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Round 13 immediately ahead in the long weekend … getting quite close to the final stretch of the ordinary season in Super Rugby 2020, with half a dozen weekends to go.
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Well, it could have been, but because of the inopportune and devastating intrusion of the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead, competition has been dormant since mid-March, with an ever-decreasing likelihood of a resumption this season unless some sort of abbreviated creative solution is possible in the coming weeks.
When the suspension came, the Sharks topped both the SA conference and the overall table, one point above the New Zealand leaders, the Crusaders and the Australian pacemakers, the Brumbies, who nevertheless had a game on hand.
Still, Sean Everitt’s charges were big guns with six wins in seven games and they already knew his Australian tour was behind them.
But would they have been leading the charge at this point, if the competition had run its natural course?
While it is pure speculation, and yes, dangerously, I imagine that the KwaZulu-Natalians, if they had played all four of their scheduled games (goodbye) in the five inactive rounds that have passed up to this point, they would still have been desperately playing narrow lead over defending champions Crusaders on top, as the Brumbies have slowed down a bit, although they are still well enough positioned.
I think the Sharks would have had it in them, based on the way of preparation and the levels of hunger, for having won the four games that have been left on the road: Chiefs (home), Lions (outside), Waratahs (home) and Storms (far).
Three of them, in my estimation, would have been defeated, “basic” victories, with just one, the remarkably industrious Waratahs at Kings Park, presenting the probability of a bonus point win, displacing the Sharks to 41 points from 10 games.
A stumble somewhere along that path would have been entirely possible, I admit: The Chiefs’ game, for example, would have been a difficult question (although the Waikato side had gotten out of its own drawback from a long distance) considering it was a grueling eighth game scheduled to trot for the Sharks: the much-needed goodbye went to a week later.
But Everitt would have implored them to the proverbial “one last heroic effort” before the weekend on their feet and, with the injuries not too significant in their camp at the time, they might well have gotten the desired result.
Refreshed by the goodbye, they should have had the Lions’ number in the Johannesburg derby: they won 42-5 with a rare champagne performance at Ellis Park last season, remember, in addition to comfortably seeing the ‘Tahs in Durban.
Storms in the comeback collision with your big coastal rivals in Newlands (last Saturday, if possible)?
Another hard-hitting encounter … but I would have liked the Sharks to complete a 2020 double against them, primarily because the Stormers were being ripped apart by injuries to key Springbok staff by the time the season came to a complete halt. .
Except for Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (and others): It would have been a Herculean effort by a weakened combo to beat the visitors.
As for the Crusaders, he would have endorsed them similarly, in the four additional games (a goodbye) they played to date, to win three normally and perhaps one with a bonus point, leaving them with around 40 points: again one less than the Sharks and still with a game in hand.
The potential dangers would have looked them in the face, too, especially since three of the four fights were New Zealand derbies (hurricanes and blues at home, mountaineers away). But he would have tipped them by having repelled all the domestic enemies by fairly tight margins, while stretching their legs a little more consummately as they beat the rebels through the ditch with a house full of five registration points.
In the meantime, he would have budgeted the Brumbies, having a slip against either the Blues or the Hurricanes at home, while winning one of those matchups and also firing the Reds (outside) and Jaguars (at home) … so that Now He would be perched around 36 points, also with a game in hand over the Sharks.
When the competition stopped, it must be said that both the Blues and the Chiefs were doing well, also in dispute.
But I have a lingering suspicion that the Aucklanders were hitting a little over their weight, while the Chiefs, in my already revealed “crystal ball”, would have lost some ground through a Durban backhand.
Table this week? Yes, the sharks still send it with a mustache …
* The next games for the weekend would have been (home teams first):
Friday: Crusaders v Jaguars, Rebels v Blues. Saturday: Chiefs v Stormers, Sharks v Brumbies, Bulls v Sunwolves. Sunday: Reds v Highlanders. Goodbye: lions, hurricanes, waratahs.
* Follow our lead writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing
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