Ken Borland

Poor weather meant only one match was possible on the final day of Pool B action in the CSA Provincial T20 Cup in Bloemfontein on Thursday and it was the game that decided whether it would be the Northerns Titans or the KZN Inland Tuskers who joined the Free State Knights in going through to the quarterfinals.

The Titans were again indebted to Donovan Ferreira for turning an iffy total into something matchwinning as the 23-year-old lashed 43 not out off 24 balls to lift them to 157-7.

The 21-year-old Jandre Pretorius, standing in for injured captain Dean Elgar, opened the batting and scored 40 off 39 balls to allow a solid start.

KZN Inland were then restricted to 133 for seven, with Okuhle Cele (4-0-24-2) and Aaron Phangiso (4-0-19-1) again the stars with the ball after their heroics at the death kept the Titans in the competition on the second day as they defended 70 in seven overs against Mpumalanga.

Corbin Bosch (4-0-25-0) was also very tidy.

The Titans’ composure in the closing overs of both their games against KZN Inland and the Mpumalanga Rhinos made all the difference for them.

Mpumalanga had their game against the unbeaten Free State Knights on Thursday afternoon washed out without a ball being bowled, leaving the Knights and Titans to advance from Pool B.

With flyhalf Curwin Bosch in sublime form, the Sharks produced an impressive 47-30 win over the Free State Cheetahs in their Currie Cup match in Bloemfontein on Saturday, going to the top of the log with the bonus point triumph.

Bosch was excellent with the boot, succeeding with nine of his 10 kicks at goal through five conversions and four penalties. He was also superb with ball in hand, sparking several of the counter-attacks that punished the Cheetahs when they kicked with a poor chase and also playing on the gainline with aplomb.

The Sharks made a horror start though. From the kickoff, the outstanding Rosko Specman’s brilliant chase led to a penalty. Although scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar missed the kick, the Sharks conceded a couple more penalties in the opening minutes and the Cheetahs finally punished them when Specman deservedly scored the first of his two tries, dotting down a Brandon Thomson grubber after a super run off a lineout by centre Siya Masuku.

It was a feisty match throughout and Pienaar then stupidly went around the side of a maul and slapped the ball out of hooker Kerron van Vuuren’s hands, earning him a yellow card. With the Free State captain off the field, the Sharks managed to get into the game.

Bosch produced two wonderful passes to firstly send impressive prop Nthuthuko Mchunu off on a storming run, and then eighthman Phepsi Buthelezi, centre Werner Kok scything over from the resulting ruck.

The Springbok flyhalf then sparked the counter-attack from a deep kick that led to the second try, on the half-hour, by scrumhalf Grant Williams, with the help of a powerful run by wing Marnus Potgieter.

The Sharks ended the first half with another wonderful counter-attacking try, wing Thaakir Abrahams this time taking a kick, evading the lone chaser and then slipping away from several other defenders, fullback Anthony Volmink completing the try to give the visitors a 24-11 lead at halftime.

Bosch added another penalty early in the second half to stretch the gap to 27-11, but the Cheetahs managed to partially dig themselves out of the hole with two tries in five minutes. Specman set up the first and then Masuku produced a brilliant run when his team were back-pedalling, leading to the second try.

The Sharks’ lead had been cut to 27-23, but Bosch quickly produced another moment of magic, dummying, slipping through a gap in the defensive line and getting his offload away in the tackle to Mchunu, who put in another great run for Williams to score his second.

Specman replied with a scintillating solo effort from 62 metres out, but the Sharks kept piling on the pressure, with Bosch kicking two more penalties and Van Vuuren scoring a lineout drive try.

Scorers

Free State Cheetahs – Tries: Rosko Specman (2), Brandon Thomson, Duncan Saal. Conversions: Ruan Pienaar, Reinhardt Fortuin. Penalties: Thomson, Pienaar.

Sharks – Tries: Werner Kok, Grant Williams (2), Anthony Volmink, Kerron van Vuuren. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (5). Penalties: Bosch (4).

The return of Jeandre Rudolph to the Cheetahs team turned around their Currie Cup fortunes in midweek and the loose forward was here, there and everywhere in their victory over Western Province in Bloemfontein, causing the Sharks to effectively pick two openside flanks for when they travel to meet the Free Staters on Saturday.

The 100kg Rudolph gave a glorious display of chasing after the ball, he was plucky in defence and carried the ball with authority as well, confirming earlier impressions that he is one of the Cheetahs’ stars. His ability to strangle teams at the breakdown and the effective partnership he forms with Junior Pokomela and Aidon Davis marks him out as a key man for the Sharks to contend with.

