Ken Borland

If Jake White is the professor of rugby here in South Africa then Duane Vermeulen is surely the dean when it comes to wise counsel for the players. And the duo teamed up on Friday to plot the downfall of the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship final in Cape Town on Saturday.

Not only is Vermeulen, who played for White at the Bulls in 2020 and 2021, one of the most respected wise old heads in South African rugby, but he also has all the knowledge from last weekend’s semi-final when his Ulster team only just went down to the Stormers via a conversion after the hooter.

“Duane is coming to eat with me just now and then he will come to captain’s practice with me this afternoon,” White revealed on Friday. “I will show him our lineouts and he can explain how Ulster felt they stopped the Stormers maul so well last weekend.

“It’s going to be incredible input to have to help us close down their maul as the lineout drives are going to play a big part in the final.”

The fact that Vermeulen is also a Stormers legend and is now in the enemy camp is not going to sit well with the Cape Town faithful. But change is the one constant in life and how the Stormers adapt to the shifting strategic needs during the final will perhaps be the deciding factor in who becomes the first URC champions.

White, who named an unchanged team on Friday, is confident that the Bulls have the game-management skills to fit their tactics to the situation and the expected bad weather.

“This team has found a way to win in different ways, they are clever enough to work out how to win while they’re on the field,” White said.

“They have continually learnt lessons. Last time we were here against the Stormers we didn’t play well, our heads were in another place and the players admitted that. But finals rugby is different.

“We faced unbelievable conditions last week against Leinster, but we found a way to play. Against Connacht we experienced playing against the wind in the first half and in the second half.

“The coaches have done enough work, the scenario planning has all been done. What the players have learnt has given them confidence for the final,” White said.

The World Cup winning coach also said the much-vaunted Stormers scrum, which he admitted was one of the home team’s key strengths, would not be the advantage it should be because of the unstable turf of the Cape Town Stadium.

The canny coach made a plea to the referee, Andrew Brace, to not let the result be decided by a penalty for a collapsed scrum.

Bulls: Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cornal Hendricks, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Chris Smith, Zak Burger; Elrigh Louw, Arno Botha, Marcell Coetzee (captain), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. Replacements – Bismarck du Plessis, Simphiwe Matanzima, Robert Hunt, Janko Swanepoel, WJ Steenkamp; Embrose Papier, Morne Steyn, David Kriel.

An Ulster team featuring the services of Duane Vermeulen, who played a key role in the revival of fortunes at Loftus Versfeld, will come to Pretoria and play Test match rugby on Saturday, according to Bulls coach Jake White.

Ulster are currently second in the United Rugby Championship and will be looking to grind out a win in the heat and altitude of Loftus Versfeld, where the Bulls have been formidable in winning their last three games.

“Ulster are all singing the praises for what Duane has added to their game and brought to their pack. But we know well how good he is,” White said on Friday.

“But we can’t focus on individuals and we need to all play well collectively, working together as a unit. There’s been a massive improvement in that as the weeks have gone on.

“Ulster will play similar to a Test match style, they maul and carry well, they have big forwards. And their defence is very strong too.

“It’s going to be a great challenge for us. They are second for a reason: they are organised and they have good players, playing a style that suits them. It’s going to be nice to see where we are against a team that has done very well,” White said.

Apart from the importance of the encounter, Ulster are expected to also be fired up over what they have classified as an injustice in their previous game, when they went down 20-23 to the Stormers with a late try controversially disallowed.

“It’s going to be a big game because Ulster are disappointed to lose last weekend against the Stormers and they will give everything,” White said.

The Bulls will be without scrumhalf Embrose Papier, one of the main success stories in last weekend’s win over the Dragons, because he is still going through the concussion protocols.

They will continue to back Chris Smith as the starting flyhalf, with what White described as “the luxury of having all Morne Steyn’s experience to come off the bench”.

And even though Saturday’s encounter is looking to be a tight one, White was hopeful that fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse could be a not-so-secret weapon for them on attack.

“We’re hoping we can use him differently when we’ve got the ball, try bring him into the game and not just wait for Ulster to give him the ball.

“As we’ve seen, he’s very difficult to stop when he’s on-song,” White said.

Bulls team:Kurt-Lee Arendse,Canan Moodie,Cornal Hendricks,Harold Vorster,Madosh Tambwe,Chris Smith,Zak Burger;Elrigh Louw,Cyle Brink,Marcell Coetzee (CAPT),Ruan Nortje,Walt Steenkamp,Mornay Smith,Johan Grobbelaar,Gerhard Steenekamp. IMPACT – Joe van Zyl,Simphiwe Matanzima,Robert Hunt,Reinhardt Ludwig,Arno Botha;Keagan Johannes,Morne Steyn,Lionel Mapoe.

A drop goal by Elton Jantjies, a crucial turnover by Duane Vermeulen, a powerful rolling maul and a penalty after the final hooter by the replacement flyhalf secured the Springboks an epic 31-29 win over the All Blacks on the Gold Coast on Saturday, in an heroic victory that was a triumph for South Africa’s determination and belief.

