Ken Borland

Former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis says the Pakistanis will be very dangerous opposition in their own conditions in the two-Test series which begins on Tuesday. The 36-year-old scored just 27 runs in three innings against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in 2013, and earlier that year in South Africa, he made just 113 runs in four innings against the same opposition.

He admitted this weekend that mystery off-spinner Saeed Ajmal had been his bogeyman back then: “Every time I came in to bat, Saeed Ajmal would be warming up and when I would wake up in the middle of the night then it would be Saeed Ajmal bowling to me as well!” Du Plessis said.

So who are the dangermen for the Proteas to be wary of in this Test series in Pakistan? Du Plessis identified three …

Babar Azam

“Having Babar back will be massive for Pakistan, he’s up in the top three batsmen in the world at the moment for me. The runs he has scored in the last couple of seasons in all three formats have been nothing short of remarkable. If you take his runs out of the Pakistan team then you feel you can get on top of them. He’s the first guy we have to make sure we take care of.”

Shaheen Shah Afridi

“Afridi has obviously been hot the last two seasons and he’s a pretty dangerous bowler. I’ll be interested to see how much reverse-swing he gets in this series because the game seems to have moved a little away from reverse. The rules have become very strict and you used to be able to bounce the ball in on the rough patches a lot more. But on the sub-continent, quite often now it’s green and a bit soft next to the pitch and the ball does not scuff up as much as it used to. If it does start reversing, the batsmen need to play very late, let the ball come to you and the shot-selection needs to be as late as possible.”

Yasir Shah

“Yasir is very good at bowling in good areas over and over again, he has great control. We have to make sure we don’t let him settle, make sure we get the singles and the boundaries when the scoring opportunities present themselves. If you play and miss, it’s the same as facing seamers in South Africa, you just have to make sure you see it as a good ball and you played it well because it went past the edge. You need to be looking for scoring options to get off strike. You can’t allow a bowler like him to settle and keep bowling at one batsman.”

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen blamed the high error-rate of his own team and the ill-discipline that led to both of the locks being yellow-carded for the Currie Cup semi-final defeat against the Bulls at the weekend, and said the blame belonged to his side rather than the referee.

The Lions went down 21-26 to the Bulls, but after 50 minutes the teams were level at 14-14. Infringements at the ruck and maul then allowed the Bulls to score from a lineout drive in the 57^th minute, but the crucial blows to the Lions came a minute later when referee Rasta Rasivhenge yellow-carded Marvin Orie for his second high tackle on Bulls captain Duane Vermeulen. The home side poured on to the attack from the penalty and two minutes later Willem Alberts was sent to the bin after repeated offsides infringements by the Lions.

”Obviously our discipline left us wanting and with two locks off the field it was always going to be tough. Whether I think the cards were harsh or not harsh does not make a difference and you’re not going to win any game if you have 20 penalties against you. That gives the opposing team momentum and then the referees tend to be more harsh on you anyway.

“But it’s not Rasta’s fault, the blame is all our own and we gave them ball too easily with our mistakes. A couple of times we did try to run in our own half and put ourselves under pressure, but we showed we can put teams under pressure by carrying the ball through the phases, but too many times we would just turn the ball over and then the pressure would be back on us. We felt we had the momentum when we kept the ball,” Van Rooyen explained after the semi-final.

But from being also-rans in Super Rugby at the start of 2020, the Lions were on the fringe of competing for the Currie Cup crown and Van Rooyen said there had been good improvement shown through the last season.

“If I’m honest, it’s been an interesting last 11 months. At the start of Super Rugby, we had a lot of gaps. But in certain areas there have been big improvements – the understanding of how we want to play, our defence and our set-pieces are all much better. We were good enough to win this semi-final, so it hurts. We also could have had a home semi-final but we had two home games cancelled, which made it tough.

“But our senior guys – Willem Alberts, Jannie du Plessis, Jaco Kriel and Elton Jantjies – have been outstanding. They have grown the younger guys and they play a big role off the field. They will still play a big role in the future. And I’m very proud of the fightback and character shown in this semi-final,” Van Rooyen said.

Coach Jake White says something special is happening in the Bulls camp and he warned the Sharks that their Currie Cup semi-final win over the Lions was “patchy” so he is expecting the Bulls to be even better in this weekend’s final in Pretoria.

The Bulls saw off the Lions 26-21 in their semifinal at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, but they had to regroup after the Lions levelled the game after 47 minutes, wiping out a 14-0 lead for the home side.

