Ken Borland

Local golf fans angry at the lack of a South African winner in the Nedbank Golf Challenge found a new hope to shout for on Saturday as Aldrich Potgieter stormed to the top of the leaderboard ahead of Sunday’s final round at Sun City.

The last South African to win the country’s most-watched tournament was Branden Grace in 2017. Potgieter is a young man on a meteoric rise though, and the 20-year-fired a blistering six-under-par 66 on Saturday to claim a three-stroke lead on seven-under-par.

As impressive as his four birdies and an eagle on the famous par-five 14^th hole – now shorn of the love-grass however – were, it was even more admirable that Potgieter went around the daunting Gary Player Country Club course bogey-free on another day of furnace-like heat.

It just continues a phenomenal last few months for Potgieter, who was born in Mossel Bay and attended the Louis Oosthuizen Academy before emigrating to Australia and enjoying amateur wins over there.

He returned to South Africa in 2022 and won The Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham and St Anne’s, gaining him places in the Open Championship, the Masters and the U.S. Open, where he made the cut. Potgieter turned pro in June 2023 and this year he became the youngest ever winner on the Korn Ferry Tour (U.S. PGA Tour second tier) when he won the Bahamas Classic. He also shot a 59 at the Astara Golf Championship in Bogota, making him the youngest player to shoot that in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.

Potgieter finished high enough in the Korn Ferry Tour order of merit to get his PGA Tour card for this season.

Little wonder then that Gary Player and Sun International felt he was worth an invite to the Nedbank Golf Challenge. The sizeable crowd following him and roaring their support further validated the decision.

“I was loving the crowd, it was pretty awesome to have them following me,” Potgieter said. “I’ve never played in front of a crowd like this before and it would be a dream come true to win tomorrow. A lot of friends and family are on their way to watch me and it was great to get the invite and then be able to play good golf.

“I made a putter switch from the mallet to the blade on the second day because I was leaving a lot of putts short. But I capitalised on my opportunities today, there was a lot of pressure, but it was good pressure.

“The Nedbank Golf Challenge has always been such a big thing for my Dad, for the last 20 years he’s been talking about it. So I’m excited to put on a show in the final round and it’s going to be great to have all that support. There’s one day left and hopefully then I’ll be standing on 18 holding up the trophy,” Potgieter said.

The Bulls stand on the brink of the United Rugby Championship playoffs confident that the mettle of the team has been proven by the way they have come through the fires of a most disheartening first half of the season under a new coach in Johan Ackermann.

The three-time URC runners-up go into Saturday’s last round-robin game against Benetton Treviso at Loftus Versfeld in fourth place on the standings, having guaranteed a quarterfinal place. But they will be eyeing a bonus point win that will guarantee them a home playoff.

It is a far cry from the situation at the start of the year when they had lost five matches in a row and languished in 12^th place on the log. The decision to replace coach Jake White, who had led them to the final in 2021/22, 2023/24 and 2024/25, with Ackermann was starting to look rash and there were genuine fears that the Bulls would miss out on the playoffs for the first time in URC history.

But a hard-fought 19-17 win in Edinburgh was the start of the recovery and they have now won eight of their last 10 matches in the competition. The confidence is back and the prospect of a home quarterfinal has the Bulls squad chomping at the bit.

Loose forward Mpilo Gumede is one of the newer faces in the Bulls’ first-choice URC 23 this year and the former Sharks man is enjoying the building of pressure that comes with knockout rugby.

“It’s been special for me. People always say the Bulls are the club to be at because they are chasing trophies, so I’m not surprised by where we are now. But it hasn’t been easy and we are aware of how much tougher it’s going to get. But it’s good for me, I can only challenge myself by seeing where I am compared with the best.

“It hasn’t been a consistent season for us, but we didn’t let that define us and we have gone from strength to strength by sticking to the plan and trusting the process. It’s also shown how close we are and how we fight for each other. No-one wants to be the one who lets the team down.

“Everyone is coming in to Loftus in the morning and giving their best. We are in it to win it and I think we are peaking now. It was tough, the way the season started, losing half-a-dozen games in a row, it has not been an easy turnaround. But we are a big club and we are expected to deliver, we understand where we are.

