Advertisement
The testing question of the Jaguares
Back in the heyday of Super Rugby we used to boast that no international side outside of the three Sanzar teams would be able to compete in and win the southern-hemisphere’s premier provincial competition.
We shouldn’t have, because a boast all too often results in a challenge, and we’ve got one on our hands now.
No one really believes that international claim to be true anymore, and not just because of the massive strides that have been made by the northern hemisphere’s Tier 1 rugby nations these last couple of years. No, the theory is being disproved right in front of our eyes by one of our own.
In 2019 Argentina’s Jaguares are the only team outside of New Zealand with a realistic chance of winning the title, even if the final is to be played at the impenetrable Christchurch Stadium.
No one should be shocked by this, not if you’ve been paying even a bit of attention. It’s exactly what they’ve been building towards for longer than a decade.
In his post-match rant after his beloved Waratahs’ loss to the Jaguares, former Wallaby hooker Phil Kearns claimed that the then-Sanzar was “duped” into allowing an international side to compete in a provincial tournament.
They weren’t duped, they were just genuinely surprised when Argentina managed to buy out all their European-based professional rugby players and bring them home to compete in Super Rugby. No one stops New Zealand, South Africa or even Kearn’s Australia from doing the exact same thing.
Sanzar also didn’t expect any team to have a chance of being successful if more than half of all their games are to be played thousands of kilometres across open ocean.
Yet, here we are.
The Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) threw all their eggs in one basket, incubated them in the toughest of environments and now we’re starting to see them hatch. No use complaining now that the sight of that has started scaring us.
Argentina deserved a spot in Super Rugby, because even as semi-pros they won everything else they could.
As the Pampas XV they won South Africa’s Vodacom Cup, going undefeated for the entire 2011 season, this despite never playing a game in Argentina. They then moved on to play in the Pacific Rugby Cup and won the whole thing both times they entered.
What else could they have done to prove they deserved a place in the southern hemisphere big league?
It’s also not unfair that Argentina plays Super Rugby with a test side - it’s their only option. Those are – with one or two exceptions - the only professional rugby players they have available. Must they now drop half their squad just so that they can resemble an out-of-sorts Australian Super Rugby squad?
NO MORE EXCUSES
What we should be doing is learning from the Jaguares.
We have to learn from their example: the only way to progress as a team is to ensure that you have your best players together under the best coaching you have available for as much of the time as possible.
In South Africa and Australia provincial coaching is not always that aligned with national interests, and that is so often our undoing. We may have competitive players on the world stage, but they are only under national coaching for a small part of every year. Our franchises all pull in different directions, making the thought of continuity little more than a wet patch on a national coach’s pyjama pants.
The Jaguares, meanwhile, keep on aiming towards the same spot on the horizon at all times and as a result they have always shown progress. Here is their record:
2016: Won four from 15 for a 27% win record, ending 13th
2017: Won seven from 15 for a 47% win record, ending 10th
2018: Won nine from 17 for a 53% win record, ending 7th
2019 (so far): Won nine from 14 for a 64% win record, currently lying 2nd overall as comfortable leaders of the South African conference.
Given that trajectory they are bound to win the competition, if not this year, then in 2020 (when all the competition’s other teams will have faced massive losses to player resources post-World Cup).
The second lesson – one that is perhaps more applicable to South African sides – is that spending any significant amount of time away from home in a foreign country should not be an excuse for undeniably lacklustre performances. South Africans have wasted 23 years of this competition complaining about life on the road. We shouldn’t have bought it.
The Jaguares have lost only one game out of their last two four-week tours to the antipodes, and that was only because the Highlanders barely managed to hold off a spirited second-half comeback three weeks ago. That is seven wins from eight starts in Australasia, something no travel-shy SA team has ever come close to doing.
The Jaguares have won more games overseas this year than they’ve lost, ending the touring part of their regular season with the exact same number of wins they’ve had at home.
If that is not proof that South Africa’s touring horrors all these years were nothing but the result of the mental weaknesses of pampered babies, then nothing will ever be.
