Ken Borland

A flamboyant flyhalf who can kick well with either foot versus an unassuming No.10 who makes few mistakes: This will be the matchup on Saturday in the United Rugby Championship final between the Stormers and Bulls, and Springbok legend Joel Stransky believes the weather in Cape Town could decide who comes away with the spoils.

Manie Libbok is the adventurous Stormers flyhalf who overcame a poor semi-final to throw the pass for the equalising try and then slotted the touchline conversion.

Chris Smith was his typically consistent self in the Bulls’ shock win over Leinster, bringing a maturity and calmness under pressure to the flyhalf position.

“Both flyhalves control the game well,” Stransky said on Tuesday, “but in very contrasting ways. What they both do very well is manage space.

“Chris is rock-solid, brings nothing special, no scintillating breaks, but he defends well, he’s a bit bigger, and he frees up the talent outside him. The Bulls have actually scored seven more tries than the Stormers.

“Chris kicks very well and he doesn’t make mistakes, which will be quite important if it is wet, because errors can cost you in a final. He could be the difference if there is parity up front.

“Manie kicks well with either foot, he runs well and defends his channel. That last pass over the top was because he is confident due to the faith put in him and the liberty he’s been given to play what’s in front of him,” Stransky, a celebrated flyhalf who scored all South Africa’s points in the 1995 World Cup final, said.

While Stransky, who brought an appealing mix of skilful kicking and exciting attacking play to the Springbok team, would love to see a dry evening in Cape Town on Saturday, the weather forecast does not look good and he believes rain will favour the Stormers.

“I hope rain does not put a dampener on the final. Rain would suit the Stormers with their big, strong front row and bench. The Bulls will have to move the ball around a bit because of the Stormers’ strong pack and midfield.

“But as much as we backs would like to think differently, the game will be won and lost up front. The scrum plays such a massive part and if it’s wet then you would expect more mistakes and more scrums.

“You would expect Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe to have a bit more dominance, so you have to look at the Stormers if it’s a tighter game.

“But if it’s looser, then the likes of Marcell Coetzee, Elrigh Louw and Arno Botha are more dynamic ball-carriers. The Stormers do have the outstanding Evan Roos, but Hacjivah Dayimani is not so much a hard carrier and Deon Fourie is a proper openside,” Stransky said.

Wallabies centre Ben Tapuai might not be part of Saturday’s United Rugby Championship match against the Stormers, but he this week provided the most apt description of the threat they will pose to the Sharks in Cape Town when he described their backline stars as almost having mutant powers.

Tapuai received a knock on his knee in training this week and so is not part of the Sharks squad going to Cape Town, but he had a first-hand view of just how dangerous the Stormers backline are in the 22-22 draw at Kings Park last weekend. The visitors made up a 19-3 deficit with half-an-hour to go thanks partly to some dazzling play by their backs, spearheaded by Warrick Gelant, Seabelo Senatla and Damian Willemse.

“The Stormers have some absolute freaks when it comes to stepping, so we have got to be very careful in that space,” Tapuai said.

“We delivered a good performance in the first 50 minutes of the match, but then you need to close out the game in the last 30. The Stormers will go up another level at home, so we have to match that.”

It is a warning that Sharks coach Sean Everitt reiterated later in the week, especially since the conditions in Cape Town are likely to be more conducive to running rugby.

“We have to play according to the conditions we are dealt, but the weather in Durban is pretty extreme at the moment with the humidity,” Everitt said. “Cape Town should be dry this time of year.

“So hopefully we are able to play differently and hold on to the ball for longer periods. But the Stormers backs are certainly full of x-factor.”

The Sharks will know they had plenty of opportunities to beat the Stormers last time out, but those chances and their hopes of a win were flushed down the sewer by poor execution and ill-discipline.

“It was disappointing how we drew the game, but the positive is that we had a lot of opportunities but we just didn’t execute,” Tapuai said. “So we’re kind of excited by that.

“We’re still learning and our combinations will click over time. There are miles of growth ahead of us because I can see a lot of youth in the squad and I’ve lost count how many Springboks there are.”

Getting those combinations to gel is helped by continuity in selection, and Everitt has brought almost the same squad down to Cape Town.

“It’s great to be able to build momentum through consistency of selection,” Everitt said. “It takes time to get that cohesion and the players have had limited time together on the field.

“Rugby is a game of cohesion, the more you play together, the better you get.”

Coach Sean Everitt was at pains on Thursday not to criticise his team’s game-management after they let slip a handy lead in their previous game against the Stormers, but the Sharks will go into Saturday’s United Rugby Championship rematch in Cape Town with someone a bit more ‘adult’ pulling the strings at flyhalf in Tito Bonilla.

