Ken Borland

There are many words to pen about the dominance of the Bulls in the admittedly insular world of Currie Cup rugby, but there just seems to be no stopping the blue juggernaut at Loftus Versfeld as they notched another comfortable win there on Sunday, hammering the Lions 40-21.

They put six tries on the board and their efficiency in all aspects of the game was too much for a willing Lions team. The likes of hooker Johan Grobbelaar and eighthman Elrigh Louw had mighty games, but it was how the side combined as a unit that was most impressive.

While one should deservedly wax lyrical about the Bulls attack, the defence was equally impressive as they fiercely protected their line. It is clear that this Bulls side takes enormous pride in their defence.

The Bulls led 28-14 at halftime, but it was the Lions’ second try that deserves full description because it was an absolute marvel.

The Bulls were hard on attack but Lionel Mapoe’s pass infield from close to the corner flag went to a Lions player. From behind their own goal-line, they launched a counter-attack, fullback Wandisile Simelane stepping his way all the way to the 22. There he found flank Vincent Tshituka, who produced a remarkable display in a well-beaten team. To see Tshituka galloping from 22 to 22 was an amazing sight and he then produced a superb offload in a double-tackle for wing Courtnall Skosan to score.

But the Lions could not add to that score before halftime despite camping in the Bulls’ 22 and throwing the book at them with wave-after-wave of strong carries. Apart from loose forward Arno Botha being yellow-carded as the penalties piled up, the Bulls suffered no loss.

After that the result was assured as they dominated the second half. It took them 15 minutes to crack some staunch Lions defence as well, with flyhalf Johan Goosen cleverly deviating from all the pick-and-goes as he sent a crossfield kick to wing Richard Kriel for a well-taken try.

His older brother David, playing at fullback, put his name on the scorers list six minutes later.

The Bulls are back on top of the log and look in good shape to book their place in the semi-finals some time soon.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Harold Vorster, Zak Burger (2), Johan Grobbelaar, Richard Kriel, David Kriel. Conversions: Johan Goosen (5).

Lions – Tries: Vincent Tshituka, Courtnall Skosan, Sti Sithole. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (3).

The Proteas came right when they needed to, centuries by openers Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock leading them to a comfortable 70-run win over Ireland at Malahide in Dublin on Friday, but it meant they had to settle for the mediocre outcome of sharing the series with the 12^th-ranked team.

Putting their shock midweek defeat behind them, South Africa won the toss and this time elected to bat first, wanting to land the first punch and dominate from the outset. They certainly did that as Malan and De Kock shared an outstanding opening partnership of 225 in 36 overs.

De Kock was in majestic form, unfazed by anything the Irish could throw at him, and his superb 120 off 91 balls was the sort of quality innings where the left-hander looked in complete control throughout, striking 11 fours and five sixes.

De Kock eventually fell to the off-spin of Simi Singh when he just failed to clear the midwicket boundary, Mark Adair taking the catch with his heels lifted to avoid touching the line.

But Malan powered on to a magnificent 177 not out off 169 deliveries, hammering 16 fours and six sixes. Who De Kock’s opening partner should be in ODIs would now appear to be settled as Malan has collected 483 runs in his six ODI innings at a phenomenal average of 120.75.  He has two centuries and his strike-rate is 94.33. That should be sufficient for the 25-year-old to have cemented his place in the team.

Malan’s unbeaten 177 was the fourth highest individual score for the Proteas in ODI cricket and, with Rassie van der Dussen adding 30 off 28 balls, they were able to post a pleasing 346 for four.

In the field, South Africa snuck in left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj at the start of the innings and he had both openers, Paul Stirling (11) and Andy Balbirnie (7), well-taken at slip by Malan.

Lizaad Williams then had the delight of having Andy McBrine caught behind for 9 with his first ball in ODI cricket as Ireland slumped to 27 for three inside the first eight overs.

The run-rate only really arose from its slumber when former SA U19 all-rounder Curtis Campher, with a run-a-ball 54, and Singh slapped the ball around in a seventh-wicket stand of 104.

South Africa once again finished the innings poorly with both ball and in the field, and Singh took the opportunity to notch a maiden century, finishing with a dazzling 100 not out off 91 balls.

Tabraiz Shamsi continued to have spin aficionados purring with delight as he took three for 46 in his 10 overs, while there was some pleasing success for all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo, whose surprise packet of deliveries brought him three for 56 in 10 as Ireland were eventually all out for 276.

The much-vaunted Bulls pack was a bit of a sleeper in the first half of their decisive Rainbow Cup match against the Sharks at Kings Park at the weekend, but a thoroughly dominant third quarter laid the platform for a comfortable 34-22 win and Jake White said although it is the nature of coaching to always be critical of something, he was satisfied that their mission in Durban was accomplished.

