Ken Borland

Jake White described his team’s 29-19 victory over the Cardiff Blues in their United Rugby Championship match at the Arms Park on Saturday night as being a huge result for not just the Bulls but for the whole of South African rugby as well as for the credibility of the new competition.

The Bulls result, achieved via a superb second-half comeback that saw them overturn a 3-16 deficit, completed a highly encouraging weekend for the previously beleaguered South African franchises.

It was the Sharks who set the ball rolling with a brilliant second-half comeback of their own against the Ospreys on Friday night, winning 27-13 after they were level 6-6 at the break. And then earlier on Saturday the Lions went down 13-9 to the Glasgow Warriors, who were awarded a try that never should have stood, while the Stormers fought back from 14-0 down after just six minutes to draw 20-20 with Edinburgh.

“It’s massive for us, for South African rugby, for everyone, it brings credibility to the competition,” White said. “We read in the media that viewership is through the roof and we certainly don’t want to lose and lose.

“It was a fantastic game for us, a great comeback after being 13-0 down and losing Johan Goosen to a knee injury. We were so resilient and I’m sure the URC are incredibly happy too because it shows there is healthy competition.

“We’re going to get massive confidence from this result and also from the way we played. I was really happy with the way we changed our attack, using forwards and backs, and we played with a lot of width at times too,” White said.

The Bulls were poor in the first half, unable to keep the ball for more than a couple of phases at a time, and this was largely due to another inept showing at the breakdowns by them.

But this all changed in the second half as they came out with some much-needed fire in the belly, started dominating the gain-line, hanging on to the ball for longer and this led to the pressure – and the wrath of the referee – shifting on to Cardiff at the breakdowns.

Veteran hooker Bismarck du Plessis was prominent in a tough first half for the Bulls, and he set the ball rolling early in the second half with a big carry, winning a penalty for the Bulls. Eighthman Elrigh Louw just tapped and went and was straight over for the try with no problem.

This certainly lifted the Bulls and a fantastic break by replacement flank Arno Botha followed, Marcell Coetzee, who really came to the fore in the second half, then carrying strongly to earn a penalty. This was slotted by Chris Smith, who replaced Goosen at flyhalf with enormous aplomb.

Suddenly the Bulls were just three points behind and then wing Madosh Tambwe scored a tremendous try on the hour mark. Good defensive pressure by centre Harold Vorster led to a poor pass by Cardiff, Tambwe was quickly up to kick the ball through and then showed searing pace to get there first, and then great control to gather the bouncing ball and score.

This gave the Bulls the lead for the first time and the excellent boot of Smith, who succeeded with all seven of his kicks at goal, ensured this advantage was never surrendered.

Scorers

Cardiff Blues: Try – Matthew Screech. Conversion – Rhys Priestland. Penalties – Priestland (4).

Bulls: Tries – Elrigh Louw, Madosh Tambwe. Conversions – Chris Smith (2). Penalties – Smith (5).

Fence 3 at the Tokyo Olympics showjumping competition was called Kintsugi, “the golden splice”, celebrating the beauty of the scars of life or the Japanese philosophy of Wabi-Sabi.

Below the two poles were placed fractured ceramic discs and Kintsugi is a centuries-old technique in which these cracks are filled with an enamel sprinkled with gold, silver or platinum, turning the ‘scars’ into something beautiful. It is meant to evoke how imperfection can still be beautiful and valuable.

For leading South African showjumper Nicole Horwood, the United Aviation Group South African Derby that ends at the Kyalami Equestrian Park on Sunday has not been as perfect as the unmatched four previous editions she has won due to the Covid restrictions, but it is still nevertheless beautiful.

“It’s one of the events that every young rider aspires to win, and it always used to be a big social event too, it had plenty of appeal for the public. Winning it gave you the most exposure and it’s one of the titles I most cherish,” Horwood told Saturday Citizen.

“It’s usually quite a spectacle, but with limited tickets and no big crowd, it’s not quite the same. Normally there’s an electric atmosphere and the crowd carries you over the fences, they seem to ride every jump with you.

“But the United Aviation Group have put so much into the Derby, getting it live on SuperSport, so in terms of public exposure it’s probably the biggest and best ever, and UAG have had a lot to do with that.”

Three of Horwood’s four SA Derby titles came in consecutive years – 2012-2014 – joining the legendary Mickey Louw as the only other rider to pull off a hat-trick of titles in one of South Africa’s showjumping Majors. Horwood won the Triple Crown of the Derby, SA Championships and SA Outdoor Grand Prix in 2013.

The real estate agent’s steady flow of titles mostly came aboard Capital Don Cumarco, considered one of the great horses in South African showjumping history, but the famous stallion retired a year ago. Horwood is riding United Aviation Group Capital Hitoshi and United Aviation Group Capital Kronos this weekend at Kyalami and, while they are inexperienced and have just put one figurative foot in the water compared to Don Cumarco wading through the rivers of success, she has great expectations for both rides.

“I have very high hopes for some of the young horses I’m riding now. Showjumping is about constantly developing horses, and in a few more years I’ll be grooming ones to take their places. That’s my motivation to keep competing, to bring good young horses up to that level.

“Capital Don Cumarco and myself were like a team though, we really understood each other, we had a great bond. He was a legend who put me on the map, I rode him from when he was five to 18 years old, it was like he was living my life with me, and he is the only horse to win the Derby four times. Now he is enjoying the sun at Summerhill Stud,” Horwood said.

