Ken Borland

Siya Kolisi did okay in Cape Town, but judging by coach Sean Everitt’s report card since the Springbok captain moved to Durban, the Sharks are expecting him to have an explosive impact in the Rainbow Cup.

And, as fate would have it, the Sharks’ first game in the new competition is back in Cape Town against the Stormers and Kolisi was on Thursday named in the starting line-up in the No.6 jersey.

“Siya arrived here under a lot of pressure but he certainly stood up and has trained very hard. The training has been a step up from what he was used to, but he has had really good preparation now and there has been a vast improvement in his conditioning.

“As he showed in the preparation series, his contributions on the field are telling and he’s a lot more involved in our system than he was with Western Province. He brings a lot of experience and leadership too, and the guys look up to him and take a lot of confidence from him being on the field,” Everitt said on Thursday.

The Sharks ruined Western Province’s farewell to Newlands back in January when they beat them 19-9 in the Currie Cup semi-finals. They absorbed plenty of pressure from the much-vaunted WP pack on that day, demolishing their maul, and Everitt on Thursday backed his pack to nullify the Stormers up front again.

“Obviously the challenge is going to come at scrum and lineout time, but it’s the same scrums both teams had in Super Rugby and a turnover scrum won us that game. Ox Nche and Thomas du Toit are both in the Springbok fold and Fez Mbatha must be knocking on the door, so it’s going to be an interesting tussle with their front row.

“In the Currie Cup, Western Province were more set-piece orientated, but I think the Stormers will come with a mixture of styles on Saturday because they would have got a lot of confidence from the preparation series where they scored some great tries and their attack certainly came on leaps and bounds. That makes it more difficult for us, but if we nullify them up front then we should be okay,” Everitt said.

Sharks team – Aphelele Fassi, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (C), Jeremy Ward, Yaw Penxe, Curwin Bosch, Grant Williams, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Henco Venter, Siya Kolisi, Reniel Hugo, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit, Fez Mbatha, Ox Nche. Replacements: Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Wiehahn Herbst, JJ van der Mescht, Phepsi Buthelezi, Sanele Nohamba, Manie Libbok, Werner Kok.

Trevor Fisher Junior may not even have a European Tour card, but by the time the 33-year-old had bished, bashed, boshed his way around the East and West Courses of Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, he had soared into the Joburg Open lead on 15-under-par after two rounds.

It was a superb performance by Fisher, who may have seven Sunshine Tour wins but has only one top-three finish – in last year’s Joburg Open – in events co-sanctioned with the European Tour.

Richard Sterne, the 2008 Joburg Open champion, shot a 65 on the tougher East Course later in the day for a share of the lead, with other seasoned European Tour campaigners in George Coetzee and Charl Schwartzel lurking ominously on 12-under and 10-under respectively.

But for Fisher, the Joburg Open represents a chance for him to take the next step in a career that has only really taken off in the last two years. A member of the Sunshine Tour since 2002, the Modderfontein Golf Club member broke into the top 20 on the order of merit for the first time in 2008, breaking into the top 10 in 2011 and finishing fourth in 2012, an achievement which won him the Players’ Player of the Year award earlier this week.

“I think it’s maturity. I’m a late bloomer and I’ve played better as I’ve got older and the last three or four years have been good for me. But I need to get to the next level now. I’ve been here for 10 years and it’s been a good stepping stone to the European Tour, but I’ve stepped on a lot of stones now and it’s time to get to the top,” Fisher said after his fabulous 62 on the West Course on Friday.

Fisher made use of another fast start to settle the nerves and set him on his way. Having birdied the first three holes on the East Course in the first round, on his way to a 66, he eagled the West Course’s second hole on Friday and followed up with a birdie on the third. By way of change, he birdied the last three holes on Friday as well.

“I think you have to feed off those nerves, they’re always there. It was a great day out there. Everything just happened for me and I sank the putts I needed to sink. I was patient with myself, I walked slow and did everything slow, and it was just a good day,” Fisher said.

“You’ve got to be in the moment, you can’t think about your score … I think that’s the secret to scoring low around here: not trying to make birdies, but trying to hit good shots,” Fisher added.

Sterne, who has not dropped a shot in 36 holes, is clearly in superb form having finished in second place in last week’s Dubai Desert Classic, but he is still playing cautious golf.

“I was quite conservative, you have to be on this course, and my game didn’t feel great but I putted well and had a couple of good up-and-downs,” Sterne said.

Coetzee, who has finished in the top three seven times in the last two years on the European Tour, is in third place midway through the Joburg Open, having shot an inspired 64 on the East Course on Friday.

With his failure to grab the breakthrough win he surely deserves becoming something of a topic for discussion amongst the media, Coetzee said he was also just trying to stay in the moment and would be happy to finish in the top 10.

“I try not to think about the win. Every now and then it will pop up and you have to get back into the zone, into the now. I tell myself that I want to finish top 10 instead, and that normally calms me down.  If the win comes I’ll be happy, but if it doesn’t, as long as I’m playing well, I’ll be happy,” Coetzee said.

Schwartzel was the other golfer to storm up the leaderboard on Friday, shooting a 65 on the West Course to climb from a tie for 25^th into a share of fourth with fellow South African Keith Horne and Chile’s Felipe Aguilar.

Schwartzel may have shot six-under-par on the day, but he admitted that he had battled to govern his frustrations, particularly with his putter.

“My putter was the problem, I’ve missed five putts from inside three feet on the last two days and that’s very frustrating. It was even more frustrating today because I hit two or three very nice long putts and that’s the hard part. On 10, I missed a putt from one-and-a-half feet, if I’d tapped it with one hand I probably would have made it!” Schwartzel complained.

He then added, by way of warning to the three golfers ahead of him on the leaderboard: “But my ball-striking was good, where I left off last year. So the big thing is that I’m hitting the ball well and giving myself chances. I just need to make more putts from short range,” Schwartzel said.

How Fisher and Coetzee handle the nerves of chasing down that big win will determine whether they can hold off Sterne, who has five European Tour titles, and serial-winner Schwartzel.