The United Rugby Championship (URC) is back for its fourth season, and Friday evening’s exhibition between Irish giants Leinster and Scotland’s Edinburgh produced a thriller to set the tone for what should be another outstanding season.
South Africa’s quartet of the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers postponed their opening local fixtures to accommodate the Currie Cup final, and ironically the Lions and Sharks would have met in the opening round of the URC.
Instead, their feeder teams took centre stage in the Currie Cup final at Ellis Park.
The Stormers, scheduled to host the Bulls in Cape Town, spent the earlier part of the week preparing for their overseas trip with a comfortable hit-out against the Pumas in Nelspruit. Next weekend the South Africans begin their challenge overseas, as is the norm in the league, and the biggest talk out of the country is the improvement of the Lions and Sharks.
In the three URC seasons to date, South Africa has hosted all three finals, the first two in Cape Town and last season’s final in Pretoria. The Stormers won the first final against the Bulls, but came unstuck against Ireland’s Munster in Cape Town in season two. Scotland’s Glasgow Warriors, captained and coached by South Africans Kyle Steyn and Franco Smith, respectively, scored a stunning win in the final against the Bulls in Pretoria.
The greatest surprise in the league's history is that Leinster have not made a final. They’re one of the powerhouse clubs in world rugby and have consistently fielded anything between 15 and 20 Irish internationals when at full strength.
Watching the All Blacks fold again simply reinforced the disappointment so many in South Africa felt that the Springboks did not stick them away by a greater margin
Leinster, in every one of the past three seasons, have stumbled in the semifinals, with the Bulls winning in Dublin in year one, Munster winning in Dublin in year two and the Bulls winning in Pretoria last season. They are surely too good not to be contesting this season’s final.
They were devastating at times in securing a 33-31 season opening win at Edinburgh, but all credit to the hosts for coming so close, with South African-born Scottish international wing Duhan van der Merwe revelling in the occasion.
In international rugby, Sydney played host to the Bledisloe Cup opener that doubled as a Rugby Championship league match. It was a typical Bledisloe exhibition, where the concept of defence was forgotten in the name of all-out attack.
The defence was more a soft-serve ice cream than cement, and both teams — the All Blacks in the first half and the Wallabies in the second — enjoyed lengthy periods of dominance with ball in hand.
The All Blacks, for the fifth successive Test, failed to score a point in the final quarter. They scored four tries in the opening 25 minutes, had three disallowed and butchered three more, and somehow were hanging on in the final minute for a 31-28 victory.
Watching the All Blacks fold again simply reinforced the disappointment so many in South Africa felt that the Springboks did not stick them away by a greater margin.
Both Australia and New Zealand have issues, and will battle against the likes of England, France and Ireland. It is going to be a difficult November for the two rugby nations, who combined have five World Cup titles.
New Zealand’s Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt produced a near miracle in getting his players to respond to the 67-27 humiliation against the Pumas in Argentina a fortnight ago, but there has been no miracle cure for Scott Robertson and his impotent last quarter All Blacks.
The All Blacks, bewildered and panicked in the final five minutes, won the first of two Bledisloe Tests to retain the Cup for a 22nd successive year. Do the maths, this is no longer a rivalry but an insult to a rivalry, regardless of how New Zealand’s victories are fashioned.
Australia’s most capped player James Slipper, in his 15-year Test career, has won four matches in 33 against the All Blacks.
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