Ken Borland

PORT EDWARD, KwaZulu-Natal – MJ Viljoen has been through the terrible tantalisation of not winning for five years on the Sunshine Tour but feeling very close to it, so when he finally returned to the winner’s podium at the SunBet Challenge hosted by the Wild Coast Sun on Friday, he was a little lost for words.

Viljoen, who led by one stroke going into the final round at the Wild Coast Country Club, played the steadiest of golf to seal the deal on Friday, shooting a two-under-par 68 to win by three strokes, even with a bogey at the last.

His last victory came at the Sun Fish River Challenge on September 6, 2017, but he has certainly had some near misses since then, with six top-five finishes, including being runner-up twice. Last week he began working with a new coach in Dougie Wood.

“It’s been a long time and I’ve just been so focused on winning again that I now don’t really know what it means,” Viljoen said after his triumph. “But I’m going to enjoy it and embrace it and take the weekend to think about it.

“I’ve been struggling for a long time, but I kept feeling that I was so close. I made some changes in the last week and they just sparked the feeling on the course that I have been looking for for so long.

“It sounds almost magical and I think it is quite magical. It feels like the start of a new chapter,” Viljoen said.

The 27-year-old had his game-plan in place from the start of the round, wanting to start well and not have to push too hard on a challenging course. Birdies on the second and third holes were like popping to the shops down the road and getting all the groceries you need.

“When I saw what the wind direction was going to be today, I thought two and three would be ideal birdie opportunities. I managed to get those birdies and then I was able to play par golf all day after that.

“It just set me up perfectly for my game-plan. I was never in trouble, I didn’t really hit a bad shot. I kept it simple and kept my targets big.

“Even though it was tough on the back nine, it came easy for me and I was able to par seven of the holes and birdie the par-five 16^th. On the 18^th I was happy to do nothing fancy, take bogey and get out of there,” Viljoen said.

Portugal’s Stephen Ferreira tried valiantly to grab the win as he fired a 64 that saw him finish tied second on 10-under-par, three behind Viljoen, alongside Pieter Moolman (67).

New Springbok Elrigh Louw was apparently as excited as a young kid on his birthday to be back playing with the Bulls, who also welcome back Johan Goosen, making a long-awaited return from injury, for their United Rugby Championship match against Edinburgh at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Goosen’s return to play from a long-term injury will be watched keenly by a Springbok management who have something of a flyhalf crisis, but the 30-year-old will be playing fullback on Saturday, while Louw slots in at eighthman for the Bulls.

“Elrigh got hold of me two minutes after he had been told he was being released from the Springbok camp and said he really needs to play this weekend for the Bulls,” coach Jake White said at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.

“He’s young and just loves to play and he’s really looking forward to playing for the Bulls again, after a great hit-out last weekend against Argentina. I’m looking forward to that loose forward combination with him, Marcell Coetzee and Ruan Vermaak.

“We are easing Johan back into play, playing him at fullback gives him the chance to get into the game without having to control everything from Minute One. We’re being conservative.

“We’ll find the right time for him to slot back at flyhalf, but he won’t last 80 minutes. We want to keep him out of the firing line a bit, but I’m sure he’ll try push his way into 10 at times,” White explained.

Both teams are coming off good starts to the URC season, with the Bulls having beaten the Lions 31-15 at Ellis Park and Edinburgh thumping the Dragons 44-6. But White believes his team are going to have to raise the bar against Edinburgh, who he feels are more equipped to fully punish the moments of looseness they showed last weekend. The Lions made some rookie mistakes on attack.

“We can’t be inaccurate against Edinburgh, give them the same opportunities we gave the Lions, because they will be better organised and more difficult to keep out. They are a good side.

“We will have to play well, they’re one of the sides we didn’t beat last season, so we know we have got to be up for it. We weren’t great last week, but we got the job done.

“But Edinburgh have a lot of experience, they are well-coached and they move the ball around, they try to go around you. They have some internationals who have played World Cups, Six Nations every year, so that gives them confidence.

“They are a group that has played together a lot and we cannot underestimate them. They also have four South African props, who I’m sure will be important,” White said.

Bulls team:Johan Goosen, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, David Kriel, Stravino Jacobs, Chris Smith, Zak Burger; Elrigh Louw, Ruan Vermaak, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. IMPACT -Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima, Francois Klopper, Janko Swanepoel, Marco van Staden; Embrose Papier, Morne Steyn, Stedman Gans.

