Ken Borland

The Bulls and Stormers reopened their roads to the SuperRugby playoffs at the weekend as their victories over the high-flying Cheetahs and Sharks respectively saw the South African Conference concertina in dramatic fashion.

The Bulls beat the Cheetahs 26-20 and joined the central franchise on 23 points and in seventh place overall, and the Stormers saw off the Sharks 22-15 and are now just six points behind the Conference leaders and three adrift of the Bulls and Cheetahs.

And, just to further emphasise how competitive the South African Conference is, the Southern Kings snatched a last-ditch 30-27 victory over the Rebels in Melbourne and are in 13^th position overall and just five points off the Stormers.

The Kings ended their extraordinarily impressive maiden overseas tour with an amazing victory sealed by flyhalf Demetri Catrakilis’s drop goal after the final hooter. The Eastern Cape side only had about 35% possession through the match and, after an arduous four-week tour, looked a metre off the pace for most of the game.

But they showed amazing resolve, tenacity and composure to still win against the odds and they will be hoping to transport the same spirit to Port Elizabeth as they now return home.

The Rebels will be pondering what could have been as they led 27-17 early in the second half, but what really cost them was the number of handling errors they made, mostly due to passes being rushed.

The Kings scored three tries, two of them in the first 15 minutes, and one can only imagine what they could do with a decent share of possession!

The Sharks were convincingly outplayed by the Stormers in Cape Town, only scraping a scarcely-deserved bonus point after the final hooter thanks to Pat Lambie’s fifth penalty.

The Sharks had enough ball (52% of possession according to ruckingoodstats.com) but what happened to their possession was the key as they could not get across the advantage line thanks to the Stormers putting their bodies on the line and dominating the collisions in emphatic style. Three of their players went off for concussion tests during the first half to exemplify their tremendous attitude.

The Stormers also dominated the set-pieces, especially and most surprisingly the scrums, to further undermine the Sharks’ ability to get front-foot ball.

The home side, like all good teams, scored just before half-time to transfer their dominance on the field on to the scoreboard. Captain and inside centre Jean de Villiers showed lovely hands in the tackle to send outside centre Juan de Jongh powering over for the only try of the match, taking the Stormers’ lead to 16-3.

The Sharks failed to make much of an impression against a Stormers defence that was led by the indefatigable Siya Kolisi, with Deon Fourie, Michael Rhodes and Andries Bekker not far behind.

The Sharks have now failed to score a try in four of their seven matches this season and the pedestrian nature of their attack, and the failure of anyone to really straighten the line, meant they were unlikely to trouble what has been the best defence in the competition in recent years.

The Stormers also won the territorial battle thanks to the splendid boot of fullback Joe Pietersen, who was also faultless when kicking at the poles, while Gary van Aswegen gave an assured display in the troublesome flyhalf position.

For the Sharks, too many of the senior players were not at the top of their games: Jannie du Plessis struggled in the scrums, Lambie was mediocre in terms of running the backs and Francois Steyn was disappointing at fullback, the Springbok wasting an overlap in the dying stages of the first half.

The Blue Bulls Rugby Union held a procession of former players at Loftus Versfeld to mark the union’s 75^th anniversary and the old stars of Northern Transvaal rugby would have been delighted by the tremendous passion and commitment their side showed, especially in defence.

The Bulls were coming off three straight defeats overseas, but, back at home, the old intensity and confrontational fire was back as they held off a Cheetahs side that provided much to a game that was a wonderful spectacle.

The defences of both teams were excellent and it took the individual brilliance of scrumhalf Jano Vermaak to break the deadlock shortly after half-time.

The former Lions halfback sniped through the Cheetahs defence and the tackle of flank Lappies Labuschagne, dashing over from the 22-metre line in the 43^rd minute.

The Bulls lineout was a clinical tower of strength throughout the game and, soon after Vermaak’s try, the Cheetahs found themselves under pressure on their own throw, trying to run the ball behind the advantage line and only managing to infringe at the ruck and give Morné Steyn a penalty to stretch the Bulls’ lead to 16-9.

With Victor Matfield now part of the Bulls’ coaching team, it’s no surprise their lineout is a work of such precision and Steyn was provided with another penalty in the 55^th minute when the Cheetahs were again under pressure at the set-piece and Philip van der Walt tackled Pierre Spies off the ball.

But the Bulls also seemed to have plenty of information on the Cheetahs’ preferred exit strategies from their own half and their homework paid off in the 76^th minute as Jan Serfontein was quickly up on Adriaan Strauss in midfield, the hooker dropping the ball under pressure, and, from the turnover, replacement hooker Callie Visagie was able to force his way over for the match-winning try.

