In the past, some South Africans may have lamented an uneven balance of power, perhaps suggesting that their Conference was a drie perdewedren (three horse race), but on evidence of the last two months there will be a brutal dogfight amongst the five teams from the Republic this year.

Since 2007 the Lions and the Cheetahs have finished below the Bulls, Stormers and Sharks every season – and on many occasions have claimed the abhorrent wooden spoon.

This five year stretch has not only frustrated fans from Free State to Johannesburg (and throughout the Northern Cape, North West and Mpumalanga), but for a time was bone of contention as the lowest ranked team was to be replaced by the Southern Spears.

That of course, is another story…

But thankfully this may be past, as the Cheetahs closed of the 2011 Super Rugby season as the second best offensive team in the competition (their 435 point’s scored was just the one point behind the competition leading Crusaders), while the Lions main feeder union in the ‘Golden Lions’ Currie Cup team broke a 12-year drought and hoisted the Premier Division crown last season.

While the Stormers and Bulls, the Republic’s leading teams, have varying factors – from mass departures, retirements and frustrating failures – that may see them slump back to the pack.

The Sharks however will carry the bulk of their roster over minus Springboks captain John Smit, and with six Super Rugby Finals Series appearances and three runners-up medallions, would dearly love to break their ‘close but no cigar’ record achieved throughout their proud history.

Stormers (SA Conf. winners, beaten Super Rugby Semi-finalists)

For the second straight year they finished second after the regular season, and with an awesome defensive platform appeared to have the attributes to take them all the way.

Both campaigns saw the Stormers lead the competition in regards to tries conceded, letting in only 35 tries in 29 matches – a record unmatched throughout the history of Super Rugby.

A comfortable draw helped in 2011, although some detractors argued this could have been their downfall, as they didn’t need to travel away from South Africa until round 13, a fixture they duly lost 30-23 against the Chiefs in Hamilton.

However beneath the comfortable veneer of victories and their ironclad defence questions were raised, something to be expected considering Newlands boasts the biggest crowds and most fervent supporters of any franchise.

Failure to beat glamour teams in the Reds and Crusaders came down to an inability to confidently attack marquee teams, and while 12 wins from 16 matches constitutes a successful season, it was noted that the Stormers could not consistently and convincingly put teams to the sword (beyond heavy victories against the Force and Rebels).

Against the Crusaders in the Super Rugby Qualifier, despite revelling in the comforts of home, it all came crashing down as the 2011 nomads made a mockery of their long travel and alleged fatigue to dominate the Stormers in all facets of play.

Such was the dominance of the seven-time champions in that match that some media outlets in the Republic even suggested that the Stormers had choked – citing further examples of their 2010 Super Rugby Final loss to the Bulls and the recent failures of Western Province teams in the Currie Cup (30-10 losers to the Sharks in the 2010 Premier Division final and without South Africa’s oldest rugby trophy now for 11 years).

Fourteen players have moved on this season, including Jaque Fourie (Japan), Francois Louw (Bath), Ricky Januarie and Conrad Jantjes (both France) – but such is the quality of the Stormers and Province production line that the team will still boast 13 test players.

The ultimate lead from the front captain, Schalk Burger, returns for another campaign, and his leadership will be crucial (especially considering he is favourite in many quarters for the Springboks captaincy).

The team’s vice captain Jean de Villiers after their loss to the Crusaders admitted “we just didn’t turn up”, and the responsibility to prevent another agonisingly close grasp for the Stormers first Super Rugby title will fall on the shoulders of the senior players.

Sharks (2nd SA Conf. defeated Super Rugby Qualifiers)

Like the Stormers, they boasted weapons that could have enabled them to go all the way, and their final match – a 36-8 loss to the Crusaders – highlighted all the great (and not so great) aspects of the men from Durban.

Even an All Black laden Crusaders pack backpedalled with the initial ferocity in which the Sharks went about their business, with the loose forward trio of Keegan Daniel, Jean Deysel and Willem Alberts arguably the most abrasive in the competition last season.

Add to this a terrifying front row, the front footed brilliance of playmakers Pat Lambie and Fred Michalak, and pace to burn out wide –  and the Sharks like their coastal rivals to the West will rue the missing elements that has had them fall short at the final hurdles.

While the loss of Smit and evergreen fullback Stefan Terblanche robs the Sharks of a couple of hundred games worth of experience, it is three of their major signings which point to what could be the major area of concern and remedy for the team.

Marius Joubert, Riaan Viljoen and Tim Whitehead all become Sharks this year, and the fact that all three are ball players from positions 10 to 13 indicates that the 1996, 2001 and 2007 runners up are looking to add some swordplay to their traditional war-hammer approach.

