Ken Borland

DURBAN, KwaZulu-Natal – For the second day in a row, Louis Albertse found himself at the top of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series leaderboard alongside Adilson da Silva as they go into the final round of the Mount Edgecombe event.

Albertse teed off in the afternoon on Friday and the 25-year-old from Dundee once again matched the veteran Brazilian all the way after Da Silva had come home in two-under 35 in the morning. The pair both shot one-under-par 69s in blustery conditions to go to five-under for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Ockie Strydom.

Although the rain that was an irritation on the first day had disappeared, there were gusty winds and rather fresh temperatures to contend with on Friday.

But Albertse, who is now in his fourth season on tour, felt at home, not only in the tricky weather but also being right in the mix at the top of the leaderboard.

“Conditions were not easy but I felt I handled them very well. In these conditions there are always going to be mistakes, but I’m happy that I’ve ended the day in a good position. There was no rain this afternoon, but the wind was definitely a factor. In my last six or seven holes it really picked up and it was a bit cold as well.

“At times the wind meant a difference of three or four clubs, and at this place when that happens then anything under par is good. I will approach the final round exactly the same, I’m playing nicely and there’s no need to change anything. Both my bogeys today were putting errors on the par-fives, which was really surprising because I’ve been putting well. I’ve played with Adilson before and he’s a really nice guy,” Albertse said.

With finishes of T10th, third (a career-best finish at the SunBet Time Square Challenge at Wingate Park), T42nd and T12th since the beginning of August, Albertse has risen to 21^st on the order of merit. He is certainly playing with more consistency now, which he puts down to the work he has done with strength and conditioning coach Jacques Swarts.

“I think my recent success is a factor of a lot of things coming right at a similar time. But with Jacques Swarts I’ve been working really hard in the gym for the last couple of years and since that I’ve become a lot more consistent because my body feels good throughout a tournament. It’s small things added together which have led to more consistency,” Albertse said.

Strydom, a winner of the Sishen Vodacom Origins of Golf Series leg in 2019, closed to within a shot of the leaders with his two-under-par 68 on Friday, which featured a double-bogey six on the 11^th hole and two other dropped shots, which were nullified by three birdies on each loop.

CJ du Plessis made a strong move into the tie for fourth on three-under-par with his 67, with experienced golfers Lyle Rowe, Anton Haig, Trevor Fisher Jnr and Hennie Otto lurking with intent on two-under-par with several other golfers.

Scores – https://sunshinetour.com/tournament-information/?tourn=VOWC&season=221S&report=tmentry~season=221S~alphaorder~#/profile

Apart from the daunting task of trying to make the Rainbow Cup final, the Sharks are adamant that they cannot brook the thought of the Bulls beating them on their home turf when they meet in the crunch final round of South African Pro14 fixtures in Durban on Saturday.

In order to top the South African standings and get to travel to Italy to take on Benneton Treviso, the Sharks have to win the game with a bonus point and deny the Bulls any log points. And they need to do that with a side weakened by what coach Sean Everitt described as “a few niggles we are trying to push through”.

Because of that, their bench will only be announced on Friday, “once we have more clarity on injuries”, but the starting line-up revealed on Thursday is missing wing Sbu Nkosi and loose forward Henco Venter and there are concerns over the two reserve props, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Wiehahn Herbst.

But Everitt says the Sharks will not be lying down even if their Rainbow Cup hopes are dashed because they have endured some painful defeats in Pretoria over the last year and they don’t want to suffer the same fate at home.

“Psychologically it’s important that we lead on the scoreboard at the end of the day, and I’ve told the players that we first have to win the game anyway and then go for the bonus point. The players want to make Kings Park a fortress, although we narrowly let that slip against the Stormers. They were disappointed with how we went down in the last 20 minutes of the last game against the Bulls in Pretoria.

“But we have also won games coming from behind at the death and the players want to show their character. It’s important we get one over the Bulls regardless of whether we qualify for the final or not. We were narrowly beaten by the Bulls in the Currie Cup final and we want to bounce back and turn the tide against them. The energy and motivation this week is the best it’s been,” Everitt said.

After the impressive win over the Lions last weekend, it has taken a bit of finesse in selection for Everitt to both reward the players who shone at Ellis Park and reintegrate his Springboks.

“We took a changed team to the Lions, where we had to get the bonus point win which is never easy, and the guys really turned up and did very well. So this is another opportunity for many of them and they are good enough for that, we just want to build on that performance.

“But it’s also about my relationship with the international players and I never question their efforts. They got us to where we are now, many of them are world champions and a guy like Lukhanyo Am is our captain who has played well every week,” Everitt said.

