Ken Borland

Turnovers spread through the Sharks’ performance like the bubonic plague last weekend, and if there was one area where the Lions excelled in their opening Rainbow Cup fixture, it was the breakdowns. So not turning over possession is going to be the key focus of the KwaZulu-Natal side as they host the Gautengers at Kings Park on Saturday.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt produced the astounding figure of 29 turnovers that his team conceded against the Stormers in Cape Town, and given that they enjoy playing a fluent game based on momentum, that extent of profligacy is clearly untenable for them.

And the Lions made life very difficult for the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, throwing everything at the rucks and cleaning up in that department.

“The biggest factor is going to be the number of turnovers conceded so we’ve looked to tighten up there. We’ve worked hard at our breakdown, because what we did last weekend is not going to be good enough against the Lions, who have two guys going very hard on the ball. The Lions contended at Loftus until the 70^th minute and they are tough to play against.

“They come hard at the breakdown so it’s difficult to get continuity. Keeping possession is going to be really important so we don’t allow them any free shots at us. We have to look after the ball at the breakdown because we don’t want a stop-start game. It’s going to be hard because MJ Pelser was massive there against the Bulls and we know the Lions score the majority of their tries from turnovers,” Everitt said this week.

While the Lions loose trio of Pelser, Vincent Tshituka and Franck Horne combined well to obstruct much of what the Bulls were trying to do, the Sharks arguably play with more flair and, if they sort out their breakdown work, they cold be harder to stop. They scored a couple of fantastic tries against the Stormers, with hat-trick scoring lock Reniel Hugo showing the sort of mobility and handling skills that Everitt is looking for from the forwards.

“We want to speed the game up, so Reniel scoring one of his tries from a quick tap was good game-awareness. But the Lions also have young backs full of energy and Wandisile Simelane is a great player who was a thorn in our side in the preparation series match. So we need to be on top of our game and keep our foot on the pedal,” Everitt said.

Sean Everitt is a coach for whom consistency in selection is important and the Sharks will duly field an unchanged starting line-up in their Rainbow Cup match against the Lions at Kings Park on Saturday.

Although Everitt has put on record his disappointment with the quality of the performance against the Stormers in Cape Town last weekend, the 33-30 victory has nevertheless been rewarded with 21 of the 23-man squad retaining their places for the Lions match.

The only two changes to the group are rotational switches on the bench, with Le Roux Roets replacing JJ van der Mescht as substitute lock and Jaden Hendrikse, having recovered from concussion, now the back-up scrumhalf instead of Sanele Nohamba.

“We fought back well against the Stormers last weekend, the guys generally did well and showed a lot of character. I would like to build some consistency, so there are only two changes on the bench. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves in Cape Town, especially in the first 20 minutes when we slipped some tackles. But in patches, like when Reniel Hugo blitzed his hat-trick, we were absolutely sublime.

“But in terms of the performance not being good, we have set standards and conceding 29 turnovers is just something we cannot do. We want to enjoy our rugby and you can’t do that if you concede that number of turnovers,” Everitt said on Thursday.

Scrumhalf looks set to give Everitt plenty of selection posers through the season because the Sharks certainly have tremendous depth there with current starter Grant Williams, Hendrikse and Nohamba. They are all young, nippy and attack-minded halfbacks that suite the quick tempo with which the Sharks want to play.

“We have three great scrumhalves and we are able to rotate them. Grant is the oldest at 24 but he hasn’t played much because he’s been unfortunate with a few serious injuries. But he has come good now. Jaden (21) and Sanele (22) are both still relatively young, but they are learning and growing,” Everitt said.

Sharks team: Aphelele Fassi, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (C), Jeremy Ward, Yaw Penxe, Curwin Bosch, Grant Williams, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Henco Venter, Siya Kolisi, Reniel Hugo, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit, Fez Mbatha, Ox Nche. Bench – Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Wiehahn Herbst, Le Roux Roets, Phepsi Buthelezi, Jaden Hendrikse, Manie Libbok, Werner Kok.

Bulls coach Jake White on Thursday welcomed Springbok legends Duane Vermeulen and Morne Steyn back into his starting line-up and then couldn’t help but list the terrible loss of players afflicting the Stormers ahead of their Rainbow Cup clash in Cape Town on Saturday.

