After weeks of World Cup celebrations where the Vodacom United Rugby Championship faded into the background, South African rugby fans were given a massive dose of reality this weekend as mixed results left a lot of questions unanswered, and some major early-season concerns.
While poor weather conditions, longer tours and hybrid pitches all seem to have played a part, it was the coastal sides who struggled the most while the Vodacom Bulls and Emirates Lions found a way to win in spite of their own mistakes.
The Bulls sit pretty at the top of a very strange-looking URC table alongside Irish juggernaut Leinster and Franco Smith’s Glasgow Warriors and will be pretty happy with back-to-back wins away from home as their tour reaches its halfway point.
But the fact that three points separate positions one to eight is a story in itself, and shows just what a dogfight it will be as the season goes on, not only for European qualification but also for the playoff rounds of this year’s URC.
At first glance, the teams look a lot more evenly matched, although the normal protagonists such as Leinster and Glasgow are sitting on top. Home ground advantage, at least outside Italy and Wales, seems to be a massive factor as well and there has been a definite improvement in the form of both Italian sides.
Still, the uncomfortable reality that the coastal teams are still without a win in the northern hemisphere, and an over-reliance on derby wins and home-ground advantage means that there has to be a rethink long term on how South African teams approach a northern hemisphere tour.
The Bulls may have gotten two wins in three games on tour, but on the face of it, Zebre and Cardiff aren’t likely to be in the top four of the competition, and that puts it into perspective.
Likewise, the Lions, who beat Scarlets to register their first win in the championship, and have been threatening to get that victory for the opening four weeks, will be happy with their win, but know that the Llanelli-based team have hardly set the world alight in the opening four rounds of the URC.
The biggest concern remains the Sharks, who are without a number of players, but seem to have this recurring issue that when their marquee players aren’t there, they can’t produce anywhere close to the same sort of form - as Leinster perennially do without their stars.
PLUMTREE APOLOGISES
It may be almost forced upon him and it is perhaps unfair on new Sharks coach John Plumtree that he had to apologise for the lack of results on the four-week tour but the loss against Zebre produced a particularly low point for him and his side.
Zebre had a losing streak of 28 matches and while they almost beat the Lions last week and are far better than they are often given credit for, there is nobody that watched that game and didn’t think the Sharks were dire, to be kind.
It was always clear that they would need a lot of work to change the culture that has seen them struggle, despite all their big-name buys, but Plumtree probably realises after this tour how much work that will be.
The Sharks' biggest impediment to success in the URC is not when their Springboks are available, but rather when they are away, as they struggle to create the same sort of intensity and pressure as the internationals in their team seem to do with ease.
A lopsided 15-4 penalty count showed just how they struggled to come to terms with Irish referee Peter Martin’s interpretations, but while individual decisions may need some scrutiny, their lack of ability to adapt is more of a concern, as were the 15 turnovers they gave in the game.
Then the yellow and red card didn’t help either and while there will be some sympathy for Hyron Andrews, whose red came from his part in executing a tip tackle on prop Muhamed Hasa and which was in part the fault of his teammate George Cronje, it was just another example of the Sharks not helping themselves when it mattered.
There will need to be some soul-searching in Durban on their return, and the return of a number of injured players, as well as their Springboks, will go a long way to fixing that. But there is a concern that the problems run deeper in Durban than anyone will admit.
BULLS A SHINING LIGHT
Across in Cardiff, the Bulls pulled off a magnificent win in the Welsh capital, but were scrambling to contain a Blues side that was full of life and eventually squeaked home for the win.
Still, any away win is worth its weight in gold, although there will be a lot for Jake White to discuss with his side as they head to Edinburgh for their final tour match before returning home to Tshwane’s sunshine.
But on a cold night on a hybrid pitch that has caused them problems in the past, the Bulls showed more than enough grit to win a tough contest and put themselves top of the log.
As White said afterwards, this is one you put in your memory banks.
Because while the Bulls scored a sensational try through Embrose Papier early on, and followed it up a few minutes later with an intercept to Sebastian de Klerk, they were holding on at the end as Cardiff grew in stature.
