Ken Borland

Loftus Versfeld is becoming a very difficult place to visit in the United Rugby Championship and, with the addition of more than 19 000 spectators at the weekend, it was too much for the quality Ulster side to handle as they were blown away 34-16 by the Bulls.

Coach Jake White made a point of thanking the spectators who were right behind a Bulls side who were in a destructive mood in the second half as they turned a 9-3 deficit around with four tries.

“Thank you to the 19 000 who came to the stadium, we like to play in front of our crowd. It was new pressure for me because imagine if we’d lost, but thankfully we won with a bonus point.

“Hopefully we will see more big numbers at our games in the coming weeks. It was unbelievable and there’s no question we played better with spectators behind us.

“It was like a genuine Test match and we were never going to run away with things in the first half, but to score four tries in the second half was fantastic.

“It was not the case that our play in the first half was not good, it was just that they strangled us. We had to find a way to get out of that and the message to the players was to just play, to not stand back,” White said.

While the Bulls produced some superb attacking play in the second half, White also praised the hard work done in defence and in the set-pieces for doing the groundwork for the impressive victory.

“The cornerstone of our game is good defence and set-pieces and if you get those right then you will win more games than you lose,” White said.

“Our defence was outstanding, we defended our like with all our worth, but we also scrummed well and in the lineout we had things like Ruan Nortje turning over an Ulster throw near our line.

“Our attack was very good too, we opened them up at times and Kurt-Lee Arendse was outstanding. We’ve got a good backline now and they showed that they understand how Ulster defend.

“It was hard and physical for our forwards, but jeez, our backs played well. Guys like Harold Vorster and Madosh Tambwe are playing phenomenal rugby,” White enthused.

South Africa aren’t fielding their usual sort of bowling attack against Bangladesh in the first Test at Kingsmead in Durban, with debutant Lizaad Williams one of just two frontline pacemen alongside Duanne Olivier.

Even at domestic level, one would very seldom see a team fielding just two specialist pace bowlers.

So it’s all a bit of a strange experience for Williams, the 28-year-old playing in his first Test after a journeyman career that has taken off spectacularly since his move to the Titans in 2020.

But he has adapted well and he finished his first innings as a Test bowler with impressive figures of 3/54 in 18.5 overs as Bangladesh were bowled out for 298 on the third day. That gave the Proteas a 69-run first-innings lead, which they extended to 75 by reaching 6/0 in the four overs possible before bad light and rain stopped play.

“We’re two different kinds of bowlers, Duanne gets more bounce while I just try and hit the pitch six-to-seven metres out and the ball squats a bit,” Williams said on Saturday.

“That combination worked well for us but we could have bowled even better. I must say, it is a bit of a weird pitch, both new balls seemed to do a bit less, which is not normal and I don’t know why.

“But in Test cricket not everything is going to be in your favour, but I do still think this is a result pitch.

“I was very delighted to get my first wicket. It was always my dream to play Test cricket, growing up, it was always what I was working towards. It’s your most difficult format and to be able to contribute to my team was great,” Williams said.

Lithe and athletic, with a straight-lines action and the ability to zip the ball around at good pace, the 5’10 Williams certainly has the fast bowling gene. He is slippery, consistently touching the 140km/h mark, and he has the confidence of fine form in domestic cricket to bolster him.

A graduate of the University of the Western Cape, having been schooled at Weston Secondary School and Hugenote Hoerskool, he was born in Vredenburg on October 1, 1993. Having played for Boland Schools for three years, his talent was obvious and he was capped for SA Schools in 2010, from where he made the SA U19 team in 2011 and 2012, also playing in the Junior World Cup.

When you post 367 in your first innings and then reduce the opposition to 101 for five and your spinners have been as dominant as South Africa’s were, there is bound to be some disappointment when your lead is whittled down to just 75 by the end of the day, but that’s what happened to the Proteas on the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh at Kingsmead on Saturday.

