Ken Borland

Both the Bulls and the Sharks were already assured of a home semi-final before the last weekend of Currie Cup round-robin action and neither of them were able to put in a top-class performance, with Western Province’s victory at Kings Park, inspired by a piece of famous poetry, having the most effect on the competition as it meant they just snuck into the top four ahead of the Pumas.

Western Province coach John Dobson said their 35-24 win over the Sharks had been a top-class display of tenacity as his team just refused to let their Currie Cup hopes die. Their reward will be a semi-final against the defending champion Bulls at Loftus Versfeld this weekend.

“I’m very proud of the team, they played with real desperation and pride, admittedly against a Sharks team that did not have as much on the line. It was a very special result to come here and win, we read the players that Dylan Thomas poem about ‘Do not go gentle into that night, rage rage against the dying of the light’ and they played with real commitment.

“We were quite badly depleted with two flanks playing at lock, a wing at fullback and a centre on the wing, but we played with energy. In the first half we missed a few opportunities and in the second half the Sharks came back at us, but we stayed in the fight. In the past we have been at the back end of the aerial battle, but tonight there was more on the line for us and we got the scraps,” Dobson said.

The Bulls had earlier beaten the Free State Cheetahs 39-36 at Loftus Versfeld to ensure they topped the final log, but it was not a good performance and their struggles to put away the Cheetahs had a lot to do with their own ill-discipline and mistakes.

“We’re a bit down because we let them back in the game, but it doesn’t matter, the pool stages are now irrelevant and what matters is the next two weeks and we’ve got home advantage. But we are a bit deflated because we let in tries, but let’s not forget that we played the last 10 minutes with 14 men and the Cheetahs were good enough to expose us out wide.

“We played 20 minutes of the match with only 14 men which is not going to win you semifinals and finals. Arno Botha is probably nine years older than the rest of the pack and when he was sent off that’s your captain gone for 10 minutes and that leaves you with all these youngsters. I’m not worried about it, but it is something we need to fix,” White said.

The Pumas will be kicking themselves that they were edged out of the semifinals as they wasted a lot of scoring opportunities in their 13-13 draw with Griquas in Kimberley. Griquas therefore finished third on the log and will be travelling to Durban to play the Sharks with a lot of confidence because they won their last match at Kings Park, 37-27 at the end of last month.

Western Province shocked the Sharks and disappointed all those supporters of the underdog who thought it would be cute to have both Griquas and the Pumas in the Currie Cup semi-finals as they won 35-24 at Kings Park on Saturday night.

Griquas and the Pumas shared the spoils 13-13 in their earlier match in Kimberley, played in tough conditions with a gale-force wind, which meant Western Province had to beat the second-placed Sharks with a bonus point in order to stay alive in the competition.

And Western Province were inspired, playing with great tempo and ambition, with their outstanding support play and ability to maintain quick ball leading them to five tries.

Centre Dan du Plessis enjoyed an excellent first half as he scored two tries to put Western Province 14-3 up in the first quarter. The Sharks struck back with two excellent tries sparked by scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba, with wing Yaw Penxe and roving eighthman Phepsi Buthelezi dotting down as the home side led 17-14 at the break.

Western Province opened the scoring in the second half as their outstanding scrumhalf Paul de Wet dived over for a try from close range.

The Sharks were guilty of trying to be a bit too cute on attack and their only points of the second half came when flyhalf Lionel Cronje cut back inside and somehow managed to elude a handful of defenders with good footwork and a deceptive turn of pace. He then chipped ahead and Penxe raced through to score the try.

But Western Province responded immediately as they once again won the restart, roared on to attack and replacement hooker JJ Kotze powered over for the crucial bonus point try and a 28-24 lead with six minutes remaining. Wing Edwill van der Merwe then sealed the win with an 83^rd-minute intercept try as the Sharks desperately tried to snatch victory at the death.

At Loftus Versfeld, the Free State Cheetahs were like ravenous pups as they nipped at the heels of the table-topping Bulls throughout, harassing them with an excellent kicking game led by veteran halfback Ruan Pienaar and held their own in the physical exchanges, while their attacking play was typically incisive.

The Bulls eventually seemed to have settled matters down when they led 39-24 going into the final quarter, but fullback Cohen Jasper and wing Malcolm Jaer scored superb tries to reawaken the Cheetahs’ hopes.

Eventually the Bulls held on to win 39-36 and will host their semifinal against Western Province.

The Pumas will be kicking themselves for wasting so many points-scoring opportunities, allowing Griquas into the semi-finals and they will face the Sharks in Durban.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Marco Janse van Vuren, Elrigh Louw, Jan-Hendrik Wessels (2), Madosh Tambwe. Conversions – Johan Goosen (4). Penalties – Goosen (2).

Free State Cheetahs: Tries – Mihlali Mosi, Duncan Saal, penalty try, Cohen Jasper, Malcolm Jaer. Conversions – Ruan Pienaar (3). Penalty – Pienaar.

Scorers

Sharks: Tries – Yaw Penxe (2), Phepsi Buthelezi. Conversions – Curwin Bosch (3). Penalty – Bosch.

Western Province: Tries – Dan du Plessis (2), Paul de Wet, JJ Kotze, Edwill van der Merwe. Conversions – Tim Swiel (5).