Their defence - something that had been a massive issue in the previous season - held firm and they looked comfortable playing without the ball and handling most of what Cardiff threw at them.
That in itself, with the arrival of Gary Gold and Jean Tiedt to do the defence, will be a massive step forward for their aspirations this season.
But even bigger was the message sent out by their scrum.
While we’ve become accustomed to seeing SA teams dominate in the scrum, the second-half master class put on by Wilco Louw - who was a worthy man of the match recipient - Johan Goosen and Gerhard Steenekamp won them a multitude of penalties when they were under pressure.
If the rebuild to defending the World Cup starts now, Louw and Steenekamp sent out a message that they won’t be ignored this season.
LIONS PLEASURE AND PRIDE
Ivan van Rooyen’s side may not possess the big names and firepower that other teams have, but gee golly they have a lot of fighting spirit.
Their win over Scarlets on Saturday was something special, and will go a long way to taking off some of the pressure on a side that punches above their weight and who are always competitive.
Their win came thanks to a miracle moment - something that went against the run of play as it looked as if Scarlets would squeak home - that changed the course of the game entirely and gave the Lions a narrow win.
The poor grubber from man of the match Sanele Nohamba saw a nightmare clearance from Steff Evans charged down by Richard Kriel, who collected the ball and passed to Henco van Wyk to score the telling try.
It was just reward for hanging in on the fight and for never giving up, but it was a lucky moment that could so easily have turned out differently.
The key positives for the Lions remained Nohamba’s form at 10, which was refreshing and gave different options, as well as their scrum, which dominated throughout.
STORMERS HAVE THEMSELVES TO BLAME
It is hard not to feel for John Dobson as his team became a Benetton scalp in a highly competitive match in Treviso on Saturday.
But a host of changes, some underperforming key players and a decision to be caught in the middle of two game plans clearly cost them against a motivated Benetton side.
To be clear, this isn’t the easiest of games for anyone. Benetton’s season thus far has been incredible - they won away from home in Cardiff, drew with Champions Munster at home in Treviso and then beat the Lions before adding the Stormers to their scalps.
They are clearly a much better side than anyone gives them credit for and are likely to be challenging for a top eight - if not top 4 - place if they can keep injury free and continue this momentum.
Still, the Stormers have an exceptionally poor away record, despite getting into consecutive URC finals in the past two years, and they last won away in October 2022.
But this wasn’t due to conditions or the pitch, but rather the fact that the Stormers inexplicably tried to play width in conditions that didn’t suit it, and against a defence that was scrambling well.
They started the game off playing more territory and it seemed to work, but the switch, as well as the way their lineout performed during the game, and questions about the form of key players such as Warrick Gelant, will keep them up at night.
It’s still early days, but the warning signs are there for Dobson, and how he heeds them will be key as they head onward in the competition.
EDINBURGH DROP SINKS CONNACHT
In the rest of the fixtures the most interesting win was that of Sean Everitt’s Edinburgh side, who used a Ben Healy drop goal in the dying seconds to earn them a win over Connacht in one of the most entertaining games of the season.
Six tries and a death drop goal made this a fascinating contest, and all the more so to celebrate Pierre Schoeman’s 100th game for Edinburgh.
Ulster proved too good for Munster in their Irish derby, with Nathan Doak’s three penalties and a conversion the decisive difference in a game that saw two tries apiece. Leinster reverted to type on Sunday to crush the Dragons 33-10 while Glasgow also kept the pressure on the top with an entertaining away win at Ospreys.
WEEKEND RESULTS
Friday
Zebre Parma 12 Hollywoodbet Sharks 10
Ulster 21 Munster 14
Cardiff Rugby 12 Vodacom Bulls 18
Saturday
Benetton 20 DHL Stormers 17
Ospreys 23 Glasgow Warriors 31
Scarlets 23 Emirates Lions 24
Edinburgh 25 Connacht 22
Sunday
Dragons 10 Leinster 33