Serfontein, despite being just 19 years old, was an immense presence at inside centre. Nothing went through his channel and he was also a highly effective ball-carrier. The 2012 IRB Junior Player of the Year is also a wonderful attacking player, with top-class skills, and it is hoped there will be a chance for him to display these other talents as well.

But Serfontein handled the pressures of a crucial South African derby, an in-form opposite number in Robert Ebersohn, and an expansive Cheetahs side that loves to stretch defences like a seasoned pro.

It is always marvellous to see youth being given its head and the Bulls should trust their structures as they look to continue their challenge for a playoff berth.

 http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-04-14-superrugby-wrap-bulls-stormers-get-back-on-track/#.VPRLp_mUde8

American rookie Bill Haas was building a significant lead during his first round at the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City on Thursday, but two bogeys in his last three holes saw the leaderboard concertina on a gruelling day at the Gary Player Country Club.

With a tricky, shifting breeze blowing around the Pilanesberg valleys and brutal semi-rough waiting to punish anything slightly off line, Haas showed he had the stomach for the fight.

The 30-year-old son of distinguished American golfer Jay Haas, who is also at Sun City playing in the Champions Challenge for the seniors, Bill Haas had two loops of 35 for a two-under-par 70 that left him level with Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts at the top of the leaderboard.

Colsaerts, an extraordinarily long hitter who reined himself in on Thursday, had the most consistent round of the day with just one bogey, and he closed the gap on Haas with birdies on the 10^th and 11^th holes.

South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, Scotsman Paul Lawrie and England’s Lee Westwood are on their coat-tails on one-under-par, while Francesco Molinari, Martin Kaymer, Peter Hanson, Charl Schwartzel and Carl Pettersson are all on par.

With the intense heat only adding to the discomfort, it was a day for intestinal fortitude rather than flashy golf.

And Haas had approached the last three holes well-pleased with himself as he sat on four-under-par, leading by two.

“I’d done well to get to four under, there was a bit of breeze out there, the wind showed its teeth today after being pretty docile before. It’s a good, tough course, and you had to drive it in the fairway because the rough just seems so much more penal here. Other than the finish, I took a lot out of my round,” Haas said.

And part of the Gary Player Country Club’s brutality was that the moment a golfer relaxed and thought he was cruising, the course bit back. With a vengeance.

“The 15^th is one of the tougher driving holes, but I hit driver and a wedge to six feet for birdie, so maybe I was too confident and I pulled my drive on 16,” Haas said.

That led to his first bogey since the third hole and then, on the 18th, his tee shot found the left rough. His second then found more rough just short of the greenside bunker. Haas was unable to chip on to the green at the first attempt and his second chip rolled 10 feet past the hole.

“I was very happy to make that putt for bogey! But if I’d hit it into the bunker in the first place, I’d probably have made four,” Haas complained.

Justin Rose, the highest-ranked golfer in the field, was another who paid the price for getting ahead of himself as he ended the first day second-from-bottom after a 73.

Having surged up the leaderboard with successive birdies on the par-fives around the turn, he then bogeyed the 11^th, 12^th and 13^th holes. His troubles started on the dogleg par-four 11^th when he tried to take the “Tiger-line” over the trees on the left, came up short and landed behind a tree. His second rebounded off the tree, going 40 metres backwards, and his fall from grace had begun.

Colsaerts turned 30 two weeks ago but has had the life experience to make him a font of wisdom. An immensely talented golfer who won his European Tour card when he was just 18, the party scene derailed his career for a few years before he began to fulfil his promise.

“I feel like I’ve led a few different lives,” he is quoted as saying by the official tournament brochure.

A top-20 finish in the Race to Dubai in 2011 was followed by victory in the World Matchplay Championship and a place in Europe’s Ryder Cup team, Colsaerts playing a key role in their triumph.

Being able to quite literally “drive for show” also carries its temptations, but Colsaerts showed admirable maturity on Thursday.

“I didn’t use a very aggressive game plan, even with the driver when I used it. I think I played like everyone else, hitting the same spots, because you were better off hitting an iron from the fairway than a lob-wedge out of the kikuyu rough. I probably played close to my best in terms of management off the tee,” Colsaerts said.

Oosthuizen, sporting a Movember moustache that would surely be the pride of Bloemfontein, was the most impressive of the South Africans with a perfect back nine that included birdies on the 10^th and 18^th holes.

It could have been a totally different story for South Africa’s highest ranked golfer as he followed up a birdie on the par-five second hole with three bogeys, before settling himself with a brilliant birdie on the par-four eighth.

Ten golfers finishing within two shots of the lead told the story of a day when no one was able to conquer a course that takes sadistic delight in exposing and magnifying the smallest of errors.

Which is perfect for what is billed as “Africa’s Major” – what is still, for the time being, the most lucrative tournament on the toughest continent in the world.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-11-30-nedbank-challenge-its-africas-major-make-no-mistake