Ken Borland

Coach Jake White says the Bulls are sitting pretty not only inside the top eight on the United Rugby Championship log but also in terms of the confidence in the squad and the depth that has been created by utilising the services of practically all of his players.

The Bulls take on the second-from-bottom Dragons in Pretoria on Saturday, fresh off a 57-12 dismantling of Scarlets at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, which White described as being “probably the best we’ve played”. It was their third successive URC win.

“A couple of weeks ago we were 14^th on the log and now we’re challenging for top place in the South African Shield,” White pointed out. “And we are improving every week.

“It’s also nice that we have created some depth, we’ve used everyone in our squad now except for Diego Appollis and Stravino Jacobs. I’m pleased there’s competition in every position, that brings out the best in the team.

“We’ve had three tough games in the last week but we’ve proved we got it right in terms of player management and selection. There’s an easier week coming up and we have a lot of confidence now,” White said.

Like fighter jets and 747s doing aerobatics together in the sky, the Bulls also scored some fabulous tries against Scarlets through the dazzling interplay of their backs and forwards.

“I said before the game that we wanted to see some enterprising play between forwards and backs and we saw that,” White said.

“We got good returns from the scrums as well, Jacques van Rooyen was good at tighthead and Robert Hunt is improving. I was very happy with Cyle Brink, the way he carries and defends, and Elrigh Louw and Ruan Nortje are backing up such good rugby week in, week out.

“There were moments in which we played really well. It was easier because we started well, scoring early takes the wind out of their sails, we probably caught them a bit.

“It’s very difficult then to play catch-up rugby, especially at altitude, in your second week up here and you have a few injuries,” White said.

The Highveld heat and altitude engendered a more unstructured game and caused Munster to wilt, allowing the valiant Lions to snatch a 23-21 victory with a tremendous final-quarter comeback in their United Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Lions flourish in unstructured play

For the first hour of the match, Munster were the slicker, better organised side as they built up a 21-10 halftime lead. Their brilliant phase play allowed them to mount relentless attacks with their forwards carrying and offloading superbly.

In contrast, the Lions looked disorganised and messy behind their rucks, which meant several attacking opportunities inside the Munster 22 fizzled out. The home side did not protect their ball well enough and were counter-rucked on several occasions.

But in the final quarter, with Munster visibly tiring, the match became loose and unstructured, which suited the Lions. They were superb in lifting the intensity, applying pressure and converting their chances as Wandisile Simelane, who had moved to the wing, scored and Jordan Hendrikse kicked two penalties.

All-action terriers

What the Lions lack in experience or big-name stars, they made up for in tenacity and effort. Leading the way in that respect was blindside flank Vincent Tshituka, who was all over the ball whether carrying, defending or bringing pressure at the breakdown.

Hendrikse showed there is more to flyhalf play than just being a general with a strong kicking game. Fullback Quan Horn provided the big boot for the Lions, and a couple of lovely runs, but Hendrikse was a constant thorn in the Munster flesh with his abrasive style. Playing flat, he was all about testing the defence, while he put in several big tackles and was a constant menace at the breakdown. And he also, crucially, succeeded with all five of his kicks at goal.

Scrum power pays off

Our rugby is well-known for its reliance on powerful scrummaging and initially there was a tremendous tussle in that set-piece as Carlu Sadie, Sti Sithole and Jaco Visagie put Munster under pressure. They did not get any reward though as Munster were clever in absorbing and nullifying the pressure.

That all changed in the second half when the replacement front row of Ruan Dreyer, JP Smith and PJ Botha came on. They were superb in not only winning three crucial scrum penalties but contributing brilliantly in open play with strong carries and breakdown steals.

The Lions are a different animal at Ellis Park

Given the 11-place gap between the two teams on the URC log, Munster were deservedly clear favourites for the match. And in the first half the Lions showed few signs of being able to tame them.

But playing at Ellis Park in the early afternoon, heat and altitude are always going to be factors and the Lions used them perfectly. They were able to up the tempo in the final quarter and simply scrummed and ran Munster off their feet, while competing ferociously at the contact points.