“Some sides would have panicked going from 14-0 up to 14-14, but we managed to regroup and showed lots of composure. Some of our players had not played for four or five weeks, so it was understandable the performance was a bit patchy. But it’s nice to win comfortably even though the opposition scores at the death.

“The bench was solid and I have a lot of confidence using them. The team is in a good place and we absorbed plenty of pressure, we defended well. We will get confidence from beating the Sharks both times we have played them up here this season and there is an unbelievable vibe in our team. They’ve worked hard and they enjoy their time together. It’s an unbelievable group of players and special things are happening in this team,” White said after the semi-final.

White said he was particularly pleased that he was able to rely on his senior players to step up when the pressure was on. Springbok tighthead Trevor Nyakane, ably supported by loosehead Lizo Gqoboka, put the Bulls on the front foot in the scrums, Duane Vermeulen, Ivan van Zyl and Morne Steyn provided the tactical nous to ensure that pressure was kept on the Lions. The wonderful direct running of Cornal Hendricks at inside centre, constantly straightening the line, also gave the Lions plenty of problems on the gain-line.

“It was great to see those senior men lift their game to a higher level. At crucial times, that’s what you want from your best players, that they can lift their game to another level. I was very satisfied with the effort of Trevor and Lizo up front, especially because if you compare today with the last couple of matches, there were lots of questions over our scrum.

“And one should not underestimate what a good captain means to a team and Duane was outstanding today. Not just because he played very well and had a physical impact, but also because of the way he spoke to the players after we were 14-0 up and then suddenly it was 14-14. He still stayed calm and it was unbelievable to see the determination everyone showed because everyone was tested,” White said.

Front-foot ball and the ability to control the tempo of the game and execute their game-plan were the prime reasons for the Bulls’ success as they beat the Lions 26-21 in their Currie Cup semi-final at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

A superbly-controlled first half by the Bulls gave them an 11-0 lead, but there was a second-half wobble when the gutsy Lions fought back to level the score at 14-14 with two tries. But the Bulls then regrouped, and helped tremendously by the Lions’ ill-discipline which saw both locks, Marvin Orie and Willem Alberts, yellow-carded in the space of three minutes, they scored two tries to settle the issue.

The Lions scored a consolation try after the final hooter through centre Burger Odendaal, but they were a beaten side by then.

The Bulls’ dominance started with an excellent scrummaging display and, even though the Lions did win a couple of penalties at that set-piece, the home side won the scrums at vital moments. Their defence was also superb and the pressure they exerted led to the Lions simply making too many errors.

The Bulls backline, expertly marshalled by halfbacks Morne Steyn and Ivan van Zyl, also looked in prime attacking mood and their first try, in the 10^th minute, featured some superb running rugby in the build-up before Steyn, who had earlier made the break into the 22 off a deft pass from Van Zyl, stuck through a diagonal grubber which wing Stravino Jacobs gathered beautifully considering the tricky bounce and crossed over the line.

Another penalty early in the second half, when the Lions were once again punished for trying to run out of their own 22, allowed the Bulls to extend their lead to 14-0. The Lions half was the location where most of the game was played, but when the visitors did manage to string some phases together inside the Bulls half they scored a fine try as Alberts thundered over.

But even their second try came from deep within their own territory as scrumhalf Andre Warner’s box-kick came down just outside his own 22. But Jacobs missed the catch, replacement Francke Horn gathered and sent Wandisile Simelane free on his outside. The exciting outside centre had already shown great feet and hands in the match, but now he showed tremendous pace as he raced away for the try that levelled the scores.

Still the Lions conceded penalties though and the Bulls were allowed to set a lineout maul from which replacement hooker Johan Grobbelaar scored. From the restart, Orie was then yellow-carded, perhaps a bit harshly, for a high tackle inside the Bulls’ 22. It put the home side hard on attack, Alberts was then yellow-carded after the Lions were guilty of continued offsides offences, and the Bulls predictably decided to scrum with both opposition locks off the field. A delicate crosskick from replacement flyhalf Chris Smith to Jacobs provided the matchwinning try.

Location, location, location as they say in the real estate world and the Lions simply spent too much time trying to play in the wrong areas.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Stravino Jacobs, Johan Grobbelaar, Stravino Jacobs. Conversion – Morne Steyn. Penalties – Steyn (3).

Lions: Tries – Willem Alberts, Wandisile Simelane, Burger Odendaal. Conversions – Elton Jantjies (3).