Ken Borland

The last time the Sharks hosted Griquas at Kings Park was at the end of July when their own indifferent finishing saw them lose an extraordinary match 37-27, and coach Sean Everitt has blared out the lessons from that upset all week ahead of their Currie Cup semifinal against the same opposition in Durban on Saturday.

Griquas received five yellow cards in that match and the Sharks were almost always playing with extra men. But they wasted numerous scoring opportunities, rather aimlessly bashing away at close quarters when varying the point of attack would have surely seen the incredibly brave Griquas defence crack open.

Maybe it was because they had just come back from Covid-enforced inactivity and the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal, but all in all, it was probably the Sharks’ most bleh performance of the season.

“A lot of lessons were learnt that day, especially how to deal with the opposition getting yellow cards and how to break down defences on the tryline. And we have built some momentum since then, I think we are a better team now and that result has had a lot to do with it.

“Everyone wants to be in a Currie Cup final, so motivation won’t be an issue and there’ll be no questions over energy. Our lineouts and scrums have also improved since we played Griquas the last time,” Everitt said this week.

In order to get the better of Griquas this time, Everitt said his team are going to have to bring a mixture of their ruthless counter-attacking ability and forward grunt that ensures the Sharks can get some fluency with ball-in-hand.

“Griquas have kicked the most in the competition, mostly through Stefan Ungerer, who is an accomplished scrumhalf, and George Whitehead, an experienced flyhalf. They manage the game well, they strangle and squeeze you and I’m sure they will come here and try and disrupt our style of play. I hope we can match their physicality and the breakdown is a massive area we have worked hard on.

“Our flyhalf [Lionel Cronje] and fullback [Curwin Bosch] need to function well, they complement each other, they’ve produced some really good kicking and they can attack too, especially when we split the flyhalf channel on either side. Hopefully we can get the phases going to be able to do that,” Everitt said.

The Bulls are in the healthy position of having a settled line-up and a well-established game-plan that works, and that is why coach Jake White says he is confident that if they play to the best of their abilities then they will see off Western Province in their Currie Cup semi-final at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.

Marcell Coetzee returns to captain the Bulls, with White happy he has been able to choose his strongest team. Western Province have been able to add more experience to their line-up with the return of Springbok hooker Scarra Ntubeni.

“The players are very confident because we have had a consistent game-plan through the year and it’s working for us. It’s important that the players are just relaxed and trust their preparation enough to get the result. This same group of players had the same pressure last year and they came through with flying colours. Plus we have added some wiser heads to the squad.

“So I really don’t need to say much to the team, we are where we want to be, which is exciting. I’m very confident that we have done the work and if we play as well as we can, then we don’t have to worry about being nervous. John Dobson said we have nothing to lose, but of course we are here to win the trophy. But we won’t go into the game thinking Western Province will just roll over either,” White said on Thursday.

When asked how the Bulls would counter chunky, in-form fetcher Deon Fourie, White simply said: “We’ve picked Marcell Coetzee”, and the Bulls loose trio is one of their great strengths. Veteran Arno Botha has been playing great rugby lately and eighthman Elrigh Louw has been one of the finds of the last year.

While White said Western Province locks Ernst van Rhyn and Johan du Toit deserve credit for stepping up during a second-row injury crisis, he pointed out that the Bulls have many locks to choose from and Ruan Nortje and Janko Swanepoel have grown considerably as players in the last year.

Lionel Mapoe and Harold Vorster are a well-established, experienced centre combination and their battle with Juan de Jongh and Dan du Plessis will be a meaty affair. Western Province have pace (Edwill van der Merwe) and power (Ruhan Nel) on the wings, up against the accomplished Bulls pairing of Cornal Hendricks and Madosh Tambwe.

Perhaps it will be Bulls flyhalf Johan Goosen though who will take control of the game and be the stand-out figure.

Teams

Bulls – David Kriel, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Johan Goosen, Zak Burger, Elrigh Louw, Arno Botha, Marcell Coetzee, Ruan Nortje, Janko Swanepoel, Mornay Smith, Schalk Erasmus, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima, Jacques van Rooyen, Jacques du Plessis, WJ Steenkamp, Keagan Johannes, Chris Smith, Stravino Jacobs.

