The kick off of the 2016 edition of the Super Rugby tournament is upon us, so we took a look at how we believe the South African Super Rugby franchises stack up.
Regular readers will remember that we analysed the coaching setups of each franchise for 2016. If you missed it, you can read it here. We have done the same for the playing squads and rated where we think they will end up in a theoretical South African only conference.
Southern Kings – 6th
The Kings have a young and very inexperienced squad at their disposal. Unfortunately, they do not have any marquee players and lack quality in depth. What is important to recognise is that the younger players are more talented than they are given credit for. Although the Kings will end up bottom of the pile of the South African franchises, expect them to deliver some spirited performances, with a possible shock or two along the way. Players such as Stephen Sykes, Thembelani Bholi, Stephan Watermeyer, Jacques Engelbrecht and Louis Fouche will be their bankers, but look out for CJ Velleman, Cornell Hess and Malcom Jaer to surprise a few.
Toyota Cheetahs – 5th
We believe that the Cheetahs will continue to entertain with their attack minded approach, but they have simply lost far too many quality players. They have added Sias Ebersohn, Fred Zeilinga and William Small-Smith to their squad, but their losses include Coenie Oosthuizen, Heinrich Brussow, Jean Cook, Sarel Pretorius, Joe Pietersen, Elgar Watts, Johann Sadie, Cornal Hendricks and Willie le Roux and this represents a fair portion of their quality. Unless head coach Franco Smith has a surprise up his sleeve, 2016 won’t be a vintage year for the Cheetahs. Lood de Jager, Francois Uys, Willie Britz and Boom Prinsloo will be at the forefront of their challenge this year.
Vodacom Bulls – 4th
We see positions 2 to 4 as being fairly close, but there is enough going on each camp to be able to separate the contenders. There is a very positive vibe around the Bulls camp this year and we can expect a very different outlook from them in 2016, with some entertaining rugby on the cards from them. It feels strange to state that the Bulls now possess a potent backline, but their forward pack is suspect. The main additions to their squad have been Pumas flyhalf Francois Brummer and Kings prop Lizo Gqoboka. Watch out for Gqoboka, he started playing rugby later than most and is a good with ball in hand and an importantly a powerful scrummager. Expect some tightheads to have a difficult time against him. Nollis Marais’ use of Jessie Kriel, Burger Odendaal and Jan Serfontein in midfield should be an interesting sub plot, as will Rudy Paige’s quest to make the Springbok number 9 jersey his own. Other newcomers include Freddie Ngoza and Luther Obi.
The Bulls big issue in 2016 will be what has become an annual exodus of players. Victor Matfield, Flip van der Merwe, Jacques du Plessis, Pierre Spies, Francois Hougaard, Jacques-Louis Potgieter and Akona Ndungane represent a wealth of experience. Added to that is the loss of Handre Pollard for the season due to injury. It is this loss of leadership as well as their playmaker that we feel pushes the Bulls towards the back of the midfield in the South African “conference”.
Emirates Lions – 3rd
Lions fans might want to throw something at us when they read this, but we do see positions two to four being hard fought. The Lions have not acquired any new players from outside of their own structures. Their only significant player loss has been Schalk van der Merwe who has moved on to Europe. The Lions are once again going to be extremely competitive throughout the tournament and will run a few teams off their feet. The injuries suffered by Handre Pollard and Pat Lambie have opened the door for Elton Jantjes to mount a serious challenge for the Springbok number ten jersey and he is our pick for the player to watch. Jaco Kriel, Warren Whiteley, Faf de Klerk Howard Mnisi and Harold Voster will certainly also be worth keeping an eye on.
Their entertaining brand of high paced rugby is a breath of fresh air in South African rugby that has been dominated by the “slow poison” mind-set that has frustrated fans for so many years. Long may the Lions approach continue.
Cell C Sharks – 2nd
The Sharks squad has changed significantly since the 2015 edition of Super Rugby and it is the freshening up of the squad as well as the bolstering of their coaching resources, most notably in defence, that we feel should see them ending the season ahead of the Lions. Out go Jannie du Plessis, Matt Stevens, Bismarck du Plessis, Pieter-Steph du Toit , Willem Alberts and Fred Zeilinga. In come Coenie Oosthuizen, Dave McDuling, Jacques Potgieter, Philip van der Walt, Wandile Mjekevu, Willie le Roux and Joe Pietersen
The Sharks had a season to forget in 2015 and we believe that with a more settled coaching set-up and some quality additions to their squad, the Durban faithful might enjoy the post-game festivities outside the stadium at lot more in 2016. Watch out for Jacques Potgieter and Willie le Roux to make a big difference in 2016. Also keep an eye on prop forward Thomas du Toit, who shows a lot of promise for one so young.
DHL Stormers – 1st
The Stormers have lost a number of quality players, most notably Steven Kitshoff, Duane Vermeulen and Jean de Villiers, but also including Michael Rhodes, Demetri Catrakilis and Pat Howard. The two most notable inclusions to their squad are Jano Vermaak and Pieter-Steph du Toit.
Player losses are mostly offset by the quality of young players they have had waiting in the wings. Expect players like Oliver Kebble, Vincent Koch and Eben Etzebeth to be the forwards to be the backbone of Stormers challenge and Siya Kolisi, Nizaam Carr and Fran Malherbe won’t be far behind. In the backline, Seabelo Senatla, Cheslin Kolbe and Juan de Jongh will provide the bite in the attack. It will also be interesting to see how young Robert du Preez settles into the flyhalf position, knowing that the Stormers also have Kurt Coleman and Ryno Eksteen on their books.
Head Coach Robbie Fleck has acknowledged that the Stormers game has been built on strong set pieces and a tight defence. Reading between the lines, he seems set to encourage the Stormers to be more creative with ball in hand in 2016.
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