GAVIN RICH
The Springboks suffered a rare test match in Perth but there was context to that so it should not overshadow what was really an resoundingly successful weekend for South African rugby that championed the strong health the game has arrived at in this country.
There may be some who will contend that the Bok changed up team losing by four points on Sunday at the Optus Stadium was a reflection that there isn’t the depth to the national squad that we thought there was. That would be the wrong perception. Apart from the fact there were players who would qualify for a straight Bok second string were it selected on that basis who weren’t there - Gerhard Steenekamp, Thomas du Toit, Cameron Hanekom, Ben-Jason Dixon, Manie Libbok etc - it is also unfair to judge players who haven’t played any form of rugby for at least seven weeks.
Which was the case in Perth. Particularly not when you are up against a team playing on home turf who know they are playing the world champions and treat the game like it was a quasi-World Cup final.
Nope, the story of this weekend from the perspective of the debate about the Bok ceiling, and their chances of sustaining the dominance that has been established through the winning of two successive Rugby World Cups, three Rugby Championships, a British and Irish Lions series and the RGR series, was elsewhere. It came in the form of the first round of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. There is a new wave of talent coming through and several of the players are special.
All the teams were playing without star players who were either away in Perth or, in the case of the DHL Stormers, with the national captain Siya Kolisi watching from the sidelines. None of them were perfect in their opening games, but then you wouldn’t expect that to be the case in the first game of a new campaign.
EARLY LOG HAS GREAT LOOK FOR SA
What they all did do though was win. There’s not too much to be gained from making a fuss of the URC log when only one game has been played. But for the sake of accuracy, it should be pointed out that the log shown after the first round on Supersport TV during the wrap of the weekend was not completely accurate. The Stormers picked up a full house of five points against Connacht in Galway on Friday night, not just four, and are third on the log, not fifth.
That makes it South African teams in No 1, No 2 and No 3 positions, and with the 10Bet Lions also in the top six after their win over Leinster, it’s never looked this good at the start of a URC season for the country. And you can add something else to that - with the two Scottish teams making up the rest of the top six, all the top six coaches are South Africans.
NEW WAVE
It will change, of course it will, but it is not really the log that is so positive from a national viewpoint. It is the new wave of players coming through, players who took their opportunities as they transferred their winning exploits with the national age-group teams to national level.
The 2025 world championship winning Junior Bok captain was switched from lock to flank because of injury but played a big part in the Stormers’ win on the tricky 4G surface in Galway. Yaqeen Ahmed, brilliant for the Junior Boks this year and also impressive in his Stormers debut against the All Blacks, was very good when he came on too. So was Olly Reid, the loosehead prop. All three of these players are scarcely 20.
And then there was Luan Giliomee, who excelled for the Sharks at fullback and won the official man of the match award, He played in a team that featured another Junior World Cup winner in Vusi Moyo at flyhalf, and there were others in the wider squad such as Matt Ramao and Zikhuthelo Siyaya who are young players. Not to forget the most recent Junior Bok captain, hooker Ethu Mnebelele.
SHARKS CLOSER TO PLAYING IDENTITY
The Sharks played with more zip and energy than we are used to seeing from them, and while they made mistakes, as indeed did the Stormers in Galway and the Lions at times were a bit laboured against an understrength Leinster team, it was a very positive start for them. If you look at if from a playing style and playing identity viewpoint, which rightly is a big focus point at the Durban club, then it was an overwhelmingly positive start for them as they capitalised on having a home game start their campaign for the first time in the URC era.
There are young players galore at the Bulls and Lions too, think Batho Hlekani and Siba Mahashe at the Lions and Cheswill Jooste (soon to be joined by Giliomee) at the Bulls, and on a different note, while they are not the youngest players necessarily, the performances of Jayden Hendrikse (Sharks) and Paul de Wet (Bulls) underlined the scrumhalf depth available. Embrose Papier, along with another Bulls Bok in Cobus Wiese, is apparently on leave currently, but the players who played in their stead were good as they scored a big win over Parma in Italy.
Yes, winning away will always earn you more kudos than winning at home, and in that sense you’d have to say the performances of the weekend came from either the Stormers or Bulls, with the Stormers just edging it in terms of the quality of opposition they were playing. They won by 14 but should have won by a lot more as they were in a charitable mood in terms of opportunities wasted and points gifted to Connacht.
But if you consider how much stronger both teams can be once their Boks are back and injuries are behind them, the overall dominance attained by both of them was a massive statement and tells us about the depth to the South African game. It has not always been thus and those in the rest of the world who are hoping for the current Bok hegemony in the global game to end soon should take note.
Vodacom URC first round results (home teams first)
Connacht 15 DHL Stormers 29
Benetton 19 Dragons 19
Ulster 29 Edinburgh 34
10Bet Lions 27 Leinster 26
Hollywoodbets Sharks 41 Ospreys 24
Munster 20 Glasgow Warriors 26
Zebre 13 Vodacom Bulls 47
Scarlets 15 Cardiff Rugby 21