Scoring for nation-building

Is the superpower of southern hemisphere rugby on the wane, and the Springboks marching to another Tri-Nations crown? It is way too early to predict, but on the evidence of the Super 14 competition, there must be a few worries in Christchurch, and a few broad smiles in the boardroom of South African rugby at Newlands.

When the Boks won the Tri-Nations trophy in 2009, it broke a four-year winning sequence by New Zealand, and it was only the fifth time in 14 years that the Men in Black did not win the competition.

New Zealand has also enjoyed a seven-year Bledisloe Cup reign over Australia, holding it since 2003. During that time, the Kiwis won 16 games against Australia, and lost three.

The Crusaders, traditionally the best team in New Zealand, and the production line feeding the All Blacks with most of its current and future stars, won seven Super titles, the last of which was in 2008.

Yet, from 2007 onward, South African teams – and notably the Bulls – have won two titles and are on the verge of adding another crown.

It is also the second time in three years that Super 14 spectators will watch an all-South African final.

And what a final it could be, with the best offensive team in the competition, the Bulls, defending their Super 14 crown against the best defensive outfit of the season, the Stormers, in Soweto.

And the way in which the people of Soweto welcomed the Bulls and their supporters must truly be one of the highlights of the year.

Soweto residents stood on the roof of their houses, welcoming the throngs of rugby supporters walking through their streets toward the stadium for the first game of its kind in the vast suburb south of Johannesburg.

Victor Matfield, the Bulls captain, said after the semifinal win against the Crusaders that playing in the Orlando Stadium was an awesome experience.

It was partially because there was no animosity between the vuvuzela and “boeremusiek” on the pavilions; in fact, the way in which the people of Soweto and the rugby fans embraced one another was a try scored for nation-building just three weeks before kickoff in the Fifa Soccer World Cup.

But perhaps Matfield was also upbeat about the influence of the pressure and the vuvuzela on the New Zealand players.

As SuperSport pointed out, vuvuzelas are not permitted at Newlands, but would the pressure of the vuvuzela-blowing Bulls fans tell when Joe Pietersen, Gio Aplon or Peter Grant field the superb up-and-unders by Zane Kirchner, Morné Steyn and Fourie du Preez?

Colin Slade, Sean Maitland and Dan Carter knocked the ball on on a few occasions because of pressure.

What will happen to the Stormers?

That pressure was a telling factor in the emphatic Bulls victory by 39-24. Another factor was the way in which the Bulls scrum dominated, particularly after the Crusaders decided to substitute their strong young scrumming icon, Owen Franks.

The Stormers won convincingly against the outgunned Waratahs, and their defence snuffed out all the possible attacks by Kurtley Beale.

But their scrum was under pressure throughout. Brok Harris was penalised on at least three occasions by the South African referee, Mark Lawrence.

The Stormers scrum also suffered at the hands of the Sharks a few weeks ago.

Before that implosion against the Sharks, the Stormers were arguably the form outfit in the competition in this facet of the game. They were stable and mostly got in that vital right shoulder which gave the halfbacks of the Stormers an extra yard of space on the attack.

With Gurthro Steenkamp having the season of his life, and the much improved Werner Kruger, the Stormers will have their work cut out.

This Stormers team is possibly 20% better than the team in different pajamas who failed by a whisker to beat the Bulls in the Currie Cup semifinal in 2009.

The Grant of 2010 vintage is a markedly better tactical kicker, and the Stormers have two game-breakers per excellence in their team who were not there in 2009 – Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie.

The individual match-up between Habana and the young flyer Gerhard van den Heever is one of those eagerly awaited ones that would add sparkle to this match.

One hopes that the logistical nightmare that had some fans only arriving halfway through the game will not be repeated.

The Bulls have added a train service to their transport arrangements for the Super 14 final.

The initial plan was to use trains for the semifinal as well, but the Metrorail strike put paid to that.

Trains will be available from 12h05 departing from Pretoria station and will stop at Centurion, Kempton Park and Johannesburg.

There will also be a park and ride facility available at SuperSport Park in Centurion, and the buses will depart from SuperSport Park between 11h00 and 13h00.

The question remains, though: Who will depart from the Orlando Stadium in Soweto with the cup in hand – the defending champions, or the Stormers, who are the finalists for the first time since the inception of the Super 14 competition?

The Bulls have the advantage of experience, plus a team that has recuperated two weeks ago when they opted to rest their frontline players for the showdown at Newlands.

The Bulls have leaked tries this season, but their fluency and speed at the breakdowns, plus the availability of game-breakers such as Pierre Spies, Du Preez, Steyn, Wynand Olivier and the underrated Francois Hougaard make them an extremely dangerous outfit.

They also have home advantage, with the vast majority of the fans shouting for the Bulls.

The Stormers have been in irresistible form this season.

The Hollywood actress Mae West has said: “When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better.” The Stormers cannot sing the same mantra.

When they hit the ground running this season, no one could touch them, as the Crusaders found out at Newlands. But when they were bad, they were unfortunately not better, like West said. In fact, they looked flat, listless, out of sorts and faded badly in the second half.

The ultimate questions are: Which Stormers team will turn up in Soweto; how will Harris handle Steenkamp; and how will they react to the vuvuzela-blowing crowd and the immaculate kicking game of Steyn, Du Preez and Kirchner?

The Bulls have work to do.

Their tackling during the victory against the men of Richie McCaw looked more convincing, but they will have to be at their very best to keep out the dazzling Aplon, Habana, Fourie and Joe Pietersen, as well as Schalk Burger, Andries Bekker and Francois Louw on the rampage.

The Bok selectors did an excellent job when they picked their team for the opening international against Wales. Aplon, Louw, Bekker and Danie Rossouw deserve their call-ups.

The tight five would be able to assert themselves, but the ultimate question is how the three quarters would fare against one of the best midfield combinations in world rugby.

If Butch James, Jean de Villiers and Aplon stand up to the task, South Africa would travel from Twickenham to Newlands for the showdown against France in a positive frame of mind.