Ken Borland

A wasteful Sharks team suffered their first home defeat of the United Rugby Championship and it was a heavy one as Edinburgh beat them 21-5 at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday evening.

Kings Park was a quagmire and Edinburgh showed top-class skills in the wet to score three tries. The Sharks could only score once, but they had a host of other opportunities which they messed up inside the Edinburgh 22.

The Scottish team only had 35% of territory and 43% of possession, but, having fulfilled their defensive duties in sterling fashion, they would then rise like a phoenix and strike just about every time they were inside the Sharks’ 22.

Sharks wastefulness

The Sharks spent so much time inside the Edinburgh 22 that just scoring one try was nothing short of a disgrace. But more often than not, when they got into the red zone, they would make an unforced error.

Balls were dropped a couple of metres from the line, the rolling maul would be set and advancing but would then give away a penalty, Curwin Bosch failed to kick a couple of penalties to touch and missed all three of his shots at goal, one of them from in front of the poles.

Bosch did kick one excellent touchfinder which put Edinburgh under pressure five metres from their line. The visitors tried a lineout variation but the pressure was released when centre Marius Louw tackled flyhalf Blair Kinghorn in the air and was yellow-carded.

There was no coming back from such profligacy.

Outstanding Edinburgh halfbacks

In treacherous conditions and behind a retreating scrum, halfbacks Ben Vellacott and Kinghorn formed an outstanding partnership. Vellacott’s service was clean and slick, despite the pressure he was under, while Kinghorn would go over for two tries, he kicked out-of-hand well and showed an acute eye for the gap.

Kinghorn’s first try came in the 20^th minute, while Louw was in the sin-bin, as he sliced through midfield after a lovely half-break by outside centre Mark Bennett.

The Scotland flyhalf’s second try sealed victory with 11 minutes to go as he was first to a loose ball on the ground and twice kicked through before dotting down.

Boffelli defused Sharks’ kicking game

Given the conditions, the Sharks were always going to kick long and often, but Edinburgh fullback Emiliano Boffelli was far from chasing shadows at the back. The Argentine star was superbly solid under the high ball and his positional play was excellent. The Sharks found it hard to find grass inside the Edinburgh 22.

Boffelli also evaded three tacklers to score a try in the 56^th minute, following a storming run by eighthman Ben Muncaster, who also profited from missed tackles.

Scrum success only area of joy for Sharks

The starting front row of Thomas du Toit, Ox Nche and Bongi Mbonambi dominated the scrums but the Sharks were not able to build on that platform. The elation was shortlived as, more often than not, in an instant the advantage had been frittered away.

Scorers

Sharks – Try: Thomas du Toit.

Edinburgh – Tries: Blair Kinghorn (2), Emiliano Boffelli. Conversions: Boffelli (3).

Getting overwrought about it would be counter-productive, but the Sharks really need to be more clinical with their finishing if they hope to beat Edinburgh in their United Rugby Championship match at Kings Park on Saturday.

Edinburgh, who at one stage were second on the log before slipping to their current fifth place, are the highest-ranked team the Sharks will be facing since losing 35-24 to Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun early last October.

The Sharks do have the confidence of a four-match winning streak, but they only just beat a 14-man Bulls side in Pretoria before wins over Benetton Treviso, Scarlets and Zebre Parma (the last two at home) were comfortable enough, but there was enough sloppiness for coach Sean Everitt to be agitated.

Against a top side like Edinburgh, the try-scoring chances will be fewer and further apart, and the Sharks cannot afford to let the 150-year-old Scottish club gain a foothold in the match through their own wastefulness.

“We need to finish the opportunities we have created,” Everitt said this week. “We can’t leave four tries on the table like we did against Zebre, two of which were open-line passes that went astray.

“They were all elemental, quite fundamental errors that cost us the tries. It’s a shame because the guys have worked hard off the ball and we would have had really good wins if we had scored those extra tries,” Everitt said.

It will certainly be a highly motivated Edinburgh side as they look to arrest their slide and also make up for their 30-17 loss to archrivals Glasgow in last week’s 1872 Cup derby.

The Edinburgh team for Saturday is studded with South African products in props Boan Venter and Luan de Bruin and replacement flyhalf Jaco van der Walt. Blair Kinghorn is back from the Scotland team to start in the No.10 jersey for Edinburgh, while flank Hamish Watson, the 2021 Six Nations Player of the Tournament, also returns. Fullback Emiliano Boffelli will be well-known to South African fans as one of the stars of the Jaguares team in Super Rugby. Wing Ramiro Moyano is also a former Jaguares kingpin with 34 caps for Argentina.

“Edinburgh are a dangerous team that plays similar to Scotland. They keep the ball moving and they have dangerous backs.

“They will also bring a lot of pressure at the breakdown. We will have to defend well to keep their attack in check,” was the info Everitt was willing to divulge about his opposition.

The Bulls will not have their sensational young eighthman, Elrigh Louw, for their United Rugby Championship match against the feisty Dragons side at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, and it’s not as if the 22-year-old is resting either after a series of powerhouse displays.

Louw has tested positive for Covid but is not symptomatic. Nevertheless, the protocols still in place mean he has to miss the opportunity for some Dragons-slaying this weekend. What the Bulls lose in youthful vitality they gain in battle-hardened experience though as Arno Botha comes in at the back of the scrum, joining a formidable, seasoned loose trio alongside Marcell Coetzee and Cyle Brink.

