By David van der Merwe
Our South African columnist, David van der Merwe, will be providing a weekly team-by-team preview of the Super Rugby season. He will preview one team from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia every week and in this edition he will preview The Brumbies, The Lions and The Blues.

The Brumbies are based in Canberra and are named after the wild horses that are found in Canberra’s hinterland. They were founded in 1996 as the third Australian team to take part in the then Super 12 competition. 

They were formerly known as the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Brumbies. Back then it was believed that the Brumbies would not have much success with the “rejects” that made up the team. However they have had more success in Super Rugby than any other Australian team to date. Their biggest rivals in Super Rugby are neighbors, The Warathas.

They have made it in to the finals on 5 occasions and have won the coveted trophy twice. 2011 saw them finish the lowest they have ever done, ending in second last place in the table.

The Brumbies are a team that can beat any side on any given day. In 2011 something was wrong and this was clear in the way the team played and performed. Many of the senior players have been released by new coach Jake White and some left because he took over the job.

It will be to any team’s detriment should they underestimate the Brumbies in this year’s Super Rugby competition. Jake White has proven in the past that he is a very capable coach than can take a team from the lowest low to the very top.

Players to watch out for in the Brumbies side are players like Pat McCabe, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore and Christian Lealiifano. These are well experienced players than can set the game alight in their own way.

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The Blues

The Blues, formerly the Auckland Blues, are one of New Zealand’s more successful teams in Super Rugby. They have won the competition in 1996, 1997 and 2003. 


They have defeated the Sharks, Brumbies and Crusaders for these 3 trophies.  They have had mixed results since the competition expanded first to a 14 team and in 2011 to a 15 team competition.

Their worst season was back in 2001 when they could win only 4 games from 11 and they finished 11^th on the log. They have finished in the top half of the log 11 times.

Again key personnel changes were made for the 2012 season with some experienced players being brought in and some moving to other teams.

The most notable inclusions are Ma’a Nonu and Piri Weepu who will definitely bolster the back line and attacking options of the Blues after losing Luke McAlister and Joe Rokocoko. The team is being coach by Pat Lam and he is assisted by Bryce Woodward, Liam Barry and Mike Casey.

The Blues plays their home games at Eden Park and most teams will tell you that it is not the easiest stadium to travel to and win at. Although they have gone through a lean patch in recent years, the Blues are still a team to be reckoned with. 


They will most probably finish second to the Crusaders in the New Zealand conference of the competition. From here they will most likely make it into the semi-finals of the competition and on to the finals depending on who they will meet in the semis. 

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The Lions

The Lions or MTN Lions as they are known since 2011 are based in Johannesburg, South Africa. They are one of the teams that have competed in all Super Rugby competitions since the inception as the Super 10 back in 1993. 

It is a little known fact that the then Transvaal won the first ever Super 10 in 1993. The reason for this is that Super Rugby stats only include results from 1996 when the competition became the Super 12. 

The MTN Lions is one of two teams based in Gauteng and they draw on players from the Golden Lions, The Leopards (North West) and The Pumas (Mpumulanga).

The Lions competed as The Cats between 1998 and 2006. During this time the franchise team consisted of The Golden Lions, The Free State Cheetahs and Griquas. They have had mixed results since that first win in 1994, reaching the semi-finals twice, but also finishing at the bottom of the log 5 times in the past.

The teams worst ever performance came in 2010 when they couldn’t win a single game. This carried over to the 2011 season when they only managed to win 3 games. Many believe that this is due to the internal politics with in the union. The Lions has had a rocky road since 2006 when the Southern Spears challenged to replace them in the Super 14. Only due to an out of court settlement between the Spears and SARU did this not happen. Since then there have been many rumours of bankruptcy.

During 2010/2011 it seemed that they would receive a well needed cash injection when two prominent businessmen put in a bid to by 49.5% of the club. After the 2011 Super Rugby season this deal however fell through. Since then the Lions turned their fortunes on the rugby field around by winning the prestigious Currie Cup competition in South Africa.

The most notable loss will be that of Jano Vermaak to the Bulls. However the two Cronje brothers will strengthen the side. They are two young players to look out for in the future.  The team is coach by John Mitchell, former All Black no. 8 and All Blacks coach.

John Mitchell has shown during the last two seasons at the Lions that he can take a team from not winning a single match to lifting a major trophy. With him coaching and developing this young side they are a team to look out for in the 2012 season as they can only improve on the last two seasons results. It is true that this is a young side with little in the way of real experience.

They do have some exciting young players that will set the rugby field on fire again this season. Guys like Elton Jantjies, James Kamana, Alwyn Hollenbach and Micheal Killian can run any defence ragged.

They might not win the Super Rugby trophy in 2012 but they will finish a lot better than the 14^th place of 2011. Make a prediction before any games have been played, my feeling is that they will finish second or third in the South African conference and might just make it into the play-offs. After that it all depends on how good they really are.

Follow Dave on Twitter @djvanman