Ken Borland

In terms of experience, Bulls tighthead prop Mornay Smith may seem ill-equipped to take on the might of Stormers and Springbok loosehead Steven Kitshoff this weekend in their Rainbow Cup match in Cape Town, but the 23-year-old has been on a roll lately and he says he is “not having sleepless nights” about the prospect.

Smith has marked himself out as a top-class talent for the Bulls, having come on as a replacement for Springbok Trevor Nyakane in some crunch games and shown that he can bear the heavy responsibility of being the cornerstone of the scrum on his shoulders.

He started last weekend against the Lions and did well, but is likely to be back on the bench on Saturday with Nyakane expected to play. But with the marvellous Kitshoff generally playing deep into the second half, Smith could well get his first chance to scrum against one of the world’s best.

“It’s the first time I’m playing against the Stormers because last time we played them I was out injured, and I have never scrummed against Kitshoff before. It’s going to be a very big challenge, but it’s lekker to play against the No.1 loosehead, to measure yourself against him. It all depends on what he gives me on the day, but I’m not having sleepless nights about it.

“Every prop has his own way of doing things and you have to read what your opponent is giving you, you must counter whatever picture he is showing you. Now that I’ve had a few games off the bench, I’m just trying to get as much experience as possible. It’s a long season so I don’t feel that much pressure on me and it’s nice that the props around me have much more experience,” Smith said on Wednesday.

Thanks to his parents being big Bulls supporters, Loftus Versfeld was always the destination of choice for Smith as he attended Hoerskool Eldoraigne and played age-group rugby for the Bulls, from U12s to U21s.

“My parents were always big Bulls supporters so I always wanted to play for the Bulls, it was a big dream of mine. So they are very proud and going forward now we will just see what happens. I’m still fine-tuning my scrumming to get it right, there are a couple of small things that need more attention. But I’m taking it step by step,” Smith said.

The Sharks team announced by Sean Everitt on Friday for their preparation fixture against Griquas in Durban on Sunday spans the gamut of experience from captain Jeremy Ward, in his fifth season at Kings Park, to his centre partner Murray Koster, who will don the Black and White for the first time.

But the two most interesting selections are at openside flank and flyhalf.

James Venter has been out of action for the duration of the post-Lockdown season, but the 24-year-old was in superb form a year ago in Super Rugby. The No.6 flank was rightly praised for his ability to cover the field from side-to-side and his skill at the breakdown. And then he got injured, opening the door for Dylan Richardson, who performed the fetcher role so well he was one of the finds of the 2020/21 season.

But Venter is back now and has the chance to remind everyone of his qualities as he adds to the Sharks’ loose forward depth.

“James has got experience and unfortunately he was injured at the start of Super Rugby Unlocked, then he got concussed and then he caught Covid. So it was not a happy end-of-season for him. But he will bring leadership and experience and he is, of course, a fantastic rugby player,” Everitt said on Friday.

Manie Libbok can do things on a rugby field that can make a spectator squawk with delight, but all his previous appearances for the Sharks have been at fullback. Now he gets to call the shots at flyhalf, his opportunity coming as Curwin Bosch, one of the heroes of the last season, gets a well-deserved break. How Libbok handles the pressure of an abrasive Griquas defence in his face, as opposed to the space he gets at fullback, will be interesting to see.

“Manie was signed as a utility player and we actually didn’t expect him to play so many games at fullback, but Aphelele Fassi got injured. And then when Manie was meant to be getting a run as a replacement flyhalf against Griquas in Kimberley last year in Super Rugby Unlocked, Anthony Volmink got injured and he played fullback again.

“But flyhalf is Manie’s favourite position and he’s trained very well there, it’s just with Curwin in such good form he never got a chance. But last year against the Hurricanes, Curwin missed the game because of a family bereavement and we struggled without him because we haven’t really been able to build a second flyhalf who can challenge him,” Everitt explained.

Sharks team: Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok, Jeremy Ward (C), Murray Koster, Anthony Volmink, Manie Libbok, Grant Williams, Phepsi Buthelezi, Thembelani Bholi, James Venter, Hyron Andrews, JJ vd Mescht, Michael Kumbirai, Kerron van Vuuren, Khwezi Mona. Bench – Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuka Mchunu, John-Hubert Meyer, Reniel Hugo, Mpilo Gumede, Jaden Hendrikse, Jordan Chait, Thaakir Abrahams.

With the Bulls having the experience of Arno Botha and Jacques van Rooyen on the bench, and a Springbok scrumhalf in Embrose Papier sitting alongside them, and the Lions fielding six forwards amongst their reserves, five of them relatively inexperienced, Bulls coach Jake White said on Thursday that he is confident his team will have the edge when it comes to the closing stages of their Currie Cup semi-final in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Lions will have a well-travelled reserve prop in Ruan Dreyer, but Jan-Henning Campher, Carlu Sadie, Reinhard Nothnagel, Wilhelm van der Sluys and Francke Horn are all still making their way at this level and White quickly seized on the composition of the visitors’ bench.

