Ken Borland

Notwithstanding their defeat to the Stormers, playing with overseas referees in South Africa has made it easier for the Bulls to adapt to the way the breakdown is officiated in the United Rugby Championship, but Nollis Marais, their assistant coach responsible for that phase of play, says they still require much improvement in that department.

The Bulls will be looking to bounce back from their narrow 17-19 defeat to the Stormers in Cape Town on April 9 when they host Benetton Treviso at Loftus Versfeld at 2pm on Saturday. They will need to beat the Italians to ensure they stay in the playoff places, and their best chance of doing so would seem to be by tiring out the tourists through the pace and intensity of their game at altitude in the afternoon heat. And a quick game requires quick ball, and hence precise breakdown work.

“For two years we only played local sides and you see the same picture every week at the breakdown,” Marais said on Tuesday. “But you play against European sides and you see a totally different picture.

“We were a bit behind those sides and we needed to adapt very quickly. The breakdown was definitely an area where we were lacking. But it’s like ball-carries, where we are now one of the best.

“We needed to make a huge step-up at the breakdown and we’ve benefited from having overseas referees for the matches here. They give us what we’ll get overseas, which helps us adapt.

“The key is always to adapt quickly, but the Stormers put us under pressure at the breakdown, with Evan Roos and Deon Fourie doing really well. But that was a once-off, not one of our best days,” Marais said.

On an almost daily basis in their build-up to the URC, Bulls head coach Jake White was telling the players and his management team that doing well in Europe would demand a sizeable lift in performance from the team, who had been utterly dominant domestically.

“Jake White said we think we’re good but wait till we play overseas,” Marais revealed. “And then two weeks after the Currie Cup final we played against Leinster in Dublin and we found out.

“It was a bit of a humbling experience, but Jake warned us and said afterwards ‘Remember I told you!’

“Our reaction speed at the rucks was not nearly quick enough and we had to be better. There were also small technical things where they were better than us.

“We had to implement those things with more accuracy. And then there are the referee’s interpretations of what’s legal, what’s not and what you can get away with,” Marais said.

Not once has South African men’s hockey coach Garreth Ewing suggested that the FIH Hockey Pro League will be anything but daunting, and it will get no easier for his team as their next assignment sees them travel to Argentina to play the 2016 Olympic champions in two Tests on April 23 and 24.

Having hosted a leg of the tournament in Potchefstroom in February, in which they lost all eight matches and conceded 52 goals against Germany, France, India and the Netherlands, South Africa are now well aware of the high standards in the competition.

“It was harder than we expected, I must admit,” Ewing told The Citizen. “But it was really disappointing that it took us a bit long to adjust to the tempo, admittedly against very good sides.

“There was improvement through the tournament though and we were quite disappointed not to get a couple of results in the end.

“Although it was a mentally and physically tough tournament for us, it was a very valuable exercise based on the squad we had, the rotation of players and the opportunities we gave them.

“We also made some tactical progress in terms of the areas of the game without the ball – how you pressurise the ball and utilise space. And there were glimpses of good counter-attack,” Ewing said.

South Africa will be bringing a new-look squad to Argentina, due to the unavailability of some of their players, the bulk of whom are amateurs. But, on the positive side, regular captain Tim Drummond returns, having been absent during the local leg of the Pro League.

“We’ve had selection issues and the unavailability of players is an ongoing challenge. So there will be quite a few changes,” Ewing said.

“Having Tim back will make a big difference, especially in terms of his experience and leadership. We’re playing in Buenos Aires, so we’ll be up against big crowds, which we are not used to over the last couple of years.

“There are still some technical weaknesses we need to sort out, both in attack and defence, in terms of how we hang on to the ball when we have it and the pressure we exert without the ball.

“There was a bit of a lack of continuity due to getting things wrong at just the wrong time. But at times we were really good but just didn’t get good outcomes. We would get to the circle but just not get the ball in the goals,” Ewing said.

The Wanderers pitch, sterilised by the sun and wind, began to play easier on Saturday and the Central Gauteng Lions capitalised by piling on the runs and then taking three quick North-West wickets on the second day of their CSA Four-Day Domestic Series match.

The Lions, led by Ryan Rickelton’s superbly compiled 159, amassed 408 in their first innings to stack up a 249-run first-innings lead.

In the 10 overs they then bowled to the North-West Dragons before stumps, they claimed three wickets for 50 runs, setting up the possibility of a three-day finish on Sunday.

Rickelton resumed on 33 not out on Saturday morning and was in dazzling touch as he collected 22 fours, his shot-selection and placement being immaculate.

Kagiso Rapulana (26) and Muhammed Mayet (34) shared the key partnerships with Rickelton, adding 80 for the third wicket and 86 for the fourth wicket respectively.

Malusi Siboto then ushered the Lions past 400 with his quickfire 52.

Left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy was the most effective North-West bowler with 4/61 in 24.1 overs.

Duanne Olivier, who took four wickets in the first innings, then removed both North-West openers before stumps to leave the Lions firmly in charge.

Up the road at SuperSport Park, Sibonelo Makhanya (64*) and Jordan Hermann (56*) ended the day strongly for the Northerns Titans with their unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 123.

This stand rescued Northerns from 95/4, when they were still trailing by 29 runs, and they now lead the Eastern Province Warriors by 94.

