Ken Borland

Control, composure and clinical use of their chances were the main vehicles for success for Munster on Saturday evening as the United Rugby Championship defending champions continued their push for a home playoff with an impressive 33-13 win over the Lions at Ellis Park.

The Lions, who had hammered log-leaders Leinster last weekend in Johannesburg, gave Munster a ferocious working over, especially in the second half. But Graham Rowntree’s team seldom wavered, keeping a firm grip on proceedings by defending brilliantly and managing the game well. Their tactical kicking, and the speed and aerial skills of wings Shane Daly and Calvin Nash, had their opponents under pressure.

The territory stats (62%) favoured the Lions, but they were only able to score one try. They broke the Munster line a few times, but the scramble defence was also full of passion.

Winning ugly is often the mark of champion sides, but two victories in South Africa will satisfy even the most aesthetically-focused supporter. To be fair, Munster were helped by a Lions team that shot themselves in the foot often, wasting numerous opportunities inside the 22 through their own lack of composure.

Munster were 23-6 up at halftime as the Lions added ill-discipline in their own half to their lack of execution inside opposition territory. Three times inside the first 22 minutes the kicking tee was fetched for Jack Crawley and the polished flyhalf succeeded with penalties from 42, 47 and 45 metres to give the visitors a 9-0 lead and a solid start, especially when playing away on the highveld.

Having successfully repelled three promising Lions lineout drives, Munster then scored from their first maul to ram home the stark contrast between the two sides. Crawley’s excellent penalty kick put them in the corner and eighthman Jack O’Donoghue dotted down for the opening try six minutes before the break.

The Lions then suffered a mortal blow when they had a penalty on the halftime hooter but lost the lineout and then Munster won a penalty. Fullback Simon Zebo hacked a loose ball ahead and then chipped it over a sliding defender, and was bearing down on the tryline when he was taken out off the ball by Lions centre Marius Louw.

Referee Craig Evans, in consultation with the TMO, awarded a penalty try and issued Louw a yellow card.

The terrible turn of events for the home side certainly seemed to raise the hackles of the Lions because they came out breathing fire after the break. Halfbacks Sanele Nohamba and Morne van den Berg broke through at times, but the Munster cover defence was always up to the task. Both Crawley and Zebo made important interventions in this regard.

In the 49^th minute, the Lions were not able to cover as well as Munster wing Shane Daly went over in the corner, space having been created by a forward thrust through the middle off a lineout.

The Lions were 6-28 in arrears and threw everything at Munster for most of the remaining half-hour, but were only able to cut the deficit by a converted try, from close range, by replacement hooker PJ Botha.

And they could not prevent Munster having the final say, either, as replacement loose forward Gavin Coombes rounded off a rolling maul.

Even though the Bulls, who Munster saw off last weekend in Pretoria, beat the Ospreys with a bonus point in the earlier game, the title-holders were not going to be denied a return to third place in the standings.

Munster look an extremely difficult team to beat at the moment, such is the precision of their play, their game-management and their commitment in defence.

Scorers

Lions – Try: PJ Botha. Conversion: Jordan Hendrikse. Penalties: Hendrikse (2).

Munster – Tries: Jack O’Donoghue, penalty try, Shane Daly, Gavin Coombes. Conversion: Jack Crowley. Penalties: Crowley (3).

Teams

Lions – Hendrikse (Lombard 70^th), Kriel, Cronje, Louw, Van der Merwe, Nohamba, Van den Berg, Naude (Smith 62^nd), Visagie (Botha 50^th), Dreyer (Ntlabakanye 50^th), Alberts (Nothnagel 52^nd), Delport, Pretorius, Tshituka (Venter 56^th), Horn.

Munster – Zebo (Haley 55^th), Nash, Frisch (Carbery 68^th), O’Brien, Daly, Crowley, Murray (Casey 46^th), Loughman (Wycherley 55^th), Scannell (Clarke 68^th), Archer, Snyman, Beirne, O’Mahony (Ahern 52^nd), Kendellan, O’Donoghue (Coombes 48^th).

