Ken Borland

Bulls coach Jake White spent most of the last week emphasising how important a good start would be for his underdog team against the fast-starting Leinster side in their United Rugby Championship semi-final in Dublin.

So when the Bulls almost immediately conceded a soft offsides penalty and hot favourites Leinster were straight on to their goal-line, bashing away, one would imagine White would have been angry. But what followed was 11 phases of brilliant, brave defence that kept Leinster out. It would arguably be the making of the Bulls side and their stunning 27-26 win, the scoreline flattering Leinster because they scored after the final hooter.

“A lot has been said about Leinster, but they generally start well,” White said after what he rated as one of his most memorable wins as a coach. “We were forced to defend for the first couple of minutes.

“But then we managed to kick downfield and that changed the momentum of the game. Leinster were shown to be human, they normally don’t make silly mistakes, but they had one or two moments.

“In a one-point game, that makes the difference. It was never fait accompli against them, you have never done enough to keep them out. I’m happy they didn’t start like they ended with that last phase.

“This has got to be up there for me in terms of wins, Leinster have been the dominant force in European rugby, but our team has learnt what they need to do against international players,” White said.

The Bulls pack produced the sort of proud, combative, massively powerful display that inspires songs to be written about them and, in Dublin, it would probably be translated as the Bulls eateth not off the floor.

But White was also pleased his team showed some wonderful touches on attack.

“The Bulls have always historically had good forward play, but I really enjoyed the interplay between backs and forwards, especially in the first half.

“But the key against Leinster is to not give them set-piece, and we turned the ball over in a couple of key late lineouts, and our physicality on the gainline caused them to have a couple of knock-ons, which they don’t generally do.

“It was obviously a great win for us, but a couple of things did work in our favour, like the weather turning bad at one stage.

“But this whole group has grown significantly and the one thing we have got right is to play our best rugby in the knockout stages. I hope we continue to play with that intensity, composure and confidence,” White said ahead of this weekend’s final against the Stormers in Cape Town.

IRENE, City of Tshwane – Dylan Mostert produced a top-class display of putting for a second day in a row as he took a two-stroke lead on 13-under-par on Saturday heading into the final round of the KitKat Group ProAm at Irene Country Club.

Mostert was just a shot off the lead after a brilliant 65 in the first round, and on Saturday he followed up with a marvellous 66, leaving him a couple of shorts clear of Keagan Thomas on 11-under after rounds of 66 and 67.

First-round leader Ryan van Velzen (70) is in a tie for third on 10-under-par with Louis Albertse (68).

The 23-year-old Mostert, a big-hitting former U.S. College golfer at Dalton State, said it was a hot putter which had made the difference for him so far at Irene CC.

“My mental game has been very good, I’m hitting it in the right spots and then putting well,” Mostert said. “I just seemed to have had the knack of reading the greens right.

“It feels like if you leave yourself in a bad spot on the green here, then it will be really tough. The greens are undulating and some of the putts are very quick and can go sideways.

“I actually haven’t hit the ball that well off the tee, but I have missed in the right spots and then my play has been very good from there,” Mostert said.

The Modderfontein Golf Club representative now has a wonderful opportunity to claim his first Sunshine Tour title in Sunday’s final round, having finished second in the Blue Label Challenge at Gary Player Country Club last October.

“It takes consistency over all three rounds to be successful, so I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing,” Mostert said. “It’s going to be important to stay calm and patient, and just let it happen.

“For tomorrow, I will try to stay neutral emotionally, just do what I’ve been doing. But I also need to keep pushing because you’re not going to win this tournament shooting level-par.

“So I’ll be trying to make birdies and just keep that putter rolling,” Mostert said.

MJ Viljoen and Madalitso Muthiya both fired wonderful six-under-par 66s on Saturday to join Malcolm Mitchell (69) and Ockie Strydom (68) in the tie for fifth place on nine-under.

A magnificent performance by the Bulls saw them break the stranglehold of Leinster on the Celtic league as they stunned the European powerhouses 27-26 in their United Rugby Championship semifinal in Dublin on Friday night.

For the first time since 2017, Leinster’s usually bulging trophy cabinet will be empty and it will be the Bulls who advance to the URC final following a display for the ages in which they showed massive physicality and some marvellous attacking touches.

Having spent the week talking about how much they admire Leinster, who won the URC’s predecessor, the Pro14 for the last four years, the Bulls showed they were up for a fight from the start with mighty defence keeping Leinster out for 11 phases on their tryline.

