Ken Borland

Bulls coach Jake White certainly seems to have located his best starting XV and there is little doubt it is the side that will run out on to Kings Park on Saturday evening to play the Sharks in a Currie Cup thriller.

Barring Marnus Potgieter making his Currie Cup starting debut on the right wing that is. The 21-year-old is promoted from the bench because Travis Ismaiel is unable to fill the vacancy created by David Kriel moving back to fullback because he has just had a shoulder operation. Potgieter is 1.87 metres tall, weighs 94kg and played twice for the Blue Bulls in the 2018 SuperSport Rugby Challenge.

“Marnus has been a great junior player, he was at Affies and a member of the 4×100 metre relay team and has come through the ranks here at Loftus. He has lots of pace and he’s big and strong,” White said.

Apart from Ismaiel, all the familiar faces are back as White also moved Kurt-Lee Arendse back to left wing, Ivan van Zyl returns at scrumhalf, Ruan Nortje will start again in the second row and Trevor Nyakane and Jacques van Rooyen are the starting props.

Springbok Marcel van der Merwe, the tighthead who was replaced after 34 minutes against the Free State Cheetahs last weekend, is nowhere to be found on the bench though. White said he still has faith though in the 30-year-old even though 22-year-old Mornay Smith will be the replacement tighthead against the Sharks.

“We still back Marcel and we will help him through it, he had a long-term injury and has not played much rugby. I’m not going to discard him, we will help him back on the horse. Maybe the Free State loosehead prop was able to get away with a bit, there’s been lots of debate about that,” White said.

The former Springbok coach did however praise the influence of Nyakane both on and off the field.

“Marcel will come right and Trevor almost did the same things as Marcel and we got rewarded, so I’m just thankful that referee Jaco Peyper is good enough and experienced enough to see the whole picture. There’s a misconception that we took off our tighthead because he was struggling, but it was because we wanted the loosehead to try and do the same things to Trevor.

“It’s not as if Trevor came on and waved a wand, but he showed stability and the players around him obviously get confidence from that. I haven’t worked with Trevor before but he’s been really good both on and off the field – right now he’s having one-on-ones with young Jan-Hendrik Wessels on loosehead versus tighthead,” White said.

Bulls team: David Kriel, Marnus Potgieter, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Morné Steyn, Ivan van Zyl, Duane Vermeulen (capt), Arno Botha, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Trevor Nyakane, Johan Grobbelaar, Jacques van Rooyen. Bench – Schalk Erasmus, Gerhard Steenekamp, Mornay Smith, Sintu Manjezi, Nizaam Carr, Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Marco Jansen van Vuren.

Having a bye after their most complete performance of the season might not have been that convenient for the Sharks, but coach Sean Everitt is delighted, however, to be able to recall three Springboks to his starting XV for their crunch Currie Cup match against the Bulls at Kings Park on Saturday.

The Sharks were decent in Super Rugby Unlocked, finishing with the same record as the runners-up, the Stormers, without ever really reaching the heights they did in Super Rugby proper at the start of the year. But they put on a marvellous display in beating the Pumas 45-10 in the opening round of the Currie Cup … and then had a bye week.

“Our performance has not been consistent this season, we’ve played well in stages, but it was probably our best display against the Pumas. We’re excited to be back again this week and now we have quite a few games in a row; it’s been quite a stop-start season so it will be good to get some momentum now. I said the week off would help us in terms of injured players coming back and it’s a bit of a relief to have very close to the best team we could pick for such a massive game.

“We have a slightly different pack with experience coming back in Henco Venter and Sikhumbuzo Notshe, so I expect a big improvement there. Lukhanyo Am coming back as captain will obviously inspire and motivate the team, he is a good leader and the team have a lot of respect for him. Sbu Nkosi is back as well so it’s going to be an interesting battle between the backlines,” Everitt said on Thursday.

Everitt is also hoping the location of the night game – Kings Park in Durban – will make a difference in favour of his team.

“We were beaten convincingly at Loftus Versfeld in Super Rugby Unlocked, but we are certainly a lot better at the moment and we’ve learnt a lot since then. Week in and week out, this team has found a way through adversity. I think Jake White has enough experience from his time with the Sharks, and Morne Steyn and Duane Vermeulen have played here enough, for the Bulls to know how to handle the humidity.

“But we train in these difficult conditions, we are unbeaten at home this year and hopefully it will be a balmy evening on Saturday and we will have the upper hand because of it. We’re striving for that full 80-minute performance and we all know what is required. We can’t be playing for 20-30 minutes, we need a full 80-minute effort,” Everitt said.