Thanks to the epic defiance of opening batsman Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who was last man out for 137 made in 442 minutes off 326 balls, Bangladesh made it all the way to 298 all out.

It meant South Africa still emerged with a handy lead of 69, which openers Sarel Erwee and Dean Elgar extended to 75 as they reached six without loss in the four overs of their second innings that were possible before bad light and rain stopped play at 4.10pm.

But it could have been so much more with better bowling and catching. Most crucially, Liton Das was dropped on 16, a straightforward chance to Dean Elgar at first slip off Lizaad Williams, and he went on to score 41 and share an 82-run partnership with Joy that lifted Bangladesh from 101 for five to 183 for six.

There were three other half-chances that went down too through the innings, and South Africa, who were able to take the second new ball in the second over after lunch with Bangladesh on 186 for six, will be disappointed by how Williams and Duanne Olivier lost the lengths that they had been bowling earlier.

Williams had bowled Liton in the 79^th over with a beautiful delivery with the old ball that nipped back sharply, but Joy and Yasir Ali were flourishing against the new ball, having added 33 when Yasir fell for 22 to a car-crash of a run out.

But Bangladesh’s next partnership between Joy and Mehidy Hasan Miraz was smoothly underway as they added 51 for the eighth wicket before Wiaan Mulder had Mehidy caught at slip for 29.

Joy then accelerated, quickly cutting the deficit from exactly 100 to 69 as he struck 27 runs off his next 17 deliveries with five fours and a six.

But the promising Williams ended his fun by having him caught at slip, to finish with three for 54 in 18.5 overs in his debut Test.

Simon Harmer failed to add to his wicket-tally of the previous day, finishing with four for 103 in 40 overs as the Bangladesh batsmen showed much more intent against him and Keshav Maharaj on Saturday.

Simon Harmer’s four wickets, as well as his valuable runs, on the second day of the first Test against Bangladesh at Kingsmead on Friday certainly loans credibility to his long-term future with the Proteas side, but it also answered a few of his own questions about whether he was still good enough for international cricket.

After six-and-a-half years and a record 55 Tests missed between appearances for the Proteas, Harmer took all four Bangladesh wickets to fall, for just 42 runs in 20 overs, as the tourists closed on 98/4 in reply to South Africa’s tidy first-innings total of 367.

That the Proteas reached that score after they had been reduced to 298/8 was thanks to Harmer’s determined 38 not out, as he shared important late partnerships with Lizaad Williams and Duanne Olivier.

“Bowling puts bread on my table, but I have worked hard on my batting this season because it hasn’t really gone to plan at domestic level,” Harmer said after play on Friday.

“Taking wickets is my currency though, winning games and trophies, and I have a feeling of vindication today. Although I’ve done it for Essex and now for the Titans, you do still ask yourself ‘Am I good enough for international cricket?’

“To take four wickets certainly answers a few of my own questions and it was a very good day, which I could not really have scripted better. For us to be in this position going into Day 3 is very good.

“We expected the pitch to turn a bit more actually, but we were able to bide our time. We had to bowl double-spin because it was too dark for pace, and Keshav Maharaj and I found some turn with the older ball as the pitch began to wear more,” Harmer said.

Harmer and Maharaj, who was wicketless but bowled well, sent down 39 of the 49 overs Bangladesh have faced. With the Proteas expecting the pitch to turn more and more, they are likely to play the key roles in the South African attack.

Harmer said his time at Essex – he has taken 491 first-class wickets between his last two Test appearances – has given him the confidence that his off-spin can be matchwinning fare.

“Essex gave me the platform to find myself again. I had been dropped by the Proteas and SA A, and I did not know if I would get a franchise contract. So I had a lot of self-doubt.

“But I rediscovered what made me successful, how to be a matchwinner and be more comfortable with that role.

“I now know that I can do it as an orthodox spinner, I have that level of confidence,” Harmer said.