WP win ends vintage season
Despite their last-gasp win over a brave and powerful Griquas side, Western Province were deserved winners of the 2012 Vodacom Cup - their first time ever in the 15 years of this tournament.
The 2012 Vodacom Cup was a vintage edition, arguably the most exciting in this tournament's history.
The Blue Bulls' remarkable 13 points in two minutes comeback over the Sharks in the quarterfinals was rugby as dramatic as you could get. Then, of course, came the final in Kimberley two weeks later.
The rugby this season in the Vodacom Cup was of a high quality with more and more teams being competitive. The likes of the Boland Cavaliers, the Cheetahs and the resurgent Border Bulldogs (under coach André Human) who were unlucky not to win more as were the Leopards unlucky to make the quarterfinals.
The quarterfinals saw the likes of the excellent Sharks team, the defending champion Pampas and the Super Rugby-bound Kings lose out - showing just how tough and competitive this tournament has become.
In fact, the only teams that seem to be struggling - of the 15 participants - were the Griffons and the Valke. Although the SWD Eagles failed to register a win they had some desperately unlucky losses - notably to the Kings and Pampas - and there is no doubt that a rugby revival is underway in George under the guidance of Johan Prinsloo and Johann Lerm.
At the top-end, Griquas - under the inspirational and dignified Pote Human - have, if anything, improved. They are a well-drilled tight bunch of players who will do well in the 2012 Currie Cup. They can count themselves unlucky not to be the 2012 champs as no doubt WP would have had they not won that final - such was the close nature of that magnificent finale in Kimberley.
WP can be described as worthy champions that they managed to win in Kimberley despite the Stormers injuries that saw them deprived of key players and the loss of influential tight forwards in Tom Botha (tighthead) and Quinn Roux (lock) in the first half. Former Ikeys boss John Dobson certainly reinforced his burgeoning reputation as a coach who produces excellent teams.
The Pampas (whose players we have not considered for our Team of the Tournament - see below) continue to add a lot to the event, mostly through the quality and sheer physicality of their rugby. They were not the same tam in 2012 as 2011, perhaps due to a post-RWC rebuild, but they still dished out some very physical lessons.
The Kings were unlucky not to beat WP in Cape Town and were competitive throughout but, as they themselves would admit, this was not a Super Rugby team nor was it ever meant to be. But a quarterfinal and the nature of their folding, albeit whilst injury-ridden, to the Pumas would be a source of concern.
The Bulls spluttered and then burst into life only to be throttled in Kimberley. A place where the erratic but improving Lions managed to snatch a 35-30 win before being blown away by a rampant WP in the quarterfinal.
The Sharks, at some stages, were thin when their first team was on tour but at full strength boasted a team that would compete in Super Rugby - the likes of Mtawarira, Kankowski, Deysel, Joubert and Ndungane adding Springbok caps to the occasion. That quarterfinal loss, in a tournament that they had their eyes on, would be a source of much anguish in Durban.
But in the end it was nice to see rugby's systems working as undoubtedly the two best teams in the tournament slugged it out in a tense final. But with the dust settling on the tournament, whose standard remains several steps above Varsity Cup (who, ironically, produced many of these players), South African rugby is blessed with some outstanding young players and some remarkable coaches that will make big contributions in years to come.
Vodacom Cup Team of the Tournament: 15 Kurt Coleman (WP), 14 Rocco Jansen (Griquas), 13 JP du Plessis (WP), 12 Paul Jordaan (Sharks), 11 Anthony Volmink (Lions), 10 Demetri Catrakilis (WP), 9 Jacques Coetzee (Griquas), 8 Leon Karemaker (Griquas), 7 Rohan Kitshoff (WP), 6 Jaco Bouwer (Pumas), 5 Darron Nell (Kings), 4 Hilton Lobberts (WP), 3 Lourens Adriaanse (Griquas), 2 Sidney Tobias (WP), 1 Jaco Engels (Kings).
Other players who caught the eye: Kyle Cooper, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marius Joubert and Gouws Prinsloo (all Sharks); Ligtoring Landman, Marnus Schoeman, Matt Rosslee and Francois Brummer (all Griquas); Nick Fenton-Wells, Tyrone Holmes, Nic Groom and Marcel Brache (all WP); Jacques Engelbrecht and Boetie Britz (both Kings); Ruaan Lerm, JJ Gagiano and Stephan de Witt (all Lions); Jono Ross, Wesley Dunlop and Sampie Mastriet (Blue Bulls); JW Jonker (Pumas); Junior Bester and Elgar Watts (both Boland).