ARE THERE OTHER OPTIONS?
But where does this unprecedented rise of professional rugby in Argentina leave the rest of us?
In terms of Super Rugby we have only one option bar granting Kearns’ wish of straight-up kicking them out. If Argentina wants to continue taking part in this provincial tournament, they will have to add a second participant, even if that means the tournament gets slightly diluted in terms of quality again.
Splitting their resources will not only make it more fair on current participants, but it will also help Argentina in the long run, as it will open up a second talent production line that will allow them to add much more depth to their National squad.
In terms of what all of this means in a World Cup year, well, in this instance Kearns may have been right when he claimed that the Pumas will have a huge advantage in Japan later this year.
They’ve already made the playoffs in the last three World Cups, including two semifinal appearances, so we know they have the pedigree. But there’s more.
This will be the first World Cup ever to be hosted by a country that has no hope of making the playoffs. That means all of the title contenders will be living and playing in unfamiliar climes far outside of their respected comfort zones.
All except Argentina. For them, spending two months in the eccentric surroundings of the Far East will be a breeze compared to only an average annual Super Rugby campaign.
No one ought to be caught by surprise again.
------------
Let’s have a look at what happened elsewhere in the world of rugby this week.
Tries of the week:
------------
Best of social media:
No one tweets like the Baabaas...
CRUNCH! BIG HIT ??@MalakaiFekitoa ???? is a genuinely lovely bloke but on the rugby field he's an ANIMAL????
— Barbarian FC (@Barbarian_FC) June 2, 2019
He makes everyone else look like they were raised in captivity while he ripped it up in the wild ??
12-10 (30) #Baabaas #rugby #rugbyunited #ENGvBAR ??
----
No one tweets like the Baabaas II...
TRY!!
— Barbarian FC (@Barbarian_FC) June 2, 2019
It's BIG T @TaqeleN ???? with consolation ??
He runs over in corner like a semi-detached house strapped to a rocket ??
And we have the whole crowd doing the Thunder Clap for the conversion - This club is bananas ??
43-51 (80) #Baabaas #rugby #rugbyunited #ENGvBAR ??
----
No one tweets like the Baabaas III...
Scrum time...
— Barbarian FC (@Barbarian_FC) June 2, 2019
The forwards drop anchor in Lactic Lagoon for another muscle burning set of hits ??
We'll wake you up when they're done ??
12-10 (28) #Baabaas #rugby #rugbyunited #ENGvBAR ??
----
Perfect caption...
The Lion King - Pretoria Edition pic.twitter.com/TZuuFuwwp2
— Sardieq (@Sardieq_WP) May 31, 2019
--------------
The Oom-ph in local rugby
To those wondering why a 35-year-old “Oom” Martin Sithole is still exchanging hits with rabid 21-year-olds in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge, an eight-year-old called Pearl Lindokuhle Sithole may be responsible for the significant part of the blame.
According to the Hino Valke flanker, said youngster – in her capacity as his daughter – is his motivation.
“She’s the one pushing me to play, always asking me when I’m going to play again,” he explained to SuperSport’s own SRC reporter Simnikiwe Xabanisa.
“She really enjoys the atmosphere and boasting to her mother about what it’s like being on the team bus with the boys.
“I don’t only want her to see pictures of the fact that I once played for the SA Schools or the SA Under-21 teams. Also, when I’m trying to support and encourage her to do whatever she wants to do, she’ll have seen how hard I work to make it happen.”
Things fathers will do for their daughters.
But wait…
Border Bulldogs scrumhalf Yongama Mkaza must have read Xabanisa’s report and gone “hold my beer”. At 44, nine years Sithole’s senior, he has become the oldest player to play first-class rugby in SA since readmission.
Are you even allowed to play with a Zimmer frame?
Also, seeing that his magic wand is working, shall we ask Sim to start writing about successful track athletes taking up rugby?
Thought for the week:
Q: How can you tell if a prop is walking, jogging or sprinting?
A: His facial expression.
Advertisement