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RO Commentary: Thoughts on Sharks-Crusaders Rugby game

Remember the date: 27 March 2011. I hope all who were watching the Sharks-Crusaders SupeRugby match from Twickenham knew what was happening: a match between the Manchester United and FC Barcelona of the Rugby Union world. It was a date that will live in history as the first SupeRugby game played in the Northern Hemisphere, which saw the Crusaders beat the Sharks 44-28. The Durban-based Sharks and the Christchurch-based Crusaders came to Twickenham in England to play the game postponed from earlier this season because of the earthquake on South Island that affected Christchurch and the surrounding area. My uninformed thoughts and observations of this historic tilt are thus:

  • Yes, it seems that Sonny Bill Williams is the real deal. If you don't know by now, fellow Americans think the next Jonah Lomu. OK, bad analogy for those of you that don't know Rugby. Think the next A-Rod in baseball, the next Peyton Manning in football or the next Kobe Bryant in basketball.

  • What I liked about SBW's game is that he seems instinctual in his abilities to pass the ball--kind of like a rugby version of Wayne Gretzky. He passes at the last second as his body hurdles to the ground, often blindly, and seems to know where his mates are with his eyes closed. Of course, the Jari Kurri to his Gretzky, Daniel Carter, is perhaps the best flyhalf (no. 10 in rugby) the game has ever seen, and a great passer in his own right. The inside-outside combinations they were displaying against the Sharks were masterful. SBW also passes while being tackled better than anyone I've seen.

  • The Sharks had plenty of bite in them as well. Despite trailing at one point 34-10, the current Currie Cup Champions showed they would not go down easily in coming back to make a game of it. No. 8 Ryan Kankowski, no. 7 Willem Alberts and Tendai "The Beast" Mtawawira surely gave the Crusaders something to think about.

  • The Crusaders, though had the speed--and speed in rugby kills. SBW, Israel Dagg and Sean Maitland ran and ran through the Sharks defense.

  • The importance of the scrum and the ruck were well on display today, with the Crusaders mastering the Sharks. For the last 60 minutes, it seemed that the Sharks couldn't keep possession because their scrums and rucks fell apart.

  • The try by Sharks' Jacques-Louis Potgeiter was the American football-equivalent of the kicker catching his own kickoff and running it in for a touchdown.

  • I'm keeping a printout of the players who were on both sides during this game because I have a feeling close to half of them will be in uniform for either New Zealand or South Africa during the World Cup.

  • For those that don't know--Twickenham is known as the premiere Rugby Stadium in the world. It also goes by it's nickname "Billy Williams' Cabbage Patch." With continued play like that from the Crusdaders number 12, that stadium may just be "Sonny-Billy Williams' Cabbage Patch" in time.
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