There are so many different slants we can take on the phenomenal throw-up of a Sharks versus Crusaders match at Twickenham

There are so many different slants we can take on the phenomenal throw-up of a Sharks versus Crusaders match at Twickenham, but the most significant from a rugby point of view is that the Sharks have their best chance in years of beating the seven-times champions in an ‘away’ fixture, and the Durban team’s decision to prepare for the match in the Shark Tank is a masterstroke.

In this crazy, seismically-challenged world where previously abnormal natural phenomenon are now, well, increasingly common place, a Super Rugby match in the Northern Hemisphere has raised eyebrows but is not the earth-shattering – if you will pardon the choice of phrase – event that it would have been a decade a ago.

In another era, relocating a Super 12 game from Christchurch to London would have been off the scale in terms of what could be countenanced by the respective unions and then logistically achieved.

But desperate times result in desperate measures and the cash-strapped Crusaders have pulled off a rugby miracle in managing to get their home game against the Sharks transferred to another hemisphere.

They are gambling, big time, in ex-pat South Africans and New Zealanders supporting a fixture which has the allure of being a genuine competition event. This is no friendly, exhibition or pre-season warm-up. There are vital Super Rugby points at stake and both franchises will treat it with requisite respect.

England’s RFU have looked at their public transport issues for a Sunday, negotiated with the residences’ association of the Borough of Twickenham regarding an unplanned fixture, and released 55 000 tickets for the sixth-round Super match at the 82 000-capacity stadium.

The Crusaders are literally banking on a sell-out attendance at 30 pounds a ticket to cover, amongst other things, the travel and accommodation costs of both teams, and also the losses they have been suffering at holding matches at country venues in their region – if this Twickenham match had come through, the alternative was remote Timaru (10 000 capacity).

Crusaders CEO Hamish Riach said this of the problem of having to play away from quake-damaged Christchurch.

“This a risk and a gamble, but I think it is worth it given the outpouring of support for Christchurch all around the world – and that is true in London as well. This one is on us. There is no one underwriting it.”

The Crusaders team will travel more than 24 hours from Dunedin on New Zealand’s South island after having played the Highlanders on the Saturday.

The Sharks will travel back to Durban on Saturday, after tomorrow’s match against the Chiefs in Hamilton. This will make it the shortest ever Super Rugby tour for a South African team (three weeks), a significant reduction considering SA teams since 1996 have alternated between four and five-week tours.

The Sharks players will have an unexpected week at home in their beds and with homesickness behind them, will then travel to London on Thursday. Importantly, they will be over jet lag by then and perhaps even more significantly, they will be in the right time zone for the next week’s home match against the Stormers (there is an hour time difference between London and Durban).

The Crusaders will travel a day later than the Sharks and will prepare for their ‘home’ match in London, while the Sharks will prepare for their ‘away’ match in Durban.

The Sharks have never beaten the Crusaders in Christchurch but on the level playing fields of Twickenham they surely will never have a better chance of securing away points against them.

by Mike Greenaway .www.iol.co.za