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KEY POINTS:
Perhaps the most important impact of the Lions tour is the fact that at the end of 2008, South Africa lost the least number of top players to Europe since the dawn of the professional era.
THIS time last year, newly appointed Springbok coach Peter de Villiers, to
the bemusement of most, proclaimed that South Africa would provide three of the four teams in the Super 14 semifinals.
He was soon taking his foot out of his mouth when, after a round or two, it was clear that his teams had no appetite for the experimental law variations (ELVs) and that South African rugby was still in a World Cup stupor. The hangover was yet to come.
A year on, De Villiers' comments might make more sense, although they should be watered down to "three SA teams are capable of making the semifinals", which is as true as it is unprecedented.
The Bulls, Sharks and Stormers are in good nick, to be sure, while the Lions and Cheetahs, bless them, are proud cellar dwellers and won't be budged.
Interestingly, the post-World Cup lethargy has given way to another form of intoxication, albeit a healthier one.
Lions fever is raging through South Africa and rugby-wise everything is geared towards that 12-yearly visit.
Perhaps the most important impact of the Lions tour is the fact that at the end of 2008, South Africa lost the least number of top players to Europe since the dawn of the professional era.
Indeed, two of the Springboks' most valued players travelled in the opposite direction specifically so that they could qualify for Springbok selection.
John Smit (Sharks) and Victor Matfield (Bulls) were both in France only to give in to the lure of the Lions after only a few months of Gallic bad breath, and they will give their teams an immeasurable boost.
There is no question that a dozen or so of South Africa's best players have hung on to play the Lions and that can only be a huge positive for their franchises. The Lions tour is an obvious career watershed and, make no mistake, there will be a major exodus at the end of this year.
A lack of consistency in the SA squads in terms of both management and players has been a perennial weakness, but for once the blood-letting has been put on hold.
Four of the five franchises have the same coach going forward, with the exception being the Sharks, where last year's assistant, John Plumtree, takes over from Dick Muir, who is now a Springbok assistant coach.
Actually, Plumtree took over for the Currie Cup and landed the Sharks their first title in 12 years (amazingly, they had conspired to lose 14 times in semifinals and finals since winning the Currie Cup in 1996).
Nobody is seeing the elevation of the Taranaki man to head Super 14 coach as anything but a positive move.
The Sharks are likely to be the best South African bet. They have kept the same squad together now for three years and have a nucleus of young but already experienced Springboks in Ruan Pienaar, JP Pietersen, Bismarck du Plessis, Francois Steyn, Ryan Kankowski, Adrian Jacobs and Beast Mtawarira.
The Bulls were laughably pathetic last year in their refusal to embrace the ELVs, but the returning Matfield will sort them out where the ineffectual coach Frans Ludeke could not.
The Stormers are into their second year under much-respected coach Rassie Erasmus (formerly of the Cheetahs). They had a horror start last year but recovered to finish fifth. They certainly have the capability to go at least one further this year.
The Cheetahs are literally the poor relations of SA rugby. They are basically a factory producing young talent for export (for instance at the Sharks, Ruan Pienaar, Bismarck and Jannie du Plessis and Francois Steyn are Bloemfontein boys). So they do not have depth because they do not have the money to hang on to their players.
The Lions have no excuse. Based in Johannesburg, in the heart of the gold mines, they have money, always have a good team on paper, but always produce crap.
