Ken Borland

Siya Kolisi taking just 16 minutes to score his first try for his new team summed up a dazzling start for the Sharks, laying the platform for a 45-12 win over the Bulls in their preparation fixture in Durban on Friday night.

The Sharks brushed off the sodden conditions, Kings Park resembling a swamp, scoring five tries in the first 25 minutes to race into a 31-5 lead. Their fast start was enabled by their first two scrums being massively dominant, earning penalties which first set up hooker Fez Mbatha for a try and then earned a penalty try (and a yellow card for Bulls hooker Schalk Erasmus) inside the first eight minutes.

The Bulls were on the board after 13 minutes, Kolisi almost intercepting flyhalf Morne Steyn’s pass to Marnus Potgieter, but the outside centre showed great skill to take the ball outside his man and break the line before passing out wide for eighthman Nizaam Carr to score.

But the Springbok captain had his moment of glory just three minutes later. A Sharks attack seemed to be going nowhere, but flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain and wing Sbu Nkosi, changing direction to good effect, sparked something. Nkosi provided the telling break, Kolisi was up in support and he powered through two tacklers to score.

Kolisi’s debut lasted until the 50^th minute, longer than coach Sean Everitt said he expected, but that was due to eighthman Sikhumbzo Notshe rolling an ankle in the first half and needing to be replaced. Kolisi had a quiet but industrious game, wearing the No.6 jersey but playing more of a traditional eighthman linking role. His last action came when he was bumped off in midfield by Bulls centre Dawid Kellerman, on his way to the tryline on a monstrous run from halfway.

Centre Marius Louw and prop Ox Nche both scored after Kolisi and then, with the Bulls down to 13 men in the last 10 minutes, replacements Rynhardt Jonker and Sanele Nohamba added two more tries to the home side’s tally.

The Bulls improved in the scrums and kept the Sharks scoreless between the 25^th and 74^th minutes and their largely second-string side never lacked for enthusiasm and effort. But they made too many mistakes and ill-discipline was once again a problem as Marius van der Westhuizen was an unsympathetic referee. Which is what SA Rugby are expecting from the officials up north.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Fez Mbatha, penalty try, Siya Kolisi, Marius Louw, Ox Nche, Rynhardt Jonker, Sanele Nohamba. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain (3), Nohamba.

Bulls – Tries: Nizaam Carr, Dawid Kellerman. Conversion: Morne Steyn.

The Bulls got away with their ill-discipline at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night as they snuck through 34-29 against the Stormers in their preparation series match.

The Bulls would have wasted a 34-26 lead in the final minute were it not for Stormers eighthman Juarno Augustus dropping the ball when he was clear over the tryline. The try was close enough to the poles for the conversion – and a 36-34 win for the visitors – to be almost a formality.

It was their own ill-discipline in the first half which saw the Bulls trailing 7-20 after 34 minutes as the Stormers used a rash of penalties, and the problems the Bulls had throughout the night at scrum-time, to take control of the match through two tries by powerful wing Leolin Zas.

The Bulls did strike back before halftime when hooker Joe van Zyl scored from a rolling maul, and then an excellent second half saw them mount a trademark comeback.

Wing Marco Janse van Vuren forced his way through three tacklers to score, followed by lock Ruan Nortje dotting down after flank Marco van Staden surged off a lineout drive. The Bulls then earned a penalty try after a superb break by centre Cornal Hendricks, with Stormers centre Ruhan Nel yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-down which prevented the offload and an almost certain try being scored.

The Bulls were in control as the final minute approached, with replacement flyhalf Morne Steyn adding a penalty for a 34-26 lead, but their discipline then went walkabout again.

Nortje was yellow-carded for yet again going in on the side of a maul, Tim Swiel kicking a penalty to make it 29-34. The Bulls understandably went deep with the restart, but were a bit stand-offish in defence and at the rucks, and then conceded a couple of penalties to allow the Stormers to set a lineout five metres from their line.

Were it not for the calamitous error by Augustus, the Bulls would have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

Bulls coach Jake White said before the match that he did not care too much about the result, but was more interested in his team honing certain aspects of their play.

