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There have been some dazzling stragglers in Super rugby by the years
Lately, think that the Kings have now moved to different PRO14 terrains and aren’t setting up exactly that either … or the Sunwolves, officially eliminated from next season.
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Certain generally stronger outfits have also had their grim years: Sharks may have been leading the 2020 package and playing a brilliant rugby record before the coronavirus-linked suspension a few weeks ago, but in 2000 and 2005, for example, they were 12th. And last.
And yes, even the best team historically for a mile of field for title hits, the Crusaders, know everything about the wooden spoons – they had that dubious status in the first year of Super Rugby, 1996.
But here we have our pick of three South African sides that have probed the depths most noticeably in specific years …
Bulls 2002
Here was proof, if you ever needed it, that a coach learned the hard way, clenched his teeth … and recovered a few years later to wear the same outfit to the first glory of the SA title in 2007.
That coach, of course, was Heyneke Meyer, who later also became a Springbok mastermind with a decent record, nearly 67 percent wins.
But in 2002, a competitive side for the Bulls in Super Rugby wasn’t even the blink of an eye: instead, they became the first instance in the tournament of a team that loses every game – all 11 games of the regular season they gave up, with a lone registration point to show.
Meyer was an unusually young 34 for a head coach at the time, and had even had a previous spell on Loftus’ hot seat as a more callous individual in 2000, so he certainly got healthily accustomed to early-hitting school , although admirably not losing his self-confidence at work.
His charges leaked exactly 500 points that season, clearly indicating defensive flaws, while posting 232 for a minus-268 point differential: The overseas tour was especially depressing as they lost 49-15 to the Crusaders, 48-12 against the Reds, 65 -24 against the Blues and 53-24 against the bosses.
With Victor Matfield in just his second season on Loftus and Danie Rossouw and Bakkies Botha’s first-year first-timers (no sign of Fourie du Preez, Pierre Spies, or Bryan Habana either), the Bulls lacked genuinely big names in their midst. Although they did defend themselves notably in the national Currie Cup that year to hint at better times ahead, beating neighbors Golden Lions 31-7 in the final.
Cats 2004
The legend of the 1995 World Cup win wing may have been, and generally the bearer of, a contagious smile, but (the late) Chester Williams did not always have it as easy as a franchise level coach.
He was at the forefront in this horrible year for the Cats, although an instant defense would be that the strange alliance between the Golden Lions and the Free State was never a marriage made in heaven.
They came to the rear with just one win, a tight 23-21 result from Ellis Park against the Chiefs, to show, and that despite some formidable enough names in their ranks like Os du Randt, CJ van der Linde, Ricky Januarie, Andre Pretorius and other future emerging Test stars like Juan Smith and Jaque Fourie.
His biggest drawback was when he conceded 10 attempts for eventual Brumbies champions at Canberra, where the final score was 68-28.
Lions 2010
This has been the era of an expanding competition of 14 teams, the Lions remain dubious record holders, based on this disastrous season, statistically worst year for a “duck” team in the results column, with no 13 .
Under a brief tenure by Dick Muir, the former brain of Springbok and popular Sharks midfielder, these Lions never left the blocks.
Then, under Eugene Eloff, they had finished rather poorly at 12th out of 14 in the previous season, but had recorded at least four wins.
But the year of the momentous soccer World Cup on these shores only proved to be a lasting nightmare for the 2010 Lions crew, the point differential of a terrifying minus-315 speaks volumes; They also finished up to 14 log points adrift from the next worst Western Force.
A season where imports like Carlos Spencer and Todd Clever failed to make a big difference in Jo’burg’s fortune, perhaps the only very small “positive” was his contribution to a remarkable, record-breaking show of nine attempts at everything. at home against the Chiefs, who, however, still won the matter breathlessly 72-65.
* Follow our lead writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing …
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