You can’t buy the sort of composure and experience that wins big games of cricket and DP World Lions coach Russell Domingo is confident that our star players will stand up and lead the way for the #PrideOfJozi when they host Sunday’s CSA T20 Challenge final against the HollywoodBets Dolphins.

Our DP World Lions breezed through their semi-final against derby rivals the Titans with a performance of great calm and quality, and Domingo expects the same mental strength to be on show against the Dolphins.

Proteas stars Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma were at the crease at the end steering our Pride to victory with the bat, with another international, Ryan Rickelton, setting the tone up front with his innings. Throw in the strong contributions through the tournament made by Wiaan Mulder, Bjorn Fortuin and Reeza Hendricks, and it is easy to see that the DP World Lions environment is a brilliant one, making it easy for youngsters like Nqaba Peter, Lutho Sipamla and Codi Yusuf to shine as well.

“It was a really good performance against the Titans,” Domingo agrees. “Semi-finals are often nerve-wracking, they can be harder to handle than the final itself. But we kept calm and composed.

“There is always a lot of expectation on us because we topped the log and we have a very good side, and in T20 cricket anything is possible. It was a really solid performance in the semi-final, but we cannot rest on our laurels.

“Rassie is scoring runs where it counts, he showed really good intensity against the Titans, and Temba is also playing well, I can see a big score just around the corner for him. You want your big names to perform in the big games and we will have to be close to our best to beat the Dolphins.

“But the big names are the guys who know under pressure that you don’t have to play 100% perfect cricket, you just need to play solid, do the basics really well, and stay calm and disciplined,” Domingo said.

The KwaZulu-Natal Coastal visitors will be bringing a team with experienced and canny campaigners of their own, and a powerful bowling attack, even without T20 ace Ottneil Baartman, who has joined Delhi Capitals in the IPL.

“They have a formidable pace attack with Okuhle Cele, Daryn Dupavillon and Andile Phehlukwayo, and a quality spinner in Prenelan Subrayen. They are also a very street-smart side, they know what it takes to win. Jason Smith, Khaya Zondo and Jon-Jon Smuts are also a key trio of very experienced players,” Domingo said.

But our Pride are playing at home at the DP World Wanderers Stadium and have only lost two of their eight matches there this campaign. And they beat the Dolphins there at the start of the month in their round-robin match, Yusuf and Rickelton leading them to victory by seven wickets with four balls to spare in a rain-shortened match.

Rickelton, Van der Dussen and Hendricks all feature in the top-12 of the tournament averages and have consistently given the DP World Lions solid starts. Delano Potgieter and Evan Jones are the six-hitters at the end of the innings and it is all brought together by Mulder, who is also in the top-20 of the averages and strikes at 126.97.

Leg-spinner Peter has been the outstanding bowler of the competition with 19 wickets in only nine matches, and has bowled with such potency that he averages just 7.78 and has twice taken four wickets in an innings, and also with such control that he has only conceded 5.19 runs-per-over.

Mulder has also been tight and effective with the ball, and that has allowed tremendous flexibility in terms of bowling options. Sipamla, Jones, Yusuf and Fortuin have served as a wonderful bowling unit, taking 55 wickets between them. Seamers Sipamla, Jones and Yusuf are all conceding little more than 7.5 runs-per-over, while Fortuin is the second-most economical bowler in the competition, at 5.84.

Our DP World Lions have quality through their line-up and their strengths cover whatever conditions or match situations are thrown at them. They are primed to peak under the pressure of Sunday’s final.

The DP World Lions men’s team have had their times of heartache this season, which is why when the CSA 4-Day Series final looked like being a grave disappointment for them, they had the desire, composure and ability to turn things around, according to captain Dominic Hendricks.

Having been 35 for five on the first morning and 113 for six in their second innings, leading by just 26, it was an absolutely remarkable effort for our #PrideOfJozi to beat Western Province by 99 runs and claim their first four-day title since 2019/20.

“Talk about a game turning 180 degrees,” Hendricks said, “We had to dig in super-deep and really fight. Our backs were against the wall for 80% of that game, so I’m massively proud of the team for winning.

“But there have been numerous times this season when we’ve had to really dig in, there’ve been lots of difficult situations we’ve been put in: Like having to bowl for 225 overs against the Rocks, going to Newlands and losing the toss and having to bat first on a spicy pitch against Western Province, and going to St George’s Park and having to play on a very tricky wicket.

