Ken Borland

The entire Bulls playing and management staff will be in Covid isolation until December 27, CEO Edgar Rathbone announced on Tuesday, but the awfulness of their situation is at least tempered by the opportunity to spend Christmas with their families.

The log-leaders’ vital Currie Cup match against the second-placed Lions has already been postponed to January 6 at Loftus Versfeld and the Bulls will end their round-robin campaign by travelling to Nelspruit just four days later to take on the Pumas.

“We have postponed the testing we were meant to have on Monday until Sunday, December 27, because it is still less than 10 days since the first positive tests and testing now would not give conclusive results, so we can get a more realistic picture next weekend. In the meantime the whole team is in quarantine at home, which makes it easier to control the infection.

“They will have no contact with other people outside of their families and we hope getting to spend Christmas with their families means they can come back recharged and refreshed. Obviously it is not ideal, but it has given the bodies some time to recover. If the players are clear on the 27^th, then we will start training on the 28^th and that gives us a week and a bit to prepare for the Lions game,” Rathbone said.

Rathbone refuted suggestions that the Bulls were being unfairly favoured in being allowed to postpone their match against the Lions, who have already had to share the points from two of their matches, and said in fact it meant they were risking their top position on the log because they have to play twice in five days. If the Bulls beat the Lions, then they can afford to play a second-string outfit against the Pumas and even if they lose they will still finish second on the log, the Sharks going top if they win their remaining three games.

“In terms of the tournament rules, the option has always been there to reschedule games and you need agreement between the two provinces, which we got last week already when we could see the Boxing Day match was at risk. Luckily our bye weeks are one week apart and the Pumas agreed to play us on the Sunday. But it means we have two games in a week, heading into the playoffs.

“The Lions will also play two games in a week before their bye, but for the integrity of the competition it is important this match is played. If the other matches could have been rescheduled then I’m sure they would have been. The log is important and we obviously want to finish on top, and it is a gamble that means we might have to prepare two squads that week. But the results will have to look after themselves,” Rathbone said.

The Proteas are looking to hit the Sri Lankans hard and early as they strive to avenge their shock 2-0 Test series defeat the last time they hosted the islanders in 2019, South Africa captain Quinton de Kock said on Monday.

Having enjoyed themselves on the slower and lower coastal pitches at Kingsmead and St George’s Park last time around, this time the Sri Lankans are being taken to the pace-bowling paradises of SuperSport Park and the Wanderers. While the practicalities of having their bio-bubble for the series in Gauteng – at the Irene Country Club just outside Centurion – obviously played a part, there is also no doubt the Proteas want to play their sub-continental opposition on the Highveld.

“We’re obviously all very eager to get back on the Test field, it will be a nice change of format after a lot of T20 cricket this year, and the guys are hungry and excited to see the red ball again. We want to play clever Test cricket, be streetwise, but we want to be quite aggressive. We want to throw the first punches, in the past we’ve maybe let the other teams do that and we want to get better at that.

“They hurt us on our own grounds last time so now we want to win convincingly. Not a lot of the squad [7 of them actually] were part of that losing battle last time but we do have the memories and we obviously want to rectify that. The pitches at Centurion and the Wanderers speak for themselves, they usually have pace and bounce and get a bit up-and-down later on.

“Sometimes they do spin a bit, but the typical nature of those wickets, good pitches for cricket, is what we expect. Whether we get that or not is another thing, but we don’t feel the need to send any messages to the groundsmen,” De Kock said on Monday.

South Africa’s best batsman of last year, De Kock confirmed that the Test captaincy was only a short-term option for him and the goal was to find a new long-term skipper this summer.

“The selectors told me the situation they were in and I understand where they’re coming from. It’s just for this season, not long-term, and until someone really puts up their hand for the leadership role. I have a lot on my plate but I’m happy doing the Tests as well in the short term. I will also keep wicket in the Tests because I need to. But we are trying to get things off my shoulders and I wasn’t going to keep against England in the ODIs.

“We have young players in the squad who need to learn fast. When I see where the rest of the cricket world is, teams like Australia and India, they have solid line-ups and they have got their game sorted. We need to learn fast so we can play some structured cricket. We have to make sure that we are a step ahead when we go out on the field because [Sri Lanka coach] Mickey Arthur knows what to expect here,” De Kock said.