“It’s out of our hands with Elrigh,” coach Jake White said on Friday, “but it does give Arno an opportunity in the back row. Elrigh is not symptomatic, but the rules state he has to spend seven days in isolation.

“He will then follow the return-to-play protocols after testing on Monday again. But I’ve learnt over the years from playing teams like the Chiefs in a Super Rugby semifinal with the Brumbies that you need to build a squad with international depth.

“That kind of experience is vital. We’re not there yet, but we do have Springboks on the bench like Morne Steyn and Cornal Hendricks, and we’ll get Bismarck du Plessis back too.

“You know those sort of players will add value and the other players get confidence from that as well. And the players have adapted well under pressure before to things like Elrigh not playing now,” White said.

While it is perfectly natural for the players to have more of a buzz, more of an edge, before matches against top teams like Munster, White said one of the focal points this week has been on ensuring the Bulls don’t compromise their recent excellent run with complacency on Saturday against a Dragons side that is second-bottom and has won just one of their 10 games.

“For big games the players automatically go up another level, for example when I coached the Springboks, before an All Blacks Test you could sense a different mode. It’s the same for everyone.

“But other teams probably take playing us at Loftus Versfeld very seriously and we need to make sure we don’t get caught short.

“The Dragons have had just one bad loss, they stay in the game and will be competitive. I expect them to have a full go at us, they play quite quickly too with tap-and-goes.

“They like to use their backs and they’re not afraid to give the ball some air. I expect them to challenge us, but we’re learning all the time that there are no easy wins, no game is a given,” White said.

Bulls team: Kurt-Lee Arendse,Canan Moodie,Lionel Mapoe,Harold Vorster,Madosh Tambwe,Chris Smith,Embrose Papier;Arno Botha,Cyle Brink,Marcell Coetzee (CAPT),Ruan Nortje,Walt Steenkamp,Jacques van Rooyen,Johan Grobbelaar,Gerhard Steenekamp. IMPACT – Joe van Zyl,Simphiwe Matanzima,Mornay Smith,Reinhardt Ludwig,WJ Steenkamp;Zak Burger,Morne Steyn,Cornal Hendricks.

The Proteas really are extremely hard work for their fans, the latest grave distress they have inflicted on them being their hugely disappointing series loss to Bangladesh in the ODIs.

It is Bangladesh’s first series win in South Africa in all formats and they are going to be favourites now going into the two-Test series. Conditions at Kingsmead and St George’s Park are probably going to be low and slow, the Proteas are missing five frontline players who have chosen to go to the IPL instead and the tourists certainly have all the momentum with them.

How South Africa managed to lose to Bangladesh in a three-match series on the Highveld, with plentiful bounce on offer in all three games, is baffling though and the shockwaves are going to reverberate around the ODI team for a while.

What makes the loss even more dismaying is how poorly they played in the deciding match and also the fact that this same team, minus Kagiso Rabada, beat India 3-0 in their previous engagement.

It is this infuriating inconsistency that the Proteas are going to have to stamp out. Several wins are required for them to qualify automatically for the World Cup next year and South Africa are certainly not going to be contenders unless there is a greater steadiness to the execution of their 50-over skills.

Top limited-overs teams always talk about intent these days and that was rather lacking from the Proteas batsmen. Intent is, of course, easier to show once a partnership has taken control of the innings and one of the major differences between the Bangladesh and Indian series was that South Africa had major partnerships in the latter. Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen both scored hundreds in their incredible partnership in the first ODI, openers Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock took the Proteas to 212/2 in the 35^th over in the second match, and centurion De Kock and Van der Dussen shared a crucial stand of 144 in the last game.

The overs after the fall of a wicket are always a tricky time for the batting side, but in the deciding match against Bangladesh, Malan, who had started at about a run-a-ball, inexplicably went into his shell after De Kock’s dismissal. He had 28 off 31 balls at the end of the over before the wicketkeeper holed out at long-off, but then began leaving balls outside off stump and was eventually dismissed for 39 off 56 deliveries.

That innings included seven fours, which points to the fact that Malan was too block-block-block-four-block-block-block in his innings; De Kock had only faced eight balls at the time of his dismissal in the seventh over, the lack of rotation of strike probably causing frustration.

Malan (65.09), Bavuma (59.32) and Kyle Verreynne (74.57) all had strike-rates of below 80 in the series; 80 should always be the benchmark in decent batting conditions. Bangladesh certainly showed that as none of their batsmen scored at less than 74 runs per 100 balls.

South Africa also need to look at the composition of their attack. Simply choosing the Test bowlers and adding Tabraiz Shamsi and an all-rounder like Phehlukwayo or Pretorius is not cutting it in ODI cricket.

Different, specialist skills are needed, especially at the death. If Rabada and Lungi Ngidi don’t strike up front then they are in trouble, generally needing Shamsi to bail them out in the middle overs.

There also clearly needs to be a discussion over whether the fitness tests are helping the team or hurting them. While Lizelle Lee was able to join the Women’s World Cup squad late and lacking match fitness, Sisanda Magala was ruled out of the Bangladesh series because he failed a fitness test. While taking bags full of wickets for the Central Gauteng Lions, scoring vital lower-order runs and generally showing the skills so sorely lacking in the Proteas attack.

And it seems the Proteas need a full-time sports psychologist in camp as well.