Reece-Edwards, Mains left with headaches
It was catastrophic Cats in Sydney and sorry Sharks in Canberra. For the first time in Super 12 history, two South Africans teams had more than 50 points laid on them within 24 hours and the results have left respective coaches, Laurie Mains and Hugh Reece-Edwards, with throbbing headaches for their next Vodacom fixtures.
The Cats' next crunch is in Dunedin on Friday night when Mains returns to his old happy hunting grounds at Carisbrook's House of Pain.
But on the evidence of the 51-16 thrashing by the NSW Waratahs, the odds on Mains being able to plot the downfall of the Otago Highlanders seem as remote as the Sharks' chances of salvaging at least one victory on their dismal tour when they become the Waratahs fourth straight SA opponents in the Sydney Football Stadium.
It is no longer possible to hide the unpalatable truth: the sad Super 12 saga goes on and the skill and proficiency gap widens between us and our major world rivals, New Zealand and Australia.
It was hoped that Newlands and the Stormers/Northern Bulls clash would redeem the situation after the Cats and Sharks' debacles.
But much of the rugby in a 19-19 draw that does nothing for Stormers' morale a week before the Brumbies' clash and eight days before they leave for Down Under, was error-ridden and messy with many of our top players seemingly unable to match the abilities of their major rivals when trying to retain possession and recycle quality ball swiftly.
The macho trick of trying to run through and over opponents before being hit hard and then throwing marginal 50-50 passes in the instant of tackles is hampering continuity, and while South African teams struggle for parity in this vital area of the modern game, squads like Canterbury Crusaders, Otago Highlanders and Auckland Blues will continue to dominate the competition to the exclusion of others.
Dave Waterston, Tonga's coach in the World Cup late last year, was one of those puzzled and disappointed by the weekend's Cats and Sharks' displays. As a technical analyst for the late, great Kitch Christie, the former Otago man knows the game inside out and even at this early stage he believes that Alan Solomons and his Stormers will probably be the most successful of the local squads.
"At least Solomons has identified the technical flaws and the alarmingly poor skill levels, especially in our backplay, but if one takes a close look at the halfback performances thus far it's obvious where all the problems are originating," he said.
"There has not yet been a convincing flyhalf display from any of our No 10's. Even Hennie le Roux has struggled and may explain why Louis Koen was in the starting XV against NSW, while the greatest tragedy is the shattered Gaffie du Toit.
His confidence has been shot to pieces and he simply does not seem to have the mental capacity to take the pressures of the position in Super 12 and Tri-Nations rugby.
"He needs a break from rugby or at least to be switched to fullback where he can have time and space to get those long legs working. His build is against him being successful at flyhalf.
"There was only one Henry Honiball who could play there so brilliantly for Natal and the Springboks with a similar build to Gaffie and take on tacklers with his awesome strength," added Waterston.
Until the Sydney calamity the Cats had won two successive matches but they will need to regroup fast if they want to get their Super 12 tour back on track against the Highlanders and then the Hurricanes, before coming back across the Tasman to tackle an ever-improving and exciting looking ACT Brumbies in formidable Canberra who boast backs like Stephen Larkham, Joe Roff and Rod Kafer - all top Wallabies - plus Super 12's most exciting find from Rugby League, Andrew Walker.