Ken Borland

A triumph on the road is always a boost, but what you gain from winning at home and making the DP World Wanderers Stadium a fortress for the #PrideOfJozi is probably even more important, given the length of the CSA T20 Challenge.

So says DP World Lions men’s bowling coach and South African cricket legend Allan Donald, whose own career was linked so massively with the Bullring.

The DP World Lions may have gone down by four wickets in the last over to the Dolphins at Kingsmead in midweek for the first loss of our campaign, but Donald preferred to give credit to the opposition rather than worry about a rare off night for the team in one of the most difficult places in the country for visiting teams.

As such, our Pride, and Donald especially, are really keyed up for two massive home games coming up this weekend, against the Momentum Multiply Titans on Friday evening and the in-form World Sports Betting Western Province team on Sunday afternoon.

“It looked a beautiful pitch in Durban, absolute gun for batting, but then it nipped a little and it was tough to hit down the ground. The Dolphins bowled exceptionally well to use that bit of nip, and for us to get to 155 I thought was really good,” Donald said.

“We took two early wickets but then Bryce Parsons played magnificently and he had really good support at the end, he took his chances against spin. And yet we still managed to take it to the last over against a side that knows how to play there, it’s a tough place, and all credit to them because they were zero-for-two in the competition.

“But this competition is a marathon and you need to be very patient. Now we have two derbies against the Titans and Western Province that are always very closely-contested, and I think they are going to be two absolute crackers based on the pitch we had against the Rocks.

“We’re coming up against two quality teams and home games are massive. I expect a run-fest and whoever defends best will win. It will be a battle of inches and the bravery and execution and skill of the players is going to be tested to the limit,” Donald said.

Rickelton took advantage of an excellent wicket in the DP World Lions’ opening match against Boland to blaze his way to 75 off 39 balls, and his clean striking will again be a key factor at the Wanderers on Friday and Sunday.

But it is a revitalised Temba Bavuma who is top of the national averages after his fluent 53 not out off 40 balls against the Dolphins kept the Pride in the game. Rassie van der Dussen and Reeza Hendricks have also made good runs in the T20 campaign already and Mitchell van Buuren showed his progression in the shortest format in the SA20.

“Temba batted exceptionally well on a slow pitch and Mitchell was batting beautifully too. Winning at home is a massive deal and I’m sure all those guys are going to step up,” Donald said.

With batsmen expected to hold sway, it is perhaps the wicket-taking ability of the attacks that will be vital in stemming the flow of runs. For the DP World Lions, there can be no-one better than the graceful Kagiso Rabada, with the action as smooth as silk but delivering lethal weapons, to lead their attack.

Left-arm quick Kwena Maphaka will be alongside him again and the 17-year-old has made an incredibly smooth transition to senior domestic cricket.

“It’s so nice to see the national team players like KG turning out for us, it really gives the team a boost and they bring a lot of calmness,” Donald said. “And the more I watch Kwena, the more I realise he is just something else. He’s only 17 years old but he’s not scared, he doesn’t take a backwards step.

“It’s going to be great to see how he does and it’s going to be a wonderful festival at the DP World Wanderers this weekend. It won’t be easy to defend, we’ll have to be extremely smart and decision-making is going to come to the fore. When things are really tight, which is likely against two very good teams, that’s when you need to be on the money,” Donald said.

Notwithstanding the continued frustrations of Covid, there is very good reason for New Zealand to host both their forthcoming Test matches against South Africa at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch: The ground is a fortress for the Black Caps.

The Proteas were originally scheduled to play the second Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, but because the series will be played in a bio-bubble – New Zealand are currently battling the spread of Omicron – both matches are now in Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island.

And since the Hagley Oval became the venue of choice for international matches in Canterbury in 2014, New Zealand have lost just one of their 10 Tests there – against Australia in 2016. They have been in rampant form in their last four games there – beating Bangladesh and Pakistan by an innings, India by seven wickets and Sri Lanka by 423 runs.

Speaking of rampant, opening batsman Tom Latham has scored 864 runs at an average of 57.60 in nine Tests at Hagley Oval, while ferocious 6’8 fast bowler Kyle Jamieson has taken 22 wickets at 13.36 in three Tests there. Which suggests pace and bounce will come into play.

South Africa have only played two Tests in Christchurch, both of them at the old Lancaster Park rather than Hagley Oval. They won by an innings in 1932 in the inaugural Test between the two countries and then drew in 1999 when Herschelle Gibbs cruised to 211 not out and Jacques Kallis stroked 148*.

The success of Jamieson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult (both of whom average 21 at the ground) at Hagley Oval suggests the Proteas pacemen will be as happy as the songbirds in the adjacent botanical gardens.

But there has also been heavy run-scoring at Hagley Oval, with both Latham and Kane Williamson scoring big double-hundreds in 2022 and 2021 respectively, and there have been six other scores of more than 150 since 2014.

So that will please a South African batting line-up that might be getting a bit frustrated with the extremely sporty pitches they have had to play on at home in recent years.

The Proteas leave for New Zealand on Wednesday evening and the first Test starts on February 17.

It may have just been written in the stars or it may have been because the Bulls were forced to use the away changeroom at Loftus Versfeld, but Jake White was almost resigned to the inevitability after he suffered his first defeat as the home coach at the famous fortress at the weekend as they were beaten 30-26 by the Stormers in their United Rugby Championship derby.