The 32-year-old Bonilla, who has played four Tests for Argentina and was the Jaguares first-choice flyhalf when they reached the Super Rugby final in 2019, replaces 22-year-old Boeta Chamberlain at pivot as the Sharks look to go one better than their 22-22 draw with the Stormers last weekend, after leading 19-3 with half-an-hour to go in Durban.

Bonilla has also played for high-profile clubs in Racing 92 and Leicester Tigers.

“Tito has been on the bench for a number of games and hasn’t got the time for an extended run,” Everitt said after announcing his team. “He hasn’t really got the time he would have wanted on the field.

“He’s an international and will bring calm and composure. He likes to direct things on the field, he can guide the team around really well.

“Our draw did not have too much to do with game-management, we played in the right areas but our accuracy and discipline let us down. It’s always tough if you’re giving away yellow cards.

“We knew if we gave the Stormers back three space to run at us, then we would be in trouble,” Everitt said.

The Sharks squad are certainly treated like adults in a player-driven environment, and Everitt expects those discipline issues to be sorted come Saturday.

“The game of rugby starts with discipline and you can’t win if you concede four yellow cards and two penalty tries. They were individual things, we’ve certainly spoken about it and addressed it.

“We will be better on Saturday. Our discipline has actually been very good in the Currie Cup and URC, we are below average in conceding penalties. Against the Stormers we conceded 14 penalties to their 16.

“So it’s not a chronic problem for us and it’s not due to our relaxed approach. The players do work extremely hard and Bongi Mbonambi drives the discipline side. The coaches set the rules and standards,” Everitt said.

There is also a change at scrumhalf for Saturday, with Jaden Hendrikse starting in place of Grant Williams. But the livewire Williams has certainly not been thrown to the dogs, Everitt saying he played really well last weekend and he foresees his No.9s rotating through the season.

Inside centre Ben Tapuai is currently troubled by a knee injury and captain Lukhanyo Am will shift to No.12, where he was man of the match against the Bulls in December, with Jeremy Ward coming in at outside centre.

Sharks: Aphelele Fassi, Sbu Nkosi, Jeremy Ward, Lukhanyo Am (c), Makazole Mapimpi, Tito Bonilla, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Jeandre Labuschagne, Siya Kolisi, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit (v/c), Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Replacements – Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khutha Mchunu, Gerbrandt Grobler, Henco Venter, Grant Williams, Boeta Chamberlain, Werner Kok.

Duanne Olivier, Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder were all left out of the Proteas white-ball squad for the Indian whitewash and they will be key players as the Central Gauteng Lions now travel to Cape Town to take on Western Province from Thursday in an attempt to hang on to top spot after the penultimate round of the CSA 4-Day Domestic Series.

The Lions suffered their first defeat of their campaign in their last match, going down by eight wickets as the KZN Dolphins chased down 260 at Kingsmead. But there is no reason to fear that the Lions have lost their mojo: They were in control of the match from the start, declaring in both innings and gambled in the final innings, knowing that a win would have almost assured them of the title. But the Kingsmead pitch can get pretty flat when the north-easterly blows.

Instead, the Eastern Province Warriors, who beat Boland by 168 runs, have closed to within 1.80 points on the log and they now travel to Durban to take on the Dolphins.

But the return of Olivier, still the leading wicket-taker in the competition, means the Lions have a fearsome attack that also includes the fire of Lutho Sipamla, the cunning of Malusi Siboto, the swing bowling of Mulder and the spin of Bjorn Fortuin.

If Newlands is flat, one can also expect the powerful Lions top-order, Rickelton joining Dominic Hendricks, Josh Richards and Reeza Hendricks, to cash in. Richards is the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 413 at an average of 82, while the other three are all averaging over 40.

Western Province are expected to field potential match-winners in Zubayr Hamza and Wayne Parnell, and they will be hoping they can score big alongside David Bedingham and Tony de Zorzi.

The Northerns Titans travel to Bloemfontein to take on the Free State Knights full of confidence and hope after their eight-wicket win over North-West in Potchefstroom lifted them back into contention, just less than 20 points behind the Lions.

Northerns will need a full house of points from the last two rounds to snatch the title from the pace-setting Lions and the charging Eastern Province team, but they will bring an attack full of threats to Bloemfontein.

Lizaad Williams, having just returned to full fitness and picking up six wickets against North-West, unfortunately has a side-strain, but talented fast bowler Okuhle Cele returns to action. There is pace backing from Corbin Bosch and Junior Dala, and swing from Aya Gqamane. One can expect off-spinner Simon Harmer, backed by slow left-armer Neil Brand, to play a key role, especially since his recall to the Proteas squad.

The Titans batting, led by Heinrich Klaasen and Grant Mokoena, has also been full of runs this season.

The other Division One game sees Boland hosting North-West.