Ken Borland

Theunis de Bruyn said he had to call upon the services of all his willpower and cricketing intelligence on his way to his matchwinning century that took the Titans to a daunting target of 316 in their 4-Day Domestic Series match against the Cape Cobras at Newlands this week.

On a coastal pitch that was much slower than the Highveld wickets De Bruyn is used to, with the ball turning from Day One and a quality spinner brimming with confidence in George Linde, the 28-year-old knew it would be a mental challenge as much as anything to get the Titans to a total that was more than double what they had managed in the first innings.

“It was more about character than skill and we really wanted to win because it’s always nice beating the Cobras. There was just that will to win even though it was an above-par total to chase and it wasn’t easy – if you bowled tight lines then it wasn’t easy to score because there was no pace and there was turn from Day One.

“We messed up tactically in the first innings, but we made clever decisions in the second knock, even with simple things like where we took guard. So I felt in control but the heart was still pumping all the time, the game was on a knife-edge and you know that if something happens to you then you’ll probably lose. Junior Dala and I took it in 10-run blocks, but it felt like forever,” De Bruyn, who scored an heroic 127, told The Citizen on Friday.

As a leader in the Titans team, De Bruyn says the mood in the new-look squad, with coach Mandla Mashimbyi now in charge from the start of the season for the first time, is especially good at the moment.

“We’re in a very good space and I’m enjoying the new okes in the team. Our bowlers did very well and I haven’t played in a four-day game for a very long time in which I’ve seen the consistent skill and intensity that Lizaad Williams and Okuhle Cele bowled with. And we have okes with experience in the side and there’s that transfer of information. We actually played a great game apart from 45 minutes of chaos in the first innings.”

While openers Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram played a key role with their fluent opening stand of 105 on the third afternoon and are likely to feature in the Proteas Test squad in December, De Bruyn wants to get himself back into the international picture and his masterful display against spin will surely be noticed.

“On my last tour to India, Amol Muzumdar [batting consultant] gave me some good hints on front-foot play against spin. Now I’m playing with a bit more wristiness and it felt like I could access the off-side better, with more intensity but less effort. Coming from Pretoria, I’ve always been good against quick bowling, so at the start of my career I worked hard on how to play spin, especially when the ball is turning.

“That Test hundred in Sri Lanka gave me a lot of confidence, but I still feel I can improve a lot against spin, even more so than against pace,” De Bruyn said.

Judging by their error-strewn performance in beating the Free State Cheetahs 19-13 at Kings Park on Friday night, the Sharks will be fortunate to lick the rim of the Super Rugby Unlocked trophy let alone drink from the cup.

There victory had much to do with how dire the Cheetahs also were, and the boot of flyhalf Curwin Bosch, who slotted all five of his kicks at goal and also provided the pinpoint crosskick for the matchwinning try by replacement wing Madosh Tambwe.

While the Cheetahs at least had the excuse of not having played for a couple of weeks, the Men in Black will be very disappointed with their performance and relieved to have won. Never mind the fancy stuff, the Sharks battled with the basics of scrumming and passing, which meant their game was seriously lacking in continuity.

The Sharks were not direct enough and also failed to build an innings. There was also some odd decision-making as they turned down four shots at goal to kick for the corner, messed up those chances, but then finally went for poles in the 33^rd minute, Bosch putting them 3-0 up.

Then, with the Cheetahs missing a lock thanks to Carl Wegner’s yellow card, they went for goal again after the halftime hooter, Bosch succeeding from 45 metres. But with the opposition missing a tight forward, it might have been the right time to try and set the maul.

The Sharks’ kicking game has long been their strength, and Bosch’s towering up-and-unders did cause serious problems for the Cheetahs. Centre Jeremy Ward did cross the line in the 52^nd minute, but the TMO ruled that fullback Manie Libbok had interfered illegally with centre Chris Smit’s attempt to catch the ball, so the try was disallowed. It was typical of the ill-discipline that plagued the Sharks on Friday night.

The Sharks scrum, especially without Thomas du Toit at tighthead, has been cause for concern and the Cheetahs definitely had the edge in that set-piece. Another solid scrum in the 71^st minute put them on the front foot, from where flyhalf Tian Schoeman sent wing William Small-Smith slicing through to score the opening try. Replays showed the pass was forward, however, but it’s not the first time the use of the TMO has been ignored.

Fortunately it did not cost the Sharks the match though, as Free State wing Rosko Specman was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on three minutes later. After kicking into the corner, Bosch then produced the field kick that overturned the 13-9 deficit, before adding a phenomenal 59-mtre penalty to seal the win.

