WP and Bulls lead the way

The knock-out stages of the various domestic competitions are still to come, and as always, it will be the semifinals and finals that define the seasons of the competing teams.

However, the way the log looks at the end of the league phases does tell the story of where the balance of power is as it tells you which teams were the most consistently successful through the season. And a study of the log tables of the Currie Cup and the two age-group competitions, the under-21 and under-19, confirms what we know already – the power in South African rugby is mostly vested in four strong provinces.

Of course, the Lions showed from the middle stages of the Currie Cup season that they intend to change that under John Mitchell. There are some who say it is silverware that determines the ability of a coach, but that is nonsense.

Taking a poor team and turning them into a competitive one, even if they don’t win any trophies, is a better mark of a coach than winning trophies by inheriting a winning team that already has an abundance of mature talent and has the systems already firmly in place.

But it must be come concern to the Lions that the top four in the under-21 competition were the same top four from the Currie Cup, and the Lions didn’t feature in the top four of the under-19 tournament either. The under-19 event was in fact the only one where Western Province, the Blue Bulls, Sharks and Cheetahs did not hog it, more or less in that order.

While the Leopards struggled in the Currie Cup and went the entire season without a victory, their junior teams did underline what the administrators in the North-West have always contended – the region is a nursery ground for talent. The Leopards finished fourth on the final under-19 league table, at the expense of the reigning champions, Free State, and fifth in the under-21 competition.

In both instances their finishes this year were better than last year, which is an indication that something positive is happening at the Leopards and at the Pukke Institute.

The word Institute, along with the name Rassie Erasmus, goes some way to explain the emergence of WP as a powerhouse that is now challenging the Blue Bulls’ long-standing right to be recognised as the leaders.

While WP did well to finish second on the final Currie Cup log after playing most of the competition significantly under-strength, it was their age-group teams that inspired confidence among Cape fans that the union may be heading towards an era of sustained success.

Both the WP under-19 and under-21 teams topped their log, reversing last season’s order, where the Bulls finished top in both competitions and WP second. Significantly, both WP age-group teams beat the Bulls in both games they played against them this season.

Up until recently it was the WP under-19 side that looked the special one, but the way the under-21 side shut out the Sharks, who beat them in Durban in the first round, showed just how much progress was made during the season.

Erasmus, in his position as WP Senior Professional Coach, should see it as a tribute to the work he has put in that the teams did so well, and his succession planning is playing a big role in revitalising WP across all levels.

So is the WP Rugby Institute that was part the brainchild of former WP director of rugby Nick Mallett, and which came into being in 2007. The WP under-19 side is made up mainly of Institute players, and the good news for WP is that they can expect another good year next year as chief executive Jacques Hanekom and director of operations Stef Nel are excited about the 2011 intake.

Erasmus contributes regularly as a coach to the weekly routine at the Institute, and the young players who come through the institution value the early introduction he gives them to the WP culture and the WP way of playing.

All of this should not be alien to those who know about what happens at the Bulls, for Heyneke Meyer’s did that in Pretoria long ago, and it has been the secret of the Bulls success over the past 10 years.

WP can still spit the dummy, as they did last year, when they lost their semi-finals in the competitions of all three levels of competition. They play the Cheetahs in all three games at Newlands this week.

However, after ending in the top two of all three competitions at the end of the league phase, they have showed that while it might be premature to say the balance of power is heading south, they have closed the gap on the Bulls – and those two are some way ahead of the rest.