Ken Borland

Young fast bowler Lutho Sipamla was signed amidst much fanfare by the Imperial Lions in mid-year and coach Wandile Gwavu is hopeful that they will now be able to get him on the park after an injury niggle and give their attack greater penetration in their second 4-Day Domestic Series match, against the Cape Cobras at the Wanderers from Monday.

The defending champions lost by nine wickets to the Dolphins in Durban in the opening round and they took just four wickets in the match, so they certainly need a sharper edge to their attack. Sipamla, a rising star for the Proteas, should certainly provide the pace that is usually a necessity at the Wanderers, but Gwavu said a change in personnel alone will not turn around their fortunes.

“We created chances in the Dolphins game, but then we basically made it a 30-wicket game by missing seven of those chances. If we had taken those then we wouldn’t have to complain about the umpires or anything else. We were outplayed in foreign conditions and we have to give credit to the Dolphins where it is due. There’s a quick turnaround and now we play another good side in the Cobras.

“We have to show patience, we must not go searching for things too quickly, especially with the ball. It’s vitally important that we look within ourselves and it will require a mindset change more than anything else. It’s very important that we improve our batting under pressure, we need to build an innings, and we need more consistent bowling,” Gwavu told The Citizen.

All-rounder Wiaan Mulder is also now fully fit and available for selection.

The Titans will have another coastal pitch to contend with as they now travel to Port Elizabeth to take on the Warriors, but coach Mandla Mashimbyi says their close shave against the Cape Cobras at Newlands has given them a clearer idea of the processes that work for them.

A fantastic century by Theunis de Bruyn, and valuable innings by Aiden Mrkram, Dean Elgar and Junior Dala, saw them chase down a target of more than 300 with just two wickets in hand. But Mashimbyi said they felt in control of the game for much of the time, but a catastrophic collapse in one session put them behind on the scoreboard.

“We’ve identified the processes that work for us and we believe a bit more in those processes now. In the end we had to show a lot of fight and I commend the character shown, but we put ourselves under pressure with one hour of madness when we just did not pitch up with the bat. But that was an opportunity to learn and grow, which we showed in the second innings.

“Sometimes you can want to do well too badly and you end up just not bringing your best. But our engine room came right, they made sure that Dean [who scored a century out of a total of just 150 – a South African record] had someone to bat with in the second innings and we’ll make sure that first innings does not happen again. Our bowlers did exceptionally well, they had things under control and I commend them because they made it possible for us to have a target of just over 300,” Mashimbyi said.

The other teams gunning for top spot on the log clash in Bloemfontein as the Knights host the Dolphins.

The Bulls really came to the party after halftime in their Super Rugby Unlocked match at Ellis Park against what Jake White described as a ‘spoiling’ Lions side, the coach saying their 30-25 win was a fantastic result for the log-leaders.

While the Bulls started well, the Lions dominated the second quarter and led 15-10 at the break, dominating the scrums and just generally showing more urgency. But the Bulls, no doubt after a tongue-lashing from White, raised the intensity in the third quarter and opened up a 23-15 lead going into the last 20 minutes. From there the Bulls kept their cool and held off a Lions side that could be proud of their tremendous effort.

“It’s always tough to win away from home and that was a fantastic away win. I was really proud of the second-half performance – after a lot of disruptions having to change our hooker on Thursday and then losing both props, plus a flank in the first five minutes – for the other guys to produce 40 minutes like that when they haven’t had much time together as a unit was phenomenal.

“It was a tough game, but sometimes you have to win ugly. After halftime we were a different team, I demanded a response during the break and they delivered. I hope it’s not like this every week though because you want the team to show a bit of drive from inside as well. We were poor in the first half but we played really well in the second half. And we’ve won every second half this season which is nice conditioning-wise,” White said after the game.

White is one of the most meticulous planners in South African rugby and he was delighted that his team managed to subdue the ferocious challenge the Lions threw at them, at the breakdowns in particular.

“I’m very happy with the breakdowns based on the back row the Lions chose, because they clearly wanted to spoil and make the game scrappy. They were probably a bit fortunate to not have the lawbook used against them more, at one stage there were five ruck infringements in a row. Their goal was to break our rhythm and they did that quite well, plus we had no real go-forward in the set-pieces.

“Our maul was quite good but we are still a work in progress. But it was nice to play both games, using both the pack and the backs, and it looked like we got the balance right in the end. If the backs can play like that when we don’t have forward dominance, then they’ll have gained a lot of confidence for the games ahead. The Lions tried to make the whole game slow and scrappy and we just couldn’t get our rhythm until the second half,” White said.

