Ken Borland

Loftus Versfeld is a crucible refining some of the best young talent in South African rugby at the moment and David Kriel and Madosh Tambwe are two of the standout prospects.

They spoke on Wednesday about what they have enjoyed most about their time with the Bulls.

David Kriel

The 22-year-old fullback said he has especially enjoyed not being under pressure to produce dazzling rugby in a backline full of Sevens stars. Kriel has impressed with his mature, composed performances at fullback in his first full season of senior rugby.

“You have to trust the timing of your selection and I’ve just tried to be composed. A lot of youngsters feel they have to come in and take the spotlight, say ‘look at me now’. But I’ve been able to just do what I know I can do and what the team has needed. I’ve always been maybe a bit more composed since my school days, and now having a mentor like Gio Aplon here helps a lot.

“Coach Jake also knows his stuff and being as versatile as possible is a big advantage. It’s going to be an entirely different experience in Europe and we don’t know how the rugby will compare. But we trust management and we feel ready for what is coming. Conditions will play a big role and we will just stay with what we have established this year,” Kriel said.

Madosh Tambwe

The 23-year-old wing joined the Bulls a month ago, having spent three years at the Lions and then 2020 at the Sharks. His arrival in Pretoria has seen him reunited with Joey Mongalo, his Lions mentor who is now the Bulls’ defence coach. But the Kinshasa-born Parktown product is clearly not at Loftus for a holiday.

“To work with coaches like Jake White and Chris Rossouw is really tremendous and Joey Mongalo again. I met Joey when I was U15 and he was the head coach of the Lions Invitational team, Hacjivah Dayimani played too and I managed to get a scholarship to Parktown. Joey was the one who said to me I should see how far I can go and by Lions U19 I had already decided to make rugby my career.

“I had personal reasons for coming up here from the Sharks, but rugby-wise it also made a lot of sense. It’s something to cherish, not everyone gets to work with the sort of talent that is here and I just try to put my hand up and contribute to the team. I just want to find my feet here and be a regular starter, I know what it takes. I’m just trying to be professional and a great team guy,” Tambwe said.

There is no doubt Duane Vermeulen is still highly valued at Loftus Versfeld, but having swept the board in two national awards ceremonies in the last 10 days it was a surprise that he was pipped to the main prize in the Bulls’ awards evening in Pretoria on Friday night.

The stalwart Springbok eighthman was named both the SA Rugby overall Player of the Year and the Players’ Player of the Year at separate functions, but on Friday night he had to settle for being the Bulls’ Currie Cup Player of the Year and the fans’ player of the year as voted for on the Bulls’ app.

Instead it was the indefatigable fellow loose forward Marco Van Staden, who will leave the Bulls in June, and the inspirational comeback kid Cornal Hendricks who shared the overall Player of the Year award for the franchise. So outstanding were their displays that, for the first since the inception of the awards, the Bulls decided to share the main prize.

Bright young attacking talents Stravino Jacobs and David Kriel were named the most improved and newcomer of the year respectively, while scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl’s stellar efforts in directing the backline were rewarded with the Super Rugby Unlocked Back of the Year award, with Hendricks claiming the same title for the Currie Cup.

Much of the Bulls’ Currie Cup success was down to their excellence at source and tighthead prop Trevor Nyakane was the Forward of the Year for that competition, with the untiring lock Ruan Nortje winning for Super Rugby Unlocked.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt bemoaned the errors that were littered throughout their game and through the full 80 minutes as being the reason for their exciting 39-38 loss to the Free State Cheetahs in their preparation match in Bloemfontein on Wednesday night.

The Sharks dominated possession and territory in the first half but were 28-7 down as the Cheetahs thrived on attacking off turnover ball, before the visitors pulled a try back to go into the break 12-28 down. The second half was a thrilling affair as the Sharks fought back and claimed a 38-36 lead, only for back-to-back mistakes to allow the Free Staters to kick a last-minute penalty to win the match.

“Our accuracy in execution let us down over the full 80 minutes and an example of that was the four or five attacking lineouts we had 10 metres out which we did not convert. But it was not one particular area that was affected by mistakes, it was all areas – kickoff receipt, lineouts, scrum penalties, breakdown. So we made a lot of errors which cost us,” Everitt said.

Replacement flyhalf Manie Libbok was at the heart of some dazzling rugby in the second half, coolly taking on the defensive line with his sleight of hand and foot, but Everitt was particularly pleased with the showing of the replacement front row, where things have headed south for the Sharks before.

“We did well though to fight back and be in a position to win. We always want to play ball-in-hand, but we can only do it if the conditions and the opposition allow it. We will kick if that’s maybe where the opposition weakness is. But playing attacking rugby needs a solid platform. All attack starts at set-piece and depth in the front row is vitally important,” Everitt said.

“We learnt some hard lessons in the Currie Cup but it was tough for those up-and-coming front rowers because Covid meant they did not get enough game-time and they weren’t able to scrum as much as they would have liked in training. But to see Ntuthuko Mchunu carry the ball and scrum like he did was very pleasing, especially since he was an eighthman at Maritzburg College two years ago before heading down to Durban. With him and Michael Kumbirai we are really growing our depth.”

Sharks coach Sean Everitt would have been apprehensive when his team went 7-28 down late in the first half against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Wednesday night, but in the end the KwaZulu-Natalians fought back superbly and it took a 40-metre penalty by Frans Steyn in the 80^th minute to scrape a 39-38 win for the Free Staters.

The Sharks had actually played decent rugby in the first half, but mistakes and turnovers allowed the Cheetahs to show their attacking brilliance as they ran in four tries to lead 28-12 at the break.

But in the second half the Sharks showed their attacking abilities, giving the Cheetahs defence a torrid time. The Sharks replacement front row of Michael Kumbirai, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Fez Mbatha showed they can perform at this level as they earned scrum penalties that helped pile on the pressure on the home side in the second half, while Manie Libbok came on at flyhalf and showed he will be a fine back-up to Curwin Bosch when serious competition resumes.

His linking and passing game constantly had the defence guessing and it was his brilliant individual play in slipping through a gap, regathering his own grubber and then kicking ahead again before passing to substitute flank Celimpilo Gumede for the try that gave the Sharks the lead with 13 minutes remaining.

The Cheetahs certainly played their part in a match that featured 11 tries and seemed to be played at a billion miles an hour at times, but eventually ensured they secured the win rather than risking whatever rewards would come from a more expansive approach.

Steyn was a pillar of strength at inside centre and once again showed why he is considered rugby royalty and he was bang on the money with the final kick at goal after a high tackle by the Sharks.