Ken Borland

The Bulls stand on the brink of the United Rugby Championship playoffs confident that the mettle of the team has been proven by the way they have come through the fires of a most disheartening first half of the season under a new coach in Johan Ackermann.

The three-time URC runners-up go into Saturday’s last round-robin game against Benetton Treviso at Loftus Versfeld in fourth place on the standings, having guaranteed a quarterfinal place. But they will be eyeing a bonus point win that will guarantee them a home playoff.

It is a far cry from the situation at the start of the year when they had lost five matches in a row and languished in 12^th place on the log. The decision to replace coach Jake White, who had led them to the final in 2021/22, 2023/24 and 2024/25, with Ackermann was starting to look rash and there were genuine fears that the Bulls would miss out on the playoffs for the first time in URC history.

But a hard-fought 19-17 win in Edinburgh was the start of the recovery and they have now won eight of their last 10 matches in the competition. The confidence is back and the prospect of a home quarterfinal has the Bulls squad chomping at the bit.

Loose forward Mpilo Gumede is one of the newer faces in the Bulls’ first-choice URC 23 this year and the former Sharks man is enjoying the building of pressure that comes with knockout rugby.

“It’s been special for me. People always say the Bulls are the club to be at because they are chasing trophies, so I’m not surprised by where we are now. But it hasn’t been easy and we are aware of how much tougher it’s going to get. But it’s good for me, I can only challenge myself by seeing where I am compared with the best.

“It hasn’t been a consistent season for us, but we didn’t let that define us and we have gone from strength to strength by sticking to the plan and trusting the process. It’s also shown how close we are and how we fight for each other. No-one wants to be the one who lets the team down.

“Everyone is coming in to Loftus in the morning and giving their best. We are in it to win it and I think we are peaking now. It was tough, the way the season started, losing half-a-dozen games in a row, it has not been an easy turnaround. But we are a big club and we are expected to deliver, we understand where we are.

“We can reflect now on where we have come from, we have been through the worst. But the environment is unbelievable, it does not feel like we are just there to do a job. Each time I wake up and go to training it’s special because of the gees. We never speak down to each other, we stick together,” Gumede told kenborland.com.

While Gumede is treading new ground as a professional rugby player, it is not the first time wing Sergeal Petersen has found himself in the heat of knockout rugby. Having won the URC trophy with the Stormers in 2022, he famously scored two tries in the semifinal between the Bulls and Leinster two years ago in Pretoria, including a sensational matchwinning effort when he leapt in the air to claim a kick against a much taller player.

The 31-year-old flyer also believes the Bulls have much more certainty now in their ability to perform under the high stakes pressure of the playoffs.

“We have been through a rollercoaster but the fact is we are now at the business end of the season and it feels like we have kicked on and gelled at the right time. It was a bit stop-start to begin with under a new coach, but now is the time for us to start producing the goods, starting with a vital game on Saturday.

“We want to give ourselves the chance of a home semifinal by getting another bonus point win. I think we’re peaking now, we had a successful tour, winning two games, and it’s time to hit our straps now. After the start we had, our mindset every week has been that we know we’ve got to rock up. We know we’ve been focused because we’ve had to strive to win every game.

“Playing for a team like the Bulls, there is so much expectation to perform every time we go on the field. We believe we can take on any team and no-one in the squad has any doubts in themselves. There is so much trust in the leadership team,” Petersen told kenborland.com.

Petersen, who has racked up 85 appearances for the Cheetahs, Stormers and Bulls, says the key to success in the playoffs lies in executing the basics to perfection.

“Simplicity is now the most important thing. We’ve got the playing depth and the rugby knowledge of these situations – we have World Cup winners and Currie Cup winners and players and coaches who have been involved in URC and SuperRugby finals.

“It’s all about simplicity and execution now. We can’t look too far ahead, but anything can happen in the finals. The road we’ve been on has ensured there’s no complacency,” Petersen said.

Following the URC campaign, several players who have become folk heroes at Loftus Versfeld will be leaving the club – tighthead powerhouse Wilco Louw, the totemic lock Ruan Nortje, backline stalwart David Kriel and exhilarating winger Kurt-Lee Arendse are all departing.

Gumede said those remaining are determined to send them off with the trophy they have come so close to winning but which keeps slipping agonisingly from their fingers.

“Those guys have fought for the jersey for a long time, someone like Ruan wants us to win so badly. So we want to make a special moment for them, those guys who have been trying to win the URC from the start of the competition. We want to make sure we send them off nicely,” Gumede said.

Leinster are in pain, according to Leo Cullen, after their disappointing exit at the semi-final stage of the United Rugby Championship, but the head coach said the group are still confident they have the ability to continue winning trophies.

Leinster were edged out 25-20 by the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday evening and are now trophyless for a third season, having also been beaten by Toulouse in a Champions Cup final that went to extra time.

The Bulls claimed the winning try in the 67^th minute when wing Sergeal Petersen used one hand to snatch an up-and-under out of the grasp of replacement centre Ciaran Frawley and dived over the line.

“It’s a sixth playoff game we have now lost and it is painful to go through, there is a pretty empty feeling in the dressing room. But there is still a strong belief in the group, as a club we are still highly ambitious and everyone wants to win trophies,” Cullen said after the gripping semifinal.