In a gripping finale following a brilliant Springbok comeback that saw them overturn a nine-point deficit, the lead changed hands three times in the last four minutes. Jantjies, who came on because wing Sbu Nkosi suffered a concussion and slotted in at flyhalf, with Handre Pollard moving to centre and Lukhanyo Am shifting out, made a telling impact and Springbok supporters can only wonder what could have been if he had played more.

Three New Zealand tries in the first 33 minutes saw them leading 20-11, but two penalties by Pollard either side of halftime cut the deficit to 17-20. And it was another belated replacement who sparked the surge that took South Africa into the lead – Francois Steyn came out for the second half at fullback in place of a struggling Willie le Roux and produced a brilliant 50/22 kick that gave the Springboks a lineout deep in All Blacks territory.

A midfield ruck was then set up and Faf de Klerk’s skip pass to Jantjies saw the wizard’s slick hands give wing Makazole Mapimpi the space to go over in the corner.

Jantjies then kicked a 58^th-minute penalty to stretch their lead to 25-20, before fullback Jordie Barrett slotted two penalties to put New Zealand back in front.

From the restart though, Steven Kitshoff bossed the collision and Jantjies snatched the lead back with a fine 48-metre drop goal.

But then the All Blacks used a short restart to gain a penalty by Barrett.

South Africa then conceded a scrum due to a short restart but, as New Zealand tried to carry for the last minute, Vermeulen pulled off a crucial turnover, allowing the Springboks to set the lineout inside the 22. The rolling maul made significant ground and a half-break by Pollard then saw the All Blacks go offsides at the next phase, Jantjies slotting the matchwinning kick.

The match started in tremendous fashion for the Springboks as a moment of sheer magic by Am, with a behind-the-back reverse-flip to Nkosi, set up Damian de Allende for the opening try.

They continued to create opportunities with a more balanced style of rugby, balancing their strong kicking game with some great use of ball-in-hand. But the All Blacks were more clinical and at 20-11 up after their third try, they looked to be heading to victory.

But then came the superb fightback and the reactions of veterans like Steyn, Jantjies, captain Siya Kolisi and Bongi Mbonambi showed just how much this win meant after a torrid Rugby Championship.

Scorers

New Zealand – Tries: Sevu Reece, Ardie Savea, Brad Weber. Conversion: Jordie Barrett. Penalties: Barrett (4).

South Africa – Tries: Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi. Penalties: Handre Pollard (4), Elton Jantjies (2). Drop goal: Jantjies.

Given the great rivalry that exists between the two teams, it would be stupid not to expect the Springboks to find some extra motivation against the All Blacks in Townsville on Saturday, especially since it is the 100^th Test between the only two sides to have won the World Cup three times, but South Africa’s veteran eighthman Duane Vermeulen said on Tuesday that he was approaching the milestone fixture as just another international.

Given their unfocused displays in the last two matches against the Wallabies and Vermeulen’s slow return to full fitness after ankle surgery, it is understandable that the 35-year-old does not want to be distracted by any of the fanfare this week.

“We will take it as just another Test match; yes, it’s the 100^th match against the All Blacks, but we want to compete in the Rugby Championship and try and still win that competition. We are playing New Zealand and we will go out and give it our best whatever the occasion; the fact that it is the 100^th Test is for the people who write books.

“We can only talk about the ‘now’, the past has gone but we just want to improve on last week. New Zealand play a whole different style of rugby to Australia and we have got to prepare accordingly,” Vermeulen said.

Since the first Test between the teams – coincidentally also 100 years ago on 13 August 1921 in Dunedin (NZ won 13-5), the All Blacks have won 59 times and South Africa have 36 wins, with four matches drawn. But since the return from isolation in 1992, the Springboks have only won 16 of 62 Tests.

Nevertheless, South Africa are still New Zealand’s greatest rivals with the highest winning percentage (36.4%) against them of all opposition. Due to the travel restrictions imposed by Covid, this match is being played in north-eastern Queensland. The Springboks and All Blacks have met at a neutral venue on four occasions, all of them during World Cups, and South Africa’s only win came in Cardiff in 1999, 22-18.

South Africa need to beat New Zealand in successive matches for the first time since winning three in a row in 2009 to regain the Freedom Cup, which the All Blacks took off them in 2010.

Brodie Retallick, the talismanic New Zealand second-rower who has never lost to the Springboks, said his team are certainly embracing the history of the occasion.

“You can’t underestimate them. We’ve talked about the fact that it’s the 100^th Test between the two nations and they are the World Cup champions, it’s the first time the All Blacks have played a World Cup champion in a long time. So we’re going out there to give it our best shot and hopefully take it to them.

“Where they’ve caught us the last couple of times, when they did, was through their line-speed defensively. They’ve outmuscled us and we haven’t been able to break them down through our attack and then they’ve punished us. So physically, you’ve always got the set-piece battle but you also have to deal with their line-speed,” Retallick said.