Scorers

Sharks: Try – Madosh Tambwe. Conversion – Curwin Bosch. Penalties –Bosch (4).

Free State Cheetahs: Try – William Small-Smith. Conversion – Tian Schoeman. Penalty – Schoeman (2).

The fairytale rise to prestige is a staple of children’s books and for Glenton Stuurman those dreams just keep coming true as the 28-year-old paceman was named in a  Proteas squad for the first time, when new convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang on Friday announced a 24-man group for both the ODIs and the T20 internationals against England starting on November 27.

Stuurman, born in Oudtshoorn, plied his trade for South-Western Districts before making his franchise debut for the Warriors in 2018/19. He has only played five 50-over franchise games in his career, taking four wickets at an average of 53.50 and an economy rate of 6.11, and he has not played in a single franchise T20 match.

Nevertheless, Stuurman is certainly a rising star in South African cricket and his skills are reminiscent of those of the recently-retired Vernon Philander.

Stuurman is the only player in the expanded (due to the Covid bubble they will be in) 24-man squad who has not yet appeared for the Proteas, so Mpitsang has not arrived with a new broom just yet.

A powerful contingent of fast bowlers is led by IPL stars Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, and also includes Lungi Ngidi, Lutho Sipamla and Beuran Hendricks, while Titans white-ball star Junior Dala is fully fit again and recalled to the Proteas set-up.

Former captain Faf du Plessis, who has shown some evergreen form in the IPL, is also included, and neutrals will be looking on with some amusement as the selectors try and fit him, Jon-Jon Smuts, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Rassie van der Dussen and Kyle Verreynne all into the same middle-order. Klaasen, Miller, Smuts and Verreynne all shone in the 3-0 whitewash of Australia in March.

Captain Quinton de Kock’s opening partner will also be a toss-up between Janneman Malan, who scored a superb 129 not out against the Aussies, Temba Bavuma and Reeza Hendricks.

Squad -Quinton de Kock (captain), Temba Bavuma, Junior Dala, Faf du Plessis, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Janneman Malan, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lutho Sipamla, Jon-Jon Smuts, Glenton Stuurman, Pite van Biljon, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne. 

Coach Jake White says he is pleasantly surprised by how quickly his Bulls side have learnt how to vary their play and believes it could be an especially important quality when they come up against the Lions in their Super Rugby Unlocked match at Ellis Park on Saturday night.

Far from just playing forward-based rugby with a strong kicking game – traditional Bulls’ 10-man rugby – White’s Bulls have been one of the hottest attacking sides in the competition, beating the most defenders so far, fullback David Kriel has run the most metres and they have scored the most tries (15) with outside centre Stedman Gans the joint leading try-scorer along with Neil Maritz of the Pumas with four.

“I’m not surprised by the style of rugby we’re playing because we want to use our backs as well, but I am surprised that in a relatively short space of time the team has been able to get like that. The excitement for me is not being labelled as a conservative Afrikaans coach using a big pack and just kicking. We’ve now got the forwards who can go through the opposition and the backs who can go around them.

“I’ve coached all over the world now and I’ve taken the best of different countries and tried to use it with the Bulls. We have massive talent here and we can play different styles of rugby. The Lions also do quite a lot of unexpected things, the way they kick, the way they attack and run out of their own half. They’re not stereotypical and they like to have quick rucks and move the ball around, they have the most passes and offloads of all the teams,” White said.

With the crowd at Ellis Park muffled by the Covid-19 restrictions and the Bulls accustomed to playing at altitude, two of the Lions’ key weapons have been removed. White also believes that their narrow defeat to the Free State Cheetahs three weeks ago in Bloemfontein has given them a template for how to beat the Lions.

“We had a great trial run against the Cheetahs, who are the same sort of team, and we know what went wrong then. We did everything right to win the game but we just didn’t take our chances. We played too much rugby in certain areas and sometimes when we needed to play, we kicked the ball away or a lineout throw went skew or we went left instead of right.

“Our cohesion wasn’t as well-oiled as it is now and we will ask different questions of the Lions. It’s not just bashing away with the forwards until they’re exhausted, we have backs who can break and score from their own line, we have one of the best flyhalves when it comes to kicking out of hand, and an aerial battle will suit us too with Travis Ismaiel and David Kriel both being nearly two metres tall.

“We’re confident we have all the bases covered and there’s nothing the Lions will do that we weren’t already challenged by against the Cheetahs. Plus the Lions have struggled this year, only winning two of their 11 matches, while Free State are the Currie Cup champions and have changed the way they attack and play considerably,” White said.