A couple months ago when we lost Sadie, Engelbregt and Cronjie I would have said we didn't have much chance this season but upon further inspection and with our new signings I honestly think we have a decent chance of winning this Super Rugby competition. I think our new signings were actually very intelligently made and if some of our prospects can come to the party this year I think things are looking good.
If you break our team down:
Props: Probably our biggest worry at the moment, Blauw and Harris are adequate but not a winning sides props, although Deon Cartens is a good signing for us and may be the difference between very average props and slightly above average props. Kitshoff isn't good enough (yet) in my opinion.
Hookers: Liedenburg is everything you need in a hooker, he might not be a Bismark but who is? Deon Fourie is a good hooker to have on the bench in certain situations, I'd rather have the situation we do, than have Liedenburg and someone who has the same skill-set if slightly inferior. There is a time and a place for Deon Fourie, and it's nice to have him as a second choice.
Locks: Bekker and Etzebeth are my choices for the future springbok pairing, and although Etzebeth may need a few more years to mature Elstadt is a more than adequate lock. If we can avoid injuries in this area I honestly think we are looking very solid. If you think about the other SA teams we are probably looking the best in this area.
Loosies: We lack a dedicated fetcher that's definitely true but if Coetze can emphasise the need to protect our own possession then hopefully we can minimize the impact of this, as long as we know where the weakness is we can do something about it. Aside from that fact Vermulen and Schalk are two of the best loose forwards in their positions in South Africa, and I'd go so far as to say that if Vermulen wasn't injured during the world cup they both would have started for the boks. Kolisi and Koster are both more than capable youngsters who will hopefully only get better as well. We may not have the edge over the Sharks or the Cheetahs but I wouldn't say we'd be at a disadvantage against either team.
Scummy: Duvenage is a good player and we have a few young players who I feel could fit the bill as well, once again if you compare the situation with the other SA unions I don't think we are suffering to much.
Flyhalf: Considering the woeful lack of depth we had last year, we're looking a lot more solid this year. With Van Aswegen, Grant and Catrakilis we have more than enough talent in this position which is more than we can say of last season.
Centres: Not quite at the same level we had last year in terms of depth but JdV and JdJ will do the job well and the gaping hole in replacements that was left by Sadie and Engelbregt leaving doesn't quite seem so bad with the additions of JP du Plessis and Adi Jacobs.
Outside Backs: Looks MUCH better than it did last year, I only pray that AC has the balls to drop habana. Aplon and Van Den Heever both have the ability to score loads of tries and Joe Pietersen is a far better option at fullback than Conrad Jantjies was.
In summary: It looks better than our South African counter parts.
Now to win we need to:
Win most of our South African derbies, and top our conference
Beat most of our Aus/NZ visitors.
Beat the Highlanders and Force away.
Accept losing to Reds/Saders away.
Accumulate more bonus points than last season with our superior attacking firepower.
and finally finish top of our conference with more points than the NZ top team (which should be doable considering how tough the NZ conference is) we will win.
When you take into account the fact that we should top our conference, we do have an outside chance of winning. It sounds like a tough ask but I have faith in our boys. I'm just going to remain cautiously optimistic, and hope for minimal injuries
.
.
