As we move into the final two rounds of Super 14 2008, we can reflect over this weekend of some high’s and lows for South African teams.

Firstly, the Sharks match against the Crusaders. Yip, I actually tipped an upset and predicted a back against the wall Shark team with everything to play for, to pull one over the fancied champions in waiting.

And throughout the course of the match, I believed the Sharks would pull through.
They came close several times and had their fair share of chances to get themselves in the lead. With points hard to come by in the icy conditions of Christhchurch, you had the feeling that any score by any side in the last ten would be enough to see the side home.

As it turned, the Crusaders were the last team to score and that doomed the Sharks to a third consecutive defeat and a tumble out of the top four log standings.

However, the Sharks much like New Zealands Blues, were all but semi final favourites only to have their star wane on them as the competition progressed.

Terblanch at fullback. Well, a lot of people praise his heroics. I find him a liability for the Sharks, booting a lot of aimless kicks, some out on the full. Against the Crusaders, Terblanche again did,nt fail to disappoint in those areas, if you are an opposition supporter. In attack, he offers nothing from the back. JP Pieterson and Ruan Pienaaar’s loss of form is alarming, considering what these two players alone are capable off.

In fact much has been said about the Sharks low try scoring rate this season including throughout their entire stint at 2nd place on the log before there tumble out of the top four begun. When you have got key strike players like Ruan Pienaar and JP so miserably off form added to Ndugane who has offered nothing this season, you can understand why their try scoring fete’s have been classed as under achievements.

Their best attacking options has been Ryan Kankowski from the forwards and the go forward snipes of their nuggetty scrumhalf, Rory Cokitt. The rest of their backline has offered very little in attack. Their most promising attacking player, Adi Jacobs has spent most of his season on the bench whilst less creative midfielders have played at his expense.

Kankowski has emerged this season as a class above the rest in the Sharks lineup and for me is a Bok certainty come June. His try on Saturday was quality stuff, made from nowhere and nothing. His break from the scrum with five or so defenders to beat, was not on. But he handed off, ran, pushed and broke away to score a fabulous solo effort.

The Sharks have proven now that they have held second place by several lucky narrow wins in much the same way the Cheetahs have hogged the bottom of the log by several unlucky losses. Had the Cheetahs scraped through those narrow defeats as the Sharks had done, the boys from Bloemfontein could well be mid table now.

Having said that, the Cheetahs for all their efforts don’t deserve to be near the middle of the log. They lost to the Lions, Force, Chiefs in the last moments of their match through stupidy when the game was theirs to be closed out. Who else this season did they narrowly lose to? I am sure that the three teams I mentioned were not the only close games they lost.

Again Saturday, the Cheetahs showed up woefully on defence and allowed the Highlanders to run up a healthy lead and a few notches up the Super 14 table.

One could almost offer the hapless Cheetahs kudu’s for coming back from 31-14 down to nearly steal the match in the end, but how much more then a two man advantage (after the Highlanders lost two players to the bin) do you need in order to get the better of the opposition.

All the Cheetahs can do is take stock of their massive player drain this season and rebuild for next.

As for the Highlanders, they deserve their congrats for their win. And in the end, they sealed their win with clever no risk rugby. If their opponents don’t have the ball, then there is no way they can score.

Leading by a mere three points minutes toward the end of the game, the clever Highlanders denied the Cheetahs any wiff of a chance by hogging the ball at the back of their scrum. It was,nt pretty, and for a SAFFA yelling for the Cheetahs, it was horribly frustrating as the clock wound down. But it was clinically clever, winning rugby by a team clinging on by their finger nails. Don’t kick the ball to the opposition, don’t risk losing possession by running at the oppostion. Don’t give the bastards any opportunity to run the ball back at us and steal a win from under our noses. Just hold it at the back of the scrum, bash it up, recycle and hold again until the final hooter.

