Ken Borland

Sharks coach Sean Everitt was pleased with the attacking play of his team against Leinster, but obviously not happy with the defensive lapses that saw them go down 54-34 to the United Rugby Championship log-leaders at the weekend.

In a dazzling game of rugby, the Sharks contributed five tries and more than held their own until the final quarter. That’s when their defence out wide was exposed and Leinster turned a narrow 28-27 lead on the hour mark into a convincing, impressive victory.

”I was pleased with the five really good tries we scored, not many teams score 34 points against Leinster, let alone five tries and especially not here,” Everitt said after the match.

“So there were aspects of our game that improved from the last two weeks and our goal on this tour was to get 10 log points and we achieved that.

“But I’m not happy that we conceded fifty points. There were unfortunate individual errors that cost us dearly against a class outfit. Jonny Sexton was world-class in the second half and put us under huge pressure.

“But the boys tried really hard, the effort was there and the energy to fight to the end was displayed. We will continue to grow with this young group of players,” Everitt said.

Leinster coach Leo Cullen said the Sharks’ physicality was a fresh challenge for his team, knocking his players back sometimes, although he suggested some of their efforts were over-robust and he would be re-examining the footage, possibly with a view to making a citing.

“That game had a bit of everything, we had three players go off for Head Impact Assessments. The Sharks are big, physical men and it was a totally different ball-game for us,” Cullen said.

“The Sharks had nothing to lose, they flew into everything. There were a lot of things that happened in the game and I will need to look at some incidents again.

“They were circling, they went after our defence and we were done a bit on the edge, or when we over-chased we got done on the inside. They certainly tested us out,” Cullen said.

Having begun their campaign on tour, the Sharks now have two matches at home, against Glasgow Warriors and Ulster, before ending October by travelling to Pretoria to take on the Bulls.

BENONI, Gauteng – Jayden Schaper enjoyed a three-shot lead, but Makhetha Mazibuko was building a strong challenge, when dangerous weather caused the second round of the Fortress Invitational at Ebotse Links to be suspended on Saturday afternoon.

Schaper, who was in a three-way tie for the lead after a first-round 65, separated himself on Saturday with another fine round, a five-under-par 67 lifting him to 12-under for the tournament, going into Sunday’s final round.

Two birdies and a bogey on the front nine saw Schaper reach the turn just one-under, but he blossomed on the back nine with four birdies to pull away from the field.

“I had a steady start, I was hitting the ball well and I just left a couple of putts in the jaws of the hole. But I just stayed patient and it was pretty much another solid all-round game. It was more difficult today, the wind was up and that makes the course a lot tougher,” Schaper said.

But Mazibuko is on nine-under-par, tied in second place with Richard Joubert (69), and he still has six holes to play when the second round resumes at 7am on Sunday.

The 34-year-old from Bloemfontein Golf Club is three-under for his round, all three birdies coming on the front nine.

Schaper will be chasing his first Sunshine Tour title on Sunday, with the final round being played to a two-tee, three-ball format. The 21-year-old enjoyed a prolific amateur career and it will be remembered that he was touted as South African golf’s next big thing when he finished second in the 2020 Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek.

“I guess there will be some added pressure, but I’ll be saying to myself that there is no difference between a Sunshine Tour event or an amateur tournament. It’s the same as any round of golf.

“Playing at my home course at Ebotse will also keep me calm because I know the course well. I’m looking forward to it, I’m going to enjoy it and if it’s my day then I’ll take it,” Schaper said.

The other first-round leaders went backwards on the second day, with Ockie Strydom shooting a level-par 72 and staying on seven-under, which is now in a tie for fifth, while Clinton Grobler is four-over-par through 12 holes, having double-bogeyed his last two holes to be nine shots off the pace.

The Proteas will be eager to improve their batting against the Indian fast bowlers in the second ODI in Ranchi on Sunday, but at least they know they are unlikely to be put to a tougher test against spin than they were in the first match.

Despite the Lucknow pitch turning square in the first ODI, Heinrich Klaasen (74* off 65) and David Miller (75* off 63) added 139 in 17.4 overs to take South Africa to a matchwinning total of 249/4 in a game reduced to 40 overs a side by rain.

But the top-order once again struggled, with seamer Shardul Thakur removing Janneman Malan and Temba Bavuma cheaply. The amount of swing and movement up front has been a standout feature of the white-ball games in India so far, but thankfully Quinton de Kock has batted beautifully in the last three matches to counter that.

“Obviously the ball spun a lot, but we’ve been working hard over the last couple of years to play in these conditions,” Klaasen said. “Our game-plan is to sweep both ways and it worked well.

“We definitely picked the right game-plan for the conditions, we just wanted to take the danger-ball, which was on a good length and turning a lot, out of play and rotate the strike.

“It has not been easy up front for both sides, and we also bowled very well at the start of India’s innings, but Quinny played an exceptional innings. A lot of people might look past his 48, but it was very vital.

