The final pool round of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship this weekend has a variety of implications for South African rugby, with Bob Skinstad believing everybody from Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus to the teams themselves will be squarely focused on a big weekend to come.
Skinstad, speaking as part of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship media round table earlier this week, said he believes the Hollywoodbets Sharks will be focused on “giving the Vodacom Bulls a good hiding at home and making everybody sit up and take notice of what the Sharks will be next year”.
“Jake White is a wily old character. He’s been around the coaching game for so long that he knows when to turn the proper engines on and we’ve seen that with the Vodacom Bulls. I also know John Plumtree and he’s a very competitive man and a born winner. The Vodacom Bulls is a big match for the Hollywoodbets Sharks. I think we’ll see the Sharks wanting to end the season on a high and I think we’ll see them being very difficult to beat at home. I think they’ll be using their Challenge Cup performance to prove to themselves that they should’ve been further up the Vodacom United Rugby Championship log.”
The other big South African derby sees the Emirates Lions travel to Cape Town to face the DHL Stormers as the Johannesburg team seeks to keep their play-off hopes alive.
“With the Emirates Lions sitting at ninth, they’ve got quite a lot to do. The DHL Stormers at home are a difficult prospect. In terms of the Lions’ play-off prospects, I just see Edinburgh playing good enough rugby to beat Benetton but Benetton probably being close enough. I haven’t picked the Lions as a team that goes through based on these probabilities.”
And at a Springbok level, Skinstad says he has no doubt that Erasmus will be keeping a keen eye on this weekend as well, particularly in the loose forward department where a number of opportunities have now opened up within the national team.
“I do think Rassie Erasmus will place emphasis on this last round. When it comes to the loose forwards in particular, I think Rassie probably knows 90% of who he wants to pick and he’ll be using these games to make the big decisions for the last players left in that group of loosies.
“We have a number of loose forward options to choose from. Rassie also has a fantastic model where he goes for the right player as opposed to the best player. He might want someone who fits into the pattern he wants to play or someone who brings something extra to the table and we’ve got a number of loose forwards who can do that.”
Overall, Skinstad said he was thoroughly pleased with what season three of this competition has delivered as it now reaches its final stages.
“The Vodacom United Rugby Championship has been outstanding again. The quality of rugby has been great and we’ve already seen some incredible ball-in-hand and try-scoring feats from all of these teams. I’m delighted. I’ve been an advocate for South Africa’s participation in these leagues for a long time. I think South Africa brings a lot to the table and brings good, big, difficult matches. The model is on its way to being the model that is the best for all the teams participating.”
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