Well done, Highlanders

The Lions match against the Hurricanes ended in a pretty much predictable scoreline and I hate to sound unpatriotic, but I found little enthusiasm to take time off work to watch the match on telly…nor did I even bother to tape it. So I cant offer too much comment accept to say that all their player losses (Mujati, Jantjies, Wylie Human, Rici Januarie plus old losses in Schalk Britz and Bobo) are all looking very solid for the Stormers.

After three losses, comes back to back matches on Saturday afternoon in the land of Jacob Zuma. And with a second placed Waratahs coming up against a Bulls side capable of sinking to new lows this season (think of their 50 points thrashing by the Blues & Crusaders, think of their hiding by the Reds), I was wondering whether I was squandering my valuable time, giving away hours in front of the telly to watch our SA teams blunder from one inept defeat to the next.

The Bulls and Waratahs match was not pretty, to be fair, given the pouring rain which drenched Loftus and condemned this match to a low scoring affair.

I have suffered many frustrating weekends this season watching promising backline moves of the Bulls fluffing out with Wynand Olivier caught in possession when again he offers nothing in attack and refuses to pass the ball to a player in a better position. And again Saturday was no different. All but one promising move that involved Blondie died with Blondie. And the one time he did pass the ball timeously, it was a try for the Bulls.

I have to say that I loved that run by Guthro Steenkamp. Nothing is more thrilling then watching a prop forward putting in a bullocking, pacy run that would earn him the envy of his midfielders and then timing a beautifull pass to perfection to create the try scoring opportunity. Lovely stuff. This is what keeps me glued during the boring matches. One little thrilling moment that lingers on long after the match.

A Curtly Beale drop kick in the latter half of the match seemed destined to confine this match to a draw in a game where points were hard to come by. When Morne Steyn regained a three point lead with a droppie of his own, at least he guaranteed the suffering SAFFA’s one win of the round with the Stormers match yet to come.

And then came Newlands.

The Stormers produced a stunning first half that seemed to shell shock the Brumbies, their defence was as awesome as some of their attacking play. Conrad Jantjies under the high kicks fielded them with aplomb. In fact the whole Stormers backline looked on fire. Jean de Villiers was in devastating form in midfield, threatening the Brumbies defence throughout the half.

The try where Peter Grant set Bobo through a gap and away for Jean de Villiers to finish off, was a lovely piece of rugby that had me cheering PB’s beloved side as if I myself was true blue Stormer fan.

However, I found it alarming that with such dominance, the Stormers could only create one try. The penalty try, which began by another piece of Jean de Villiers brilliance, was dubious at best and a hard call on the Brumbies. Usually I don’t feel sorry for the opposition on the receiving end of a shit call. But this one was a tad harsh which actually put the game beyond possible reach for the Brumbies.

At best, the Brumbies deserved a penalty for the so called early tackle. Bobo at that time still had a long way to go to the tryline and there was no certainty that he would have beaten the defence. The replay showed that Jean de Villiers dangled with the touchline before making his inside pass to Bobo.

In the final minutes of the half, the Brumbies were hot on attack and a commited defence from the Stormers held them out and prevented what would have been a crucial score going into the break. It was courageous stuff.

After leading 20-0 in the first half, it was mind boggling that a team so on fire … a team that had registered twenty unanswered points could fail to score a single point in the second half.

Those lost bonus points against the Brumbies and last week against the Highlanders will, I believe prove crucial in the final cut of semi final places and in the end , the Stormers will have only themselves to blame.

Actually going back into the early rounds of the competition, I was backing the Bulls for a win over the Stormers at Newlands in February. I got my wish and the Bulls came away with the points. How I wish now the bumbling Bulls had lost the match as those points would be much more usefull to the the now contentious Stormers.

Other losses the Stormers endured were narrow and controversial defeats to the Sharks and Auckland Blues. Games they could have and should have won. So far the only team to beat them comprehensively were the Crusaders. The Stormers, with a little luck, could have been sitting up there alongside the Crusaders.

At the moment, South Africa’s best hop