The scrum certainly needs some work, they could do with more accuracy at lineout time and over-eagerness was often their worst enemy. The positive is that the Bulls managed to retain possession for long periods of the second half and with a bit more focus they would have won comfortably.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Richard Kriel, Joe van Zyl, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Ruan Nortje, penalty try. Conversions: Chris Smith (2). Penalty: Morne Steyn.

Stormers – Tries: Leolin Zas (2). Conversions: Kade Wolhuter (2). Penalties: Wolhuter (3), Tim Swiel (2).

With Bulls coach Jake White believing the start of the Rainbow Cup is imminent, many of the youngsters he has fielded thus far in the preparation series have given up their rentals spots in the team as the Currie Cup champions get ready to face the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.

Springboks Trevor Nyakane, Marco van Staden, Cornal Hendricks and Morne Steyn all return to action, while regulars such as Ruan Nortje, Stedman Gans and Jacques van Rooyen have also been named in the 26-man squad as White starts to get his first-choice team up-and-running again ahead of European competition.

The Rainbow Cup is scheduled to run from April 17 to June 19 and will feature the Bulls, Stormers, Sharks and Lions playing in two pools of eight with Europe’s Pro12 teams. The regular Pro14 season is coming to an end with Leinster playing Munster in the final on March 27.

“If we work backwards from the British Lions tour and the Pro14 is now at the back end, then one month from now we will probably see the start of the Rainbow Cup. I think the Rainbow Cup is imminent and hopefully it all comes together for us in a month and, barring guys like Gio Aplon and Travis Ismaiel who have long-term injuries, we should have 90% of our squad fully match-fit.

“I want to see some of our youngsters with the stronger guys around them and a lot of thought has gone into the combinations. For instance, if we lose our Springboks then I need to know what our front row will look like. I’m happy with where we are, we have the best of both worlds with about 25 guys training with the conditioning staff and the youngsters playing every week,” White said on Thursday.

Friday’s match will also see Zak Burger get his first run-out with the Bulls and White said he had given the attacking former Griquas scrumhalf the same licence as a teenager at the sales with a gold card.

“I’m quite excited about seeing Zak. Whenever you play an opposition, you look at their threats and there’s no doubt whenever anyone played Griquas everybody was watching him. I’ve given him free rein, I expect him to make an impact because he’s very quick and he has a very good rugby brain. I’ve told him to have a go, be good at what’s he’s good at and not worry,” White said.

Bulls: Richard Kriel, Madosh Tambwe, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Chris Smith, Zak Burger, Nizaam Carr (c), Werner Gouws, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Janko Swanepoel, Trevor Nyakane, Joe van Zyl, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench – Johan Grobbelaar, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Jacques van Rooyen, Jan Uys, Tim Agaba, Keagan Johannes, Morné Steyn, Diego Appollis, Nolan Pienaar, Raynard Roets, Marnus Potgieter.

There is no doubt Duane Vermeulen is still highly valued at Loftus Versfeld, but having swept the board in two national awards ceremonies in the last 10 days it was a surprise that he was pipped to the main prize in the Bulls’ awards evening in Pretoria on Friday night.

The stalwart Springbok eighthman was named both the SA Rugby overall Player of the Year and the Players’ Player of the Year at separate functions, but on Friday night he had to settle for being the Bulls’ Currie Cup Player of the Year and the fans’ player of the year as voted for on the Bulls’ app.

Instead it was the indefatigable fellow loose forward Marco Van Staden, who will leave the Bulls in June, and the inspirational comeback kid Cornal Hendricks who shared the overall Player of the Year award for the franchise. So outstanding were their displays that, for the first since the inception of the awards, the Bulls decided to share the main prize.

Bright young attacking talents Stravino Jacobs and David Kriel were named the most improved and newcomer of the year respectively, while scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl’s stellar efforts in directing the backline were rewarded with the Super Rugby Unlocked Back of the Year award, with Hendricks claiming the same title for the Currie Cup.

Much of the Bulls’ Currie Cup success was down to their excellence at source and tighthead prop Trevor Nyakane was the Forward of the Year for that competition, with the untiring lock Ruan Nortje winning for Super Rugby Unlocked.