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.

Dominic Hendricks fell one short of a brilliant century as he was the Imperial Lions batsman who best defied an accurate Titans attack on the first day of their 4-Day Domestic Series match at the Wanderers on Tuesday.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, the Lions were bowled out for just 206, a moderate total when they would have been aiming for much higher. But it may yet prove to be a competitive score as the Wanderers pitch proved lively all day with good bounce and both swing and seam on offer.

Opener Hendricks was the one batsman to prosper though as the compact left-hander spent a single-minded 224 minutes at the crease, before Okuhle Cele zeroed in and trapped him lbw for 99.

The left-handed Hendricks was beaten as he tried to on-drive an inswinger, which left captain Nicky van den Bergh (41) to try and bolster the rest of the innings.

Van den Bergh was unfortunate to be run out at the bowler’s end when Williams could not hold a return catch from a fierce Kagiso Rabada straight drive, but the ball rebounded on to the stumps.

Williams, who bowled a disciplined line just outside off stump, then zipped through the tail to finish with three for 54 in 17 overs, while there were two wickets apiece for Dayyaan Galiem and Cele as all the Titans seamers impressed.

The Titans then had to weather 70 minutes of ferocious fast bowling that conjured up memories of some of the great pace attacks that have enjoyed bowling at the Wanderers, reaching 45 for one when bad light stopped play.

Aiden Markram was on 23 not out, but Dean Elgar was dismissed for two by Rabada, Temba Bavuma taking a superb catch, running back from mid-off and diving.

*The Dolphins, chasing a place in the final from Pool A, were able to bully the Warriors on the first day at St George’s Park.

The Dolphins attack, led by paceman Eathan Bosch (13-5-18-3), bundled the Warriors out for just 124 and the visitors then reached 67 for two at stumps.

*The Knights, the other Pool A team in contention, found the going tough at Newlands, despite winning the toss and batting against the Cape Cobras.

The Knights slumped to 36 for four and then 112 for eight after Raynard van Tonder’s 47, before some crucial late runs by tailenders Duan Jansen (23) and Alfred Mothoa (34) lifted them to 181.

Cobras new-ball bowlers Nandre Burger and Tshepo Moreki enjoyed the moist conditions as they took four wickets apiece.

Jansen did take an early wicket for the Knights, but Pieter Malan (51*) and Zubayr Hamza (29*) then added 73 to take the Cobras to 84 for one at stumps.

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.

You get diverse reactions from players to their own magnificent individual performances that ensure a team triumph, but Lizelle Lee’s self-deprecation after her superb unbeaten century took South Africa to victory over India in the third ODI at Lucknow on Friday was utterly charming.

Lee scored a remarkable 132 not out off 131 balls to steer South Africa to victory and a 2-1 lead in the five-match series, after they were set a daunting 249 for the win. It was the third highest ODI score ever for the Proteas women’s team and the fourth highest in international women’s cricket in a chase. In her last 9 ODIs dating back to the start of 2020, Lee has scored 472 runs at an average of 67.42. Her strike-rate has been 86.44, figures only a handful of batters have been able to better lately.

“I’m definitely not one of the best openers in the game, but I am striving to be one. I have to be more consistent though and I hope that happens because I’ve been working extremely hard. To be honest, I always have the same game-plan – see ball, hit ball. The only change I’ve made is to try not hit in the air as much as I used to because I was getting out caught a lot,” Lee said after her career-best effort.

The hard-hitting 28-year-old also had plenty of praise for her team-mates.

“The credit should go to the bowlers because India were on their way to more than 300 and it was outstanding how they pulled them back, that was very crucial. Mignon du Preez also played an excellent innings and showed that partnerships are key. She’s full of confidence at the moment and hitting the ball well, she showed her experience very well,” Lee said.

Lee certainly has the explosive properties one wants at the top of the innings, being able to batter the ball to the boundary with relatively low-risk shots in the powerplay. Her power is well-known as she has been a key figure in the Big Bash League for the two Melbourne sides – the Stars and the Renegades.

On Friday she showed she has the ability to not only set up innings with her dominant strokeplay, but the composure to manage a tight run-chase as well – South Africa needed 26 off 21 balls in Lucknow when the rain arrived and play was called off, leaving them six runs ahead of the DLS par-score.