Ken Borland

The Bulls planted plenty of attacking seeds and the important ones bore fruit as they showed they remain one of the best sides in the United Rugby Championship at home, thumping Cardiff 45-9 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.

Cardiff were certainly more competitive than the scoreline suggests, but they lacked the same ability to convert chances in the 22, while the Bulls also deserve credit for a stout defensive effort.

But it was the Bulls attack that will be the focus as they scored six tries to stay fourth on the URC log. Not every pass stuck for the Bulls though, there were plenty of handling errors, but they won comfortably just through the sheer number of chances the combination of strong forward carries and a dashing, inventive backline creates.

The Bulls took a while to find their flow and Cardiff were leading 6-3 as the half-hour approached through two Jarrod Evans penalties. But when the home side finally managed to hang on to possession for several phases, fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie combined superbly to send the wing over for the opening try. Their work in tandem was beautiful to watch right through the match.

Another Evans penalty meant the Bulls were only 10-9 ahead as halftime approached, but the home side made a crucial strike on the hooter as they won a scrum penalty, set the lineout and flyhalf Johan Goosen put Arendse over for the try.

The Bulls, leading 17-9 at the break, continued to gain great dividends from their combination of power and pace and flair in the second half.

Goosen split the defence and scored three minutes after halftime as the Bulls took firm control with a 24-9 lead. They were on the back foot for the next 15 minutes, but dug in in defence, with Cardiff’s maul a threat, but a weapon they failed to capitalise on through their own errors.

The Bulls then buried Cardiff in the final quarter with three more tries. Penetrative eighthman Elrigh Louw made big inroads off the back of a lineout, lock Ruan Nortje then crashing over for the try.

Arendse then produced a lovely little dink-kick over the top of the defensive line for Moodie to score his second try, while Louw scored a deserved try with three minutes remaining as he went over from a brilliantly-deceptive splinter-maul.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Canan Moodie (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse, Johan Goosen, Ruan Nortje, Elrigh Louw. Conversions – Goosen (5), Chris Smith. Penalty – Goosen.

Cardiff: Penalties – Jarrod Evans (3).

Frenchman Clement Sordet provided a hearty challenge for leader Thriston Lawrence in the third round of the South African Open at Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate on Saturday, and the South African loved it, saying he was having the time of his life.

Lawrence began the third round with a two-shot lead over compatriot Ockie Strydom and was three ahead of Sordet. But the 26-year-old Lawrence had to produce an impressively mature five-under-par 67 on Saturday to maintain that lead as Sordet came charging with a brilliant 66.

Their contest was epitomised by the final hole as, with the sun setting over the Magaliesberg mountains, Sordet rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt to go to 16-under; moments later Lawrence nailed his 10-footer to close on 18-under-par.

“I’m definitely enjoying myself, when you’re playing well you have to,” Lawrence said. “I was very calm in the situations, even when you get a bit nervy and the adrenaline flows.

“From tee-to-green, I was hitting the ball awesome and then my putter just gave me that extra bit that made the difference. I was rolling the ball nicely, comfortable over the short ones and I managed to sink a few long ones which I had not been doing the last while.

“I’m having the time of my life and it will probably be a matchplay vibe between me and Clement in the final round, even though someone could come with a 10-under round,” Lawrence said.

Sordet, who is back on the DP World Tour after finishing 13^th in the Challenge Tour last season, was also enjoying himself.

“It was a lot of fun, playing with really good guys in the last group. Thriston is a really good player, he played really well. We made a lot of birdies, all three of us.

“It’s going to be a challenge to catch Thriston tomorrow, but it’s great to be back in the final group, I’m looking forward to it on a course that suits my eye really well, I love it,” Sordet said.

Lawrence’s maturity was shown after he birdied three of his first five holes but then further gains were reduced to a dribble. A bogey on the par-four ninth, when he failed to get up-and-down from the greenside bunker, put him under pressure, but he stayed steady. His resolve was rewarded when he birdied the last two holes.

“It was tough because you feel the need to score. But I knew I was hitting the ball well, there were chances out there and I was putting well, so I just had to stay patient.

“It is tough but you have to keep telling yourself that it is just a matter of time,” Lawrence said.

Jens Fahrbring (69) of Sweden is the closest challenger to Lawrence and Sordet on 12-under.