“We can reflect now on where we have come from, we have been through the worst. But the environment is unbelievable, it does not feel like we are just there to do a job. Each time I wake up and go to training it’s special because of the gees. We never speak down to each other, we stick together,” Gumede told kenborland.com.

While Gumede is treading new ground as a professional rugby player, it is not the first time wing Sergeal Petersen has found himself in the heat of knockout rugby. Having won the URC trophy with the Stormers in 2022, he famously scored two tries in the semifinal between the Bulls and Leinster two years ago in Pretoria, including a sensational matchwinning effort when he leapt in the air to claim a kick against a much taller player.

The 31-year-old flyer also believes the Bulls have much more certainty now in their ability to perform under the high stakes pressure of the playoffs.

“We have been through a rollercoaster but the fact is we are now at the business end of the season and it feels like we have kicked on and gelled at the right time. It was a bit stop-start to begin with under a new coach, but now is the time for us to start producing the goods, starting with a vital game on Saturday.

“We want to give ourselves the chance of a home semifinal by getting another bonus point win. I think we’re peaking now, we had a successful tour, winning two games, and it’s time to hit our straps now. After the start we had, our mindset every week has been that we know we’ve got to rock up. We know we’ve been focused because we’ve had to strive to win every game.

“Playing for a team like the Bulls, there is so much expectation to perform every time we go on the field. We believe we can take on any team and no-one in the squad has any doubts in themselves. There is so much trust in the leadership team,” Petersen told kenborland.com.

Petersen, who has racked up 85 appearances for the Cheetahs, Stormers and Bulls, says the key to success in the playoffs lies in executing the basics to perfection.

“Simplicity is now the most important thing. We’ve got the playing depth and the rugby knowledge of these situations – we have World Cup winners and Currie Cup winners and players and coaches who have been involved in URC and SuperRugby finals.

“It’s all about simplicity and execution now. We can’t look too far ahead, but anything can happen in the finals. The road we’ve been on has ensured there’s no complacency,” Petersen said.

Following the URC campaign, several players who have become folk heroes at Loftus Versfeld will be leaving the club – tighthead powerhouse Wilco Louw, the totemic lock Ruan Nortje, backline stalwart David Kriel and exhilarating winger Kurt-Lee Arendse are all departing.

Gumede said those remaining are determined to send them off with the trophy they have come so close to winning but which keeps slipping agonisingly from their fingers.

“Those guys have fought for the jersey for a long time, someone like Ruan wants us to win so badly. So we want to make a special moment for them, those guys who have been trying to win the URC from the start of the competition. We want to make sure we send them off nicely,” Gumede said.

Schalk Brits brought puppy dog enthusiasm, older brother guidance and wizardly decision-making to the Springbok team when coach Rassie Erasmus lured him out of retirement to play in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and the former Saracens legend has great insight into the formative years of a South African team that has now won back-to-back World Cups and continues to set the pace in the global game.

Having retired from rugby in 2018 after more than 200 appearances and six major trophies for Saracens, Brits returned to the Springbok team later that year, three years after the last of his five previous Test caps. One of the most popular players produced by South Africa and with valuable wisdom gained from his many successful years in the northern hemisphere, Brits was tasked with leading the ‘dirt-trackers’ at the 2019 World Cup and ensuring the broader squad stayed unified.

It was a job he performed superbly, although Brits himself is humble about his role. But he is happy to pinpoint what the secret ingredient of the Springboks is, and why they continue to dominate international rugby six-and-a-half years after Erasmus took over the reins.

“I was only a very small speckle in the build-up to where the Springboks are now and it’s amazing the way Rassie has innovated and the number of players we now use,” Brits told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview at the Gary and Vivienne Player Invitational at Sun City, where the 43-year-old was playing golf to help raise funds for the Players’ pre-primary school for farmworkers’ children on their estate outside Johannesburg.

“There’ve been amazing Springbok sides before, but these players are playing for something much bigger than themselves, they’re playing for hope. There are many ills in South Africa, but the Springboks can transform the country through their diversity. If they can make it work, being made up of people from all walks of life, then we can make our country beautiful.

“Back in 2018, we had come off record losses against Ireland and the All Blacks and we were ranked seventh in the world. We would bitch and moan about a knock-on or a missed tackle, but Rassie said we had no right to moan because people in South Africa were being murdered or were starving. He told us we had to get off our arses and make the next tackle.

