Titles, red cards and a whole lotta drama - 25 years of super rugby in Gauteng

Few would have noticed it, but this weekend marks the inevitable conclusion of Vodacom Super Rugby, which after 25 years goes out with a whimper and not a bang.

But while Covid may have robbed us all of an exciting 2020 season featuring the southern hemisphere’s best, and the competition has been dominated most notably by the Crusaders over the years, in Gauteng at least, there has been much to celebrate.

The Vodacom Bulls are still the only South African side to taste success and go on to win the trophy, while the Emirates Lions came close three times but were never to taste victory after some remarkable seasons.

While it may be easier to quantify these in a greatest hits-type piece, here are a few simple memories from a quarter-century of games in Gauteng – which have inspired more than a few articles in their time.

ANDREW MEHRTENS ONE-FINGERED SALUTE

A moment that captured the intensity of a battle that meant little for the Super Rugby title that year. The Crusaders were unbeaten and marching on. The Bulls were woeful and had not won a game. But when the New Zealanders stepped onto a seething Loftus Versfeld they found a match that was tougher than expected, with a crowd that was giving them as much grief as they could throughout.

The Bulls refused to lie down and the see-saw battle saw them go toe-to-toe with the Super Rugby champs, and led 28-27 with time running out. But the Crusaders are not a team that goes down easily, and a scrum set up the perfect response from Mehtrens.

The Flyhalf turned and raised his middle fingers to the crowd, an uncharacteristic response from a player who was normally cool, calm and collected. Merhtens apologised afterwards, and in today’s landscape would have been called to explain his actions. But back in 1999, it went by with a few newspaper headlines.

LIONS OUT OF SUPER RUGBY

It was the nightmare scenario coming true for the Johannesburg franchise, out of Super Rugby for the first time in the competition’s history. The Lions had finished last in 2012, and SA Rugby decided that they were to be replaced by the Southern Kings in 2013, a decision that lasted one season, but which kickstarted the Lions revival as they returned to become the premier team in the years that followed.

It was a time that those at Ellis Park like to forget, and one which eventually produced Johan Ackermann as a top international coach. But for one season, you could hear crickets at arguably the premier South African rugby venue.

92-3 AND A BURGLARY IN DURBAN

There were few who would bet against the Heyneke Meyer coached Bulls in 2007, especially as they had made the semifinals in 2005 and 2006 and lost away from home but were increasingly looking like champion material. But to have any realistic chance, they needed to take the travel out of the window.

It came down to the last match at Loftus Versfeld and Eddie Jones’ Reds side arrived after a horrific season that would cost Jones his job. The Bulls knew they needed to win by a mammoth 76 points on the evening. And they were in sublime form, with the stadium clock eventually denying them a century on the field where they easily surpassed the 76 points and booked their place in the playoffs.

A few weeks later, it was Bryan Habana who stole the show with an injury-time try - one which shocked Durban and gave the Bulls their first Super Rugby title. And it came after Albert van den Berg had scored and Frans Steyn rushed a conversion in front of the poles that would have put them out of reach.

There was a ball that popped out of the ruck just before Habana scored that seemed to have found its way back illegally but was missed by the referee.

It gave the Bulls their first of three Super Rugby titles, and a day in Durban many will never forget.

And a talking point that has continued for years.

THE BIGGEST HIDING IN A SUPER RUGBY FINAL

There was no doubt the Bulls team of 2009 was a special one. They romped to the top of the log on the back of a team filled with confidence, who was playing some superb rugby and who had no fear for their opposition.

And when they finally had the right to host a superb final on their home turf, they put on a performance that will long be remembered as one of the most one-sided finals in history. Led by the irrepressible Fourie du Preez, who gave a masterclass on controlling the game, the Bulls were simply unstoppable.

They demolished the Chiefs 61-17 in an exhibition of dominant rugby few have ever seen before or since from a South African team.

THE MOST BIZARRE RUGBY GAME IN SUPER RUGBY HISTORY

It will go down as the highest-scoring game in the competition’s history, and for those who were there to witness it, it was nothing short of bizarre.

A match where the Chiefs were romping home, only to be caught by the Lions in cricket-score territory, and then to win at the death was the sight of running rugby dreams, with 137 points and 14 tries in 80 minutes of shootout rugby.

The game was a tight one – well at least in the first half, as the contest was pretty even.The Chiefs led 27-25 at the break, but showed some flames in the second half with five unanswered tries to lead 65-25 and look as if they were going to record a record win in Johannesburg.

The Lions suddenly woke up, spurred on by a yellow card to Richard Kahui, and stormed back into the game. Doppies la Grange, Tonderai Chavhanga, a brace by Wandile Mjekevu and tries by Cobus Grobbelaar and Jacques Lombard brought them within seven, but the clock stopped their assault as they fell just short.

Defence was an afterthought and the carnival nature of the game surprised many, and will be remembered for a long time.

DREAMS OF A SOWETO FINAL

Even the Bulls chief executive at the time Barend van Graan never realised the pot of gold he hit when he moved the playoff games in 2010 to Soweto’s Orlando stadium. Loftus Versfeld was a Fifa 2010 World Cup venue and could not host the Bulls defence of their Super Rugby crown and so some 50km away, in the most unlikely venue, the most extraordinary scenes played themselves out.

It was two weekends of rugby mayhem, where the township streets were filled with horns and blue jerseys, and the stadium was a cacophony of vuvuzelas. Pieter Rossouw laughingly recalled how “you couldn’t hear yourself think” as the Orlando Stadium provided the backdrop as the Bulls first downed the Crusaders, and then the Stormers in the final.

It was magical, one of those South African moments that no scriptwriter would have dreamt about, and it cemented the Bulls third title, the last one for a South African team in the competition.

KWAGGA’S RED CARD DASHES LIONS DREAMS

Johan Ackermann had built a formidable team as they approached the 2017 Super Rugby final, and it seemed that fortune had finally smiled on the Lions as they hosted the Crusaders in the Super Rugby final.

But the Lions started badly, and were 12-3 behind when Kwagga Smith ran awkwardly and collided with David Havili who had gone up for the ball. The Crusaders fullback landed badly and it was a clear red card. And when Jaco Peyper flashed the colour the Lions didn’t want to see, Smith left the field, and their hopes of the Super Rugby title left with him.

The Lions contested a Super Rugby final the year before and after, both in New Zealand and both were lost, but the 2017 game was their best chance of grabbing a title. And it all ended in one moment of madness.

There were many more moments that will stand out – like the Brumbies shocking the Bulls in 2013 in the semifinal, or the Bulls incredible 24-point comeback against the same Brumbies in a league game in 2009 that will be remembered.

Or the terrible marriage between the Lions and Cheetahs that produced the Cats. A horrible experiment wanted by nobody that eventually died a poor death.

There was drama aplenty and as the sun sets for Super Rugby, the memories will live on. And the tales of bravado will be carried from a tournament that had so many highs, and enthralled us all at times, but left a lot quieter than it began.