Johannesburg – With a bye this weekend and four of their remaining six games on home soil, the Cheetahs are well-placed to make a push for the South African Conference title.
But so, too, are the Bulls, who are in a strong position after round 11 of this year’s Super Rugby competition. And, one just can’t write off the Sharks or Stormers at this stage.
What we have then is the most fiercely contested local conference battle in years, with only the newcomers, the Southern Kings, out of the running.
After another good round of results for the South African teams, this year’s competition is truly shaping up to be a thriller. In Australia and New Zealand, too, there is no room for error as the leading teams are separated by only a handful of points.
After Naka Drotske’s Cheetahs registered their seventh win from 10 matches at the weekend against the Kings, he said he was more than satisfied with his team’s position at this stage. “Four out of our next six games are in Bloemfontein ... we’ve got a bye this week and another to come right at the end. It’s been a tough 11 weeks; we don’t have the luxury of being able to rotate our players like some of the other teams, so I’m very happy,” said Drotske after his side’s 26-12 win against the Kings.
“We were under pressure after losing our opening two games, but the players reacted positively and we got back on track. We have achieved our goals so far and with the bye now (which means the Cheetahs pick up an additional four log points this weekend) we can plan nicely for the final stage of the competition. Added to that we have three weeks off in the June Test window ... so I’d say everything has worked out very nicely for us.”
The Cheetahs are, indeed, in prime position, but they will be ruing the fact they failed to pick up a bonus point for four tries against the Kings and there is some concern key figures in the side, flank Lappies Labuschagne (elbow) and lock Lodewyk de Jager (knee), may miss some games going forward. Drotske, however, is confident they will be okay in a fortnight when they’re in action again.
“All the players will have the week off ... they must go rest and recharge. I think Lappies and Lodewyk will be okay,” he said.
The Bulls are now also back in the race for top honours after returning from their disappointing Australasia tour. They have picked up wins against the Cheetahs, Kings and Waratahs, at the weekend, and currently lead the SA Conference. They also failed to score four tries on Saturday at Loftus in what can only be described as a mediocre performance. In the end, though, they got the job done but coach Frans Ludeke will still have concerns his team aren’t quite firing as they should be.
The most significant win of the weekend came on Friday when the Stormers downed the always tricky Hurricanes in Palmerston North to start their four-match overseas tour on a high. After a very disappointing first half of the competition, the Stormers appear to have found their form at just the right time and are now snapping at the heels of the Bulls, Cheetahs and Sharks. In fact, only four points separate the top four SA teams.
The Sharks, despite all the changes made to the team by coach John Plumtree, also showed they still have plenty of fight in them after leaving SA shores in some disarray when they pushed the Chiefs close in New Zealand.
They will be ruing the fact they fell 24-0 behind inside 20 minutes, a spell that ultimately cost them the chance of pulling off a surprise win.
RESULTS
Crusaders 30 Rebels 26; Cheetahs 26 Kings 12; Bulls 30 Waratahs 19; Brumbies 41 Force 7; Chiefs 37 Sharks 29; Reds 12 Blues 11; Hurricanes 16 Stormers 18
FIXTURES
Friday: Blues v Stormers; Rebels v Chiefs
Saturday: Highlanders v Sharks; Force v Reds; Kings v Waratahs; Bulls v Hurricanes
Sunday: Brumbies v Crusaders – The Star