Ken Borland

With flyhalf Curwin Bosch in sublime form, the Sharks produced an impressive 47-30 win over the Free State Cheetahs in their Currie Cup match in Bloemfontein on Saturday, going to the top of the log with the bonus point triumph.

Bosch was excellent with the boot, succeeding with nine of his 10 kicks at goal through five conversions and four penalties. He was also superb with ball in hand, sparking several of the counter-attacks that punished the Cheetahs when they kicked with a poor chase and also playing on the gainline with aplomb.

The Sharks made a horror start though. From the kickoff, the outstanding Rosko Specman’s brilliant chase led to a penalty. Although scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar missed the kick, the Sharks conceded a couple more penalties in the opening minutes and the Cheetahs finally punished them when Specman deservedly scored the first of his two tries, dotting down a Brandon Thomson grubber after a super run off a lineout by centre Siya Masuku.

It was a feisty match throughout and Pienaar then stupidly went around the side of a maul and slapped the ball out of hooker Kerron van Vuuren’s hands, earning him a yellow card. With the Free State captain off the field, the Sharks managed to get into the game.

Bosch produced two wonderful passes to firstly send impressive prop Nthuthuko Mchunu off on a storming run, and then eighthman Phepsi Buthelezi, centre Werner Kok scything over from the resulting ruck.

The Springbok flyhalf then sparked the counter-attack from a deep kick that led to the second try, on the half-hour, by scrumhalf Grant Williams, with the help of a powerful run by wing Marnus Potgieter.

The Sharks ended the first half with another wonderful counter-attacking try, wing Thaakir Abrahams this time taking a kick, evading the lone chaser and then slipping away from several other defenders, fullback Anthony Volmink completing the try to give the visitors a 24-11 lead at halftime.

Bosch added another penalty early in the second half to stretch the gap to 27-11, but the Cheetahs managed to partially dig themselves out of the hole with two tries in five minutes. Specman set up the first and then Masuku produced a brilliant run when his team were back-pedalling, leading to the second try.

The Sharks’ lead had been cut to 27-23, but Bosch quickly produced another moment of magic, dummying, slipping through a gap in the defensive line and getting his offload away in the tackle to Mchunu, who put in another great run for Williams to score his second.

Specman replied with a scintillating solo effort from 62 metres out, but the Sharks kept piling on the pressure, with Bosch kicking two more penalties and Van Vuuren scoring a lineout drive try.

Scorers

Free State Cheetahs – Tries: Rosko Specman (2), Brandon Thomson, Duncan Saal. Conversions: Ruan Pienaar, Reinhardt Fortuin. Penalties: Thomson, Pienaar.

Sharks – Tries: Werner Kok, Grant Williams (2), Anthony Volmink, Kerron van Vuuren. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (5). Penalties: Bosch (4).

Former Springbok Lionel Mapoe has swapped the aquamarine seas around Nice for the dry winter of the Highveld and will make his return to the Bulls side on Sunday for their Currie Cup match against one of his former teams, the Lions, at Loftus Versfeld.

Born in Port Elizabeth but schooled at Fichardtpark in Bloemfontein, Mapoe made his senior rugby debut for Free State before joining the Lions in 2011. He had a stint with the Bulls from 2013-2015, before returning to Ellis Park, from where he made the Springbok side for the first time. While earning 14 Test caps, Mapoe also spent three years playing for Kubota Spears in Japan.

He moved overseas permanently in 2019 to play for Stade Francais, but when Covid-19 forced the Top 14 franchise to cut their roster, Mapoe joined third-tier club Stade Nicois, who are based in the French Riveira city of Nice.

But Bulls coach Jake White has now snapped him up and is delighted to be able to add him to the other gems he has in the midfield – Cornal Hendricks, Harold Vorster, Stedman Gans and Marco Janse van Vuren.

“Lionel is very talented. As I’ve said before, I’m big on combinations and a team spending time together, and our win over SA A reaffirmed that. Harold and Lionel would have spent many hours playing and training together at the Lions and it will be nice to see that combination back together again. Cornal has played a lot of rugby on the wing, we know he can play in several positions.

“Cornal can now come into play in different places, we can use him in different ways and he’s a dangerous guy to have to defend against. Lionel and Johan Goosen are quick too so we have a team with real pace and hopefully we can move the ball around and use it. Lionel can play on the wing as well of course, but he and Harold could make a great centre combination if we lose Cornal to the Springboks,” White said on Friday.

The Bulls’ forward selection is resonant with the need to break down the Lions, which White said is always a tough task even though their neighbours are coming off a defeat to Griquas.