Sharks team – Manie Libbok, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (capt), Marius Louw, Yaw Penxe, Curwin Bosch, Sanele Nohamba, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Henco Venter, Dylan Richardson, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit, Dan Jooste, Ox Nche. Bench: Kerron van Vuuren, Mzamo Majola, Michael Kumbirai, JJ van der Mescht, Thembelani Bholi, Phepsi Buthelezi, Jaden Hendrikse, Jeremy Ward.

There was no quarter given by Cricket South Africa interim board chairman Justice Zak Yacoob on Thursday as he tore into those he says have been “obstructing” the work of the board mandated by the sports minister and appointed by the Members Council to bring stability to the organisation.

Yacoob announced on Thursday in a teleconference attended by the directors of CSA, the Members Council and the Exco, that Omphile Ramela, until recently the president of the players’ association, and Xolani Vonya, the controversial former Easterns president and a major ally of suspended CSA Company Secretary Welsh Gwaza, will no longer serve on the interim board.

“We have brought proceedings for the removal of a director – Mr Ramela – in terms of the Companies Act because he has been generally obstructive in board matters and trying to defend the indefensible. He refuses to accept the majority decision if he does not feel it’s right and feels he needs to continue to fight. He does not have the discipline to accept a majority decision and is virtually impossible to deal with.

“We spent two hours with him discussing why he must accept majority rule but he said that when he is right he is right. Every word that comes out of his mouth is biblical truth and if anyone disagrees with him then they are met with considerable anger.

“We have also recused Mr Vonya from the board because very serious allegations of dishonesty have been made against him by Easterns, who claim they had everything ready for an enquiry against him on October 24, but instead of facing it, he resigned and then on October 25 he was nominated by the Members Council to this board. They knew, or ought to have known, he left Easterns under dire circumstances,” Yacoob said.

The former Constitutional Court judge said the mandate of the interim board was to restore CSA as a top-class sporting federation, but he said there were people actively working against this objective. He made a point of saying he did not share the optimism of Members Council head Rihan Richards that the interim board would be able to finish their work quickly now that a “clearly defined space” for them to operate has been found.

“I’m not sure at all that the solution discussed with the Members Council will be workable and I’m not sure this will all be over quickly. Let’s see how much obstruction there is but myself and the majority of the board do not share Mr Richards’ optimism. The Members Council has the power to take a resolution to throw us all out tomorrow, but some of them want the process to be completed, others want to stop it but fear the public exposure so they are caught between a rock and a hard place.

“It is a very toxic environment and we are aware that some of the Members Council have taken up the cudgels for Mr Gwaza. Anyone who is earning several millions per year is not going to go away quietly, they will fight any way they can. And other members of the organisation may have to be suspended because many aspects of the operations are not working. The object of the obstructionists is to make sure they are still there in three months time to fudge the issue. I suspect this is a specific design to hold up the board, to make sure we can do very little in the next three months.

“But we have to get rid of problem staff in the organisation and attend to fraud and corruption. Those people causing trouble must go. Our job is to run CSA properly, to bring a level of short-term stability, those who cause disruptions and problems for that have to go,” Yacoob said.

Backline coach Chris Rossouw says he is thoroughly enjoying the big dreams of the Bulls organisation, but also their short-term focus and their attention to detail that has seen them score half-a-dozen more tries than any other team this season.

The Bulls have scored 27 tries in eight matches across Super Rugby Unlocked and the Currie Cup, six more than Western Province. They have also only conceded 13 tries, joint best with the Free State Cheetahs, so the Bulls really are a well-balanced outfit.

“I’m really enjoying working under Jake White because of his wisdom and the structures he has put in place. We have a clear understanding of how he wants to mix attack with defence and he has given us licence in the system to play what we see in front of us and to show our skills. Any vision needs to have short and long-term goals and we have a clear vision of what we want to get right. Our focus is on winning the Currie Cup.

“This organisation – from the board, the sponsors, the investors, the CEO and head coach – has big dreams for the Bulls and the Pro14 in Europe is definitely part of it. I enjoy that there are big dreams and it’s a privilege to be here. I’m very grateful that things are going well with the backline and these young guys are maturing every week and developing other areas of their game,” Rossouw, who was a Western Province stalwart who played five Tests for the Springboks, said.

Rossouw paid tribute to the forward pack which has given the backs a wonderful foundation, as well as the impact of the Sevens players which has been so important for the Bulls.

“A bunch of aspects have had an influence on the success of the backs: we have clarity on the way we want to play and the tight five has given us a great platform, the breakdown has worked well to give us quick ball and the defence has also provided us with opportunities. They are being put under more and more pressure, but these young guys are busy finding their feet.

“Our Sevens players have an unbelievable natural feel for space but the challenge is taking that to XVs, where there is less space but you still have to be effective. The Sevens guys are good people, with great work ethic and skills. In XVs you need to be spectacular and solid in the same game, and it’s unbelievable how those guys have grown in the last five months,” Rossouw said.