It’s elementary, no Watson

As the Super 14 hurtles along to the halfway stage the resurgence of the Stormers is arguably the most heartening story thus far of the 2010 tournament.

The Stormers have often flattered to deceive, having never reached a Final and appeared in only two semi-finals - in ’99 (which they managed to make an embarrassing mess of) and under Gert Smal in 2004, but this season there appears to be a flint-edged resolve and unity of purpose that has always been lacking.

There could be many reasons for this: the guiding rugby brain of Rassie Erasmus; the growing stature as a coach of Allister Coetzee; the influence of a forwards expert in Matthew Proudfoot; the spark provided by the signing of Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie; the maturing of the tight forwards but there is another aspect which might be having an important bearing on the upward graph of the Stormers – the absence of Luke Watson.

Watson was a determined leader and forceful player for the Stormers but I always wondered whether is relationship with the team was as positive as the franchise’s management gave out.

The times I worked with the Stormers (albeit only to make a couple of pre-Super 14 previews) I sensed an edginess in the relationship between Watson and some of his teammates. There was a tinge of evasiveness in the squad that told me all was not as it should be.

Of course the Stormers had to deny it – what else could the do? – but stories kept being told that Watson was more of a divisive force than a unifying team leader.

Certainly, I often wondered how Watson’s alleged remarks about being sickened by the Springbok jersey – something which he never really denied – sat with some of his senior teammates to whom the quest and achievement of the national colours was a lifetime goal.

It cannot be entirely co-incidental that Watson’s absence has generated the “all-for-one-one-for-all” attitude that too often was lacking in the Stormers – a resolve illustrated by the fact that the men from the Cape have conceded the fewest points (59) the fewest tries (5) and have the best points differential in the competition.

The “All Blues” are demonstrably united under captain Schalk Burger – even though the skipper tends to skate on thin ice by making contact with a referee and unwisely and unnecessarily slapping Meyer Bosman in the weekend’s game against the Cheetahs – and there is a definite sense that the team with arguably the most loyal support in the tournament is on the brink of giving the Newlands faithful something to really cheer about.

Given the old fable that for South African rugby to be strong the game must be healthy in the Western Province (it always is in Northern Transvaal!) – and it certainly appears to be so given the Stormers’ position on the Super 14 log and the performance in the Varsity Cup of the Maties and the Ikeys – the transformation in the “republic south of the Hex River” is to be applauded.

The front-running Bulls have already unpacked in Perth and they will soon be followed by the Stormers on identical overseas tours (in terms of opponents and order of matches) consisting of the Force, the Blues, the Chiefs and the Reds and hopefully they will return still riding high and headed for a mouth-watering precursor to an all-South African Final.

Match 91 of the tournament, the very last of the round robin clashes, is between the Stormers and the Bulls at Newlands on May 15 and boy what a humdinger that is going to be if it turns out the keenest rivals from the south and north will be contesting the top spot on the log.