Am is a jewel that needs protecting

He didn’t score any tries but his role in creating for those around him should have sent out a clear reminder to Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus of just how crucial Lukhanyo Am could be to his team’s chances of World Cup success in Japan later this year.

Am was one of several South African players who shone on an opening weekend of Vodacom Super Rugby which, for the most part, provided local fans with a promising outlook to what we can look forward to in the coming months.

Not that Erasmus should need too much reminding of what Am could do. When the Cell C Sharks centre was injured in the latter half of the last international season, Erasmus lamented his absence and hinted that the silky creative skills of the No13 played a part in the apparent waning of the Bok attacking potency.

If you look back at the 2018 season, Erasmus’ first in charge, it might be noted that for much of the early part, the Boks never had much trouble crossing the chalk. They needed to score a lot of points to beat New Zealand in Wellington, and they did. The two wins against England that were conspired by rallies from seemingly hopeless positions also featured the Am subtle touches that led to a more clinical end product.

Once he was ruled out with injury, the Boks struggled to retain their attacking Mojo. By the last game against Wales in Cardiff, when they won enough ball to win the game but just didn’t make an impression on the home defensive system with their predictable attack, the warning lights appeared to be flashing. Earlier on the end of year tour the Boks dominated England at forward and in the territory battle and still lost the game.

Could Am have been the missing jigsaw piece? Am’s performance for the Sharks in their excellent confidence building opening win against the Sunwolves in Singapore suggested that he may have been. It was the Sharks forwards that laid the platform for the win, but it was Am who provided the magic that transformed the Sharks from what they were for much of last season, which was a side that relied heavily on physical dominance, to one that was a more appealing and complete blend of brute force, skill and pace.

There isn’t much wrong with Jesse Kriel as a rugby player. The Vodacom Bulls centre was much maligned when he played for the Boks under Allister Coetzee and frankly just never looked like a centre. But John Mitchell up-skilled Kriel enough in his time as Bulls coach to turn him into a passable international midfielder.

Kriel was in good form against the DHL Stormers when the Bulls routed their arch-rivals from the Cape with a rousing performance at Loftus, and scored a good try. But there was a question to be asked in the Sharks game that perhaps summed up the difference in what the respective players bring - would Sbu Nkosi and Makazole Mapimpi have scored their tries were someone other than Am playing inside them?

The answer is probably not. Kriel is a great finisher and explosive runner and is a better passer of the ball subsequent to Mitchell working with him. But he is not one of those innate creators that Am is, and it is that strength that makes Am one of a clutch of players that Erasmus must wish he could wrap up in cotton-wool to ensure he is fit for the World Cup.

There are others of course, and generally it was a good start to the serious part of the rugby year for South Africans. The ease with which they beat the Sunwolves, and the more complete and clinical edge they have brought to their game, was what was noteworthy about the Sharks’ performance in Singapore. They were expected to win it anyway, but maybe not in the style they did.

The Emirates Lions weren’t expected to win in Buenos Aires, though in retrospect there might have been a good reason to think the Jaguares might be vulnerable at this point of the season. Like the Sunwolves, the Argentine side hadn’t had the intense hit-out that was provided for South African sides by Super Hero Sunday a fortnight ago, and they were rusty in their first proper outing of the new season.

A glance at the statistics will show that the Jaguares certainly had enough possession to win the game. They simply made too many mistakes. Before we suggest though that it was just rust that let the hosts down in their first defeat in Buenos Aires to the Lions in this competition, let it be noted that they were often forced into error by the organised and combative Lions defence.

That should be the big plus factor from the first weekend for Lions supporters. Defence was the wobbly aspect of their game last season, but in this game, just as they did in their Super Hero game against the Sharks, suggested there has been a dramatic improvement.

Unfortunately that is not something that can be said about the Stormers’ line out, which creaked in the same way at Loftus in the first game of this season that it did in the last game of 2018 (the Currie Cup final) and many of the games they played before that.

The Bulls were excellent and it was pleasing to see them carry the platform created in so many areas by Mitchell into the new season. One area they did hold back when they lost to the Stormers “B” team at Cape Town Stadium a fortnight ago was definitely their defence. In that game the impression was created that the Bulls had less linespeed than last year. It quickly became evident at Loftus that this wasn’t the case. The Stormers, as was the case with Western Province in last year’s domestic semi-final, struggled to cope with it.

The Stormers’ failure to pitch, because they have so many national players playing for them, was the one downside of the weekend from a South African viewpoint. The Bulls did start as slight favourites on their home team, but the abject nature of the Stormers’ surrender was unexpected.

Their loss also turned out to be the only one suffered by a visiting team on the opening weekend, although it needs to be noted that several visiting teams started out as favourites anyway. That would certainly have been the case for the Crusaders and Hurricanes in Auckland and Sydney respectively, and it was interesting to note how deep both those teams had to dig in order to win. That might be an indication of better times ahead for the Blues and Waratahs, and a sign we could see a more competitive competition this year.

Or maybe we should look at that another way - the Crusaders and Hurricanes showed the uncanny ability, probably inspired from confidence and winning habit, to win from nowhere that sets the All Blacks and the top Kiwi Super Rugby teams apart from the rest and makes them champions.

From an international viewpoint, for the other nations that might have been a less than sobering note with which to start this World Cup year…

Weekend Vodacom Super Rugby results

Chiefs 27 Highlanders 30
Brumbies 27 Melbourne Rebels 34
Blues 22 Crusaders 24
Waratahs 19 Hurricanes 20
Sunwolves 10 Cell C Sharks 45
Vodacom Bulls 40 DHL Stormers 3
Jaguares 16 Emirates Lions 25