With both sides scoring a try apiece in the first half, the Bulls held a narrow 13-10 lead at the break, but they had notched their crucial fourth, bonus point try by the hour mark. That assured them of their place in the Rainbow Cup final against Benetton in Treviso this weekend. The final quarter saw the Sharks fight back as the Bulls were given two yellow cards.

“I was very happy with our defence with 13 men because the Sharks have some really good attacking players, but I would have preferred to have 15 men finish the game. But our experience told at the end and it’s a difficult one to manage once we scored our fourth try because you want to protect players and give those on the bench a run, but it’s a balancing act because you don’t want to get caught out and you are also on the cusp of getting some momentum for the final.

“But we got what we wanted out of the game and the message the whole time to the players was to go for the win and play the way we always play. If it took until the 79^th minute, we had to believe that the fourth try would come, and we had to back our intensity and keeping the ball in play. I’m very happy we showed we can handle the pressure,” White said.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt said his team did not have any right to make excuses for their defeat.

“We put ourselves in position to get the four tries we needed, we had six entries into the Bulls’ 22 in the first half alone, but we only converted one of them so we can’t make any excuses. We just weren’t able to convert, losing the ball over the line, and then things unravelled in the second half with soft penalties. There was ill-discipline at times too, which the players must take responsibility for.

“We need to cut down on our error-rate. We wanted to get the ball into the wider channels, get it through the hands, like in Aphelele Fassi’s good runs and the Siya Kolisi try. Unfortunately at times we just could not get the ball there when we had the opportunity to do that, which comes down to decision-making and sticking to the plan, not holding on to the ball instead of moving it,” Everitt said.

Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus said on Saturday night that he is comfortable with nearly 50% of the Springbok squad for the British and Irish Lions series being based overseas and he believes the South African public will be okay with so many ‘prodigal sons’ as well when they see how well they play.

The 46-man squad announced on Saturday night includes 22 overseas-based players – seven from England, eight from France, five from Japan and two from Ireland. While many of them are seasoned Springboks and World Cup winners, eyebrows will be raised at the inclusion of debutants like Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Jasper Wiese, and an out-of-sight, out-of-mind player like Coenie Oosthuizen.

Especially when it seems they are taking the place of locally-based stars like JD Schickerling, Marcell Coetzee or Lizo Gqoboka, who have been shining in South Africa.

“I think we ended with a pretty even split between overseas and local and I think the public should still associate with the overseas players. They will definitely appreciate them when they see how well they play. It’s been wonderful to see youngsters step up in South African rugby, like locks and scrumhalves, but we cannot afford not to have these guys from overseas.

“The only guy the public might not know is Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg of Montpellier. He’s in the squad for a specific reason and that’s because Franco Mostert is our lineout caller but if we have one injury we’re in trouble because Eben Etzebeth is not a No.5 lock. Some people might not know Rynhardt Elstadt, but he’s won the European Cup. Jasper we couldn’t ignore because he has been outstanding in the Premiership, he knocked the door down,” Erasmus said.

The Springboks will spend their first three weeks together in the sun but freezing cold of Bloemfontein. Coach Jacques Nienaber said the coming week will see the players filter into camp as their club commitments are completed, with only a half-a-dozen expected on Monday and a dozen by the end of the week.

But by their second week in Bloemfontein, almost everyone should be there. Erasmus confirmed that all the locally-based players will appear for their franchises in the final round of Rainbow Cup games that will decide whether the Bulls or the Sharks make it to the final against the winners of the European competition. But they will not be available for that final on June 19.

While Siya Kolisi has been confirmed as captain, his next-in-command Duane Vermeulen will be travelling to Cape Town to have scans on the ankle he twisted playing for the Bulls against the Stormers.

“Duane has to be doubtful with his ankle. He’s on his way to Cape Town for scans. I spoke to Jake White [Bulls coach] and it looked bad. For Duane to limp off so early in a match is very unusual, so we are fearing the worst,” Erasmus admitted.

Overseas based players in the Springbok squad – Lood de Jager (Sale, England); Dan du Preez (Sale, England); Coenie Oosthuizen (Sale, England); Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale, England); Kwagga Smith (Jubilo, Japan); RG Snyman (Munster, Ireland); Joseph Dweba (Bordeaux, France); Rynhardt Elstadt (Toulouse, France); Eben Etzebeth (Toulon, France); Jasper Wiese (Leicester, England); Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (Montpellier, France); Vincent Koch (Saracens, England); Malcolm Marx (Kubota, Japan); Franco Mostert (Honda, Japan); Damian de Allende (Munster, Ireland); Faf de Klerk (Sale, England); Elton Jantjies (Pau, France); Cheslin Kolbe (Toulouse, France); Willie le Roux (Verblitz, Japan); Handre Pollard (Montpellier, France); Cobus Reinach (Montpellier, France).