The Bulls started poorly, trailing 0-18 after half-an-hour, but then stormed into a 26-18 lead with 12 minutes remaining. Only to let the game slip as the Stormers scored two brilliant late tries.

“They are refurbishing our changeroom so we had to use the away changeroom, and the team in that room doesn’t usually win here,” White quipped after the defeat. “But it’s my first loss at Loftus Versfeld and it’s not great.

“I was hoping the crowd would be a catalyst, they were making such a noise that we could hear them on the field. It’s disappointing we did not do them justice.

“But to sum the game up – we found a way to lose. We didn’t show enough composure, which previously we’ve been really good at. After the fightback and then taking the lead, we conceded silly penalties which was disappointing.

“Usually we find ways to win, we squeeze and squeeze and generally then put the opposition away. But today there were just lapses of concentration. We were never going to win every game at Loftus Versfeld,” White said with more seriousness.

With the Bulls, considered the dominant force in South African rugby after winning successive Currie Cups and the Rainbow Cup, languishing second-from-bottom on the URC log, perhaps that is why their players performed with an air of frantic desperation at times. The Stormers were presented with plenty of turnover opportunities and were in clinical mood, taking their chances with aplomb.

“Despite losing our tighthead prop [Mornay Smith] to his first carry of the game and Deon Fourie being very good on the ground, we still created opportunities to get around them and scored four tries.

“But then we also knocked-on a metre from their line or gave away penalties there. We gave them a couple of 22-entries and they scored twice. We were a bit hasty at times when we had them on the ropes.

“But after being 18-0 down, to score 26 points from there shows we’ve got to have something as a team. I’m very proud of the comeback and we must just find a way to learn from the defeat.

“So we will dust ourselves off and go back to work on Monday. The only way to get things right is to work hard. Credit to the Stormers for sticking to it for 80 minutes and scoring a couple of long-range tries,” White said.

The hapless Bulls were forced to kneel in submission to the might of the Crusaders as they were thrashed 62-24, suffering their biggest ever defeat at their Loftus Versfeld fortress, in their SuperRugby match on Saturday night.

It is both the most points the Bulls have conceded at home and the biggest losing margin, worse than their 56-28 defeat at the hands of the Blues in 2003.

As brilliant as the Crusaders were, the Bulls were utterly supine, their defence passive and lacking any of the fire they had spoken of in the week leading up to the match. Their attacks invariably started from so deep that they were seldom any real threat to a Crusaders side that is playing magnificent rugby at present.

There weren’t many lineouts in the game, but scrummaging was once again the bane of the Bulls’ lives, with that set-piece being destroyed with regularity by a Crusaders tight five led by stalwart Wyatt Crockett. Aimless kicking, poor defensive alignment and bad basic skills were some of the other failings to bedevil the Bulls.

As dismal as the Bulls were, the Crusaders deserve huge credit because they are playing proper rugby at the moment – strong in the set-pieces, direct with plenty of pace and power out wide, their execution is immaculate and coach Scott Robertson is clearly getting a new-look side to play with confidence while thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Outside centre Jack Goodhue, a former All Blacks Sevens player and Junior World Cup winner, was the central figure in the Crusaders’ enforcement of their huge dominance of the advantage line. His decision-making was outstanding, knowing exactly when to carry the ball, which he did with pace and great footwork, and when to put through clever grubbers which ripped the Bulls apart. Two tries were just reward for a powerful display.

The soft defence of the Bulls was obvious in the opening minutes when flank Pete Samu, bursting from a scrappy lineout, was tackled but then just let go inside the 22, allowing the Australian to regather the ball and storm over the line for the opening try. The heart of the Bulls has to be called into question because everyone expected them to come out breathing fire, playing with great physicality to at least make the Crusaders’ expected win tough to achieve.

The scrums were a disaster area for the Bulls with the Crusaders employing the tactic of shifting to the left immediately after the hit. Bulls captain Adriaan Strauss admitted after the game that it was a clever strategy and entirely within the law, the home side just not coping with it.

The Bulls attack is running from deep so often that it is always going to be a huge uphill battle for them to get over the advantage line. The Bulls’ backline is certainly a threat on turnover ball but the lack of vision and skill is also so apparent. A key moment in the game came in the 19^th minute when the Bulls created space out wide for fullback Warrick Gelant, who raced down the touchline and then fed the ball inside to Piet van Zyl. The scrumhalf had a man on his inside and outside, but held on to the ball too long and the move broke down. Tian Schoeman then missed the resulting penalty. It was the sort of chance that is a certain try for every New Zealand team and it would have made the score 10-14 to the Crusaders.

The bench did at least make some impact for the Bulls, with Jan Serfontein and replacement flyhalf Francois Brummer, in particular, showing that the way forward may well include them in the starting line-up.

Points scorers

Bulls – Tries: Jesse Kriel, Jamba Ulengo, Jan Serfontein. Conversions: Francois Brummer (3). Penalty: Tian Schoeman.

Crusaders – Tries: Pete Samu, Tim Bateman, Scott Barrett, Jack Goodhue (2), Seta Tamanivalu, David Havili, Richie Mo’unga, Andrew Makalio, Mitchell Hunt. Conversions: Mo’unga (5), Hunt.