John Mitchell: South African group becoming as strong as New Zealand’s

“Our (South African) conference is becoming just like the New Zealand conference.”

Had it not been a New Zealander making that bold claim, cynical local rugby fans would be up in arms over such a statement.

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Yet John Mitchell is such an experienced and astute student of the game that one can’t exactly take that statement with a pinch of salt.

The Bulls mentor became the second local coach on Thursday to praise Super Rugby’s revamp back to 15 teams despite last weekend’s report that South Africa was ready to ditch the tournament.

His counterpart for Saturday’s derby at Loftus, Sharks coach Robert du Preez, had earlier stated that the South African conference’s competitiveness had been “elevated”.

“A few weeks back, I was asked how the conference will finish. I said it’s going to go down right to the wire,” said Mitchell.

“How right that was. This is going down to the wire.”

Only four log points points separate the second-placed Jaguares (24) and the bottom-dwelling Bulls (20) on the conference table.

“All the teams are playing good rugby and there are really small margins between everyone,” said Mitchell.

“If you look at the whole competition, it’s been defined by small margins. We’re becoming a bit like the New Zealanders, it’s tooth-and-nail stuff. It’s great. That’s what fans want.”

Asked whether the logjam could also be explained by South African teams’ own inconsistency, the former All Blacks coach seemed unconcerned.

“I don’t think that’s a factor. It’s the nature of the competition,” he said.

Bulls: Warrick Gelant, Travis Ismaiel, Jesse Kriel, Burger Odendaal (c), Johnny Kotze, Handre Pollard, Ivan van Zyl, Marco van Staden, Jason Jenkins, Roelof Smit, Lood de Jager, RG Snyman, Trevor Nyakane, Adriaan Strauss, Lizo Gqoboka. Bench: Jaco Visagie, Frans van Wyk/Mox Mxoli, Conraad van Vuuren, Thembelani Bholi, Nic de Jager, Andre Warner, Manie Libbok, Divan Rossouw.

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