Ken Borland

The great provincial rivalry between the north and south was firmly in evidence as the Vodacom Bulls edged out the DHL Stormers 17-13 in their Vodacom SuperRugby match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

In a hard-fought encounter that was an epic for its sheer brutality on the gain-line, it was the Bulls who showed the most steel and this win – against a side that has had the wood over them for the last few years – will no doubt be a massive boost in the growth of the young team coach Nollis Marais is building.

The Bulls had control of the scrums and had the Stormers under constant pressure in the lineouts so, even though the visitors had much more possession, it was the Bulls who were in charge, especially since they refused to yield an inch on the gain-line.

The Stormers looked after the ball better from the opening whistle and they were able to put the first points on the board through a Jean-Luc du Plessis penalty in the second minute.

But the Bulls exerted their dominance in the scrums from the outset and loosehead Oli Kebble went down in the first scrum, giving Francois Brummer the chance to level the scores for the Bulls.

The power-sharing continued for the rest of the first half, as the Stormers built the phases and pressure and the Bulls struggled to exit from their 22, allowing Du Plessis to slot another penalty, while missing another three minutes before halftime.

The Stormers were conceding penalties at the scrum though and losing lineout ball, while Lappies Labuschagne was superb at the breakdown, earning Brummer another penalty, while the Bulls flyhalf also missed an attempt on the half-hour.

The Bulls broke the 6-6 deadlock seven minutes after halftime with an impressive try by scrumhalf Piet van Zyl.

As much as Stormers fullback Cheslin Kolbe deserves respect for his brilliant attacking skills and courage in defence, he is vulnerable when he is isolated and caught with the ball, as happened when the Bulls launched an up-and-under from a free kick straight on to him. Wing Travis Ismaiel chased superbly and monstered Kolbe in the tackle, with eighthman Arno Botha in support to strip the ball off the fullback. Hooker Adriaan Strauss was then on hand to spread the turnover ball wide, centre Jan Serfontein putting in a chip over the scrambling defence that was gathered by fullback SP Marais, who sent Van Zyl racing over for the opening try.

Brummer missed the easy conversion – which in such a tight tiff between arch-rivals could have been crucial – but the Stormers’ breakdown woes did allow the flyhalf to kick a penalty five minutes later to put the Bulls 14-6 ahead.

Du Plessis pulled a penalty wide after the Stormers caused problems with a driving maul, but the visitors came strongly back into the contest with 12 minutes remaining with a try by centre Damian de Allende.

A little shoulder charge by prop Marcel van der Merwe on Schalk Burger – who was never far from the action – led to the penalty that gave the Stormers territory, and they bashed away on the Bulls line until the otherwise superb defence gave De Allende just enough leeway to storm over.

Du Plessis’ conversion made it a one-point game (13-14), but this time there would be no late try from the Stormers to break Bulls’ hearts.

The Bulls went back to the driving maul, made considerable progress, and Tian Schoeman, brought on for Brummer just a few minutes earlier, sent the perfect drop goal flying between the posts.

This meant the Bulls were out of penalty range (17-13) but they dominated the last five minutes in any case. Referee Ben O’Keeffe, who had had a good game until then, then took centre stage as he penalised the dominant Bulls scrum five metres from the Stormers line, missed the duffed quick-tap but then levelled matters by blowing the Stormers up for foot-up at the next scrum.

This win not only breaks a four-match losing streak against the Stormers, but it could also be a watershed moment for a young side that should now have enormous belief.

Scorers

Vodacom Bulls – Try: Piet van Zyl. Penalties: Francois Brummer (3). Drop goal: Tian Schoeman.

DHL Stormers – Try: Damian de Allende. Conversion: Jean-Luc du Plessis. Penalties: Du Plessis (2).

The Bulls have looked to rectify their lack of big ball-carrying loose forwards by signing Springbok flank Jacques Potgieter on a three-year contract, the union confirmed at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old Potgieter, who is 6’4 and weighs 115kg, starred previously for the Bulls in 22 SuperRugby games in 2012-13, before becoming a high-profile player for the Waratahs. He joined the Sharks at the beginning of the year, but an ankle injury meant he never actually played a game for them, and John Smit, the CEO of the KwaZulu-Natal franchise, confirmed on Wednesday that they had released him from his contract. Potgieter is engaged to actress Angelique Gerber, whose career would be better served by them living in Gauteng.

“We always knew SuperRugby was going to be a battle on the gain-line, so we need good ball-carriers. We know what Jacques can do, we’ve seen how he’s played for the Bulls previously and for the Waratahs, so he’s definitely a good signing. At the beginning of the season we lost three loose forwards to injury at the same time, and Jacques also played four and seven for the Waratahs. Jannes Kirsten can do that too, and they both can really carry the ball,” coach Nollis Marais said.

