Ken Borland

The Bulls know it would be stupid to expect any leniency from Munster, as the famous Irish club tries to get their season going, in their United Rugby Championship clash at Thomond Park on Saturday night, with coach Jake White almost painting his side as underdogs.

Based just on the URC log, then the Bulls would clearly be considered as favourites, sitting nicely in fifth place after just one loss in four matches, compared to Munster languishing in 12^th spot after just one win in four fixtures.

But White says there is far too much quality and history behind this Munster line-up for them to be taken lightly.

“Everyone in Ireland has been reminding us how tough it is to play at Thomond Park, from breakfast to dinner time. We are getting the whole vibe and hopefully that will help us make sure we’re ready.

“We played poorly last weekend, I’ll be the first to admit, and Munster are a good team, they have massive Test experience in their group. I’m sure they will get themselves up because they’re such a big club.

“They’re like the Liverpool, Man United or Barcelona of rugby because they have won European cups; they are one of the biggest clubs in the world. We’re under no illusions that it will be easy.

“We lost one game and we were rightly hammered as being poor on the night, they have lost three games, so imagine how they are feeling. I’m sure they’re disappointed with where they are at the moment,” White said.

Still, the Bulls must have a reasonable chance of repeating their 29-24 win over Munster at Loftus Versfeld last season, especially with Johan Goosen, Embrose Papier, Harold Vorster and Wandisile Simelane returning to a star-studded backline, and plenty of physicality up front.

“After a loss like ours against Glasgow, the players tend to rally around and are more focused anyway,” White said. “We had a good training week and we know it’s a massive game.

‘I think we could have some really good combinations with Johan and Embrose both Springboks trying to get back there, and Harold and Lionel Mapoe having played three Super Rugby finals together.

Bulls: Kurt-lee Arendse, Cornel Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Wandisile Simelane, Johan Goosen, Embrose Papier, Elrigh Louw, WJ Steenkamp, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima. Bench – Bismarck du Plessis, Dylan Smith, Jacques van Rooyen, Ruan Vermaak, Marco van Staden, Zak Burger, Chris Smith, David Kriel.

Wiaan Mulder says he was almost at the point of saying goodbye to the game before a stellar season of county cricket with Leicestershire reignited his love for the sport, and now he is eager just to get out on to the field as often as possible for the Central Gauteng Lions and the Durban Super Giants.

In and out of the national squad, and more often than not touring without getting regular game-time, Mulder says his focus is no longer on proving anything to the national selectors. The 24-year-old is considered one of South Africa’s brightest all-round talents, and was first picked for the Proteas five years ago. Former national coach Ottis Gibson was much enamoured by his skills, but Mulder was arguably thrown into the deep end too soon, and his talent was almost wasted.

“I’ve travelled a lot with the Proteas without really playing, whether in red-ball or white-ball cricket,” Mulder told The Citizen. “I just never had a full run, it’s difficult playing a Test or an ODI here or there.

“At international level, you’re always competing against very good players and sometimes you don’t get as many chances as you want. You have to take what comes and you don’t play for two months and then you’re playing for your life.

“I hadn’t been enjoying my cricket for a long time, and signing with Leicestershire, my goal was to find my love for the game again, it was a great opportunity, with the freedom to just be myself.

“I almost called it quits on my career, but I’ve come a long way since then and I really want to thank Leicestershire for the belief they showed in me, which pushed me through. I think my happiness showed in my performances,” Mulder said.

The St Stithians product was named Leicestershire’s players’ player of the year and was also the fans’ favourite after a brilliant season with both bat and ball in all formats.

Durban Super Giants also gave his ability in the shortest format a big vote of confidence when they bought him for R1.9 million in the SA20 Auction.

Mulder will return to action next week as part of a strong Lions outfit in the CSA T20 Challenge, and he says the ball is coming nicely out of the hand and he is hitting it sweet with the bat as well.

“I’m quite confident, I had a really nice run with Leicestershire in the T20s and in the Lions’ warm-ups, I executed my skills well. But form is temporary, we know how it works in cricket, you never know how it’s going to go.

“But I’m trying to shift my mindset away from worrying about form and just trying to give as much as I can to whatever team I’m playing for.

“As a batsman, I’m no Kieron Pollard, but I can find a way to score boundaries and have a decent strike-rate. I’ve worked hard on my boundary hitting, for when conditions and the situation are compatible.

“I was batting at five for Leicestershire and the more time I have, the better I play. Often I would go in in the powerplay. I would love to be able to play like Rassie van der Dussen, who is so consistent, he always gives himself a chance, but can also hit his first ball for six if that’s what the team needs,” Mulder said.

Following Ben Stokes’ incredible heroics in winning England the 2019 World Cup, the all-rounder was almost officially designated as cricket’s golden goose, his golden eggs being the box-office draw he promised through his scintillating batting, ability to bowl match-turning spells and amazing catching.

Just three years later, that golden goose is almost on life support. Stokes hobbled his way out of ODI cricket this week, looking a shadow of the great player he is, well-beaten by the Proteas on his home ground at Chester-le-Street.

Fingers have been pointed at the England and Wales Cricket Board, and also the International Cricket Council, for the greed they have shown in their scheduling of matches. England have been expected to play 12 white-ball matches in 25 days this month, and their Test side has been playing at the same time as the T20 or ODI squad was preparing for matches against the Netherlands and India. If that’s not killing the goose that lays the golden eggs through diluting your product, then what is?

