Has Super Rugby Become South Africa's?

All sports competitions go through times when a particular side or country dominates. The UEFA Champions League has been dominated by the English sides in recent times, the NFL by the NFC sides while it appears now you could say that Super Rugby is currently being dominated by the South African sides.

For years, South African sides were absolute cannon fodder. Yes they were strong at home but absolutely useless once they crossed the Indian Ocean. Their poor form in the Antipodes hampered the likes of the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and Cats - the highest they could finish was 3rd meaning they'd have to go back to the Antipodes for the finals series where as expected they would still be exhausted from the long trip on game day and be sent home packing.

Even at home, they were beaten by the more streetwise and athletic New Zealand and Australian sides who exposed the South African sides as nothing but big fat slobs around the park, playing an antiquated and outdated form of rugby. That further dented the South African sides' title aspirations and pushed back their confidence for a couple of seasons.

When expansion of the Super Rugby competition came, it was a bit of a surprise that South Africa received another team despite clearly being inferior to the Australian and New Zealand sides. Alas, South Africa's big player base warranted the country's 5th franchise and the much overdue emergence of the Republic as a key power broker in the SANZAR alliance.

At the same time, a new generation of coaches was also emerging in the Republic. Heyneke Meyer at the Bulls was one of them, doing a Crusaders-like job in the Northern Transvaal franchise by turning them around from dreadful wooden-spooners into playoff contenders and finally South Africa's most successful Super rugby franchise, and their own answer to the Crusaders. In fact, the legacy left by Meyer has been so great, that years after Meyer left the coaching role at the Bulls, the Bulls are still one of the top teams in Super Rugby, and still churning out future Springboks playing a fast, exciting and physical brand of rugby with their big, athletic young forwards and backs.

Stormers v Bulls - now the big clash to watch 

However, the Bulls now have to fight the Stormers for the mantle of top South African side. After many years of under performance, the Stormers have become the epitomy of South Africa's recent dominance of Super Rugby. They may have spent money on getting players like Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie to Cape Town but the coaches there have also installed a system that has finally managed to combine style with substance at last. They've also become streetwise and have figured how to win in the Antipodes.

The Western Province side may have always been one of the more attractive sides to watch from South Africa but had often struggled up front. Now they appear to be one of the most complete teams in world rugby, with a superb, hard working forward pack that is great in all facets of the game, i.e. scrums, lineouts, breakdowns, giving room to one of the most potent backlines in world rugby including the likes of Peter Grant, Jean de Villiers, Juan de Jongh, Bryan Habana, Gio Aplon and Joe Pietersen.

2012 could be the year the Stormers may finally become champions. They'll be motivated too that they missed out last season after a surprisingly lacklustre performance against the Crusaders in their semifinal.

But the Stormers aren't the only side who have now figured how to win in the Antipodes. The Cheetahs have been very impressive on their short tour and could have easily won 3 out of their 4 games which was unthinkable given their record. What was most impressive was the style of rugby they played which was very much out of the New Zealand rugby manual - fast, exciting, physical and highly skillful in equal measure.

The Sharks and Lions can also turn it on on their day although the Sharks appear to be a fragile side this year while the Lions haven't toured here yet.

But while the first decade of Super Rugby belonged to the New Zealanders and the Brumbies briefly, the second decade of Super Rugby has so far belonged very much to the Republic and could be for a while given their population base for rugby players is far bigger than both Antipodes combined. It is really now down to the Kiwis and Aussies to figure out how to change that.