“It meant we were still in a good position when Davo and I came in. It’s fantastic batting with him, his tempo makes it so easy, and we just said we must keep going and not let the tail come in in these conditions,” Klaasen said.

The nine-run victory in the first ODI gained precious 50-over World Cup qualification points for the Proteas, but Klaasen said their focus is just as much on not wasting the opportunity to get time in the middle ahead of the T20 World Cup later this month.

“We need to win nine out of nine games to maybe have a chance of automatic qualification, so that is very hard, but we will definitely try,” Klaasen said.

“But the World Cup coming up now is our goal. Next year’s World Cup is important too, but this series is also useful building up to the T20 World Cup.

“Of course we want to win every game in a South African jersey and we will just take it game for game,” Klaasen said.

The 31-year-old wicketkeeper/batsman also bemoaned the departure of all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius from the squad with a fractured thumb. They are both gutsy characters, showing the sort of temperament Test captain Dean Elgar always rates highly, never mind their white-ball worth.

“Dwaine is a big loss and it was a sad moment when we found out on the morning of the game,” Klaasen said. “I thought it was just a little thumb injury. I’m quite close to Dwaine, we have been through a lot to get here, and he is a massive loss.”

Ockie Strydom had been runner-up 19 times and won just once on the Sunshine Tour, but the 37-year-old did the business in highly impressive fashion on the back nine in the final round to win the Alfred Dunhill Championship by two strokes at Leopard Creek on Sunday.

Remarkably, it was a double-bogey on the par-four ninth that sparked Strydom, as he responded immediately to losing the outright lead with two brilliant approach shots, after crunching drives, to set up back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th holes.

Strydom short-sided himself on the ninth with his approach to the left of the flag, the ball spinning back into the water.

But he recovered to produce an impeccably solid back nine, with further birdies on the 13th and 14th holes and seldom looking in any danger of dropping a shot.

“It was probably the most solid nine holes I have played,” Strydom said. “After the double, I said to my caddy Jaris [Kruger, his brother-in-law], that it’s fine, we are still in there and we can pull it back.

“And then we did it in the first two holes of the back nine and just kept the foot on the pedal after that. I’ve been in this situation a lot and I know how to manage it. I was just able to go back to the game I know.

“I’ve put in a lot of hard work on my mental toughness and Jaris is a legend who really helped me. We discussed everything and I didn’t play any silly shots,” Strydom said.

Strydom closed with a three-under 69 to finish on 18-under-par, and while the victory was relatively easy in the end – “having a three-shot lead tends to take the nerves away,” Strydom admitted – the Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate representative had numerous challengers to worry about through his round.

Scott Jamieson was tied for the lead with Strydom overnight and it was only after eight holes that the experienced Scotsman slipped behind never to return. Jamieson bogeyed the last three holes to post a 76 and finish in a tie for 11th on 11-under, on a final day in which he just never loosened up.

Dean Burmester, two behind at the start of the day, cut the gap to one when he curled in a 27-foot birdie putt on the 10th, but he immediately dropped a shot on the 11th and could only post a level-par 72 to finish on 13-under, tied for seventh with Louis Oosthuizen, who eagled the 11th and also picked up birdies on the 13th and 15th holes to get to 14-under and provide a brief threat. But the 2005 runner-up finished par-par-bogey.

Spaniard Adrian Otaegui, a four-time European Tour winner, produced the only bogey-free round of the day to put Strydom under the most pressure.

Otaegui, beginning the day on 12-under, moved to within a shot of the lead with birdies on the second and third holes, and picked up another shot on the par-four 11th. But crucially, he could not gather any other birdies coming in, until he scored a four at the par-five closing hole.

His 68 left him on 16-under and alone in second place, one shot ahead of Englishman Laurie Canter, whose 64 was the low round of the day. He started with a bogey, but then fired seven birdies and an eagle at the par-four sixth to claim third place.

South Africans Oliver Bekker (71) and Branden Grace (70) at times applied pressure, but both had crucial misses on the back nine as they finished on 14-under, sharing fourth place with Canadian Aaron Cockerill (69).

South African MJ Daffue and Frenchman David Ravetto rounded out the top-10 on 12-under-par, both closing with 69s.

Strydom, the man of the day, however, now has a DP World Tour exemption for two years, when his goals for 2023 were a bit lower – the Challenge Tour.

“It means everything to me, all the South Africans on the Sunshine Tour dream of winning a co-sanctioned event and I always wanted to do it here,” Strydom said.

“I had planned to play a bit on the Challenge Tour, but it has all just changed in the space of a week. I probably need to do some fresh planning.

“My Dad said he would be satisfied if I win one of these co-sanctioned events, I’ve finally done it and to do it at Leopard Creek feels extra good.

“‘Winner of a co-sanctioned event’ has a nice ring to it, but I’m not sure I’m ready for it,” the perennial bridegroom laughed.

Judging by his performance on Sunday afternoon, Strydom looks ready for anything.