Stormers crowned inaugural URC champions
In the face of boardroom battles and severe cost-cutting measures, the Stormers defied the odds by winning the inaugural United Rugby Championship (URC).
Coach John Dobson’s charges started the season slowly but grew in stature.
They finished the round robin stage of the season in second place and booked a home semifinal against Ulster.
After levelling the scores once the hooter had sounded courtesy of a try from Warrick Gelant, newly-minted Springbok Manie Libbok landed a clutch touchline conversion to secure safe passage to the final.
In a turn up for the books, the Bulls stunned table-topping Leinster in the other semifinal and travelled to Cape Town for the final.
In front of a capacity crowd, the Stormers made history by becoming the first winners of the competition.
Having languished in the bottom half of the log in the first few rounds, it was a stunning comeback for SA rugby at large.
Reflecting on their success story, Dobson said, “It’s an incredible story. Before our first game against Benetton we didn’t know what was going to happen. Somebody phoned me to say that there is talk of us being pulled out of the URC and that we were going to be replaced by the Cheetahs.”
While the union was placed under administration by SA Rugby last October, the story for Stormers fans had a happy, albeit improbable, ending.
Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi stood tall as the most consistent Boks, while wingers Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie were two finds of the season, with both likely to feature prominently in 2023.
Springboks end rollercoaster year on a high
The Springboks began their Test commitments with a hard-fought 2-1 series win over Wales.
After winning a tight opening Test match at Loftus, Jacques Nienaber made a raft of changes for the battle of Bloemfontein and Wales beat the Springboks for the first time on South African soil.
Order was restored when the home team clinched the series with a physically dominant and tactically astute 30-14 win at the Cape Town Stadium.
After less than a month, the Springboks returned to the field in August to resume rivalries in the Rugby Championship.
The men in green and gold produced one of their best performances of the season with a well-rounded 26-10 win against the All Blacks in Mbombela.
There was talk of the Boks doing the double against New Zealand for the first time since 2009 but the latter exacted revenge at Ellis Park and, in the process, saved Ian Foster’s job.
The defeat spoke to the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the Springbok side and saw Nienaber come under the microscope with a two-match tour to Australia ahead.
True to form, the Boks blew hot and cold, with one win from two.
Consecutive victories against Argentina were not enough as the All Blacks secured the Rugby Championship.
On their end-of-year tour to the northern hemisphere, the Boks had a 50% win record.
After suffering back-to-back defeats to Ireland and France, they hammered Italy and delivered a clinical performance against England.
They ended the season with eight wins from 13 matches for a win rate of 61%. Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi stood tall as the most consistent Boks, while wingers Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie were two finds of the season, with both likely to feature prominently in 2023.
Rassie Erasmus draws the ire of World Rugby
SA Rugby’s director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, had just seen his nine-month ban from World Rugby expire when he landed himself again in hot water with the governing body.
He took to Twitter after the Boks’ end-of-year defeats to Ireland and France and posted sarcastic tweets about refereeing performances.
He was subsequently banned for two matches by World Rugby, who said at the time, “Match officials are the backbone of the sport and without them there is no game.” Erasmus then tweeted on 26 November in reference to a meeting with the organisation, “Thank you World Rugby — let’s move on.”
While Erasmus has reason to feel aggrieved, as the lack of consistency from match officials is a cause for concern, it would be wise of him to follow the correct channels going forward.
The 50-year-old, who coached the Springboks to 2019 World Cup glory, is a nuanced individual and the documentary simply titled Rassie, which is billed as “raw, honest and full of hope”, is worth seeing to better understand the man and mentor.
Blitzboks complete year as joint-leaders
After claiming gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, the Blitzboks kicked off their HSBC Sevens campaign in Hong Kong.
With Neil Powell having headed to the Sharks, Sandile Ngcobo and Philip Snyman assumed the reins and oversaw a sixth-place finish.
Post-teething problems in Asia, which saw the Blitzboks crash out to Fiji in the quarterfinals, the new era began in earnest with an impressive win in Dubai.
Three Blitzboks — Branco du Preez, Siviwe Soyizwapi and newcomer Ricardo Duarttee — cracked the Dubai Sevens dream team. Ahead of the Blitzboks’ home tournament, much was expected of them.
After cruising through their Cape Town pool fixtures and seeing off Great Britain in the quarterfinal, the Blitzboks came unstuck against Samoa in the semifinal.
However, they ended the year as joint-leaders of the HSBC Sevens series, with 47 points after three events, and will feel bullish when the season resumes.
While this calendar year has seen the rise of a number of new stars in the form of Duarttee, Dalvon Blood and Shilton van Wyk, the Blitzboks said farewell to a number of stalwarts.
JC Pretorius and Muller du Plessis swapped the Sevens national side for the Lions and Sharks respectively, while Branco du Preez retired from the abbreviated form of the game and TimesLIVE Premium sources suggest he’s mulling offers from Japan and the UK.
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