The ICC also now have a global white-ball event every year.

But it was most interesting to read the comments of another former England all-rounder (bowling), Derek Pringle, this week. The 63-year-old Pringle does not get quite the same amount of attention as the brilliant Athertons and Hussains of this world, perhaps because he is of an earlier generation, but his erudite views on the game are also full of cricketing nous.

Pringle pointed out in his column for the Metro that, in 1982/83, England played 10 ODIs in 25 days in the World Series tournament in Australia and none of those were in the yet-to-be-invented T20 format. Plus they travelled all over that vast land, the world’s sixth-largest country, straight after a five-match Ashes series.

But that doesn’t change the fact that today’s leading stars, playing for far greater riches than back in Pringle’s day, are battling to cope. The 31-year-old Stokes has not been helped by Covid bubbles, the death of his father and a perpetual knee niggle, as well as mental fatigue that saw him take a break from the game last year.

While I was privileged to be at the World Cup final at Lord’s on July 14, 2019 to watch Stokes fulfil his destiny as England’s most talismanic cricketer in an extraordinary triumph over New Zealand, that trumps the 438 game as the greatest ODI in my book, I was not overly surprised by his feats.

Back in February 2015 I had first laid eyes on him in the flesh, at the Mamelodi Oval of all places (and a lovely venue to boot). Playing for the England Lions against SA A, Stokes plundered an attack featuring Chris Morris, Marchant de Lange and David Wiese for 151 not out off just 86 balls, the left-hander smiting 15 mighty sixes. He then wrapped up the match with three wickets.

I had no doubt I had seen a future great.

The next January he scored his famous 258 off just 198 balls against South Africa in the Newlands New Years Test.

While there have been areas of his life off the field that have landed him in trouble (he is a red-head after all!), I have always liked Stokes as a person, too. On the field he is as competitive as they come, someone with an inspirational belief in his ability to pull off the impossible, but empathetic and supportive are the words most-often used to describe him in the changeroom.

Before the 2019 World Cup final, while travelling from Cardiff to Birmingham, we took a comfort break at one of the Services along the highway. England were on their way to Manchester to play Afghanistan and whose bladder should be co-ordinated with my own but Ben Stokes’s.

There he was in a cap and T-shirt, just wandering around without any pretences or ego.

I doubt he could have done that a month later after his sensational end to the tournament.

That is the Stokes we, as cricket lovers, want to see more of; get it sorted, please, administrators of the England and Wales Cricket Board and the ICC.

Look after your players, who are your product.

The Blue Bulls Rugby Union seem to be winning trophies on an almost monthly basis these days and, although that was the focus of a tweet chuffed president Willem Strauss sent out last weekend, he says he is equally proud of the growth in club rugby that has occurred since he was first elected in 2018.

A major reason for the growth is that the Bulls have actually provided opportunities for club players to graduate into the professional system, and their professional players are also integrated within the club structures. A dozen have played Carlton League matches and the more senior figures are also allocated a club for which they are ambassadors.

The alignment of their professional and amateur structures has been complemented by the expansion of the Carlton League and the introduction of an U20 club competition. Some serious money has been allocated to club rugby.

It has proven that a healthy structure at amateur level will contribute to success at professional level, with the trophies for the Currie Cup, Super Rugby Unlocked, SA Rainbow Cup, SA U21s, U20s and U19, as well as the Varsity Cup, currently residing in Pretoria. Tuks face an anxious weekend as they look to hang on to the latter title when they take on Maties in the final at Coetzenburg on Monday.

“In order to make progress, you always need a very holistic approach and we have also made a point of looking after our clubs and schools,” Strauss told The Citizen in midweek.

“Our clubs showed in the Easter Rugby Festival last weekend that they are definitely the best in South Africa. I am as proud of the growth at club level as I am of the professional trophies.

“We have 23% more players at that level now compared to last year. And we are also making our clubs more community-based, they go and coach at the primary schools in their region.

“The growth of the game at club level is as important as at professional level and we want to continue that pipeline, giving us a broader base,” Strauss said.

When Strauss became president in 2018, the Bulls had not won a trophy since 2010 and their players were more like rentals than contracted employees as they left Loftus Versfeld in droves. There was also the scandal of then high performance manager Xander Janse van Rensburg’s fraud and theft from the union.

“We had no trophies at all, not even a junior one, which was scary,” Strauss admitted. “It all started with a plan which everyone bought into. We had to separate professional and amateur rugby, but get the structures aligned.

“We had the right stakeholders in Johann Rupert and Patrice Motsepe and we made the right appointments in director of rugby Jake White and CEO Edgar Rathbone.

“We also had cash flow problems and I was very worried about being able to turn things around. The first three years were tough, but it was not just me who did it, I have a very good board and directors.

“Once we had laid the foundations then new deals started coming through. But all the teams have the same salary cap and spend about the same. The key was getting our structures right, having a high-performance programme and having a world-class CEO and coach,” Strauss said.

With those firm foundations in place, the Bulls can only attract more investment, especially if they manage to seal the deal in the United Rugby Championship and earn a place in the European Champions Cup.