In terms of drama, rugby fans that have been starved of action during the worldwide lockdown due to the coronavirus could not have asked for more than was delivered in the two competitions that were live this past weekend.
There were four games played across the Aotearoa in New Zealand and the Domestic AU in Australia and none of the winning teams in any of those matches were ahead at halftime. Indeed, all the teams that won were at some point of their clashes at least 12 points behind the team they eventually conquered.
It made for absorbing viewing, and once again, the Aotearoa provided plenty of quality, skill and aesthetic value. South Africans watching might have been tempted to think two things - firstly, we definitely don’t want to see the Rugby Championship take place this year because the Kiwis are just so far ahead in their preparation, and secondly do we really want to lose our links with New Zealand at regional and franchise level?
KIWIS REMAIN THE GAME'S TREND-SETTERS AT THIS LEVEL
The Kiwis may no longer be world champions but the fact they have dominated Super Rugby over the past two and a half decades underlines the extent to which they lead the southern hemisphere, and probably the world, at this level of the sport.
Indeed, England coach Eddie Jones made a telling point when he returned to the UK recently after being locked down for a month or two in Tokyo: It is Super Rugby that provides the cue that the rest of the coaches around the world follow.
In other words, Super Rugby provides the innovation. And if you think of the trend-setting coaches in world rugby, Jones has a point - most of them cut their teeth in Super Rugby.
Jones said he was going to watch some more Super Rugby before finalising the England way forward post Covid-19.
SA BENEFITS FROM REGULAR CONTACT
South African rugby probably does benefit from being in regular contact with the sport’s trend-setters, just like the New Zealanders have benefited over the past 25 years from being exposed on a regular basis to the South African physicality and directness. Their individual players have benefitted in terms of personal growth from the experience of playing on the highveld.
The New Zealand record in Super Rugby in matches on South African soil is better than it should be, but the visitors have experienced some wake-up calls over here that have helped them.
Take the Hurricanes as an example. There was so much wrong with their game when they were buried by the Springbok forward dominated Stormers at Newlands in round one of the aborted Super Rugby tournament earlier this year that they have worked on rectifying since then. And as they showed against the Blues at the weekend in Aotearoa action, they’ve now got it right.
The Blues had a very different experience, in what might yet prove to be their last ever visit to Cape Town, just before lockdown and the suspension of Super Rugby, and their comprehensive win was the catalyst for a resurgence that saw them end the first half of Aotearoa as strong silverware challengers.
BLUES PUNISHED FOR BEING A FEW PERCENTAGE POINTS OFF
As their captain remarked after their agonisingly narrow loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington at the weekend though, you can’t afford to be even a minute fraction off your game when you play in the Aotearoa. The Blues were a bit off their game at Sky Stadium, at least they were second in the intensity stakes to the Hurricanes, and in the end, it was remarkable that the game was so close.
The Blues led comfortably at one stage of the first half even though the Hurricanes dominated territory and possession, and were giving them a hard time in the set scrums. Ngani Laumape rightly grabbed the headlines for his spectacular, galvanising first try and several other barnstorming runs and imprints on the game, but the Hurricanes were good all round.
They came back from their deficit to level the scores at halftime, but the Blues, determined to make this competition their reacquaintance with the silverware that has eluded them for so long, weren’t finished. They came back after conceding the lead early in the second half to take a five-point advantage into the last five minutes, which was when the Hurricanes scored a converted try that clinched it for them.
CRUSADERS NOW ALMOST CERTAIN WINNERS
A dramatic game and a dramatic finish, but unfortunately from the competition’s perspective, it wasn’t so great as it means the front-running Crusaders are now almost certain winners of the trophy. There has been no provision made for a final in Aotearoa, so the team that finishes top of the log will be the winners.
And with the Crusaders retaining their lead at the top even though they have a game in hand on their opponents after their second bye, and yet to lose while their nearest challengers have both lost twice, it’s hard to see them being caught in the four weeks remaining.
The other game in Aotearoa played this past weekend was as exciting as the one in Wellington. The Hamilton crowd were treated to perhaps their Chiefs team’s finest performance of the season so far and would have been getting ready to celebrate Warren Gatland’s first win as head coach in this competition.
Alas for them, the Chiefs were unable to put the Highlanders away when they should have, and just like they did in the first round game in Dunedin, they came back to win at the death - this time not via a drop-goal but a good try to Sio Tomkinson.
The game meant less to the overall Aotearoa race than the one in Wellington. It was nonetheless as absorbing and rewarding for those South Africans who woke up early on their Sunday to watch it. A point that should be made here - there are definite benefits to playing afternoon rugby in New Zealand.
DRAMATIC AU GAMES EVIDENCE OF IMPROVEMENT
The rugby played on the other side of the Tasman Sea was not nearly as quick and as skilful as what we saw in New Zealand, or as watchable for that matter, but it was an improvement on previous weeks. There was plenty of drama in both games.
The Reds were in a deep hole, trailing by 14 points, before coming back to win their home game against the Western Force, while the Brumbies were 15 points behind the Waratahs in Sydney before coming back to eventually clinch it with a last-gasp try to reserve scrumhalf Issak Fines.
Notable in the Sydney game was the performances of the Waratahs’ pool of young newcomers, and they made a big imprint in a first half where at one stage they led 20-5. They showed their inexperience though in not being able to close off the game and the fact that the Brumbies got home might well mean that the Australian competition will end up going in the same direction as the Aotearoa - meaning it will be a one-horse race.
The Brumbies started the tournament as favourites and yet in both games they have played so far, against the Waratahs and Rebels, they have been surprisingly exposed in one of the areas considered to be their strength - the scrum. They’ve scraped victories in both games though and you fancy that they will get their scrum right in time.
Weekend Aotearoa results
Hurricanes 29 Blues 27
Chiefs 31 Highlanders 33
Weekend AU results
Queensland Reds 31 Western Force 24
NSW Waratahs 23 ACT Brumbies 24