Ken Borland

To Bulls fans at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening, it would have seemed clear that they did not enjoy equity from the referee in the second half of their Currie Cup match against the Lions, but coach Gert Smal preferred to praise the opposition rather than blame the officials after the match.

The Bulls, having led 35-17 at halftime, ended up scraping to a 43-37 win as the Lions piled on relentless pressure in the second half. Referee Griffin Colby ended up penalising the Bulls 18 times in the match, and the Lions just eight times, and at one stage he gave 11 successive penalties to the visitors.

“I don’t want to say anything about the referee,” Smal said, “There is a system in place, comments go through Mark Lawrence and we will do that. We must remember referees are not perfect.

“The Lions started playing really well in the second half. And Juan Mostert had played well at flyhalf in the first half but then got injured, and we had to move Keagan Johannes there.

“So the Lions had their big guys running at our scrumhalf, who had to play flyhalf, and they gained a lot of momentum there. We were always under pressure to close the spaces down.

“It was sad that we could not keep our momentum in the second half, but this Lions team has been together for five weeks and they played very good rugby. They are a good team and they came hard at us. We struggled to get momentum and conceded unnecessary penalties,” Smal said.

Despite spending most of the second half inside their own 22, the Bulls produced a marvellous defensive effort, and Smal praised the tenacity and character they showed to pull through the win.

“In the first half we stuck to our plan, that was the way we wanted to play and it was outstanding. We were composed, the guys did what was expected and we did the small things well.

“In the second half there was big pressure on this team and it was good that they were able to get a good win. My message to them in the changeroom was that I am really proud of them and the way they applied themselves.

“No-one went and hid away and so we got the win by putting our bodies on the line. My captain, Lizo Gqoboka, was a real warrior and you should see what his face looks like now.

“But we would like to do the first-half game for the whole 80 minutes next time,” Smal said.

The Bulls host the Pumas in their next Currie Cup match, on May 27.

Paul Adams’ refusal to testify in Mark Boucher’s disciplinary hearing is an unfortunate development that will not only considerably weaken Cricket South Africa’s case, but also reflects badly on the former spin bowler and makes it harder for the current Proteas coach to clear his name in an unambiguous fashion.

Having showed an admirable level of courage in testifying at the Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings about an offensive team song the Proteas used in fines meetings in the late 1990s, Adams now seems to have lost his nerve when it comes to presenting and justifying the same evidence, but this time with Boucher’s representatives being able to cross-examine and test his claims.

It shows again that for SJN Ombudsman Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza to err so badly in allowing inflammatory allegations to be publicly aired without being properly subjected to legal processes has only created more headaches for Cricket South Africa.

Adams was also disingenuous in his weekend statement announcing his decision when he claimed he never meant to single out Boucher in his SJN testimony. While Boucher’s name was admittedly brought into the conversation by one of Ntsebeza’s legal assistants, Adams went on to say that Boucher “should come and say sorry, if that’s enough, but we can’t brush this under the carpet”.

Adams also went on to target Boucher’s appointment as Titans coach in 2016.

No amount of “sorry”s can fully cleanse the stain of being unjustifiably called a racist and Adams’ refusal to further discuss his allegations has denied Boucher the chance of properly exonerating himself if he is innocent of the offences his former team-mate accuses him of doing.

With Enoch Nkwe also not expected to testify, CSA’s entire case could quickly disintegrate. But the public may not be as quick to forget the allegations that were made against Boucher but which have never actually been disproven.

That could only have happened if Adams had availed himself to answer such probing questions as what other songs were sung, what songs did he participate in and who actually wrote the offensive lyrics?

Having provided the matches to those who are looking to burn down Boucher’s career, Adams has now slipped out of being held accountable for what he said.

The Bulls had stretched Griquas to almost breaking-point in the first half of their Currie Cup clash at the weekend, but then allowed the visitors to come roaring back in the second half, coach Jake White making no bones about how disappointed he was with his players for some dumb moments both in discipline and in defence.

It was one-way traffic in the first 40 minutes at Loftus Versfeld as the Bulls cruised to a 36-5 lead with some clinical rugby. They extended their advantage to 41-5 early in the second half, but then two yellow cards in three minutes – to prop Lizo Gqoboka for collapsing a maul and to wing Madosh Tambwe for a deliberate knock-on – caused a total shift in momentum.

In the end Griquas were able to score six tries and the Bulls were relieved to win 48-38 in the end.

“Griquas made the Currie Cup semi-finals last year so they’ve showed they can play,” White said. “But with a URC team playing against a Currie Cup side and leading 36-5 at halftime, you would think you get a lot more out of the second half.

“Instead Griquas really got a roll on in the second half, which was very disappointing. The players must be proud to play for the Bulls, but they did not show that in the way they defended. They know how I feel about it because I let them know – we cannot defend like that.

“When it becomes too easy, you can play a bit too loose and that played into Griquas’ hands. It’s even more of an indictment that we were so far ahead, because that’s when you have to keep them out.

“And we speak about discipline every week but we had two yellow cards when we were more than 30 points ahead and not under any pressure. It was just too easy, it’s not as if they were pounding away at us,” White said.

While Tambwe’s yellow card came when he went for an intercept but could not hang on to the ball, killing a Griquas overlap in the process, the French-bound wing looked the classiest player on the park.

“Madosh has just improved so much,” White said. “His sheer understanding of what to do in defence killed a lot of Griquas attacks and he showed a real touch of class in setting up Canan Moodie’s try.

“His work-rate is also exceptional. We definitely want to keep him … maybe there will be some visa issues that keep him here … ” White joked.

Springbok Sbu Nkosi will get the chance to re-establish himself as one of the country’s top three wings in Pretoria next season, with Bulls coach Jake White confirming on Friday that the 26-year-old is heading to Loftus Versfeld.

Nkosi has been one of the Sharks’ star players over the last few years, but with Madosh Tambwe leaving for Europe at the end of this season, the Bulls approached the World Cup winner and have now won the tug-of-war for his services.

The Barberton product was contracted at the Sharks until July 1, but he has hardly featured in their United Rugby Championship campaign due to persistent illness and recent surgery. Nkosi is in danger of losing his place in the Springbok squad due to his lack of chance to shine, especially with the rise of players like Aphelele Fassi, Tambwe and Seabelo Senatla. He was previously considered next in line to Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi, and he played in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against Wales when Kolbe was injured.

“Sbu Nkosi will start with us when Madosh goes to Europe,” White confirmed on Friday. “When the season at the Sharks ends, he will move back up to Gauteng and he will join us on July 1.

“He can’t come and join us before the end of the season though. The only new guy coming before July is Ruan Vermaak, whose season in Japan has ended and he will be an extra forward for us,” White said.

With the Bulls backed by such successful businessmen as Patrice Motsepe and Johann Rupert, they are probably the only South African franchise who can compete with the Sharks, who are backed by the wealthy MVM Consortium, for players.