White said he expects the Stormers to be without Ruhan Nel, Seabelo Senatla, Willie Engelbrecht, Kade Wolhuter, JD Schickerling, Nama Xaba and Salmaan Moeraat on Saturday. That just adds to the unavailability of Siya Kolisi, Juarno Augustus, Tim Swiel, Chris van Zyl, Jaco Coetzee and Angelo Davids from the Western Province team that played in the Currie Cup semi-finals in January.

“It’s a massive boost to have Duane back, he’s an unbelievable leader who will bring calm. Obviously things are going well with his knee and hopefully he can make an impact although I don’t expect him to be at his best physically. He’s trying to make his way back for the Lions tour, but I’m sure he will show leadership and get the team to gel. I know what he means to the team.

“Morne has been brought into the alignment camps with the Springboks, so obviously he’s an important cog too. If it had been a one-off game we could probably have pushed Trevor Nyakane to play as well, but the bigger picture of the Springboks comes to the fore there, he’s helluva important for them. Plus Mornay Smith was really good at tighthead last weekend.

“But the Stormers will have a completely different pack of forwards to what we’re used to and a very different backline. We don’t know their players as well as we used to. But we saw against the Lions, who did not have a lot of their big names, that we will still be up against a real challenge and we’re mindful of that. It is a North/South derby after all,” White said.

The Bulls were also able to advise their supporters of the signing of former Lions centre Harold Vorster on Thursday.

“At the age of 27 he has been around the block a bit. We have some real young talent here, but we probably have too many youngsters. We need that age-group that’s the middle tier, guys like Harold, Jacques du Plessis, Johan Goosen and Marcell Coetzee. Harold comes from Panasonic Wild Knights, who are an incredible club, always in the playoffs in Japan.

“So he’ll have experience of knockout rugby and having been coached by Robbie Deans, I’m full of confidence that he would have developed as a player. I know how good he was at the Lions and I’m sure he would have added more strings to his bow since then,” White said.

Bulls team: David Kriel, Madosh Tambwe, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Cornal Hendricks, Stravino Jacobs, Morné Steyn, Embrose Papier, Duane Vermeulen (Captain), Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench – Schalk Erasmus, Lizo Gqoboka, Jacques van Rooyen, Janko Swanepoel, Nizaam Carr, Zak Burger, Chris Smith, James Verity-Amm.

In terms of experience, Bulls tighthead prop Mornay Smith may seem ill-equipped to take on the might of Stormers and Springbok loosehead Steven Kitshoff this weekend in their Rainbow Cup match in Cape Town, but the 23-year-old has been on a roll lately and he says he is “not having sleepless nights” about the prospect.

Smith has marked himself out as a top-class talent for the Bulls, having come on as a replacement for Springbok Trevor Nyakane in some crunch games and shown that he can bear the heavy responsibility of being the cornerstone of the scrum on his shoulders.

He started last weekend against the Lions and did well, but is likely to be back on the bench on Saturday with Nyakane expected to play. But with the marvellous Kitshoff generally playing deep into the second half, Smith could well get his first chance to scrum against one of the world’s best.

“It’s the first time I’m playing against the Stormers because last time we played them I was out injured, and I have never scrummed against Kitshoff before. It’s going to be a very big challenge, but it’s lekker to play against the No.1 loosehead, to measure yourself against him. It all depends on what he gives me on the day, but I’m not having sleepless nights about it.

“Every prop has his own way of doing things and you have to read what your opponent is giving you, you must counter whatever picture he is showing you. Now that I’ve had a few games off the bench, I’m just trying to get as much experience as possible. It’s a long season so I don’t feel that much pressure on me and it’s nice that the props around me have much more experience,” Smith said on Wednesday.

Thanks to his parents being big Bulls supporters, Loftus Versfeld was always the destination of choice for Smith as he attended Hoerskool Eldoraigne and played age-group rugby for the Bulls, from U12s to U21s.

“My parents were always big Bulls supporters so I always wanted to play for the Bulls, it was a big dream of mine. So they are very proud and going forward now we will just see what happens. I’m still fine-tuning my scrumming to get it right, there are a couple of small things that need more attention. But I’m taking it step by step,” Smith said.