After 3 weeks of gruelling Super 14 rugby we start to see patterns of the various problems emerging in the South African Super 14 sides. Here is a sideways glance at how I see the respective shortcommings and possible areas to work on.

Bulls:

Although the Bulls are top of the log and have achieved a full 15 from 15 possible Log points, there are areas of concern. Firstly, there is still a slight problem on outside centre, the Bulls simply do not have an International standard No 13. In addition, although Gerhard van den Heever has performed on attack, his defence needs radical improvement.

The Bulls will have to better their kick-off accuracy as well, with most kick off’s going too far and with the Bulls losing quite a few kick-off’s which they should receive and control.

The Bulls cannot continue to get behind on the score board early on either, then come from way behind to win the game.

Sharks:

3 Losses on the trot, 2 of them at home, says it all. There is something dramatically wrong in Sharks infested waters!

Let’s start up front… I believe a lot of the woes stem from very average locks, who let their front rows down substantially, who are sloppy at line-out time and who do not graft hard enough in the loose. In addition there is a dicipline problem with key players… the Duppies…. or as I call them, “the Doctor and the Mental Patient”. Too many penalties which could easily be avoided is given against the Sharks for ill dicipline. How do we fix this, well start with Steven Sykes at No 4 and with Wilhelm Steenkamp at No 5, put Muller and Splitpin van den Berg out to pasture…. and tell Hargreaves that he better shape up or ship out. Tell the Duppies that they are on a very short leach regarding dicipline…. and move John Smit permanently back to hooker.

Then we move slightly back…. who knows who the ideal starters should be amongst the plethera of loosies at the Sharks… the balance seems wrong, the combinations not clicking. Fix this by playing a combination of Deysel (6), Alberts (7) and Kankowski ( 8), with Botes on the bench as more mobile flanker and impact player.

At Halfback, there is a conundrum of note…. I would put Ruan Pienaar at scrummie and never ever play him at Flyhalf again. In addition, I would bench Kockott and I would start with Andy Goode at Flyhalf, with young Lambie also on the bench. Seems radical, does’nt it, yet something has to be done towards creating total change in this very important and pivotal link between front and back.

At centre I would choose Riaan at inside centre, Adi at outside centre and forget about ever playing Waylon Murray again. At wing I would tell JP Pietersen that he better get himself sorted out and if he still does not regain form, I would bench him… teach him a lesson in humility that way. Odwa on the other wing has been OK’ish but I would be tempted to start with Mvovo.

Stefan Terblanche has been the only solid fella in the whole Sharks backline, so I would leave him there and slowly bring Ludik through from the bench.

Stormers:

There is such a lot of promise in the Stormers and one senses that they are very near to clicking as a 15-man unit, but they’re still far from perfect.

Firstly, Wikus Blaauw needs to return from injury, Schalk Burger too, then the forwards are pretty much sorted, with Andries Bekker and Tiaan Liebenberg having impressed me so far.

Behind the scrums is where the problem lies…. Ricky Januarie has performed well, against expectation, so keep the little meerkat there, but for heavens sake a change is needed at Flyhalf.

When others swooned about Peter Grant in the past, I have maintained that he is incapable of dominating the territorial game, like a good flyhalf should. Willem de Waal should get the nod now, at least he dominates territory from No 10, but I will try and bring Lionel Cronje through more and more to eventually be the first choice No 10.

At No 12 Juan de Jongh still has to grow into the role of inside centre, having played at No 13 mostly before, so I would leave him there to settle properly.

Jaque Fourie has been solid, albeit a bit quiet, Aplon is a perfect fit at right wing and Habana is a perfect fit at left wing (despite his wayward game this past weekend).

At Fullback, one does not disturb the points machine, Joe Peterson, leave him exactly where he is.

The Stormers defence has been solid enough but they have not scored enough tries, largely due to 2 things, namely firstly the defence-minded approach as a team and secondly the bad link at No 10 (Grant). Fix that and you have a team which should go very far.

Cheetahs:

I think the Cheetahs mainly need a kick up the bumper…. damnit, why should they always give easy Log Points to overseas teams, yet play their hearts out against SA opposition?

They have a solid tight 5 and good loosies, no problem… but once again, it is behind the scrums where things go wrong. Tewis de Bruin is just not up to it in the Super 14, play the much more attacking option of Sarel Pretorius, for goodness sakes!

Naas Olivier is very average, although good as a kicker for posts, but that’s exactly where his game starts and stops. He is a weak defender and the 2nd weak link apart from Tewis, in the backline.

Is it not time to bring Robert Ebersohn through as Flyhalf next to the nippy Sarel Pretorius.

With the back 3 there is nothing wrong, speed to burn and solidity, no problem.

So, apart from 2 key players, the only thing the Cheetahs need is a total mind and focus shift!

Lions:

Where does one beging to analize this broken lot of ball chuckers….

Unfortunately for Dick Muir, he is now forced to work within the current structures and group of players contracted, which is where I feel the core of the probelm lies… too many ordinary Club Level Players in an International Competition, amongst the ranks!

Let’s not be over critical though, they have a solid enough front row, average locks and very good loosies, so the forwards should compete well enough.

There are problems beyond the forwards though! When will Jano Vermaak be ready from injury, because JP Joubert is just not fit for this kind of tournament…. must say that the little Puma scrummie has impressed though, from the bench. “King Carlos” has been average at No 10 but still is a better option than Burton Francis, who is of Vodacom Cup standard only.

In the centres, the Lions have been porous and leaking the tries by the numbers, they better shore up defences here, big time. On the wings they have 2 speed merchants but one cannot help but wait for Chavanga to get injured sooner rather than later.

Earl Rose at No 15 has done his thing and I would leave him there.

In general, the Lions attitude of all out attack at the expense of a milder blend of better defence with structured attack has been their biggest downfall. Shore up defences all around, Lions, and you might actually win a couple of games!