“It’s testament to what we’ve created as a team. We get stuck in and if it’s your day, then you must make it spectacular,” the ecstatic Hendricks said.

The Lions skipper praised head coach Russell Domingo for the wonderful environment he has forged for our Pride to prosper. The former Proteas and Bangladesh coach never throws his toys out of the cot, but there is immense respect for him and the rest of the star-studded coaching line-up.

“Russell has a phenomenal approach. The game is so high-pressured anyway, so he always tries to take the pressure off us. He cracks jokes in the changeroom, but when he speaks we really do listen and he is the first to point out any nonsense and put us back in line.

“Hashim Amla has a very calm aura, he also always speaks to us in a good tone and with understanding. If a player makes a mistake, then the coaches never give you an uitkak, but they talk about what we ought to have done to execute better,” Hendricks said.

The opening batsman also highlighted the top-class batting of Delano Potgieter in setting up the heady triumph with phenomenal rearguard innings of 81 and 155 not out.

“Delano’s innings and all the lower-order chipping in, particularly Codi Yusuf (46), took the sting out of Western Province, you could see how frustrated they were and they fielded for each of the first four days.

“It says a lot about Delano that he was super-nervous before the final, he’s an anxious guy before matches. But once he settled, he looked right at home. We were in a world of trouble, but he dug in and batted and batted and batted,” Hendricks said.

Winning the prestige four-day title was a tremendous team effort by everyone at the DP World Wanderers Stadium though, a fact highlighted by a delighted Domingo.

“Hashim, Allan Donald and myself are all experienced enough to know that it’s not just the coaches that win trophies. We are just a small part of the puzzle; you need great players, a great CEO and support staff; the selectors, groundsmen, directors – everyone plays an important tole,” Domingo said.

ST FRANCIS BAY, Eastern Cape – Golf is a capricious mistress and George Coetzee has been in the game for long enough to know the swing he has one day might not be around the next, but the two-time Sunshine Tour order of merit champion had the experience, composure and skill to get the job done on Sunday as he clinched his second PGA Championship title at the St Francis Links.

Coetzee had just a one-stroke lead going into the final round, but a polished four-under-par 68 on Sunday, which included two eagles and almost a third, carried him to 15-under-par and a three-stroke victory in the prestigious R1.2 million tournament.

“I was pretty much under pressure all day, I didn’t really feel comfortable and my swing wasn’t 100%,” Coetzee said after claiming his 14^th Sunshine Tour title.

“But golf is one of those games, it’s not like cycling where the more you cycle the better you get. You can have one swing on one day and then the next day another swing.

“So I was putting pressure on myself, but I stuck to the game-plan, made good choices and hit good shots, and luckily it was enough in the end,” Coetzee said.

Some of those shots were better than good as an eagle on the par-five third hole brought some early pleasure, and he holed out with a sand-wedge for an eagle-two on the par-four 10^th hole. In between those highlights, he could also have eagled the 350-yard par-four fifth hole after driving the green, but his putt was narrowly wide.

“We were put on the clock on the fifth and I didn’t have time to read my putt properly,” Coetzee laughed.

Unusually, Coetzee made bogey on the following hole on both occasions he registered an eagle.

“I was really happy with my two eagles after I saw a lot of chances in the third round. But then it was a bit hard to calm down and get back into my rhythm, get my head back into a good space,” Coetzee admitted.

But back-to-back birdies on the 12^th and 13^th holes put him firmly in control of the tournament and he parred his way in from the 14^th for a comfortable victory in the end.

Rookie Casey Jarvis produced his best Sunshine Tour result as he finished second after a final-round 69, and the experienced duo of Hennie Otto and Jake Redman were tied in third place, one stroke behind on 11-under-par, both shooting two-under-par 70s on Sunday.

Coetzee will now head to Sun City and this week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge, which is like the AGM of South African professional golf, assured that he has the game in place to contend for that massive title.

“The confidence I take from beating the field here is a big boost and I’m generally pretty happy with the swing that has shown up for the last couple of weeks,” Coetzee said.