Ken Borland

Bulls coach Gert Smal was quick to deflect a question over how it is going to feel for him to return to Cape Town and take on arch-rivals Western Province, a team with whom he enjoyed considerable success as a player, coach and director of rugby, in their Currie Cup match on Wednesday night.

But it will be a poignant moment for the former Springbok loose forward and World Cup winning assistant coach to Jake White. In answering the question, Smal did give an insight into how quickly allegiances can change in the world of professional rugby.

“Ja, it’s funny. In the past week-and-a-half I’ve been having one-on-ones with the players and some of them are guys I contracted at Western Province and now they are at the Bulls,” Smal, who was director of rugby at Newlands from 2014 to 2018, said. He coached the Western Province and Stormers teams between 2000 and 2005.

“There are others here who I was looking at, wanting to bring them to Western Province. But it’s always nice to see talent growing, on both sides. Western Province played well too over the weekend.

“I’m looking forward to the contest, I’m really excited to see how it pans out. It’s a new, big match for us and it’s important we put the game together that we want to see on the park,” Smal said.

And Smal is not the only Springbok who will be visiting Cape Town with the Bulls. He has been able to name fellow internationals Bismarck du Plessis, Marcell Coetzee, Morne Steyn and Lionel Mapoe in his side.

Smal was cagey when it came to the question of whether they are just on loan to him until the United Rugby Championship gets back into full swing.

“It’s a new dynamic, running with two teams and it’s a nice challenge to get the balance right. It’s important for some guys to get some game-time and it’s nice to have them with us at the moment.

“They bring great experience and the youngsters around them are getting experience, in terms of intellectual property and leadership, from the senior players.

“It’s about managing the squad, giving everyone some game-time. The beauty of us being one squad is that all the players feel they are part of it, in with a shout.

“Obviously our big names in the team are going to motivate Western Province quite heavily. The challenge for us is to keep our concentration and processes going for 80 minutes,” Smal said.

Bulls team:James Verity-Amm, Canan Moodie, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Sibongile Novuka, Morne Steyn, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Muller Uys, Cyle Brink, Marcell Coetzee, Janko Swanepoel, Sintu Manjezi, Robert Hunt, Bismarck du Plessis, Simphiwe Matanzima. Replacements– Schalk Erasmus, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Sebastian Lombard, Reinardt Ludwig, WJ Steenkamp, Keagan Johannes, FC du Plessis, Stedman Gans.

The Lions have always played their rugby in expansive fashion believing that one or two mistakes are affordable if they are scoring plenty of tries themselves. It is a bold approach which Sharks fullback Aphelele Fassi is primed to try and take advantage of when the two sides meet in their United Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park on Saturday.

If Fassi has shown one thing so far in his exciting career it is how lethal he is when it comes to counter-attacking opportunities. And the Springbok who turns 24 on Sunday is just delighted to be getting out into the heat of action again, having last taken the field on November 20 in the Toyota Challenge friendly against the Free State Cheetahs. Before that, his previous game was on August 14 for the Springboks against Argentina.

“The Lions are always full of intensity and we expect a very fast game,” Fassi said on Tuesday. “They love to play with a lot of intensity and keep the ball in play.

“But then a lot of mistakes can also come into play and we need to be able to capitalise on the opportunities we get. If we get five chances, maybe we convert four of them, which would be great.

“But I’m just super-excited to get out there and play. It’s the first time playing in the United Rugby Championship for a lot of us, and for some of us it’s the first time we’re playing a match in a long time.

“The mood in the squad in general is relaxed and eager to play. We’re just delighted to have these fixtures,” Fassi said.

While it seems like the South African teams have been playing each other on an almost monthly basis when the rugby season has been in full swing, Fassi said the Sharks have their eyes set on improving their overseas performances in the new year.

“Phase 1 of the URC was playing overseas and it was quite difficult for us. But we will take those learnings into this year. Our goal is to improve and we look forward to rectifying those mistakes and building from there.

“The things I’ve learnt from the Springboks, obviously I’m trying to bring those to the team and there are a couple of Boks bringing experience from there.

“But we’re also taking knowledge from the URC guys as well, they’ve been telling us how the competition is,” Fassi said.

South Africa have not played a completed ODI in four months but captain Temba Bavuma says his team is going to carry the momentum from their Test series win over India into the 50-over matches that start in Paarl on Wednesday.