“It was an unbelievably tight game and really just a moment separated the teams, an aerial contest, just a hand in the air, so there was nothing in it in terms of the result. An individual moment won the game, we were all-square and then there was one big moment, an unbelievable piece of skill at the end.

“The players should be proud of their efforts, I cannot fault that or their character, but there are fine margins in knockout rugby. When you lose, you feel a million miles away, but in the Champions Cup final we were just a drop goal away from the win as well.

“We’ve had some special moments this season, but we’ve just not quite been good enough in the final or this playoff game. We’ve picked up experience of how to navigate at a tough place to come, but it’s disappointing to have the same result. Both of them have been one-score losses and we will go away and reflect, build and go again. Our focus will be on making sure we are better in the big moments. We will get back to work and we’re the ones chasing now,” Cullen said.

The Bulls made 163 tackles with an 88% success rate, compared to Leinster’s 126 at 86%, and the visitors also shaded possession and beat more defenders, leading Cullen to praise the home side for how well they stood up to the attacking pressure piled on to them. A crowd of more than 31 000 roared them on.

“You have to give the Bulls a lot of credit for the way they fought. They would get stuck into the contest, get back on their feet and barge the breakdown again. Defence was maybe the difference tonight, they showed more intensity and fight than us.

“We created lots of opportunities, but you have to give credit to the Bulls for the way they defended, they threw their bodies on the line. You could see the response from the Bulls players to the crowd, as it lifted up their energy.

“We pounded away on attack but the Bulls held firm. You have to give them a lot of credit for the way they stood up in defence. We were very close to breaking them, but we could just not quite do it,” Cullen said.

Leinster had absorbed a strong start to the match by the Bulls, keeping the first quarter scoreless before wing James Lowe crossed over for the opening try as a blindside move took advantage of a yellow card to Petersen for a deliberate knock-on.

But they were unable to build on that lead, with the Bulls levelling matters on the half-hour, and then stretching a 10-7 halftime lead to 17-7 with a try by Petersen two minutes into the second half. Although Leinster fought back to go into the last 15 minutes at 20-20, they were doomed not to add to their tally.

“When we went seven ahead we needed to ram home that advantage, but if you don’t get the back-field right then a guy like Willie le Roux is able to manipulate that and he exposed us with a 50/22.

“But then we were able to fight our way back into the contest and build more pressure, when we were 10 points down we actually had a dominant 15-minute period as our bench made a good impact. But there were a couple of big turnovers and vital moments, and then you don’t get that opportunity again.

“It’s frustrating that we had our chances, but in the first half we weren’t able to build a bigger lead and force the Bulls to play differently and chase the lead. We just made a couple of key errors,” Cullen said.

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.

Khaya Zondo was able to marry the experience he has in domestic cricket with a fighting spirit as he top-scored for the Proteas on another torrid day in their Test series against Australia on Saturday, and he is confident that he and his team-mates can do it again on Sunday’s final day to save the third Test in Sydney.

Zondo scored a career-best 39 in nearly two hours at the crease as South Africa struggled to 149/6 in the two sessions that were able to be played on the fourth day. That means they are still 127 runs short of avoiding the follow-on; they are likely to have to bat through 98 overs on Sunday, but they do have 14 wickets in hand on a pitch that demands watchfulness but is far from a minefield.

Zondo shared partnerships of 48 with Temba Bavuma (35) and 45 with Kyle Verreynne (19).

“We have one day to bat, we have done it before so I’m sure we can do it again,” Zondo said after stumps on the penultimate day at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The pitch is like the one in Pietermaritzburg, so it’s familiar to me as a Durban player.

“It’s not quick, there’s turn every now and then and it’s not reversing a lot. They are just using the crease and creating angles. The short ball doesn’t get up, so that is the only challenge from the perspective of facing the seamers. You’ve got to watch it and play instead of trying to get under it.

“The conditions dictate how you must play, whether the ball is turning or not, the pitch is quick or slow; and Temba and I felt out there that we needed to be quick on our feet, whether we were coming down the wicket or going back in the crease. Certain shots are better options,” Zondo said.

Although he is 32-years-old, Zondo’s sole real experience of Test cricket has been against the powerful English and Australian attacks, away from home and in often testing conditions for batting. His Test debut against Bangladesh last April came as a Covid substitute on the final day when South Africa had already completed their batting. His seven innings have now brought 120 runs at an average of 20 – figures that suggest he is worth persevering with, especially when compared to the returns of some of his colleagues who have been given more opportunity.

The Westville Boys’ High School product is feeling positive about his prospects, a mood he said is shared by his team-mates in the changeroom despite their miserable time in Australia.

“I’ve only had a short international career, I’ve only played England and Australia at their homes and those are two top attacks,” Zondo said. “But it’s been a good experience.

“It’s comforting to know that I am able to play against the best and hold my own. It’s just about spending more time at this level and then hopefully I can dominate one day.

“If I’m selected more, then I have to make sure I perform to play every game. The last year has been challenging, but if you can get through that then you can play at this level.

“For me it’s about taking every opportunity, playing as much cricket as I can get. If it’s first-class cricket, then I must go there and nail that; if it’s SA A games, then I must nail that,” Zondo said.