PORT EDWARD, KwaZulu-Natal – A change of coach for MJ Viljoen obviously brought dividends on Thursday as the 27-year-old surged to the top of the leaderboard in the SunBet Challenge hosted by Wild Coast Sun, shooting a six-under-par 64 to go into the final round with a one-stroke lead at the Wild Coast Country Club.

Viljoen started his second round on the 10^th hole and blazed his way to the turn in just 29 strokes, collecting six birdies, including three in a row from the 16^th. Although the strengthening of the wind meant his score of six-under stayed where it was on his inward nine due to one bogey, on the par-three sixth, being cancelled out by a birdie on the par-five seventh, the Serengeti Golf Estate representative had still done enough to hold off the challenge of Keenan Davidse.

Viljoen is on 11-under-par for the tournament, while Davidse had a more up-and-down day, with five birdies, three bogies and an eagle on the par-five 16^th, leaving with him an excellent 66 that lifted him to 10-under overall.

“I was solid all day and I didn’t make mistakes. But I enjoyed my front nine a lot today, I was just hitting the ball so nicely and I felt in such control of things,” Viljoen said. “And then I got a bit excited and the wind got up on my back nine and put me on the back foot a bit.

“But I’ve been struggling for a couple of years now and I just had to make a change last week because I was putting myself under so much pressure. So I worked with a different coach in Dougie Wood, just for a different perspective.

“The change obviously paid off today so I will stick with it. How I felt on the golf course was more favourable,” Viljoen said.

Viljoen, who won his only Sunshine Tour title at the Sun Fish River Challenge in 2017, said his approach in Friday’s final round will be to try and replicate his outstanding form on holes 10 to 18 on Thursday.

“I was just focused on not making any mistakes, I hit the ball good and my putting and chipping were good too. So I will go out in the final round and try do what I did on the first two days.

“The big thing is I’m not worried about the outcome because I know I’ve improved, I’ve got something out of the last couple of weeks, and that’s more than enough for me. That gives me a head start, I reckon,” Viljoen said.

Apart from Davidse, Martin Vorster and Jaco Ahlers are also chasing hard on nine-under-par after they both shot 65s on Thursday, and Madalitso Muthiya (68), Heinrich Bruiners (67), Casey Jarvis (66) and Christiaan Burke (65) are just three strokes back on eight-under.

Overnight leader Jacques Blaauw had a tough time on Thursday and just could not get going, 16 pars and two bogies leaving him with a 72 that saw him slip down to six-under-par and a tie for 13^th.

The Sharks, who had a bye on the opening weekend, get Round 2 of the United Rugby Championship underway as they take on Zebre in Parma on Friday night at 6.30pm, starting an overseas tour that coach Sean Everitt says will have passed muster if they can gather 10 points from the three matches.

After taking on Zebre, who gave powerful Leinster an almighty battle last weekend, the Sharks play Welsh side Dragons at Rodney Parade, before ending their tour in Dublin against Leinster. Not many teams beat the Irish giants at home, so Everitt is clearly targeting wins in their first two games and a couple of bonus points along the way.

“Zebre have a new coaching staff and are very attack-minded now. They did very well against Leinster and we are very wary of them,” Everitt said. “We obviously have certain things from last season we need to work on.

“We have sorted out our problems and we are a bit more aware now of what to expect, but we will be playing against teams with their full international complement.

“We know the breakdown will be unforgiving and that has been a focus of ours, and also being able to execute from set-piece.

“The goal is to come home with 10 points. The log was really jammed at the top last season, just one to three points separating the teams at the top, so bonus points are crucial,” Everitt said.

Captain Thomas du Toit was impressed with how the Zebre forwards stood up to the strong Leinster pack.

“They matched Leinster’s scrum very well, they have a lot of plays off their lineout and they are a good mauling side. We’re excited for the challenge, Zebre are obviously a new-look team and that makes them a bit unpredictable. But we are very well prepared,” tighthead prop Du Toit said.

The other matches involving South African sides this weekend see Edinburgh, who made short work of the Dragons last weekend, travel to Loftus Versfeld to take on the Bulls, who narrowly failed to win the URC crown last season, on Saturday at 2.30pm.

The defending champion Stormers open their campaign against Connacht, who beat them by a short head in Galway in February, in Stellenbosch on Saturday afternoon (2.30pm), while the Lions, who competed hard but ultimately fell short against the Bulls last weekend, have travelled to Swansea to take on the Ospreys at 7.35pm in the evening.