“When I look at the Lions, I see six forwards on the bench so that’s how they’re going to finish and I don’t think those guys have played a game together as a pack. They said they’re going to run the ball but they only have two backs on the bench. So it’s going to be hard for them to play from side-to-side and it’s a big risk with six forwards who haven’t played together before.

“So that will present opportunities for us as well, our preparation has been very good and we are full of confidence. We’ve won most second halves in the matches we’ve played, so by that measure we are a team that finishes well. We can change things around and not just be one-dimensional. We’ve beaten the Lions, Sharks and Western Province twice so there’s no reason for us not to be confident,” White said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Bulls starting line-up announced on Thursday is pretty much the first-choice team White would have had in mind a few weeks ago. The exceptions are at lock and hooker, where Sintu Manjezi and Schalk Erasmus have cracked the nod.

Promising 25-year-old second-rower Walt Steenkamp is still fighting his way through the Covid return-to-play protocols, while Erasmus is the heavier of the two hookers – 108kg to the 98kg of Johan Grobbelaar – and thus will start to bolster the scrum, where the Bulls will have to weather an early onslaught from the Lions.

“Walt is still not 100% in terms of the return-to-play protocols. Our medical team is very proactive and has lots of concern for the players, so his welfare comes first, we won’t take a chance and they are 100% sure that he’s not quite back where he should be. Schalk scrummed with Lizo Gqoboka and Trevor Nyakane last game and I just thought it was easier to keep them together.

“With Grobbies, Jacques and Arno on the bench we have a bit more senior, experienced heads to finish. We have the luxury of having Jacques on the bench, who is a great asset, but Lizo is a Springbok and has played many times with Trevor. They’ve been working with scrum coach Daan Human and the feeling was they are a settled combination,” White said.

Bulls: David Kriel, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Stravino Jacobs, Morné Steyn, Ivan van Zyl, Duane Vermeulen (C), Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Sintu Manjezi, Trevor Nyakane, Schalk Erasmus, Lizo Gqoboka. Bench – Johan Grobbelaar, Jacques van Rooyen, Mornay Smith, Jan Uys, Arno Botha, Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Marco Jansen van Vuren.

Coming to Loftus Versfeld is normally a daunting experience for Stormers teams, but captain Siya Kolisi said the build-up to their SuperFan Saturday match in Pretoria was more like a throwabout in the park. Until the actual rugby started, of course.

Rugby returned in South Africa after six months, with the Stormers beating the Lions and the Bulls thumping the Sharks behind closed doors at Loftus Versfeld. No spectators meant little atmosphere, but the players made up for it, not only through their obvious enthusiasm to be back playing again, but also in surprisingly good skill levels after all that time without contact.

The Bulls were especially impressive, running in seven tries in a dazzling 49-28 win over the Sharks, while the Stormers’ powerful first-choice pack set up a 34-21 win over the Lions, whose young second-stringers actually pulled the three-time Super Rugby finalists back into contention.

“I actually told the guys during the warm-up before the game started that it doesn’t feel like we are at Loftus, but it rather felt like just another training exercise until the actual match started. Previously playing at Loftus for the Stormers there was always interaction and chats with the fans, which added to the atmosphere, but this time there was no real banter there.

“Even sitting on the bench one could feel there is no crowd noise and it showed us we should never take anything for granted. It showed us once again how special our supporters are and how much we miss them, but it was also good to start playing again after being out of the game for six months, which wasn’t easy,” Kolisi, who finished clinically for a try while standing on the wing, said.

Bulls captain Duane Vermeulen said the lack of spectators meant he had to generate his own ardour, but the Springbok eighthman was soon back in business smashing opposition ball-carriers away from the gain-line.

“We wanted to just focus on what we have to do, but it was certainly a different feeling walking out on to Loftus and not hearing any noise. You would have heard a penny drop if someone had actually been there to drop one. The atmosphere is what charges you up, it gives you more energy, so it is so much nicer to play with a crowd.

“The one thing is you can actually hear the coaches shouting from the box so you know exactly where to go and what to do … ”, a smiling Vermeulen said.

Before both games, SA Rugby broadcast a statement recommitting themselves to their Rugby Against Discrimination And Racism campaign they launched last July in collaboration with the South African Human Rights Commission, stating they are “committed to an environment where all are welcome, irrespective of race, colour, creed or gender.”

The Sharks took to the field before the start of their game wearing T-Shirts that said “We say not to racism” and some Lions players took a knee in solidarity with Black Lives Matter before their match.

Many of the players who locked horns at the weekend will now be team-mates this coming weekend as two Springbok ‘trials’ teams, Green and Gold, will clash in a farewell game for the famous old Newlands stadium in Cape Town.