Scorers

Griquas: Try – Chris Hollis. Conversion – George Whitehead. Penalties – Whitehead (2).

Pumas: Tries – Tapiwa Mafura, Sebastian de Klerk. Penalty – Eddie Fouche.

Western Province have endured a most average season and, unless they beat the Sharks in Durban on Saturday, they will miss out on the Currie Cup semi-finals for only the second time since 2008. And Sharks coach Sean Everitt foresees a desperate visiting team that will play more rugby than usual.

The problem with that is that Durbanites are expecting to see squalls of rain sweeping in from the sea and the Sharks have made using their kicking game to force teams deep into their own territory something of an art form.

“Western Province are a proud franchise and they won’t be happy with where they are on the log. They will see the opportunity to get five points, I’m sure they will come to Kings Park and give it their all and play more rugby than usual. Our kicking game will certainly help us because the conditions Durban is expecting will bring a lot of rain and gale-force winds.

“So we are very happy to have Curwin Bosch back and we will have another look at him at fullback, where he played very well against Griquas when we played them at Kings Park. He’s certainly dying to play again and that big boot of his will definitely be very useful for us,” Everitt said this week.

The Sharks lost that match to Griquas because they failed to grab their scoring opportunities and the Northern Cape team have since moved to third on the log with their thumping of Western Province last weekend, giving them wins home and away against the team that has won the Currie Cup more than any other (34 times).

The match between Griquas and the Pumas in Kimberley on Saturday afternoon will be a feast of celebration for the winners as they will be assured of a semi-final place. The losers of this 2.30pm clash will have to wait until after dinner on Saturday night to see if Western Province can upstage the Sharks and sneak past them into the knockout round.

In between those games, the Bulls host the Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld. Having devoured the Pumas pack in the set-pieces, which was crucial as the Bulls were not dominant in any other area, Jake White’s young pack will be eager to stamp their mark again and get the win that seals first place on the final log.

“I do not think the Pumas have been dominated at set-piece before this season like they were by the Bulls, which was a great boost for us. We generally have quite a young pack, only Arno Botha is older than 25, and their performances have given us massive confidence. Credit to forwards coach Russell Winter, who has done a fantastic job getting that pack going.

“Mornay Smith at tighthead is one of the most improved players we’ve had and I’m very happy to have Jacques du Plessis covering lock and flank. Ruan Combrinck is not a bad replacement either, he’s a Springbok who has played in Super Rugby finals. Although he has not played for a while, I’ve seen enough in the small time he’s been with us to know he has rugby in him,” White said on Friday.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt had a little dig on Thursday at Argentina lock Marcos Kremer for his role in the injury of scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse, that led to the call-up of team-mate Grant Williams to the Springbok squad, but fortunately the franchise do have great depth at halfback as the Currie Cup enters its final stages.

Hendrikse was tackled after he had kicked the ball by the replacement lock in the second Rugby Championship Test last weekend, and landed awkwardly, fracturing his ankle. The incident was referred to the TMO, with referee Karl Dickson and the other officials agreeing that Kremer was committed to the tackle and it was not late.

Everitt was annoyed by the tackle though, but at least could take some solace in still being able to name 2021 Springbok squad member Sanele Nohamba and 2018 Springbok tourist Cameron Wright for their Currie Cup match against Western Province in Durban on Saturday.

“I was really disappointed in the way the injury happened to Jaden. I thought it was a cheap shot,” Everitt said. “But it is pleasing to see Grant get recognition after all his months and years of hard work and resilience. He has worked incredibly hard and came through the club system [College Rovers] in Durban.

“Sanele has been with the Springboks as well and has played really well for us in his last two games, while Cameron was really good against the Cheetahs when he started. We are really blessed with our depth at scrumhalf, they have all bought into rotation and the ranking order sometimes changes, which certainly motivates everyone to work hard,” Everitt said on Thursday.

The Sharks are coming off an impressive 56-14 demolition of the Lions at Ellis Park last weekend. Although it all worked out more than okay in the end, some mediocre set-piece work at the start of the match saw them struggle in the opening quarter. Former Western Province lock Gerbrandt Grobler, who debuted for the Sharks last weekend and looked good to go for the rest of the year, is the only member of the tight five who retains their starting position for Saturday.

“We’ve rotated the front row, we’ve not really had much consistency in that department and we know Western Province have a formidable front row so we will try to negate that strength. Emile van Heerden is still working through the concussion return-to-play protocols and it’s great to have Le Roux Roets back after he had played so well.

“Gerbrandt gets the opportunity for more game-time and we would like him to really hit his straps in the coming weeks. He had not played for quite a long time since returning from France, but that cover-tackle he made on Wandisile Simelane on the Highveld at 2pm will live long in the memory. He’s an experienced campaigner and clearly a competitor. He’s made a great mark with us already,” Everitt said.

Sharks team: Curwin Bosch, Yaw Penxe, Werner Kok, Murray Koster, Thaakir Abrahams, Lionel Cronje, Sanele Nohamba, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Henco Venter, James Venter, Gerbrandt Grobler, Le Roux Roets, Khutha Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench – Dan Jooste, Khwezi Mona, Lourens Adriaanse, Reniel Hugo, Thembelani Bholi, Cameron Wright, Marius Louw, Anthony Volmink.