Ken Borland

The Imperial Lions, denied an important victory in their last match by the weather, will now look to block the rapid advance of the Knights team in Pool A of the CSA 4-Day Domestic Series at the Wanderers from Monday in a clash between the defending champions and probably the form team in the competition thus far.

And the Lions will need to stop the Knights juggernaut with a team missing half-a-dozen of the players who featured in the first two rounds because they are in the extended Proteas squad. Fortunately the Lions have the depth to ensure the replacements coming in to take on the Knights are not rookies – opening batsman Josh Richards is the youngest of the lot at 21 and he has already played six times for the Lions.

Other players likely to feature are Kagiso Rapulana, who averaged 84.40 for the Lions in 2018/19 and Sisanda Magala, who has been on the fringes of the Proteas squad, while aggressive batsman Wesley Marshall and all-rounder Delano Potgieter are probably competing for one place, as are spinner Aaron Phangiso and paceman Tladi Bokako.

Unfortunately for the Lions, swing bowler Eldred Hawken, their player of the season for 2019/20, is still out injured.

The other form team in the tournament, the Titans, now return home after two excellent wins on the road as they host the Warriors, the team they beat by eight wickets in their previous fixture. While the Lions have been forced to change tack by Proteas call-ups, the Titans are way less affected and their team has a more stable look.

The top-order batting strength remains with Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram and Theunis de Bruyn all ignored for the national white-ball squad, and the absence of ace spinner Tabraiz Shamsi probably won’t be as badly felt at home, where spin plays a bit part on a typical SuperSport Park pitch. Neil Brand is likely to replace Heinrich Klaasen in the top-five batting and is also a handy left-arm spinner to cover that base.

“It’s nice to see things happening so early in the season, but we know it is still the beginning and there is a long way to go. What’s happened in the first two weeks is history now and the next page of the journey is what we’re now looking forward to starting from Monday. We’ll have to be wary and just make sure we keep ticking all the boxes from our side and carry on with the processes we’ve been carrying out as planned. It will be our first home game as well and we want to start it well,” Titans coach Mandla Mashimbyi said.

The third round’s other fixture sees the Dolphins trying to return to winning ways as they host the Cape Cobras, who fought back to secure a draw against the Lions, at Kingsmead.

Bulls coach Jake White said winning the franchise’s first senior silverware in a decade will hopefully make their fans and the golden generation of players that featured in “the glory years” very happy following their 21-5 win over the Pumas at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend that clinched the Super Rugby Unlocked title.

It was the first trophy the Bulls have won since they claimed the third of their Super Rugby crowns in 2010, ending a decade of dominance that saw them also win the southern hemisphere competition in 2007 and 2009, as well as five (one shared) Currie Cup titles. White said winning the first competition he played in as the new director of rugby in Pretoria was a definite goal.

“It’s fantastic for the whole union because we have not won a senior trophy in 10 years, so there’s a lot of excitement and relief. Obviously we’re very happy that the fans now have something to be proud of and I think the guys who played in the glory years will also be very happy to see a new, young group win something. Hopefully winning creates a habit.

“We have the opportunity to win two trophies this season and we were fully aware that we are the only South African franchise to have won Super Rugby and we did not want to allow any other team on to that trophy. Seven months ago you would have said we had no chance, so it’s a massive relief and the players will gain confidence from this,” White said after the on-field presentation of the cup.

The attention now shifts to the Currie Cup, with the Bulls taking a four-point lead into that competition if, as expected, points are shared in the matches that were not played due to Covid-19. White, who was the Springbok coach between 2004 and 2007, will want to usher in the same sort of era of dominance at Loftus Versfeld.

“I’m very happy personally to have won the first tournament since my appointment here and I signed on the basis that the Bulls are a sleeping giant, they are one of the best franchises in the world, the Liverpool or Man United of South African rugby. That’s one of the reasons I came here – to win some silverware and there is a long-term plan.

“These are new players and there are things we still need to get right. It takes time and I can’t pick the same team week-after-week. Now in the first three weeks of the Currie Cup we play against the next three teams below us on the log – Western Province, Free State and the Sharks – and we now have four away games, which will be a leveller. So now we have to win away from home,” White said.

The Bulls fired on all cylinders for probably just the first 25 minutes, but it was enough for them to beat the Pumas 21-5 and clinch some more, long-awaited silverware for their Loftus Versfeld trophy cabinet as they won the Super Rugby Unlocked competition by four points over the Stormers and Sharks.