This was debutant Hermann’s second half-century of the match and the U19 star is certainly an exciting talent.

Eastern Province made it to 258 all out in their first innings and this was largely due to opener Ed Moore’s determined 110, which spanned 188 deliveries.

Diego Rosier, who scored a dashing 85 on the first day, and Tiaan van Vuuren (20*) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures.

Paceman Corbin Bosch and off-spinner Simon Harmer each took three wickets.

At Newlands, Khaya Zondo’s magnificent unbeaten double-century meant there were many funerals for the Western Province bowling figures.

Zondo compiled a thoroughly dominant 203 not out and, with Jason Smith stroking a fine 101, the KZN Dolphins piled up 489/9 declared.

Western Province then struggled to 101/4 in reply, including the demise of key batsman David Bedingham, caught-and-bowled by spinner Bryce Parsons for 62.

In Bloemfontein, veteran Free State Knights captain Pite van Biljon played some adorable strokes as he scored 137 with 14 fours and three sixes to lead the home side to 320 all out.

He marshalled the tail particularly well because Free State were 185/7 at one stage.

Fast bowler Hardus Viljoen (25-6-62-4) led the attack for Boland, who were 2/0 at the close.

Europe, via the Pro14 – soon to be Pro16 – has now been confirmed as the new horizon for South African rugby franchises and let’s hope that the change in scenery and far easier travel demands lifts their games.

There is no doubt some truth in the assertion made by Sanzaar chief executive Andy Marinos that the regular high-intensity clashes between the players of South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and latterly Argentina, in Super Rugby, plus the top-class standard of play in the Rugby Championship, has helped create the dominance of southern hemisphere teams when it comes to the World Cup.

Super Rugby was probably the most demanding competition in world rugby and as much as fatigue was a problem for players crisscrossing the globe, it certainly toughened them up and made them more adaptable.

There has been some talk about Pro14 being an inferior tournament and if that is the case then those bolshy fans of the Stormers, Bulls, Lions and Sharks will be expecting to see their teams dominate. The Free State Cheetahs and Southern Kings might not have managed it, but there is certainly a degree of expectation out there that there should be at least a couple of South African semi-finalists every year in the Pro16.

But playing in mid-winter in Europe, it is going to be difficult to replicate the grandeur of some of the running rugby seen on display on a sunny and warm day at Loftus Versfeld or Ellis Park; the high-tempo game favoured by the last three world champion teams – the Springboks and the All Blacks in 2015 and 2011 – is going to be hard to pull off on frozen, muddy fields.

My personal opinion though is that the move to Europe will be a much-needed shot in the arm for South African rugby. I don’t expect instant dominance – it will take time to adapt to the different conditions – but a slower- more forward oriented style of play will probably suit our franchises more than trying to keep up with the New Zealand teams and their often helter-skelter running rugby.

And Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus has often pointed out that European rugby is generally closer to the style of play needed to win Test matches than the flowing, high-scoring games with limited emphasis on defence or kicking for territory we have seen in Super Rugby. So that will be good training for our players as well.

Travelling to Europe is much easier than heading to Australasia or South America, and our players won’t have to worry about jetlag, which always stacked the odds against teams on tour.

While it is highly unfortunate that the Eastern Cape, the bedrock of Black African rugby, will no longer have a professional franchise now that the Southern Kings have run out of loans, the maladministration that dates back to the days of Cheeky Watson is their own fault.

One can only feel sympathy, however, for the Cheetahs, who have also been booted out of the Pro14, having earlier been shafted from Super Rugby. As ever, economics have also decided their fate, but it is not the fault of the well-run, passionate Free State Rugby Union that they are based in one of the smaller (both in terms of population and finances) cities in the country, and their own fans have not always been the most forthcoming in filling their stadium. Which is a mystery because there’s not much else to do in Bloemfontein on a Saturday afternoon.

While negotiations are ongoing between SA Rugby and Pro 14 owners Celtic Rugby DAC, it is expected that the Pro14 will become a Pro16 with the addition of the Sharks, Stormers, Bulls and Lions, and the demise of the Cheetahs and Kings. When that would happen is anybody’s guess.

More importantly, though, it is vital that SA Rugby negotiate the eligibility of South African teams to qualify for one of the seven places the Pro14/16 offers into the European Champions Cup; the top three teams from each conference are guaranteed a place in the premier tournament that used to be called the Heineken Cup, and given the expected occupancy of those top places by at least a couple of our franchises, it is important that public interest over here is sustained by the lure of that promotion. Then our teams will really be up against the best-of-the-best.

South Africa’s decision to focus on playing in Europe has already caused some panic in New Zealand. Despite the inspirational rugby their teams continue to churn out, they are in financial strife of their own; a small country with a small population does not have a big economy and they are particularly susceptible to the devastating fiscal effects of the Covid-19 pandemic that are being felt in so many countries.

More and more of their top stars are playing in Europe, where the big bucks are, and the loss of the South African market, which brought in the majority of the broadcast monies for Sanzaar, could be the final straw that starts the gradual fall of the All Blacks.

The prospect of only playing against Australian, Pacific and Asian teams has set off the alarm bells in New Zealand. Which is only fair because they were the first to break the Sanzaar agreements on Super Rugby.