The season is finally underway, and the first week produced 6 games with victory margins 6 or under. I have to say I am not a fan of the hybrid ELV’s, and having different laws for different games is confusing for spectators. Especially when you have the northern hemisphere playing under 1 set of laws, and the same weekend having the southern hemisphere playing with another set.

I got 4/7 in my picks, and by and large week 1 produced the expected results.

The Brumbies showed that the Islanders are going to have a long season. On paper the Brumbies actually have quite a few decent players. If they start the competition well, they may have a chance at a top 6 finish.

The Farce showed they have too many off field distractions to be able to produce a winning culture. They do lack enough class, and consistently lose home games so they will never be a factor. The Blues started well with some away points, but their South African leg at the start of the competition may not ensure enough momentum for the rest of the season.

The Lions started off with a win against a Cheaters team that looked quite good at times. Neither of these teams will challenge for playoff spots, and the Cheaters now go on a road trip having the worst record on the road of all the South African teams. Mentally they have to believe they can win away from home, if not they may not have a win by the time they return home midway through the competition.

The Crusaders beat the Chiefs by a margin of only 6. One feels that the Crusaders are not the team they used to be, and if teams can give them some early losses, they may feel the pressure. Once again the Chiefs lost a game that may haunt them at the end of the season.

The Worrytahs scored the upset of the round, beating the Horrorcanes in Wellington. The crowd was dismal, i’m not sure what the weather was like, but surely Wellington can do better? I didn’t see much from the Worrytahs to suggest they were genuine threats for the title.

Match of the round was the Stormers v the Sharks with a 48000 strong crowd at Newlands. What a fantastic atmosphere they created. The quality of the rugby was great, the intensity breath taking. The Stormers looked good with ball in hand but unlike their coach Erasmus,  I thought they struggled at the set pieces. Lineouts especially were a disaster, and they gave too much ball to the Sharks which meant they went for long long periods having to defend. Eventually there is only so much defending you can do, and it showed as the Sharks scored 2 well constructed tries. All this also coincided with Jean De Villiers having to leave the field, but fortunately his injury is not serious. John Smit for me was a standout, whilst I thought the was one of the quitest games I have ever seen Schalk Burger have. I think both of these teams will make the semis, but the Stormers have some work to do.

At Loftus the Bulls started off well. Under the old laws their pressure would have netted them a handy 9-12 point led, but under the ELV’s they only had 3 points to show for it. The wanted to run the ball but they lacked the ability to straighten the line and change the angles. To a large extent I think Olivier is the culprit although he did get better as the game went on. I would so like to see Julies play. I think he can be the catalyst for more tries, even though you seldom notice him. Spies was strong, as were Botha and Matfield, but I think the other 2 loose forwards didn’t dominate enough. Certainly there were way too many holes around the base of the rucks, and luckily the Reds lacked the resources to capitalise. Still the Bulls got the job done and bagged the 5 points, although i’ll be holding thumbs Matfield’s injury is not serious.

I look forward to week 2 and the Stormers getting a win against the Reds, and the Bulls and Sharks to consolidate their positions…