“Rassie said we could show South Africa that we could work together with our colour, religion or background being irrelevant, we could inspire the next Springbok from our community. We would probably lose a much higher percentage of those one-point games were it not for our ‘why’ being very well determined: It’s not about rugby for us, it’s about giving hope to 65 million people.

“Rassie said the best way to do that was not by posting stuff on social media but by going on the pitch and showing it there,” Brits said.

On the debate over whether the Springboks are currently the best team in the world, Brits said Erasmus’s focus has always been on the World Cup.

“Winning against Scotland, England and Wales on the recent tour is important, but for Rassie there’s a bigger plan. So he will keep rotating, which puts the players under pressure and gives the team depth.

“People don’t remember who the number one team is in the world every year, but everyone remembers who wins the World Cup. I would definitely rather win the World Cup. It must be terrible to be Ireland – they’ve been ranked number one but they could not even get a semi!” Brits said with his trademark broad grin.

The man who many discerning judges believe could have played in the backline thanks to his silky ball skills, was also impressed by the attacking verve shown by the Springboks in the United Kingdom last month.

“Against Scotland, it was a very open game and we were able to run the ball. England tried to match us with Marcus Smith and Wales have a new bunch of guys and they are rebuilding. So it was exciting to see the way we went unbeaten through an end-of-year tour for the first time since 2013,” Brits said.

The Proteas Women’s performances made the grade in most departments during their 4-1 T20 series win over India, according to captain Laura Wolvaardt, but there are a couple of areas of their game which still need brushing up as they head into the 20-over World Cup in England in June.

South Africa signed off the series with a dominant performance at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, beating India by 23 runs. Wolvaardt was once again the Player of the Match as her sparkling 92 not out off just 56 balls carried the home team to 155 for six. An impressive bowling performance then restricted India to 132 for eight.

Wolvaardt took her tally of runs for the series to 330, the most in a women’s T20 rubber, making her the obvious choice for Player of the Series. The 27-year-old averaged 82.50 at a strike-rate of 168.36.

Her opening partner, Sune Luus, also enjoyed a successful series, scoring 197 runs at an average of 49.25 and a strike-rate of 138.73. But one concern for the Proteas will be that no other batter scored more than Annerie Dercksen’s 65 runs in four innings, two of which were not out.

Wolvaardt said after the fifth T20 that the lack of partnerships after the powerplay, in which they scored 49 without loss, was a concern. She faced 30 of the first 50 deliveries of the innings, reaching 50 in that time, but only 26 deliveries in the remaining 70. The Cape Town born player hit the last two balls of the innings for six to provide a crucial late boost in the company of Sinalo Jafta (16* off 8).

“Our total of 155 was somewhere around our goal in the end. The one area we lacked a bit in was partnerships. If we had one big partnership then we would have got over 165, which would have been decent. But we were about par, maybe a bit under.

“I did feel that I lost momentum a bit after the powerplay. We needed just one more big partnership, because when you lose wickets you’re also building dot balls. But I’m very happy with our batting in the powerplay and how much intent we showed.

“In all five matches that was good, and it was something that was not the best in the past. Previously we’ve been having slow starts and then some massive finishes. Now our starts are putting us in really good positions,” Wolvaardt said.

“Our death bowling has also come a long way, after we had found it tough in New Zealand. I thought it was a proper bowling effort today, the spinners were very good, Chloe Tryon and Nonkululeko Mlaba were excellent. We found a way to keep the batters quiet in the first 10 overs, they tried to force things but they just couldn’t do it. I was very impressed with the bowling.

“Taking our catches is one area we need to improve though. It’s been frustrating that in every game, one or two catches have gone down. But our play has been pretty good overall in this series, and I will now take a look at the different phases of the game more deeply.

“But we are very happy to beat India 4-1 and they are in our World Cup group as well. We now have a bit of momentum going into the tournament and it tells us that we are doing a lot of things right,” the skipper added.

While Wolvaardt was loathe to describe her performances as being the best she has ever batted, she did say she enjoyed being so fluent at the crease.

“I’m very happy with my form, although I did always have the best of the conditions because I won all the tosses. My batting had been a bit sluggish – in New Zealand I was getting like seven off the first 16 balls – and I can’t really say what changed. That’s how cricket is sometimes and it was nice to keep it going and enjoy the freedom to play positively,” Wolvaardt said.