Scorers

Lions: Tries – Edwill van der Merwe, Wandisile Simelane. Conversions – Jordan Hendrikse (2). Penalties – Hendrikse (3).

Munster: Tries – John Ryan, Josh Wycherley, Fineen Wycherley. Conversions – Jack Crowley (3).

The Sharks will be looking to come to the boil quickly against Zebre Parma in their United Rugby Championship match at Kings Park on Saturday evening, with coach Sean Everitt identifying this as a key aspect if they are to emulate what the Stormers did to the Italian side last weekend in Stellenbosch.

Zebre were hammered 55-7 by the Stormers, who raced into a 21-0 lead after just 11 minutes. The Sharks, meanwhile, have been steadily climbing the URC log after three successive bonus point wins.

“It was really important that Western Province played exceptionally well in the first 30 minutes and put Zebre to bed,” Everitt said. “So Zebre are not as bad a side as that final scoreline suggests.

“They ran Ospreys really close a couple of weeks ago, they are unpredictable and dangerous and we have got to be accurate with our execution from the start.

“We’ve got a full house of points from our last three games but it’s not about the points, it’s about our performance and the performance has not been where we want it to be.

“So our focus is on rectifying that and then we’ll be able to stay in the top eight and be a threat in the quarterfinals,” Everitt said.

Being on a winning run has allowed Everitt to gently curate his personnel and he will be hoping the presence of outside centre Ben Tapuai and scrumhalf Grant Williams in the starting backline assists their attacking efforts, which have not always been on-par with the sterling displays of their pack.

Against lowly Zebre, flyhalf Curwin Bosch also really needs to find his spark in directing the attacking play.

Other areas of focus which Everitt highlighted are:

• Stopping the good Zebre maul
• Making sure they have good width on defence to handle Zebre’s penchant for attacking on both sides of the ruck
• Handling Zebre’s long kicking game, and making good decisions and executing well when it comes to counter-attacking off those kicks
• Ensuring there is better accuracy in their own kicking game.

Springbok centre Lukhanyo Am is not only the Sharks’ captain but he has been the provider of numerous moments of beautiful magic on the field, so wing Sbu Nkosi acknowledges the team are certainly going to miss him against Scarlets in Durban on Friday night, but they have confidence the large hole he leaves will be adequately filled.

Am has left for Japan for a lucrative two-month stint with Kobe Steelers, meaning he will miss the Sharks’ next seven United Rugby Championship matches, returning in time for the last game of the round-robin phase, away to Ulster on May 21.

“It would be very difficult for any team in the world to lose Lukhanyo,” Nkosi said on Tuesday. “But we have very capable replacements and they are learning quickly.

“But it’s a huge loss for any team, Lukhanyo has exceptional quality and the ability to produce some great moments on the field when they are really needed.

“We will take time to adjust, but if each player brings 10% extra then that will more than make up for Lukhanyo’s loss.

“In terms of the captaincy, Siya Kolisi has played a leadership role since he arrived, he’s been very influential and involved. He’ll bring the same energy now, he’s just got the authority of the captain’s title now,” Nkosi said.

The Scarlets have travelled from the rain and temperatures of less than 10° of Llanelli to Durban perhaps expecting the weather to be a bit milder on the coast than it is currently in a place like Limpopo. But the temperature will be pushing 30° in Durban this week with humidity of 85%.

“It’s not gonna happen!” Nkosi laughed when asked about the potential for cooler weather now that summer has entered its last month. “It’s still very hot and humid and the ball is very slippery.

“That’s just how it is and I expect that on Friday night as well. We’ve been training in that, we are moulded in heat and our coaches have us training when the sun is at its highest.

“We want to use the humidity and heat to our advantage. Scarlets are flying from the cold to extremely hot weather.

“But it does not matter where they are placed on the log [12^th], that does not always reflect the quality of a side. We ourselves were in a totally different place on the log three weeks ago, so we will approach them with respect,” Nkosi said.