When Marcell Coetzee let go of the F-bomb in his post-match interview at Ellis Park, he probably perfectly summed up what South Africa’s players think of summer rugby.
To those who haven’t seen it, the Bulls captain was asked by SuperSport interviewer Hanyani Shimange what he thought of playing in the heat after he’d led his side to an impressive 52-10 win over the Lions in the return Gauteng URC derby.
Coetzee let go with an expletive. He immediately apologised amid a mixture of embarrassment and mirth, but it was too late to prevent us from getting a view of what he felt about playing on a hot summer afternoon.
Summer rugby isn’t just uncomfortable for the players; no doubt the 2.30pm kick-off would have been uncomfortable for the spectators sitting in the open too. From my experience of Kings Park, it would have been uncomfortable at the Durban game as well.
But at least the game between the Sharks and Stormers kicked off in the early evening, which should be the earliest a game kicks off in this country at the height of summer. A few seasons ago the Stormers won comfortably against the Sharks in a game that kicked off early on a February afternoon but afterwards spoke about the experience like they’d got through a survival course.
Considering the humidity, the return coastal derby was a decent game, with both teams contesting it furiously and delivering lots of quality among the inevitable errors you will get when the ball is slippery.
While the previous week the Stormers were authors of their own demise as much as the Sharks played well, the narrative post the Durban game should be focused on how good the Sharks were.
The win in Cape Town wasn’t enough on its own to confirm the turnaround for the KZN franchise, but the follow-up win seven days later was.
The Sharks are clearly playing for the interim coach JP Pietersen, and at the rate they are going, we can reasonably expect the word “interim” to be removed at the end of the season. John Plumtree’s decision to step aside to allow Pietersen a chance to prove himself has been vindicated.
The Stormers have suddenly hit a blip, one that was foreseen when they started to become loose after returning home from a five-match overseas winning sequence. Fortunately they now have a four-week break to discuss possible game adjustments.
The Stormers started better in Durban, but it was quickly apparent that there was a level of desperation about the Sharks to go back-to-back. Their dominance of the collisions and territory should have seen them leading at halftime rather than trailing. It was thanks to two monster penalties from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu that the Stormers did lead, and it was a reminder that the Springbok flyhalf will always contribute something special.
However, while there is no denying Feinberg-Mngomezulu will be a very good captain in the future, the decision to install him as team leader so soon may have been an error. He still has too much work to do on the development of his game management for him to take on the extra responsibility of leading the team.
Ruhan Nel will be back in the selection mix when the Stormers next play against the Lions on February 28, and if Feinberg-Mngomezulu is playing, he might be better off for being released to just focus on his already important role as game driver.
The Stormers have suddenly hit a blip, one that was foreseen when they started to become loose after returning home from a five-match overseas winning sequence. Fortunately they now have a four-week break to discuss possible game adjustments.
For evidence that game adjustment can turn things around, the Stormers just need to look at the Bulls team Coetzee led to victory in Joburg. They carried much more with the forwards and abandoned the expansive approach that left them up the creek without a paddle in the highveld games against the Lions, Bordeaux-Bègles and Bristol Bears before they won two overseas games where the conditions forced them to be more pragmatic.
The Sharks and Bulls have prevailed over the past two weekends by injecting a bit of balance into their games and if the Stormers take note, the past two results may quickly be forgotten.
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