High performance manager Xander Janse van Rensburg said Potgieter, who has been seen at practice this week already, will probably be ready to train in a week’s time. He will probably play in all three SuperRugby rounds after the June break.

The acquisition of Potgieter offsets the disappointment of losing hard-working flank Lappies Labuschagne to Japanese club Kubota at the end of the SuperRugby season.

Janse van Rensburg told The Citizen they are hopeful, however, that Labuschagne will be able to return to play for the Bulls in the 2017 SuperRugby campaign at the end of the Japanese season. The fact that Frans Ludeke is coach of Kubota means the Bulls obviously have a negotiating platform, but they did fire Ludeke last year.

Van Rensburg also announced the signing of Southern Kings tighthead prop Jacobie Adriaanse, who Marais described as “a very competitive scrummager who stood his ground against the Crusaders”.

Arno Botha is back at eighthman for the Bulls for the SuperRugby clash with the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday, which could well be a conference decider.

Botha, who replaces Hanro Liebenberg, is one of four changes to the starting line-up announced on Wednesday by coach Nollis Marais, with the 24-year-old Springbok having shown some threatening form a few weeks ago.

“Hanro is definitely a talent for the future, but Arno is more experienced and a natural number eight. We’re going to need some really good ball-carriers and tough players against the Stormers. We’re going to need experience against the Stormers as well and we have to get momentum. We have plans for if they want to make it a physical battle up front,” Marais explained at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday.

The other changes to the line-up see Francois Brummer and Piet van Zyl taking over the starting halfback jerseys from Tian Schoeman and Rudy Paige, while Travis Ismaiel is on the left wing instead of Bjorn Basson.

“Bjorn has a bit of a calf strain so we’re giving him a rest. Travis has been playing excellent rugby and Jamba Ulengo is getting better every week as well.

“Francois’ game-management is just a bit better, but we will still use Tian at certain times. Francois has kicked for poles very well and he’s been there before in high-pressure SuperRugby games, he’s settled in well this year. Piet played well on tour and he can make the game quicker for us, while Rudy has a bit of a hamstring strain and is working on areas of his game. But in the last 20-30 minutes we might need to control the game and Rudy can slow it down for us,” Marais said.

The need for experience also sees Grant Hattingh and Deon Stegmann return on the bench, taking the places of Marvin Orie and Roelof Smit.

Ben O’Keeffe is the referee on Saturday and, after he blew the Bulls out of the breakdown against the Brumbies two weeks ago, Marais is hoping the veteran Stegmann will be able to make decisions that are in accordance with the referee’s.

Bulls team: SP Marais, Jamba Ulengo, Jesse Kriel, Jan Serfontein, Travis Ismaiel, Francois Brummer, Piet van Zyl, Arno Botha, Jannes Kirsten, Lappies Labuschagne, RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, Marcel van der Merwe, Adriaan Strauss, Lizo Gqoboka. Bench – Jaco Visagie, Trevor Nyakane, Pierre Schoeman, Grant Hattingh, Deon Stegmann, Rudy Paige, Tian Schoeman, Dries Swanepoel.

The harshest lesson the Bulls learnt on the tough three-week tour of Australia was that the much-improved intensity and tempo of the game plan still needs to go up to the next level if they are going to reach the playoffs of the SuperRugby competition, assistant coach David Manuel said on Tuesday.

The outcome of the Africa Conference 1 could well be decided by the crunch match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday between the Bulls and the Stormers, and Manuel reckons the home side will have the advantage of experiencing the next step up, while the Capetonians only go overseas after the June break.

“The one thing that stood out was the intensity of the Brumbies and Waratahs which we had never experienced before, they bring a different intensity to the contact areas and in terms of line-speed, and we struggled to adjust. We were under immense pressure, but it was a very good experience.

“We were maybe spoilt in the beginning stages of the competition, we had a favourable draw and the opportunity to play the way we wanted. But Australia was a different challenge and now we know exactly what to expect from the top sides,” backs coach Manuel said at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday.

Apart from trying to increase the tempo of their play even more, Manuel said ball-retention was also the biggest area they need to improve on ahead of the Stormers game.

“The biggest focus point has been respecting the ball more. We created opportunities but then we would release the pressure by forcing a pass or trying something magical. Clearing the ball quicker from the rucks is definitely an area we can improve on too, but for that to happen you need to have good shape, you need guys on their feet otherwise there’s nothing on.

“These are growing pains, but we learnt from our mistakes in the first game against the Stormers that it’s always going to be a set-piece battle. If you don’t have a platform there then the backs will struggle. The result will also go on the advantage line, who gets on the front foot there,” Manuel said.