The Proteas, fielding a second-string side, had a washed out ODI against the Netherlands at the end of November, but before that their last proper action was a 2-1 series loss to Sri Lanka in Colombo at the beginning of September.

But confidence is running high in the Proteas camp after their tremendous Test series triumph over India, in which Bavuma played a key role with his second-innings heroics.

“Momentum is a real thing and in the Wanderers Test we managed to get some,” Bavuma said on Tuesday. “So we will lean on that, although it’s obviously a different format with different skill sets and pressures.

“There’s always going to be pressure, whether we played ODI cricket last month or not. We’re coming up against a very strong outfit and hopefully that inspires us to bring our best cricket.

“We need to make sure we pitch up and do what we need to do. We played a lot of T20 cricket last year and in one-day cricket we accept that there are improvements we need to make.

“This series is the perfect opportunity, against a very strong outfit, to test ourselves and see how our game needs to improve and whether we have the right personnel because the road to the 2023 World Cup has started,” Bavuma said.

In terms of selection, the skipper said the first thing he will look for is bowling options, making it likely that part-time off-spinner Aiden Markram will play. But he will not be opening the batting.

“As captain, I always like as many bowling resources I can get on the bowling front,” Bavuma explained. “You accept that one of your bowlers is not going to hit their straps on the day, and then to have a replacement is a luxury.

“I would like as many bowling options as I can get, considering the balance of the team. But Quinton de Kock and Janneman Malan have done well up front, so I don’t see a change there and I come into the picture at No.3.

“But the middle-order is where the real conversation is – do we play another all-rounder at No.6 or a specialist batsman?

“Considering the Paarl conditions – the bounce is lower and more skiddy – we need pace bowlers who can exploit that with the new ball and it’s quite friendly to the slower bowlers,” Bavuma said.

Kagiso Rabada has been released from the team for the series due to high workloads over a sustained period of time and the need for him to recover before the Test tour to New Zealand in February.

Two new caps have been called up to the Sharks Currie Cup starting XV for their match against Griquas at Kings Park on Wednesday in flank OJ Noa and wing Eduan Keyter, and how the loose forward landed up in Durban is a long and winding tale.

Of Samoan heritage, Noa was born in Auckland but brought up in Australia. He made his professional debut in 2014, as a 24-year-old, for the Melbourne Rising in the National Rugby Championship. In 2016 he moved to the Canberra Vikings and played six games for them, before moving to Spain in 2018 and playing for SilverStorm El Salvador, one of that country’s leading teams, who also happen to play in black-and-white.

Noa began 2021 playing New South Wales club rugby, but, as a 31-year-old, it was a dramatic year that saw him finally make his breakthrough. The 1.93m, 110kg flank was chosen for Samoa to play in their two Rugby World Cup qualifiers against Tonga and was subsequently signed by the Sharks.

“It’s been a bit of a journey for OJ rugby-wise, but he is certainly physical, he has lovely silky hands and he can run all day,” Sharks Currie Cup coach Etienne Fynn said on Monday after announcing his team to meet Griquas.

The 25-year-old Keyter will be up against his previous team and the Affies and Maties product is a proven attacking force at Currie Cup level, so Fynn and URC coach Sean Everitt will be looking forward to seeing what he can bring after being out injured since his signing.

Also set to make their Sharks debuts are hooker Jason Alexander, the 21-year-old who has moved from Western Province to Durban, his front-row team-mate Dian Bleuler, who got to play against the British and Irish Lions last year; lock Corne Rahl, who went to the SA Rugby Academy in 2021; and former UCT captain Josh Moon, a loose forward who is going to follow in his delighted grandfather Mike’s footsteps and play for the Natal Sharks.

Sharks – Anthony Volmink, Yaw Penxe, Werner Kok, Marius Louw (c), Eduan Keyter, Jordan Chait, Cameron Wright, Mpilo Gumede, OJ Noa, Thembelani Bholi, Emile van Heerden, Gerbrandt Grobler, Lourens Adriaanse, Dan Jooste, Khwezi Mona. Replacements: Jason Alexander, Dian Bleuler, Wiehahn Herbst, Corne Rahl, Josh Moon, Sanele Nohamba, Murray Koster, Marnus Potgieter.