It was a tough old day for Strydom, who birdied the last two holes to shoot 75, falling 10 shots off the pace, but Dean Burmester shot a 66 to keep his faint hopes alive on nine-under-par.

Springbok wing Sbu Nkosi is an adult and clearly able to look after himself, but his three-week absence from Loftus Versfeld and an eerie silence from his cellphone has the Bulls and his agents so worried that he has been reported missing to the police.

The 26-year-old has not reported to training since November 14 and has not responded to messages from the Bulls, nor from his family, including his mother, and agents, Roc Nation.

“We are in direct contact with the Bulls and monitoring the situation,” Roc Nation director Isaac Lugudde told The Citizen on Saturday. “We have also been unsuccessful with a lot of attempts to contact him.

“We are all alarmed and worried, and we just hope that wherever he is, he is safe. Those who know of his whereabouts, please contact us or the Bulls.”

Nkosi was out of action after injuring his rib against the Sharks on October 30, which kept him out of the Springboks’ end-of-year tour as well.

“All I can say is that we hope Sbu is at least keeping safe despite his seclusion,” Edgar Rathbone, the Bulls’ CEO, was quoted as telling local media.

“We’ve been attempting tirelessly to make contact with him, but these efforts have been in vain to date. Everybody is really concerned.”

Since signing for the Bulls in the off-season, Nkosi has already been in disciplinary trouble, being sent on a flight home from Ireland in October after he was late for a team meeting having been given permission to visit a friend in Dublin the day before.

Nkosi has also had problems in the Springbok space, not being industrious enough to renew his passport in time for a Test against Wales last year, despite numerous requests to do so.

While those sort of misdemeanours could be written off as the behaviour of an aero-head, there are now genuine concerns for the well-being of Nkosi, who also has a career as a rapper, having released a song in July called Glock in a Safe.

Sunday’s Betway Pink Day ODI between the Proteas and the Netherlands at the DP World Wanderers Stadium will be played on the same pitch that was used for the high-scoring final T20 between South Africa and the West Indies, and building a suitable strategy for the short boundary on the scoreboard side will be a key factor in the game.

The boundary on the eastern side of the Wanderers will be just 57 metres away from the pitch and, if targeting the short side was not a priority already, Enza Construction have added their own incentive for the two teams, while also demonstrating their passion for serving the communities they help develop.

Enza Construction have placed a billboard to the left of the scoreboard and the first batsman to hit this on the full will earn himself R250 000 with the company donating another R250 000 in celebration to the Pink Day charities that support breast cancer awareness, education, early detection, treatment and research. If no-one manages to hit a six into the target, then Enza Construction will still make a R100 000 donation to the Pink Day cause.

“Being a proud contributor to our community is a core value at Enza Construction and we are passionate about the health and wellbeing of the people within those communities. We want to give our support to those people who are working tirelessly to overcome breast cancer.

“To that end we fully support the Pink Day cause and want to do our bit to promote and boost their efforts to encourage routine screening for early detection for what is now the most common cancer diagnosed globally,” Clinton Crowie, the executive director of Enza Construction, said.

The Proteas were not able to come up with the goods in the third and final T20 against the West Indies, but they will be banking on better execution of what they believe is a suitable plan for the short boundary.

“That short side really is quite small and logic tells you to try and stay away from there if you’re the bowler. It’s a test of our skills and it comes down to execution,” Aiden Markram, captain in the T20 series, said.

“You try and play the percentages, but a team like the West Indies were mishitting sixes on the long side! When bowling, you just try and bowl really wide outside off-stump, and you also have to use slower-ball bouncers and balls at the batsmen’s heels. We’re happy with our plans,” Markram said.

While Enza are leaders in construction, the Proteas have a master of destruction in their team in opener Quinton de Kock. The left-hander will certainly be targeting the short boundary and the Enza billboard when he is batting at the Corlett Drive End at the Wanderers on Sunday.

The former Proteas captain, as ever, simplified his approach when it comes to unusual field dimensions.

“Certain situations demand different ways of going about things, but as a batter, you’re just trying to target that boundary in any way possible. As a bowler, you’re just trying your best not to get hit there,” De Kock said.

“But on the Highveld, as we saw at Centurion in the T20s against the West Indies, a short boundary is not always relevant because the ball travels so far up here.”

The more sixes there are the better, of course, as various sponsors are lining up to add their bit to the sponsorship of the fight against breast cancer.