Ken Borland

Since comfortably dispatching the Lions 48-21 at Ellis Park four weeks ago, the Bulls have struggled to put away the other two teams who did not make the Currie Cup semi-finals – the Pumas and the Cheetahs. But Arno Botha, captain for those three matches, says he does not believe his team have lost any momentum ahead of their knockout game against Western Province in Pretoria on Friday night.

The Bulls needed their set-piece prowess to squeeze past an adventurous, passionate Pumas side 33-26 in Nelspruit, and then struggled to an uninspired, messy 39-36 win over the fast-finishing Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld last weekend.

“I don’t think we have lost any momentum. We need to look at a couple of technical things, we had a few slip-ups, but individuals have put their hands up, myself included, for those. They are small things that are easy to fix, coming from just a momentary lack of effort or concentration. Rugby is never going to be easy every week – we would have lost if we thought that,” Botha said.

“We have a very strong group of leaders who are very relaxed, but we all take responsibility. Being defending champions doesn’t matter, we always want to win every game and our focus is really just on one thing and that’s this weekend’s semifinal. We don’t look too far ahead, but we’re in a good place and looking forward to what’s coming.”

The hero of last year’s Currie Cup final triumph with two tries, Botha has been very much the senior statesman in the pack, which is young and extraordinarily willing. And nothing much damages the confidence of the hugely exciting crop of youngsters currently at Loftus Versfeld.

“When I go back to when I was 21 or 22, we were not where this group of youngsters is now, they are so far in front of where we were back in 2012. They are already comfortable in the system, some of them have played in a Currie Cup final already. You’re no longer young as a rugby player as soon as you lift that trophy and we are all learning so much from each other,” the tough Springbok loose forward said.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt is known for his backing of young players, but he has also ensured the acquisition of some wise old heads to impart their wisdom like a herbal infusion spreading its aromas through Kings Park.

On the playing front, the well-travelled, 32-year-old flyhalf Lionel Cronje was acquired on loan from Toyota Verblitz, and highly-rated former Leinster Academy boss Noel McNamara was appointed as attack and backs coach, with world-renowned defence guru John McFarland also proving to be a big hit in Durban.

“A guy like Noel has a great impact, he’s really vibrant, he has good energy and he works closely with the players. He’s really clear with what is expected and when the Sharks go to the Northern Hemisphere, it’s going to be great to have a guy in the camp who has such insight into the conditions, who has that background. He’s really adding value for the younger guys.

“And John has won five Currie Cups and is very passionate about South African rugby. He’s a really good defence coach and we’ve improved that side of our game over the last couple of weeks. He knows what he wants and I worked with him before in 2012,” Cronje, who played five matches for the Bulls, said.

“And I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience of coming back to the Sharks as they develop an exciting new culture. I’m just trying to pass on my experience and add value to the very talented youngsters in the group. The Sharks want to play an exciting and captivating brand of rugby that allows the players to flourish and Sean is a very positive coach.

“I worked with him when I was here before and he wants the players to express themselves. Hopefully we can keep building on that. But it’s been really exciting for me to challenge myself here in the latter part of my career and I’m also trying to add some leadership support. There’s stuff I’ve learnt abroad – we have a lot of New Zealand coaches in Japan,” Cronje, who previously played 23 times for the Sharks in 2014/15, said.

One youngster Cronje mentioned as having a germ of greatness in him is fellow flyhalf Curwin Bosch.

“There is a ton of talent in Curwin, we just need to keep backing him. He’s very aware of the areas of his game he needs to be working on, but he’s a great talent. He’s a phenomenal kicker and he has attacking ability second-to-none. There’s no reason why he should not become a household name at Springbok level. I’ve really enjoyed playing with him.

“Curwin’s only 24, but we are so spoilt for talent in South Africa and the fans are so critical, they expect a certain level of play at 21 years old. But we need to keep trusting his talent to develop and, as a player, it’s nice to get four or five games in a row under the belt, that’s how you get rhythm and start understanding the game-plan,” Cronje said.

The Proteas enter an ODI series in Sri Lanka on Thursday and once again there is a mass of expectation on their shoulders as they look to not only win on the field but somehow also win over the hearts of the many people who are deeply dismayed by what has been going on in South African cricket lately.

One can sympathise with captain Temba Bavuma as he looks to juggle all these demands that range from socio-economic issues that plague the country as a whole to how to deal with turning pitches on the subcontinent.

