Now we’ll see

A quirk of the draw has left the champion Brumbies with a hurdle in the 10th, and last, Super 12 that South African teams have long claimed is insurmountable.

In the nine previous years of the southern hemisphere tournament South Africa has been represented in the final on just two occasions – Natal (before they were known as the Sharks) going down 45-21 to Auckland (who were already the Blues) at Eden Park in 1996 (the first final) and then, as the Sharks, being beaten 36-6 by the Brumbies in 2001.

One of the reasons put forward for the perennially poor performances by South African sides is the travel bogey – that unavoidable reality of distance and time zones that requires South African teams to undertake five-week tours down under while their opponents, from either New Zealand or Australia, seldom play more than three away games in a row.

But now it’s the Brumbies who have drawn the short straw.

Australia’s most successful franchise with wins last year and in 2001, plus three other appearances in losing finals, have ended up with the kind of draw that will have those, who believe in the supernatural order of things, claiming that it serves them right for what they did to David Nucifora.

The Brumbies will start their campaign to become the last holders of the Super 12 trophy with three successive home games, against the always-formidable Crusaders followed by the Bulls and the Stormers, after which they will hit the road on the hardest tour they have ever undertaken.

Their next two games will be in South Africa, against the Cats and the Sharks, and they will then be faced with the daunting task of traveling to Auckland to take on the Blues, who will be coming off their bye, before heading to the south island to play the Highlanders a day earlier than normal on a Friday night in Dunedin.

As the Kiwis say: that is a big ask, and complicating the Brumbies’ task even further is that they are one of the teams who have only five home games this season – against their arch-rivals the Waratahs the weekend after they get home from their travels and against the Chiefs. They will also have to travel to play the Hurricanes and the Reds – their last match of their season.

It is an incredibly hard task that will sorely test the skills of their shaggy-haired new coach Laurie Fisher. The born-and-bred Canberran, who possesses an outstanding CV working with various teams in the Capital Territories as well as Australia under 21, was the Brumbies’ forward coach last year and it will be interesting to see whether he can pull off a feat that has been beyond his South African counterparts.

Of the South African sides the Bulls have received arguably the toughest draw – five successive away games, four at home, another away, and then the Stormers at Loftus.

Home advantage has been proven to be important over the years and the local sides with six (out of 11) matches in their own back yard are the Cats and the Stormers – although the former will again dilute their chances of turning an extended home run to profit by leaving Ellis Park to play their last two home fixtures in Bloemfontein.

The Cats will play five in succession in South Africa, then travel to take on the Blues, the Chiefs, the Crusaders and the Reds, return to play the Stormers in Cape Town before finishing up against the Sharks in Bloemfontein.

This means the Cats, who in next year’s Super 14 will be based in Johannesburg, will not be seen Ellis Park after April 23.

The Stormers will travel overseas early, but do have six home games, while the Sharks, with five home games at the Absa Stadium, will have to make amends for last year’s fade-out by picking up points against the Waratahs, the Hurricanes, the Highlanders and the Brumbies after having opened their season agains the Stormers at Newlands.

The record of the Super 12 finals is:

Super 12 Finals

1996

Blues 45 Natal 21

1997

Blues 23 Brumbies 7

1998

Blues 13 Crusaders 20

1999

Highlanders 19 Crusaders 24

2000

Brumbies 19 Crusaders 20

2001

Brumbies 36 Sharks 6

2002

Crusaders 31 Brumbies 13

2003

Blues 21 Crusaders 17

2004

Brumbies 47 Crusaders 36

*This adds up to four victories for the Canterbury Crusaders (three away), three for the Auckland Blues and two four the ACT Brumbies. The only other sides to appear in the final were the Sharks (2) and the Highlanders (1).