There will also be the desire for consistency, for last season their best streak was at the beginning of the Super Rugby campaign, winning their first four matches – but a lucky 34-32 win over the Rebels at the end of that run was a sign of things to come.

They never strung more than two wins together from that point, but optimists will correctly point out that narrow failures are often the genesis for championship tilts.

Certainly the Sharks and Stormers will hope this is true in 2012.

Bulls (3rd SA Conf. 7th overall)

They could potentially be heralding the end of an era, with the winners of three of the last five Super Rugby crowns losing the greatest collective of experience any franchise has ever suffered in a solitary season.

Springbok and Bulls legends Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez, Bakkies Botha and Gurthro Steenkamp all depart, and when you add to this Danie Rossouw, Gary Botha and Jaco Pretorius – one would forgive the Pretoria faithful for expecting a transitional season in 2012.

But South Africa’s giant pool of rugby talent again comes to the fore, with 12 international players still littered throughout the Bulls’ squad.

With glory comes expectation, and the anomaly of 2008 aside (the Bulls finished tenth that year), a franchise that has competed in the Super Rugby Final Series five times since 2005 will expect the Blue Blood to boil and again threaten for the title.

Any who doubt whether the Bulls can lift themselves for another campaign should not mention that to coach Frans Ludeke, who famously told his troops after their 26-21 loss to the Force in round ten last year – their fifth defeat in nine games at that stage – they could kiss their season goodbye if they did not win every match remaining in the regular season.

Six straight wins, including triumphs over their local rivals in Durban and Cape Town almost gave the Bulls another sniff at the championship, before the Sharks crashed their party in one of the most brutal matches of the season.

Cheetahs (4th SA Conf. 11th overall)

While the form of the three perennial contenders will make for fascinating debate over the braai, perhaps the most expectation will come from the form of theCheetahs.

A casual glance at their ledger after nine matches last season would not have impressed, winning just one of their opening fixtures, but closer examination revealed there was something brewing in coach Naka Drotske’s playbook.

While the Sharks and Reds comfortably accounted for the Cheetahs, every other loss in that opening run was within seven points; with the Bulls, Stormers, Lions, Blues and Highlanders given tremendous frights – the latter two kiwi teams in their own backyard.

However a stunning 23-3 win over the Waratahs, the Cheetahs first win in Australasia, was a sign of things to come before an enthralling 50-47 loss to the Hurricanes in Bloemfontein sparked a revolution.

From there a franchise record four-match win streak ensued, with the illustrious scalp of the Crusaders thrown in, before they pushed the Bulls, Sharks and Stormers close in their final matches of the season.

A brilliant attacking system, designed with high intensity play at the ruck, amidst plenty of runners in close marshalled by Sarel Pretorius and Sias Ebersohn – caused havoc for opposition teams.

Such high intensity offence did come at the expense of tackling at times, with the team a couple more points (437) worse in the conceded column than scored.

However the return of mercurial captain Juan Smith will be a big plus for the men from Free State, after tragically injuring his Achilles in his team’s second round defeat against the Bulls last year which ended the dynamic loose forward’s season.

Lions (5th SA Conf. 14th overall)

While they may have not finished higher than 11th since 2002, there is an evolution in Johannesburg, and the glory days of the franchise and union – when they were known as Transvaal and contested four straight Currie Cup finals from 1991 to 1994, winning the last two – could be returning.

Former All Blacks John Mitchell and Carlos Spencer had their work cut out for them (Mitchell is the 11th coach since 1997) when they linked up with the team, but when they swapped their Super Rugby hats for their Currie Cup roles, they led the Lions union to their first Premier Division win at home since 1950 and first since 1999.

Of course, as the Cheetahs will know all too well, success in rugby’s oldest provincial competition doesn’t in particularly translate to the Super Rugby stage (the Free State Cheetahs won the Currie Cup in 2005, 2006 and 2007).

At the centre of the revolution has been number ten Elton Jantjies, amidst a squad of young players who believe, but more importantly have come through the hard times, a point Mitchell made clear when they hoisted the Currie Cup.

Just three wins in 2011 doesn’t constitute high expectation, but to record historic wins in Canberra and Dunedin, as well as drawing 30-30 with the Sharks in their final match, meant that the Lions only lost two of their last five matches.

That momentum travelled into the Currie Cup, but whether that can be translated into the Southern Hemisphere’s premier domestic competition – as Super Rugby enters its second season with 15-teams and 17th year overall – remains to be seen.