The 48-year-old Horwood says enjoying developing a relationship with your horse is a critical part of showjumping success because it is not all sunshine and roses.

“I had nothing but a pony growing up and I don’t own any horses, they are all sponsored. But to succeed you have to work hard and show your talent through your work ethic and motivation. You need to learn from your mistakes, take your ego out of it.

“You have to be passionate about it because it is a lot of work, but the journey is worth it. It takes a bit of talent too, you need skills and horsemanship and a bond with your horse,” Horwood said.

While her rides are officially just rentals, the one permanent feature in Horwood’s career has been her coach – the legendary Gonda Betrix, whose immense career saw her win 10 Majors and represent South Africa at the 1992 Olympics.

“Growing up in Durban, I only rode recreationally on a horse my Dad bought off the track at Kings Park Stables. I only started competing when I came to Joburg when I was 18 years old. All those years I have spent with Gonda and 30 years later she is still my coach. She taught me everything – the basics and especially work ethic,” Horwood said.

Bulls coach Jake White seemed afraid before their match against Leinster that his team and their fans might not realise how daunting their game against the dominant side in the Pro14 competition was going to be, and the reality of what awaits South Africa’s champions was rammed home as they were hammered 31-3 at the Aviva Stadium.

On a miserable day for South African rugby on which the Springboks, Stormers, Bulls and Sharks all lost, the quality, tempo and precision of the European game was on full display, even though those sides are just starting their season. And Leinster look set to be Europe’s flagbearers once again, judging by their polished performance against the Bulls.

“I’m not that disappointed in our performance to be honest. Leinster are the benchmark in European rugby and I’m a realist. That’s the kind of pressure we’re going to have to get used to week in, week out. To give some perspective, Jamison Gibson-Park comes off the bench at scrumhalf and he’s an international. We need to get to that level of skill and depth.

“We need to be realistic where we are and where Leinster are currently. We can’t be down, it was a great learning opportunity even though it wasn’t pleasant. Leinster have Test players who have been together for a long time, guys with 30 Test caps against players with 30 Currie Cup caps. The bottom line is that they exposed us and they have done it to some of the best sides in Europe,” White said.

The Bulls started the match in terrible fashion, trailing 17-0 after just 13 minutes, but they had opportunities to close the gap in the first half, which they failed to take.

“We kicked direct into touch at the start, we gave away a penalty at the scrum, a lineout and then we’re 10-0 down in the first seven minutes. We were under pressure the whole time and it could easily have become 50 points as they ran away with it. But if we could have gone to 10-17 then we would have been a bit more confident.

“I’m proud of how we stuck into it, we showed our resilience and we looked like we held our own in certain passages. That’s the positive – for long periods we stayed competitive. But the challenge is not to get down on ourselves, we have to back ourselves even though things worked easily in the Currie Cup, but we weren’t playing against international opposition,” White said.

Bulls coach Jake White all but admitted on Friday that it will be a long shot for his team to beat Leinster, symbols of all that is strong in European rugby, when they meet in their opening United Rugby Championship match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday, but he added that it is a lengthy competition and whatever happens, South Africa’s champions will know how close they are to competing for honours up north.

Leinster won the last four editions of the Pro14 before the rebranding with the arrival of the four South African franchises, and they are also perennial contenders for the Champions Cup, Europe’s premier competition, having reached the knockout stages in 12 of the last 13 years and winning the title five times.

“It’s all an unknown for us but a great opportunity. Leinster are like the Barcelona of rugby and there’s not much I have to say to the team about playing them. It will be a great benchmark of where we are early on, it will be  a huge test coming up against guys who have played 30-40 Tests for Ireland and European finals. They are by far the leaders in European rugby.

“We have guys who have played against the same teams in the Currie Cup, which is a significant difference. So it’s going to be a massive fixture for us but it is a long tournament – we could play 21 more games. So one thing we can learn from Leinster is that it’s not so much about the first game, they have often been slow starters, it’s about how you adapt and evolve through the competition,” White said.

The Sharks, bridesmaids to the Bulls since rugby returned after Covid, have a similarly dauting task as they take on Munster, perennial runners-up to Leinster recently, on Saturday night. One gets the feeling the Sharks legged it to Ireland with some relief as their last match was yet another defeat to the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, the biggest margin of defeat in Currie Cup final history.

But the Sharks are traditionally good travellers and coach Sean Everitt knows they will be playing finals rugby once again, rather than the running game they would probably prefer.

“Munster are a well-drilled team who do not give you much, so it’s going to be about execution on the day. Johann van Graan is a well-organised coach, he’s been involved at the highest level with the Springboks and has brought a style to Munster that is very difficult to play against – they suffocate and strangle you. They are a well-oiled machine.

“Munster defend really well and have a strong kicking game – they want to trap you into playing in the wrong areas. So it’s going to be tough for us, but we are focused on what we need to do to succeed. We need to manage the game better and be more disciplined in that regard,” Everitt said.

The Stormers, given their recent troubles, will be grateful that they start against Italian opposition in the form of Benetton Treviso.

But Treviso were the team that destroyed the Bulls in the Rainbow Cup final and, given the Western Cape team’s struggles against their arch-rivals recently, they will have their hands full in northern Italy.