South Africa - The Lie of the Land

Elton Jantjies

Making crucial errors in the red-hot cauldron of Newlands on Saturday does not augur well for Elton Jantjies’s chances of challenging Patrick Lambie and Handré Pollard for the Springbok flyhalf jersey. Heyneke Meyer will be seeking greater composure under pressure and accuracy in execution from his Test flyhalf.

It was the Bulls turn

In Round 3, the Bulls beat the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld amidst much controversy, the win aided in part by a palpably forward pass leading to a try being ruled not forward by the TMO. On Saturday against the Rebels, the Bulls lost by a point after what appeared a clear grounding over the line for a try by Burger Odendaal was ruled as ‘no-grounding’ by the TMO. It was the Bulls turn to be at the ugly end of yet another inaccurate decision by SANZAR officials. Lyndon Bray must be exasperated at his officials’ inaccuracy and inconsistency.

Ackermann and De Bruin

Unlike the coaches at the Stormers and Bulls and Sharks, the Lions head coach Johan Ackermann and assistant Swys de Bruin do not have players with Springbok contracts or any first-choice Boks in their squad. Yet they have performed exceptionally well in this year’s Super Rugby competition, surprising friend and foe with their success. They play adventurous, enterprising, exciting rugby too, encouraging their players to use their flair and skills, not limiting the players to a restrictive game-plan. Huge commendation to messrs Ackermann and De Bruin.

Six-team debacle?

Having only one SA team in the top-six qualifiers (with the Bulls losing again and the Cheetahs getting smashed again) bodes ill for next year when the SA Super Rugby player pool – what is left of it after so many players have opted to play overseas – gets divided into six teams instead of five.

Jaco Peyper

Again the best referee of the weekend was from SA. Jaco Peyper handled the Hurricanes vs Highlanders game with aplomb. With all the controversy around officiating, it is gratifying for SARU that the two best referees in Super Rugby 2015 have been Peyper and Craig Joubert.