Interesting times ahead for 2010 finalists

As Jean de Villiers left the Stormers post-match press conference last Saturday night he turned to the marketing manager and made a statement that was audible enough for journalists present to pick up.

“Twelve points in three games, this is the best ever start to a Super season by a Stormers team,” quipped De Villiers.

Knowing De Villiers it was probably a joke, for he knows full well that four of those points came in a game that wasn’t even played, and that it is actually 12 points from two games with one bye. But if it was also meant as a jibe at the people who had asked questions which made it clear they were less than happy with the performance they had just seen, then it was a point that was taken.

De Villiers himself was honest enough to admit the performance against the Cheetahs was unacceptable, but the fact remains that they are unbeaten not just in Super Rugby, but also through the overall season. That extends back to two hard warm-up games against the Lions and Sharks where they were no more impressive than they have been over the past two weeks. As someone put it, lots and lots of rubbish so far, but only wins to show for it.

It's such a stark contrast to some previous seasons, where the Stormers played well in some close games but still lost, and it could be a big positive for the Cape team. It suggests the Stormers have learned what the Lions have yet to learn – how to win.

At the time of the Newlands post-match press conference, the Bulls also had that. They still do, but two hours later they had lost the winning habit which had been built up over 18 matches at Loftus.

So what happens for the Bulls next? As it turns out, their next match is against the Stormers (they have a bye this week) in what will be a repeat of last year’s final which was held in Soweto. There are questions hovering over both teams which could be answered on the afternoon of 19 March, though the Stormers can start answering them when they play the Highlanders on Friday.

This is no time of crisis for either the Stormers or the Bulls, for regardless of what happens at Newlands this coming Friday, the two teams will still arrive at the Loftus match with more wins than losses on their record. Both of them have shown an ability to win games they should have lost and that ability is said to be what distinguishes champion teams from the also-rans.

But it is not something that can just be accepted as a given, and history shows that their overall poor starts to the season, in terms of quality of performance over 80 minutes, could have two outcomes.

They could start picking up momentum from here and then look back at their unconvincing early wins as a strong platform. Or it could go the other way once they have lost a couple. The Sharks will be the example I draw on as a reminder that winning or losing habits can very quickly become the opposite in this competition once they are broken.

The Sharks showed that in a positive way last season when they recovered from five opening defeats to win seven of their remaining eight games. It was as if once they had finally managed to win one, it became easier after that.

However a couple of years back the Sharks went through a similar experience that the Stormers are now and it did not turn out well for them. They won something like six or seven games on the trot at the start of the competition, yet in none of them were they impressive. Like we are now with the Stormers, we started to talk about winning habits, and the Sharks, because they were topping the log without having played well, were favoured by many to go all the way.

It didn’t happen. They went quickly from losing their first game to losing their second, and then their third. Suddenly the poor form of earlier caught up with them, and they ended up missing out on semifinal qualification.

So while up to now I agree the critics should not be too hard on the Stormers or Bulls as they are winning, it should not obscure the questions that should be asked. Questions such as whether the Stormers are going to be able to retain the energy that helped them to a Super 14 final last season, and whether the Bulls might be vulnerable to what should be referred to as the Kiwi style but also adopted by teams like the Sharks.

As so much of what the Boks do is mirrored by the Bulls, or the other way around, that last question is an important one and one which does need to be looked at over and over again in the coming months. I don’t know the answer and after their defeat to the Highlanders I am not sure the Bulls do either. They and the Stormers face an interesting couple of weeks.