“The Lions are the one side we haven’t really played well against, we just haven’t been able to click against them, we never really get the ascendancy. I think it’s because a lot of them know this environment and our style of play, they tend to stay in the game for a long time and they can score quickly. They have played consistently well against us.

“Simphiwe Matanzima did very well scrumming against Vincent Koch in the SA A game and he’s incredible on his feet and with ball in hand. Jacques van Rooyen held his own at tighthead and Johan Grobbelaar played really well too. A guy like Elrigh Louw wants to play eighthman like Duane Vermeulen and I would like to see him there too, Muller Uys can also double up there,” White said.

Bulls team: David Kriel, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Richard Kriel, Johan Goosen, Zak Burger, Elrigh Louw, Muller Uys, Marcell Coetzee (Capt), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Jacques van Rooyen, Johan Grobbelaar, Simphiwe Matanzima. Bench – Schalk Erasmus, Gerhard Steenekamp, Mornay Smith, Janko Swanepoel, Nizaam Carr, Keagan Johannes, Chris Smith, Sibongile Novuka.

While the Springboks have rightly been lauded, both locally and overseas, as being a beacon of true nation-building hope in this troubled land, their game-plan has earned less respect from foreign critics.

But backline coach Mzwandile Stick made it clear on Friday, on the eve of the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town on Saturday, that they don’t care.

“We will never run away from our strengths. The All Blacks pass the ball a lot, that’s how they grew up as kids, but nobody says they must stop doing that. It’s the same with us, physicality is in our DNA, it’s in our genes. If we want to play lovely, free-flowing, running rugby then we have to earn that right. We’re very happy with the way we play.

“In 10 years time, people will only see the results and they won’t be worried about the style of rugby we played. Seventeen of our squad for the first Test were involved in the World Cup final and we have been more than three years with these guys. So we can’t be underdone,” Stick said on Friday.

While Lions coach Warren Gatland said South Africa’s ego had somehow been dented when SA A beat the tourists and some have painted the Springboks’ preparations as being chaotic due to Covid-19 cases and several injuries, Stick painted a picture of a squad that has been an island of focus, with even isolation being used to fine-tune their planning.

“We have made peace with the fact that these are very challenging times and the team that adapts best will have a better chance of winning. When you get guys like Siya Kolisi, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi and Handre Pollard back in the squad then you can feel the vibe and energy goes to a totally different level. These are guys who know what it takes.

“They know how to switch on and they have proper, proper heads on their shoulders. That’s what coaches enjoy and we are excited about the first Test. Hopefully everything goes according to our plan. We are happy as a team about the SA A game because we came out on top in the most important stat – the scoreboard; we won the game. So I’m not sure why our ego would be dented,” Stick said.

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi on Friday pronounced himself 100% ready to give everything and inspire his team to do the same in the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town on Saturday.

Kolisi played in the Test against Georgia but then missed the two SA A games due to a brush with Covid, and questions have been asked in some, largely foreign, quarters over his readiness for what will certainly be an all-out game of Test rugby.

“I’ve had a good build-up. Obviously it was tough testing positive and going through isolation and everything, but I was involved in every meeting and looking at the team’s preparation. And then I felt really good when I went back to training because fortunately I did not have any Covid symptoms. I was fine by the second day and after that it was all just mental being isolated in my room.

“The coaches know if I get tired, they are very good at noticing that and making substitutions a the right time, and they will definitely take me off. But I know what our bench can do, we have depth and they will turn it up even more, so I won’t be holding back, I am going to give it my absolute all on the field. My focus is just on the stuff I can control and I have a very big job on the field,” Kolisi said on Friday.

Particularly in the northern hemisphere, there have been whispers that the Springboks’ World Cup triumph was somehow a fluke and they should not be considered the best team in the world anymore. The 2007 World Cup champion Springboks were extremely motivated to beat the Lions in 2009 just to counter any such suggestions themselves and Kolisi hinted that his outfit are using similar fuel to fire them up.

“I spoke to John Smit last night and we have the same mindset as the 2007 side. We have come through many challenges, guys have been out for a long time with injuries and we have worked hard to get here. It’s rare to get this opportunity to play against the Lions again, most of us won’t. So we really want to win and we will give everything for that result.

“It’s going to be all about whose plan comes out on top and our plan hasn’t changed at all. It’s going to be about who is able to adapt and enforce their game-plan for 80 minutes. Our fitness levels and plans are there. We are also in a place of privilege to put smiles on peoples’ faces when unfortunately the country is not doing well, and that drives us even more,” Kolisi said.