South Africa’s struggles with that are well-known and they have not won an ODI series since beating Australia 18 months ago, which means they are currently outside the top eight in the race to pre-qualify for the next World Cup. And they have not won an ODI series overseas in nearly three years – again it was Australia who succumbed to the Proteas, in November 2018.

“It seems these days whenever we play there’s always something brought up that we haven’t done,” Bavuma lamented on Wednesday. “Our main aim is to win series, to try and accumulate as many points as we can to qualify for the 50-over World Cup, and we are here in foreign conditions and we don’t focus on the past, but we do learn from it. I’ve only been in this role for two series – against Pakistan and the Ireland series that was affected by the weather.

“We still have a lot to overcome as a team, there’s the stuff going on behind closed doors, but our responsibility is to make sure that what we do on the field meets a certain standard. Winning is where our minds are at and our conversations are largely centred around how we can play our best cricket. We don’t need to get involved in external matters,” Bavuma said.

The Proteas are also missing key players in Quinton de Kock, David Miller and Lungi Ngidi. The absence of De Kock means either Aiden Markram or Reeza Hendricks will open the batting with Janneman Malan, with Heinrich Klaasen or Kyle Verreynne taking the gloves; both could play as they did in South Africa’s last ODI, a thumping 70-run win over Ireland that levelled the series.

But there are also empty chairs to be filled in the management room with bowling coach Charl Langeveldt not able to travel due to Covid quarantine and assistant coach Enoch Nkwe having resigned.

“It’s our first tour without Enoch and it’s quite a big loss, especially on the tactical and strategic side. He was a good sounding board for me, someone I could test my ideas with, and we had experience of working together at domestic level. But life goes on and there’s not much we can do about it. As far as his reasons go, as a team we have not heard from Enoch himself.

“There has been a lot of speculation, but I’m sure he’s rooting for us. For it to be said there was something wrong with our team culture and environment, makes me feel … I haven’t had the opportunity for a formal discussion with him, so I would like to sit down and unpack it all with him, hear from him first. I will take what he says on board and discuss it amongst the team,” Bavuma said.

The Bulls have an abundance of riches in midfield as they plan for their Currie Cup semi-final against Western Province, but Cornal Hendricks, their most consistent midfield star, said they are preparing for a highly-competitive showing from the centres who will be visiting Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.

Centres Dan du Plessis and Springbok Juan de Jongh were in excellent form in Western Province’s crucial win last weekend against the Sharks, and they also have the powerful presence of Ruhan Nel as an option, the Springbok Sevens star playing on the wing in Durban.

“Western Province have a good, exciting backline and we need to give them credit for last week’s performance. They have Juan back to add experience to some special, exciting players. So we are preparing for good competition from them. Juan and Godlen Masimla [scrumhalf] both come from Wellington, but they must know who the King of Wellington is – it’s me!” Hendricks joked on Tuesday.

“Look, Harold Vorster and Lionel Mapoe are quality players as well, they have done well as a combination and Stedman Gans is also there. So we are pretty sorted at centre and myself and Marco Jansen van Vuren won the Currie Cup last season together at centre. We are all learning from Lionel, who has travelled a long road and what he brings for the team is unbelievable,” Hendricks added.

The 33-year-old’s miraculous return to rugby following a heart condition began in 2017 when he played for the Asia Pacific Dragons (under the Chinese Zodiac he was also coincidentally born in the Year of the Dragon – 1988) at the Hong Kong Tens under Heyneke Meyer, who first selected him for the Springboks in 2014.

That same resilience that saw him overcome a ‘death sentence’ for his career is what he has brought to the high-flying Bulls and he says his attitude is just to handle whatever Western Province, the weather or life throws at him in the coming days.

“Home is Home, we’re playing at Loftus Versfeld so rain or dew, it does not matter. We will adapt to whatever we get, we will take it as it comes. Jake White has been testing different combinations at centre, so if we have injuries then we know we have very good combinations there. I became a Springbok on the wing, so that position is always in the memory banks.

“I know I have the ability to go back there and if I do then all the old feelings just come back. I feel very good with my rugby, we are well-prepared and really looking forward to the weekend. I have no animosity for Western Province, I come from the Cape. And I don’t know when I will be able to play for the Springboks again, but that is always an honour,” Hendricks said.