Western Province – Sergeal Petersen, Ruhan Nel, Juan de Jongh, Dan du Plessis, Edwill van der Merwe, Tim Swiel, Paul de Wet, Hacjivah Dayimani, Marcel Theunissen, Deon Fourie, Johan du Toit, Ernst van Rhyn (c), Sazi Sandi, Scarra Ntubeni, Leon Lyons. Bench: Andre-Hugo Venter,, Dian Bleuler, Neethling Fouche, Justin Basson, Nama Xaba, Godlen Masimla, Rikus Pretorius, Tristan Leyds.

*The Sharks host Griquas at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday in the other semifinal.

Since comfortably dispatching the Lions 48-21 at Ellis Park four weeks ago, the Bulls have struggled to put away the other two teams who did not make the Currie Cup semi-finals – the Pumas and the Cheetahs. But Arno Botha, captain for those three matches, says he does not believe his team have lost any momentum ahead of their knockout game against Western Province in Pretoria on Friday night.

The Bulls needed their set-piece prowess to squeeze past an adventurous, passionate Pumas side 33-26 in Nelspruit, and then struggled to an uninspired, messy 39-36 win over the fast-finishing Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld last weekend.

“I don’t think we have lost any momentum. We need to look at a couple of technical things, we had a few slip-ups, but individuals have put their hands up, myself included, for those. They are small things that are easy to fix, coming from just a momentary lack of effort or concentration. Rugby is never going to be easy every week – we would have lost if we thought that,” Botha said.

“We have a very strong group of leaders who are very relaxed, but we all take responsibility. Being defending champions doesn’t matter, we always want to win every game and our focus is really just on one thing and that’s this weekend’s semifinal. We don’t look too far ahead, but we’re in a good place and looking forward to what’s coming.”

The hero of last year’s Currie Cup final triumph with two tries, Botha has been very much the senior statesman in the pack, which is young and extraordinarily willing. And nothing much damages the confidence of the hugely exciting crop of youngsters currently at Loftus Versfeld.

“When I go back to when I was 21 or 22, we were not where this group of youngsters is now, they are so far in front of where we were back in 2012. They are already comfortable in the system, some of them have played in a Currie Cup final already. You’re no longer young as a rugby player as soon as you lift that trophy and we are all learning so much from each other,” the tough Springbok loose forward said.

The Bulls have an abundance of riches in midfield as they plan for their Currie Cup semi-final against Western Province, but Cornal Hendricks, their most consistent midfield star, said they are preparing for a highly-competitive showing from the centres who will be visiting Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.

Centres Dan du Plessis and Springbok Juan de Jongh were in excellent form in Western Province’s crucial win last weekend against the Sharks, and they also have the powerful presence of Ruhan Nel as an option, the Springbok Sevens star playing on the wing in Durban.

“Western Province have a good, exciting backline and we need to give them credit for last week’s performance. They have Juan back to add experience to some special, exciting players. So we are preparing for good competition from them. Juan and Godlen Masimla [scrumhalf] both come from Wellington, but they must know who the King of Wellington is – it’s me!” Hendricks joked on Tuesday.

“Look, Harold Vorster and Lionel Mapoe are quality players as well, they have done well as a combination and Stedman Gans is also there. So we are pretty sorted at centre and myself and Marco Jansen van Vuren won the Currie Cup last season together at centre. We are all learning from Lionel, who has travelled a long road and what he brings for the team is unbelievable,” Hendricks added.

The 33-year-old’s miraculous return to rugby following a heart condition began in 2017 when he played for the Asia Pacific Dragons (under the Chinese Zodiac he was also coincidentally born in the Year of the Dragon – 1988) at the Hong Kong Tens under Heyneke Meyer, who first selected him for the Springboks in 2014.

That same resilience that saw him overcome a ‘death sentence’ for his career is what he has brought to the high-flying Bulls and he says his attitude is just to handle whatever Western Province, the weather or life throws at him in the coming days.

“Home is Home, we’re playing at Loftus Versfeld so rain or dew, it does not matter. We will adapt to whatever we get, we will take it as it comes. Jake White has been testing different combinations at centre, so if we have injuries then we know we have very good combinations there. I became a Springbok on the wing, so that position is always in the memory banks.

“I know I have the ability to go back there and if I do then all the old feelings just come back. I feel very good with my rugby, we are well-prepared and really looking forward to the weekend. I have no animosity for Western Province, I come from the Cape. And I don’t know when I will be able to play for the Springboks again, but that is always an honour,” Hendricks said.