Theunis de Bruyn said he had to call upon the services of all his willpower and cricketing intelligence on his way to his matchwinning century that took the Titans to a daunting target of 316 in their 4-Day Domestic Series match against the Cape Cobras at Newlands this week.

On a coastal pitch that was much slower than the Highveld wickets De Bruyn is used to, with the ball turning from Day One and a quality spinner brimming with confidence in George Linde, the 28-year-old knew it would be a mental challenge as much as anything to get the Titans to a total that was more than double what they had managed in the first innings.

“It was more about character than skill and we really wanted to win because it’s always nice beating the Cobras. There was just that will to win even though it was an above-par total to chase and it wasn’t easy – if you bowled tight lines then it wasn’t easy to score because there was no pace and there was turn from Day One.

“We messed up tactically in the first innings, but we made clever decisions in the second knock, even with simple things like where we took guard. So I felt in control but the heart was still pumping all the time, the game was on a knife-edge and you know that if something happens to you then you’ll probably lose. Junior Dala and I took it in 10-run blocks, but it felt like forever,” De Bruyn, who scored an heroic 127, told The Citizen on Friday.

As a leader in the Titans team, De Bruyn says the mood in the new-look squad, with coach Mandla Mashimbyi now in charge from the start of the season for the first time, is especially good at the moment.

“We’re in a very good space and I’m enjoying the new okes in the team. Our bowlers did very well and I haven’t played in a four-day game for a very long time in which I’ve seen the consistent skill and intensity that Lizaad Williams and Okuhle Cele bowled with. And we have okes with experience in the side and there’s that transfer of information. We actually played a great game apart from 45 minutes of chaos in the first innings.”

While openers Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram played a key role with their fluent opening stand of 105 on the third afternoon and are likely to feature in the Proteas Test squad in December, De Bruyn wants to get himself back into the international picture and his masterful display against spin will surely be noticed.

“On my last tour to India, Amol Muzumdar [batting consultant] gave me some good hints on front-foot play against spin. Now I’m playing with a bit more wristiness and it felt like I could access the off-side better, with more intensity but less effort. Coming from Pretoria, I’ve always been good against quick bowling, so at the start of my career I worked hard on how to play spin, especially when the ball is turning.

“That Test hundred in Sri Lanka gave me a lot of confidence, but I still feel I can improve a lot against spin, even more so than against pace,” De Bruyn said.

Judging by their error-strewn performance in beating the Free State Cheetahs 19-13 at Kings Park on Friday night, the Sharks will be fortunate to lick the rim of the Super Rugby Unlocked trophy let alone drink from the cup.

There victory had much to do with how dire the Cheetahs also were, and the boot of flyhalf Curwin Bosch, who slotted all five of his kicks at goal and also provided the pinpoint crosskick for the matchwinning try by replacement wing Madosh Tambwe.

While the Cheetahs at least had the excuse of not having played for a couple of weeks, the Men in Black will be very disappointed with their performance and relieved to have won. Never mind the fancy stuff, the Sharks battled with the basics of scrumming and passing, which meant their game was seriously lacking in continuity.

The Sharks were not direct enough and also failed to build an innings. There was also some odd decision-making as they turned down four shots at goal to kick for the corner, messed up those chances, but then finally went for poles in the 33^rd minute, Bosch putting them 3-0 up.

Then, with the Cheetahs missing a lock thanks to Carl Wegner’s yellow card, they went for goal again after the halftime hooter, Bosch succeeding from 45 metres. But with the opposition missing a tight forward, it might have been the right time to try and set the maul.

The Sharks’ kicking game has long been their strength, and Bosch’s towering up-and-unders did cause serious problems for the Cheetahs. Centre Jeremy Ward did cross the line in the 52^nd minute, but the TMO ruled that fullback Manie Libbok had interfered illegally with centre Chris Smit’s attempt to catch the ball, so the try was disallowed. It was typical of the ill-discipline that plagued the Sharks on Friday night.

The Sharks scrum, especially without Thomas du Toit at tighthead, has been cause for concern and the Cheetahs definitely had the edge in that set-piece. Another solid scrum in the 71^st minute put them on the front foot, from where flyhalf Tian Schoeman sent wing William Small-Smith slicing through to score the opening try. Replays showed the pass was forward, however, but it’s not the first time the use of the TMO has been ignored.

Fortunately it did not cost the Sharks the match though, as Free State wing Rosko Specman was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on three minutes later. After kicking into the corner, Bosch then produced the field kick that overturned the 13-9 deficit, before adding a phenomenal 59-mtre penalty to seal the win.

Scorers

Sharks: Try – Madosh Tambwe. Conversion – Curwin Bosch. Penalties –Bosch (4).

Free State Cheetahs: Try – William Small-Smith. Conversion – Tian Schoeman. Penalty – Schoeman (2).