Working towards a great achievement

I was one of the first to write it, but after journeying down memory lane, it appears it may not be entirely accurate to assume that the 50 pointer the Stormers put on the Blues in Auckland last weekend was the greatest ever win by a South African team in the Super 12.

That it seems like that is because it has been such a long time since South African teams have really been competitive in overseas games. But it is a fact that in the first Super 12 season of 1996 the Sharks coached by Ian McIntosh scored what can only be described as a momentous one-sided win over the Reds in Brisbane.

It was a huge win in that it was achieved in an away semi-final, and the Natalians were even more rank outsiders than the Stormers were at Eden Park a few days ago.

The final scoreline of 43-25 may not reflect just how one-sided the game was, and it certainly wasn’t as freaky as the Stormers game in Auckland, but considering the Sharks had lost to the Reds in a league match in Durban just a few weeks earlier, it was an awesome effort.

Remember that in those days the Reds were a different proposition to what they are now. They had John Eales and Tim Horan at their best back then, and were easily the top Australian side in the competition. Indeed, they were the reigning Super 10 champions and had been title holders in that tournament for two years.

But what is not open for debate is that the Stormers will have pulled off an unprecedented feat if they achieve their objective of beating the Chiefs in Hamilton on Friday.

No South African team has ever won three on the trot in New Zealand and Australia.

That this would be something for the Stormers to be immensely proud of can be better understood if you took a look at some of the complaints that have emanated from Sydney in the past few weeks.

The Waratahs won their opening three games in the Super 12 this year, two of them at home in Sydney and the other across the ditch in Christchurch. Then came a four week tour which incorporated two matches in South Africa and two in New Zealand.

When the Waratahs lost all four of those games, many rugby writers in the city jumped to the conclusion that it was because they had been on the road too long. It should never be allowed to happen again that they have to spend four consecutive weeks on the road, lamented one of the columns which appeared in the rugby media.

This is laughable to most South African players, who every year have to endure the sort “nightmare” that the Aussies have been complaining about. But while it may seem a bit rich of our Antipodean friends to criticize the tournament format when for years they ignored the problems which tripped up the South African teams, that does not mean they are wrong.

I argued it last year and I will argue it again – having to play four weeks overseas does put South Africans at a massive disadvantage, and you can gather this just from listening to some of the overseas players talking about their “tough” two match tours to South Africa.

For goodness sake, the Waratahs players at least had a chance to pop home for a few days between the South African leg and the New Zealand leg. The South Africans have to reconcile themselves to being away from their families for four weeks every season, and that is a non-negotiable.

But the problems associated with travel were graphically illustrated this past weekend.

The Waratahs came home to Sydney for the first time in almost a month and a half, and promptly transformed themselves back into a side that looked capable of making the tournament semi-finals.

There was also a record crowd of nearly 40 000 on hand to watch the game, something which reflected another problem which the South African franchises have to live with courtesy of the way the tournament schedule works.

After losing four on the trot you would not have expected the Waratahs to be draw-cards. That they were was probably down to the fact that Sydney citizens felt starved of top rugby after six weeks when there was just no Super 12 action in their city.

I know how they feel. It seems eons ago that the Stormers were last in action in my home city of Cape Town, while Sharks fans had to wait until April before they got to see their team play live.

Playing a series of home games in successive weeks has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages in that six matches concertinaed into as many weeks has a more immediate effect on a spectator’s pocket than when the games are spread over three months.

I have not spoken to the relevant people about it, but this must have some sort of negative impact on marketing strategy. For instance, unless the Stormers do book themselves a home semi-final, their home season is over already, and was before the end of March.

The remedy for these problems is not immediately apparent. A provincial or regional tournament held over three months and spread over three countries separated by several time zones will always face logistical difficulties.

But what I do know is that if the Stormers do make history on Friday, it will be a huge achievement. And if the Bulls beat the Crusaders in Christchurch on the same weekend, so making it an unprecedented seven wins overseas in 14 starts, then we can happily say that any overseas bogey has finally been buried by long-suffering South Africans who were told they were whingers when they tried to highlight the difficulties of a four match overseas tour.