Denied access to the front-foot ball they thrive on, the Sharks “were not able to fire a shot” in their 27-12 Currie Cup defeat to the Lions at Ellis Park at the weekend, coach Sean Everitt admitted after the game.

The Sharks’ points all came from the boot of flyhalf Curwin Bosch, with two of his four penalties coming from his own half, and the visitors were way behind the Lions in terms of possession and territory. With four of their first-choice tight five unavailable, their problems started in the scrums and the pressure just spread from there to the rest of their game.

“We can’t make excuses for that performance because we prepared well, but all the penalties against us – rightfully so – meant we weren’t able to fire a shot. The Lions put us under tremendous pressure for the full 80 minutes, but we have experienced individuals at Super Rugby level so it is no excuse. We had a penalty count of 14 against us and you’re not going to win many games with so many penalties against you.

“We are performance-driven and we are not happy with that performance because it was way below standard. The territory game is always important and it is affected by the number of penalties you concede. We had the Lions under pressure in their half, but then we would make a mistake, there would be a scrum and then we would concede a penalty which would release the pressure,” Everitt said.

The Sharks coach added that this chastening defeat was not due to a lack of effort nor was their game-plan at fault; under pressure, the Sharks simply failed to execute and made too many mistakes.

“You have to commend and congratulate the Lions for this pressure they put us under and they are probably the form team at the moment. It was not a lack of effort on our part, we just didn’t perform well and our kicking accuracy wasn’t good enough. We want to play according to the momentum and space and if we do have this momentum then we shouldn’t kick.

“I don’t think there were any kicks when we were on attack. But it’s not all doom and gloom, we were still in the game with 20 minutes to go. It’s hard to criticise the players for sticking to their structure, it has worked for us in the past when we came back from a nine-point deficit against the Bulls and 15 points against Griquas. If there were incorrect decisions made then we will rectify that,” Everitt said.

Mickey Arthur pronounced himself as a very happy coach after Sri Lanka’s first training session in South Africa on Monday and, while acknowledging conditions will be tougher for the tourists than the last time they were here, he says they have very good players and all bases are covered.

Arthur, who coached the Proteas from 2005-2010, brought Pakistan to these shores two years ago for a Test series they lost 3-0. And two of those Tests were at Centurion and the Wanderers, where Sri Lanka’s two matches are this time around, a far cry from the slower and lower pitches of Kingsmead and St George’s Park, where they beat South Africa 2-0 later that same summer.

“Conditions were totally different to what Sri Lanka had when they just followed Pakistan here and played down at the coast. We had Centurion and the Wanderers and I don’t want to bring up old scars but I did have a bit of a whinge and moan about the pitches. I saw Centurion today and I think we will get good South African pitches – a bit seamer-friendly, but that’s okay.

“The boys only arrived two days ago but they were outstanding today in training, I was very impressed by the standard, the effort and the attitude, so I’m a very happy coach. The Proteas are a very dangerous team for sure, they will be very well prepared, coached and led, and we are by no means favourites but I know we are playing very good cricket and we have some very good players, all bases are covered,” Arthur said on Monday.

While replicating the shock result of 2019 is obviously the Sri Lankan team’s overall goal for the series, Arthur said the focus is on constant improvement for a team that is currently sixth in the ICC World Test Championship, two places higher than South Africa.

“This is a young team but I expect them to just get better and better. The focus is very much on ourselves as a team instead of on the opposition. We want to create consistency around selection and roles, although our strategies and game-plans will be a lot different over here. This is a massive series for us, Sri Lanka were the first Asian team to win a series in South Africa and we would love to replicate that.“

It goes without saying that Proteas coach Mark Boucher will be extremely determined to reverse the 2019 result under Ottis Gibson. But Arthur played a major role in Boucher’s career when he was still coaching in South Africa and Sri Lanka’s coach is obviously still a bit of a cheerleader for his opposite number.

“Mark Boucher and I go back a helluva long way. He was always an aggressive player so I’m sure he’ll be an aggressive coach and I look forward to locking horns with him. I know the psyche of the Proteas, how they will attack us, and I’m sure they will play good, hard, aggressive cricket. Quinton de Kock is a wonderful player, he leads from the front, and he always plays his cricket in the same way as Boucher,” Arthur said.