In what is probably the last ever Super Rugby tournament, it was perhaps fitting that the Bulls, as the only South African winners of the competition, signed off as the winners of this strictly local event. But it is also the first senior trophy to find a home at Loftus Versfeld since their 2010 Super Rugby triumph, so there will be great relief in Pretoria and a sense of justification that the appointment of Jake White as director of rugby has indeed borne immediate fruit.

The Bulls raced into a 21-0 lead inside those first 25 minutes, playing clinical rugby. Their superb pack was once again utterly dominant, they squeezed the Pumas in all the set-pieces, their driving maul was well-used and their ball-in-hand play was direct and incisive. And the Bulls’ breakdown work was hugely impressive, with flank Marco van Staden absolutely rampant and eighthman Duane Vermelen not far behind.

Wing Kurt-Lee Arendse opened the scoring in the 11^th minute from close range after one of numerous penalties had been kicked to touch five metres out; six minutes later flyhalf Chris Smith rounded off a period of very direct running by the Bulls as he forced his way through three tackles to score; and scrum Ivan van Zyl then sniped through a gap to score after a big scrum by the Bulls had earned a penalty against the Pumas on their own ball.

The marvellous rugby of the first half gave way to a scrappier, but more intensely competitive second half as the Pumas showed pleasing improvement. They stopped conceding a flood of penalties, they were better in the set-pieces, made fewer mistakes and, were it not for some lapses in decision-making at crucial times, they could have pushed hard for the win given how they turned around the territory and possession stats.

They showed their intent from the start of the second half, hooker HP van Schoor muscling over for a try from a lineout drive.

Given how brave the Pumas have been in fronting up for this game after 11 of their squad have been in quarantine for the last week, it was pleasing that they ended this phase of the season with their heads held high.

Also coming out of the math with great credit was referee Aimee Barrett-Theron, who became the first woman to referee at senior professional level in South Africa, and officiated with confidence, certainly being the mistress in charge out on the field.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Kurt-Lee Arendse, Chris Smith, Ivan van Zyl. Conversions – Smith (3).

Pumas: Try – HP van Schoor.

The Titans and the Knights were the big winners in the second round of the 4-Day Domestic Series with their emphatic triumphs in the cities of Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein respectively, while the Cobras managed to hold out for a draw against the Imperial Lions in Johannesburg.

Tabraiz Shamsi was the hero of the Titans’ eight-wicket win over the Warriors as he showed just how mature he now is as a spinner in all formats. The 30-year-old certainly has put his name up in the big leagues now as his phenomenal figures of eight for 32 saw him break Dale Steyn’s record for the best ever figures for the franchise – the eight for 41 the legendary fast bowler took against the then Eagles in Bloemfontein in 2007/8.

Shamsi’s sheer dominance saw the Warriors spun out for just 124 in their second innings, leaving the Titans with just 63 to win, which they knocked off in nine overs for the loss of two wickets.

The Dolphins were under the cosh against the Knights for the first three days of their match, but they would have approached Thursday as a bright new day with a bit of optimism as they resumed on 138 for two with Sarel Erwee and Marques Ackerman well set.

But captain Ackerman was bowled for 32 by left-armer Mbulelo Budaza in the second over of the day and the same bowler later removed Erwee, for a dogged 81, caught at first slip.

The Dolphins then subsided to 243 all out, giving the Knights victory by 227 runs. Fast bowler Migael Pretorius did most of the later damage as he finished with four for 52.

George Linde has made a superb all-round impression in South African cricket over the last couple of years and on Thursday he added to his wickets in the first round by scoring a match-saving 70 not out in 195 minutes for the Cobras against the Lions at the Wanderers.

Nandre Burger, who has joined the Cape side from the Lions this season, scored a valiant 37 not out in over two hours at the crease as he and Linde put on an unbroken 95 for the eighth wicket to steer the Cobras to safety on 302 for seven.

Kyle Verreynne has also blossomed in recent seasons and he scored 72 as he and Tony de Zorzi (67) gave the Cobras a crucial solid start to the final day, putting on 136 for the fourth wicket.

Left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks took three for 56 for the Lions to give him outstanding match figures of 10 for 85.

It has not been a good start to their title defence for the Lions, with the Dolphins thumping them in Durban and now the weather denying them victory this week.