Venter brought the winning ingredient Gavin Rich Perhaps he didn’t intend it, but it was hard not to spot some irony in one of beaten DHL Western Province coach Allister Coetzee’s statements at the press conference that followed the excellent 33-19 win that the Sharks scored in the Newlands Absa Currie Cup final. “You have to give credit to the Sharks, they played no rugby and kicked every ball at us and their plan worked perfectly,” said Coetzee. Indeed, whichever way you look at it, there was plenty of irony in the fact that WP surrendered their Currie Cup title to a team that played the type of rugby that they themselves have been pilloried for over past seasons, even though it has lifted them from the doldrums they previously inhabited and has made them consistent title challengers. The Sharks, and in particular their tactical mastermind Brendan Venter, deserve huge credit for the way that they outwitted Province. Coetzee acknowledged afterwards that the Sharks strategy of putting little chip kicks through that were chased in numbers and had the WP players floundering in the area known as no-man’s land “must have been planned by someone who knows our defensive system really well”. Lest it be forgotten, Venter, who still lives in Somerset West, was part of the Stormers’ management back in 2008 and 2009 before he left to take up a position with English club Saracens. But Venter’s genius extends way beyond just having been part of the opposition set-up, as the other English and European club coaches who have massive respect for him will tell you. It was no secret that Venter’s stay at the Sharks was only going to be temporary. He remains committed to both Saracens and to his medical practice in the Strand, and never saw the constant flying between Cape Town and Durban that he has done over the past few months as something he would be able to do for a long period of time. It must have felt a bit bizarre for the Sharks to return to Durban with the Currie Cup trophy while the man who did so much to ensure they won the final stayed behind in the Cape. But that Venter made a contribution – and a big one – cannot be denied. For as much as the Sharks players – and coach Brad Macleod-Henderson paid tribute to the big games played by his Springboks – deserve credit for implementing the plan, the now former director of rugby should be recognised for the work he did on the blackboard in planning the demise of the unbeaten Province team. The scenario we saw unfold at a packed DHL Newlands this past Saturday was in keeping with what has become a trend in Currie Cup finals of the winning team bringing something new that the other wasn’t expecting. THE ROLE OF THE UNEXPECTED Perhaps not enough attention is paid to the probable role of the unexpected in determining the destination of the trophy in the build-up to these events. Coetzee said his men didn’t expect the chip kicks. They also didn’t expect the ferocity of the Sharks’ approach at the breakdowns. “It was a significant step up from how it had been earlier in the year,” said Coetzee. It was, but maybe he should have been ready for that, for the Sharks made exactly the same comment after last year’s final, when the WP scrum that had creaked against them all year and the physical game that had wilted in their previous meetings, suddenly came good. This video is not available. There is probably a good reason that the same sequence when it comes to Sharks/WP finals keeps being repeated: lose the last league game against them, but then win the final. It happened in 2000, 2001, 2010 and 2012, and it happened again this year. WP won a wet-weather game at Growthpoint Kings Park two weeks ago, but it was clearly the Sharks who were given things to think about and work on. And boy, did they work. Venter has spoken subsequent to the final of how key members of the coaching and playing staff gathered last Sunday to work out a lineout strategy to blunt the advantage WP had in the league match and in last year’s final. It worked a charm in the final, with Pieter-Steph du Toit amply underlining why he is considered to have so much potential. Reversing the recent trend of the lineout battle in games between these two teams was a significant step towards reversing the result, with the Sharks halfbacks Charl McLeod and Pat Lambie being given a platform that wasn’t there 12 months ago. It was why they were such significant role-players this time, whereas a year ago it was Demetri Catrakilis of WP, and not Lambie, who stole the headlines. The Sharks won because they played well and, just like the legendary 1990 Natal team did when they shocked Northern Transvaal with their scrum and an unannounced team change, came up with something special on the big occasion. But for WP it should be disturbing that once again they were outwitted in a home play-off game, and while the edge Venter brought was a stroke of genius, you might also say in retrospect that WP should have been able to adapt. They didnt play good finals rugby, and if there is any consolation for the well beaten hosts, it should be that this game might finally have drummed home the reality that romantic notions of winning trophies playing the running and passing game that the 1980s teams did, is fanciful, particularly when you take the field with two thirds of the back three being the smallest players on the field. There is place for one of Gio Aplon or Cheslin Kolbe at the back, and make no mistake, they are both brilliant attacking players. But in a final that is all about territory, and against opponents who are set on the aerial assault as one avenue of attack, it is just a non-starter. Isolating Kolbe and winning the ball in the air was an important stepping stone in the Sharks victory march against a team that was as naïve as they were brilliant. © supersport
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 07:32:04 +0000
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