Leinster did take the early lead through hooker Dan Sheehan’s try after a Ross Byrne grubber through caused chaos, and the Bulls struggled initially against some marginal refereeing calls that went the way of the home side.

But hooker Johan Grobbelaar’s masterful work at the breakdowns and eighthman Elrigh Louw’s massive carries sparked the Bulls and in 10 magical minutes in the second quarter they scored two tries to take a grip on the game.

Following a Grobbelaar turnover, Louw put in two great runs to put the Bulls on the front foot. The chance seemed wasted when fullback Canan Moodie, who had looked dangerous with ball-in-hand, tried to dot down with one hand and dropped the ball. Fortunately the Bulls had advantage and the tap-and-go penalty brought a marvellous moment of deception as Louw carried but then flipped the ball to Grobbelaar running the other way and he forced himself over for the try.

Then the Bulls attacked from deep through Moodie and Vorster, winning a ruck penalty. Chris Smit put the ball in the corner, Louw charged off the back of the lineout, and then made a strong carry from a ruck, before Marcell Coetzee went over for the try.

Leinster were down 7-17 but fought back through a try by midfield maestro Robbie Henshaw to trail 14-17 at halftime.

The pressure only mounted on the home side as the Bulls dominated the opening exchanges of the second half, only some streetwise tactics at the ruck preventing a try being scored. Leinster cleared their lines but conceded a scrum penalty. It had been the one area of the game where the Bulls had previously suffered much misfortune.

What followed was a terrible, decisive blow against Leinster. A massive rolling maul thundered to their line from 25 metres out, the referee going straight to a penalty try and yellow-carding lock and captain James Ryan.

The Bulls led 24-14 and then withstood fierce pressure from Leinster in their 22, stealing a couple of crunch lineouts five metres from their line.

Leinster did score a long-range try, wing Rory O’Laughlin rounding off a Jordan Larmour break, but veterans Morne Steyn, with a penalty, and Bismarck du Plessis, with a key turnover, sealed a shock defeat for the hosts.

Scorers

Leinster – Tries: Dan Sheehan, Robbie Henshaw, Rory O’Laughlin, Cian Healy. Conversions: Ross Byrne (2), Johnny Sexton.

Bulls – Tries: Johan Grobbelaar, Marcell Coetzee, penalty try. Conversions: Chris Smith (2). Penalties: Smith, Morne Steyn.

IRENE, City of Tshwane – Sunshine Tour rookie Ryan van Velzen roared to a marvellous eight-under-par 64 at Irene Country Club on Friday to claim a one-stroke lead after the first round of the KitKat Group ProAm, the R1 million tournament being held for the second time after flooding washed out the tournament in February.

The 21-year-old Van Velzen, playing just his fifth Sunshine Tour event, was particularly rampant on the par-fours, picking up six of his eight birdies there, to go with birdies on the par-five 10^th and 17^th holes. It was also a bogey-free round for the Benoni golfer, who won his card from the Big Easy Tour in January.

“I’m really happy and I played really nicely, hitting the ball good and close and making the putts,” Van Velzen said after racing past his previous best Tour round of 68.

“I drove the ball straight most of the day, I didn’t miss many fairways and my iron play was really good. I was surprised how good the greens were after all the rain and flooding earlier in the year.

“The course is in really good shape and you have to hit it straight off the tee because of all the trees. And the greens were pretty quick so you didn’t want to be on the wrong side of the hole,” Van Velzen said.

The former GolfRSA squad member was on the right side of most things on Friday, including an extraordinary tussle for top spot on the leaderboard that he eventually won.

Dylan Mostert finished just one stroke back after a brilliant 65, converting a great start after he was three-under through five holes.

Merrick Bremner, Ockie Strydom and JJ Senekal made the early running with their five-under-par 67s, but endured the frustration of watching the leading duo sweep past them in the afternoon, as well as the in-form Louis Albertse, Malcolm Mitchell and Keagan Thomas, who all shot 66s.

Rourke van der Spuy, who drank from the champagne bottle a week ago when he won the SunBet Challenge hosted by Sun City, was also part of the bottleneck at the top as he started on the 10^th tee and moved to four-under-par after his birdie on the third hole. But the aggressive 32-year-old did not quite have the finish he intended as he then bogeyed the par-four sixth and made pars the rest of the way in to finish with a 69.