where is the knockout blow from SA franchises?

If you are an Emirates Lions supporter, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Heck, if you support any of the SA franchises you would have encountered it more than once this season.

South African teams are on course to have possibly three sides in the top six, and perhaps even four sides in the top eight of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, but still, despite this, there is still an underlying sense of impending doom surrounding some of the teams.

And the reason why is rather clear - not one of the SA franchises seem to have the ability to plant a knockout blow when they are on top?

Now this isn’t saying that a SA franchise can’t battle their way all the way to the title. They have featured in every final in the three seasons the competition has been crossing hemispheres, but we are already seeing how the European teams are adapting to playing in South Africa, and at times we see it from SA franchises.

Yet, still, despite sometimes dominating every facet of the play, the SA franchises fail to plant a knockout blow when they are on top.

The Lions this past weekend were the perfect example of this. Dominating play in Cardiff, they had the Welsh side with its back against the wall. The stats were so lopsided you would never have thought Cardiff would have come close, nevermind win the game.

But some utterly inexplicable game decisions by players, and a suicide intercept pass by Marius Louw gave Cardiff a famous win - one that the Lions will be kicking themselves for the rest of the competition.

OUT OF TOP EIGHT AGAIN

They have now dropped out of the top eight, again, and will need to rely on a home run of games to make the playoffs. But after they have see-sawed their way from sublime to ridiculous in terms of their play, who around here is willing to say they won’t implode at the wrong time again?

Their inconsistency has been a focus point ever since the start of the URC and it has reached a point where you wonder about the mental toughness of the side in crucial situations.

But you could say that about every South African franchise at the moment. The Bulls, for instance, haven’t been dominant at home this season and have lost crucial games against Northampton and the Sharks and Stormers.

But even when they have played well at home, they have allowed teams to come back at them, and when they have dominated, they have failed to take advantage. The game against the Sharks and Stormers were perfect examples of this. Dominance in the stats, but not on the field.

The Sharks this past weekend also would have had John Plumtree pulling out the little hair he has left as they knew exactly how Zebre would play, but still played right into the opposition hands by being too loose and allowing the Italian side to come straight back at them.

After two early tries it seemed the Sharks were going to run away with it, but they were their own worst enemies at times as they failed to make use of their dominance up front and played way too much rugby at times.

All four South African franchises have had injuries, and these have compounded their problems at times, and the effects of the never ending season is catching up with franchises in SA. But with no end in sight, no global season in the offing, they will need to find a way to use their dominance to tick the scoreboard over.

Teams like Leinster and Glasgow use their home ground advantage to put teams away but we haven’t seen the same sort of ruthlessness from South African sides in the URC.

They have the dominance, their scrums are often unmatched and their mauls are pretty much at the top of the competition. Add the competitive backs, and some amazing talent coming through, and it is a recipe for success.

But streetsmarts and ruthlessness is another thing altogether. Winning and winning well is an art. Planting a knockout blow is a specialist act.

And so far, South African franchises have struggled at doing just that.