And the Sharks responded on Thursday by naming both Dylan Richardson and James Venter in their starting loose trio.

“We’re fortunate to have two guys who can fetch and they are both in world-class form at the moment, they both did exceptionally well against the British and Irish Lions. They’re both very good ball-carriers and have a very high work-rate, so we decided to experiment a bit with Henco Venter out with concussion and Thembelani Bholi and Celimpilo Gumede needing to cover lock.

“The Cheetahs are playing better now that they have some players back from injury and Jeandre Rudolph had a massive game against Western Province. You never go to Bloemfontein and get easy points, I asked the guys how many of them had won against Free State in Bloemfontein before and not many of them had, and none of them more than once,” coach Sean Everitt said on Thursday.

Everitt said his young Sharks team had learnt a lot in their two matches against the British and Irish Lions and he hoped this would result in increased maturity, leading to his team playing like full-grown adults in the Currie Cup and not the kids many of them are in terms of age.

“We’ve created a great vibe in the camp by giving everyone an opportunity against the Lions and we now need to build on that experience we gained and take it into this weekend. We want to play at high intensity for 80 minutes. We need to put in a performance similar to the one in the first half of the second game against the Lions, because the Cheetahs are desperate to win the Currie Cup and they have a point to prove.

“We’ve had two weeks rest, although one of those weeks was pretty tough mentally with food shortages, but the focus now is on ourselves and our intensity going forward. We have seven Currie Cup games left – this one against the Cheetahs and then the second round of six matches – and hopefully from now on there will be no more disruptions,” Everitt said.

Sharks – Anthony Volmink, Marnus Potgieter, Werner Kok, Marius Louw, Thaakir Abrahams, Curwin Bosch, Grant Williams, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Dylan Richardson, James Venter, Reniel Hugo, Le Roux Roets, Khutha Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench: Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola, Lourens Adriaanse, Thembelani Bholi, Celimpilo Gumede, Cameron Wright, Lionel Cronje, Jeremy Ward.

While the Sharks team will certainly miss their nine Springboks who are away in the national camp in Bloemfontein, the fact that they will still field a very competitive outfit for the Currie Cup, as shown in the squad chosen to open their campaign against Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday, indicates that coach Sean Everitt has hit the bullseye when it comes to building the franchise’s depth.

Star flyhalf Curwin Bosch may be resting, but hooker Fez Mbatha and scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse were part of the Springboks’ alignment camps, the old second-row pairing of Ruben van Heerden and Hyron Andrews has been reunited, and James Venter, Thembelani Bholi and the in-form Phepsi Buthelezi comprise an excellent loose trio. Centres Marius Louw and Jeremy Ward are a seasoned combination and Springbok Sevens star Werner Kok is on the wing.

“The Preparation Series was a massive boost for us because we were able to juggle two teams, which showed we had confidence in all the players and we were able to look after the guys who have a massive load. In the last year, guys like Fez Mbatha, JJ van der Mescht, Phepsi Buthelezi and Jaden Hendrikse have all come through and had opportunity at senior level.

“It now seems like they have been around for a while and they have had exposure to senior rugby. We have confidence in their ability, our juniors are the best in their positions in the country, and it is a well-rounded squad with the addition of guys like Jeremy Ward, Marius Louw and Boeta Chamberlain. Plus Henco Venter still has to come in,” Everitt said.

And even now as they go in search of the elusive trophy you would have bet the Sharks would have grabbed by now before the arrival of Covid and Jake White at the Bulls, Everitt still has his eye on the greater squad as a whole, particularly with the South African franchises heading into the unknown in Europe.

“You can look at the Currie Cup both ways, obviously we want to win it, make no mistake, but it’s about growing our squad too. There’s not going to be time for any pre-season before we play in Europe, so that’s 11 rounds of Pro16 we have to get through and we won’t have our Springboks back until probably January.

“To win the Currie Cup, we have to be more accurate, we have to be able to really squeeze the opposition and not give them anything. Those are issues we can rectify,” Everitt said.

Sharks – Manie Libbok, Werner Kok, Jeremy Ward, Marius Louw, Anthony Volmink, Boeta Chamberlain, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Thembelani Bholi, James Venter, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, Khutha Mchunu, Fez Mbatha, Khwezi Mona. Bench: Kerron van Vuuren, Mzamo Majola, Wiehahn Herbst, JJ van der Mescht, Reniel Hugo, Mpilo Gumede, Grant Williams, Marnus Potgieter.