Ken Borland

A stubborn refusal to ever concede defeat has been in the genes of several Bulls sides, but the current group showed extraordinary determination and perseverance as an 84^th-minute drop goal by flyhalf Chris Smith snatched them a 30-27 victory over the Sharks in a thrilling United Rugby Championship quarterfinal at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Sharks had fully matched the Bulls in an enthralling and feisty first half which ended with the scores locked at 13-13. But the visitors seemed to have let the genie out the bottle when they conceded two tries in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.

Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee rounded off a period of concerted pressure for the first try, and then great work by outstanding fullback Canan Moodie and scrumhalf Zak Burger down the blindside earned the home side a lineout inside the Sharks’ 22. After a maul and some big carries, the Bulls went wide and centre Cornal Hendricks cut back inside to score.

But far from being brought to their knees by scoreboard pressure and altitude, the Sharks fought back superbly and finished strongly, a wonderful try by replacement loose forward Sikhumbuzo Notshe, and Curwin Bosch’s brilliant angled conversion, levelling the scores at 27-27 with five minutes remaining.

But Coetzee then won a vital turnover penalty deep inside the Bulls half. The lineout was set after Smith’s lengthy touchfinder, and the Bulls marched inexorably forward until they were under the Sharks’ poles. Tired bodies were smashing against each other at close range, neither side willing to give up, but then the ball was sent back to Smith, who slotted the winning drop goal to go with three conversions and two penalties in a perfect kicking display.

Before that, the Sharks had looked the more likely winners in the final quarter, their outside backs flourishing as they made the game more loose. Notshe’s try was a sublime effort as Lukhanyo Am, Ben Tapuai, Phepsi Buthelezi and Henco Venter had somehow kept the ball alive down the left touchline without much seeming to be on, and the Springbok then snaking over as the Bulls defence was caught offguard.

Earlier, the ever-threatening Makazole Mapimpi had taken the Sharks to the Bulls line with his magic basically disappearing three defenders, and scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse then dummied and dived over from the ruck to begin the remarkable Sharks comeback. A storming run by brilliant eighthman Buthelezi had put them on the front foot.

The Bulls started the first half slowly as they made soft mistakes, but the second quarter would see them start to get into their game.

They scored the first try, very much against the run of play, through Madosh Tambwe, rounding off a spectacular intercept by Moodie, but the Sharks soon replied with a rolling maul try by hooker Bongi Mbonambi.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Madosh Tambwe, Marcell Coetzee, Cornal Hendricks. Conversions: Chris Smith (3). Penalties: Smith (2). Drop goal: Smith.

Sharks – Tries: Bongi Mbonambi, Jaden Hendrikse, Sikhumbuzo Notshe. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (3). Penalties: Bosch (2).

Shakib al-Hasan ensured that there was no shelter for a lacklustre South African bowling attack as his scintillating 77 carried Bangladesh to their highest ever total on South African soil and thereafter their first victory here as they beat the Proteas by 38 runs in the first ODI at Centurion on Friday night.

Shakib’s classy 64-ball innings led Bangladesh to 314/7 after they were sent in to bat, well above average (276) for a day/night game at SuperSport Park and the tourists’ second-highest score against South Africa anywhere, behind their winning 330/6 in the World Cup match at the Oval in 2019.

Shakib came to the wicket in the 22^nd over after openers Tamim Iqbal (41) and Liton Das (50) both faced 67 deliveries and gave Bangladesh a solid start by putting on 95 for the first wicket off 133 deliveries.

Shakib provided tremendous impetus as he dominated the middle overs with wonderfully clean striking and a plucky, pugnacious attitude that saw him back himself to take on the short-pitched deliveries and also to improvise cheekily as well.

He had the perfect ally in Yasir Ali, who, having scored just a single and a duck in his previous two ODI innings, made his maiden half-century, also landing some great blows in a nifty 50 off 43 balls. Shakib and Yasir added 115 for the fourth wicket off just 83 deliveries.

If the Proteas were to harbour any hopes of making what would have been the second-highest total ever batting second at Centurion, then they needed a similarly solid top-order display.

But instead they slumped to 36/3 as Taskin Ahmed (10-1-36-3) and left-armer Shoriful Islam (8-0-47-2) bowled with tremendous fire and energy up front.

It was in stark contrast to the Proteas bowlers who only took their first wicket in the 22^nd over, and then leaked 91 runs in the last 10 overs. One imagines the wicket-taking skills of wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi may well be employed in the second ODI, while unavoidable questions will continue to be asked about the exclusion of Sisanda Magala, arguably South Africa’s most skilful death bowler, on fitness grounds.

The determined duo of skipper Temba Bavuma (31) and Rassie van der Dussen attempted to rebuild the innings with their fourth-wicket stand of 85, but Bavuma was bounced out by the fiery Shoriful.

Van der Dussen battled on with characteristic tenacity, adding another 70 with David Miller, but he was caught at deep backward square-leg off Taskin for 86 off 98 balls.

There is no more passionate finisher of innings than Miller, but he was left with way too much to do on his own, his sumptuous 79 off 57 balls deserving more support from his team-mates.

Keshav Maharaj (23) and Lungi Ngidi (15*) hit three sixes between them as they had some fun at the death with a 34-run last-wicket stand that took South Africa to 276 all out.

Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz benefited from the wild slog at the end to claim 4/61, but the damage had been done by his splendid pace bowlers.

Dale Steyn not only always played his cricket with immense passion and skill, but with enormous soul, and now that the life of a professional cricketer is no longer fun for him, one of the greatest fast bowlers that ever played the game announced his retirement from all formats on Tuesday.

Steyn’s Test record ranks amongst the greatest from any era. In 93 Tests, South Africa’s leading wicket-taker claimed 439 wickets an average of just 22.95 and a strike-rate of 42.30.

It is that strike-rate and his record away from home (164 wickets in 37 Tests at 24.23) that sets him apart. Of the 79 bowlers who have taken 200 Test wickets, only compatriot Kagiso Rabada (41.20) has a better strike-rate. And no other fast bowler has made as big an impact on the subcontinent, Steyn taking 92 wickets in 22 matches there at an average of 24.11.

“It feels like I actually retired a long time ago. Not playing regularly, you lose the passion. You train for six weeks and sit in quarantine for 10 days to play in a tournament that gets cancelled a week later. There’s no fun in travelling anymore and I think half the reason I did so well overseas was because I enjoyed travelling, meeting people, enjoying different places and learning.

“Fitness-wise I have no issues, no niggles, so I am able to play still, I just don’t want to in that sort of environment that is now the ‘new normal’. The IPL last year wasn’t great with not one person in the crowd, and then I went to a couple of other T20 leagues – Sri Lanka was very difficult and Pakistan was the same thing; bubbles get breached and you have to leave,” Steyn told The Citizen on Tuesday.

While the 38-year-old admitted that he will miss the game too much to stay away for too long, for now he is looking forward to the freedom to enjoy all the outdoors and fun pursuits he enjoys.

“I will still be involved somewhere because cricket is all I know. I have skills to offer that I believe can help a good player become great, I just need to learn how to do that. But for now I might just let cricket slide a bit, I want to enjoy life for a while. As a player, I felt my hands were tied – I couldn’t just go skydiving because it wasn’t allowed by my contract.

“Covid has taken away a lot, but I’m looking forward to having the freedom every normal person has. I’ve always been with team-mates since I was 13/14 years old and I will miss that. But I’ve still got my dogs!” Steyn said.

The Springbok team culture is so good at the moment that no-one would ever question the hunger or desire of the team but, as they now head straight into a gruelling Rugby Championship starting with Saturday’s Test against Argentina at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, the management will be asking in private whether certain players will be needing a break over the next couple of matches.

Three ferocious clashes with the British and Irish Lions would have not only taken a massive physical toll on the players, but mentally as well, the players have been through an emotional rollercoaster. The outpouring of emotion after the gripping series-clincher last weekend in Cape Town was a graphic description of how much it meant to the squad to win.

It would be entirely understandable for that incredible high to be followed by something of a downer, perhaps just a flatter week in terms of intensity. But Argentina are no longer the sort of side one can afford to slacken off against and the Pumas will be fancying their chances of upsetting the world champions on their home turf, just as they did in Durban in 2015.

But Springboks forwards coach Deon Davids said on Monday that dealing with any potential mental or physical fatigue has been part of their plan from the beginning of the season.

“Obviously we celebrated our achievement on Saturday night, but because of the professionalism of the squad and the preparation we have done before, the focus was quickly shifted on to the next task. It was important as coaches that we brought that reality as soon as possible, and we have done that. We had earlier given the players an idea of our planning going into this week.

“So we trained full-out today, it will be a normal Test week. The players understand the importance of the Rugby Championship, we are the defending champions and we obviously want to be successful. We have a bigger squad because we’ve just come from a very tough series and there are a couple of niggles and injuries. We want to assess our depth in the Test matches going forward,” Davids said.

The interesting conundrum is how many of the players who started all three Tests against the Lions will the Springboks dare to rest against an Argentina team that beat the All Blacks once and drew twice with Australia last year, playing all their matches away from home.

There are some players waiting in the wings who can obviously step in and do the job though against the Pumas.

Willie le Roux, as solid as ever at the back, could take a break to give Aphelele Fassi another chance to shine, while Jesse Kriel could get a start and break up the brilliant midfield combination of Lukhanyo Am and Damian de Allende. Elton Jantjies might get a well-deserved run at flyhalf.

It is the forwards, as ever, who have shouldered the greatest burden and players like Franco Mostert, Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth made immense contributions. No-one could begrudge them a break and it will be exciting to see Duane Vermeulen make his return. Kwagga Smith and Marco van Staden have largely played off the bench and Lood de Jager is probably still building to peak match fitness.

Ox Nche is set to make his return from injury after his impressive first Test against the Lions, and between himself and the superb Trevor Nyakane, who one fancies still has a bit left in his tank, they can cover loosehed prop more than adequately, allowing Steven Kitshoff a break. Frans Malherbe, who battled hard through all three Tests, could perhaps do with a week off as well.

At hooker, Malcolm Marx said on Monday that he is eager to keep going.

“There are a few sore bodies and mentally it has been a bit draining, but we did not play together for over a year and I know I am still hungry to keep going, regardless of the body being sore or how mentally tired I am,” Marx said.