Sharks – Aphelele Fassi, Anthony Volmink, Lukhanyo Am (C), Marius Louw, Makazole Mapimpi, Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Thembelani Bholi, Siya Kolisi, Hyron Andrews, JJ van der Mescht, Khutha Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Khwezi Mona. Bench: *To be confirmed.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt praised his new-look outfit for an excellent performance as they beat the Lions 33-21 at Ellis Park to set themselves up for a virtual semi-final against the Bulls in next weekend’s final round of the Rainbow Cup.

Needing to win with a bonus point to keep their hopes alive, the Sharks fielded a team with 10 changes to their starting line-up and scored five tries to three to hold off a Lions side that showed impressive tenacity and intent, but struggled at the breakdowns and at lineout time.

“It was a massive challenge with all the changes and Covid disruptions, and it’s never easy coming to Ellis Park and beating a Lions team that is on the up and playing some superb rugby. But we have worked hard on the things that were not working in our game and it was a really pleasing performance by the pack and the backs did well with the platform laid for them.

“I knew that there would be no lack of energy because there were a lot of excited youngsters champing at the bit to play. Manie Libbok and Boeta Chamberlain haven’t played for a while, Werner Kok was in a different position, Makazole Mapimpi was back and unbelievable, and Anthony Volmink was outstanding at fullback. This result gives us a lot of confidence,” Everitt said after the game.

While Everitt will have the services of all his players in the Springbok squad for the decisive match against the Bulls in Durban next Saturday, if the Sharks make the Rainbow Cup final then their resources are going to be stretched extremely thin with nine players away in the national camp.

“The depth of the squad will be tested, but on the other hand it’s great for those players to get the opportunity. We’ll choose our strongest possible team for next weekend because we are in with a very good chance of making the final. We need to score four tries and win the game and we haven’t lost yet to the Bulls in the last year at Kings Park.

“We know the Bulls have improved and they always find a way to win, especially when their bench comes on. We lost our last match against them at Loftus but you need to put the whole game in perspective. We just unravelled in the last 20 minutes and they scored four soft tries,” Everitt said.

Quinton de Kock’s five weeks away from cricket – during which time he was relieved of the national captaincy – will come to an end at the Wanderers on Tuesday and both the Proteas and the Titans will be hoping he burns as brightly as magnesium oxide in the final round of Four-Day Franchise Series matches against the Imperial Lions.

De Kock looked in desperate need of a break when he was dismissed for  duck in the second innings of the second Test in Pakistan on February 8, and he no doubt enjoyed all the fresh air and the miles of beaches near his George home when he returned to South Africa.

But it has not been all easy living for the 28-year-old since his last match, with Titans coach Mandla Mashimbyi revealing on Monday that De Kock has been working hard in the nets as he prepares to return to action as the Titans look to nail down their place in the four-day final. The Proteas coaching staff will also be watching because Pakistan will be back here in April for ODI and T20 series.

“Quinny has been lively and he looks happy to be back. He’s been working hard in the nets and has been hitting balls for days. He looks very hungry to do something for the team,” Mashimbyi told The Citizen.

The presence of De Kock, as well as another international wicketkeeper/batsman in Heinrich Klaasen, significantly boosts the Titans batting line-up and there will be white-hot action in store as Kagiso Rabada spearheads the Lions attack.

Rabada’s Proteas new-ball partner Lungi Ngidi is not quite over the knee niggle he picked up in the closing stages of the T20 competition in Durban, so the Titans attack should be much the same to the one that played against the Knights last week.

The Wanderers pitch was the subject of much debate last week as Dolphins left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj recorded the second-best figures ever at the famous ground, his 13 for 174 being second only to Rabada’s 14 for 105 against the KZN side in 2014/15, but Wandile Gwavu, the Lions coach, said the wicket was a good one and he expects the same sort of surface for this game.

“It offered a little bit of turn and Keshav was always going to find it, he once again showed why he is the country’s No.1 spinner, although we should have played him better. But it also offered a lot for the seamers and was good for batting once you got in, and there was a bit of rough on the fourth day.

“This pitch looks very similar, so it should be an evenly-balanced game, although there is a crack or two that could open up in the heat, even though there is a lot of grass covering,” Gwavu said.

While the Titans, who are 14.16 points ahead of the Warriors, are the favourites to win Pool B, the other pool is coming down to the most thrilling of conclusions with the Knights, who visit the Cape Cobras, just 1.16 points ahead of the Dolphins, who travel to play the Warriors.

The two pool winners will contest the final from March 25.