Ken Borland

Western Province snatched a last-minute 31-29 win over the Free State Cheetahs in their Currie Cup match in Bloemfontein on Saturday, in what may turn out to be a landmark moment in the careers of flyhalf Tim Swiel and tighthead prop Neethling Fouche.

The 27-year-old Fouche is a journeyman who went from Grey College in Bloemfontein to the University of Pretoria, but failed to cement a place with the Bulls. He then joined Western Province but has again only enjoyed sporadic appearances. On Saturday, coming on as a replacement for the formidable Frans Malherbe, Fouche conceded a scrum penalty to Free State’s behemoth loosehead Boan Venter, which allowed the Cheetahs to snatch a 29-28 lead.

But with the final hooter imminent, Western Province were awarded a scrum and Fouche managed to turn the tables and win a penalty against Venter.

Step up Swiel, also 27 and who played nine times each for Western Province and the Sharks, before heading back to England, where he was born, in 2014 to play for Harlequins and Newcastle. He returned to Cape Town this year but initially had to play second fiddle while the more flamboyant talents of Damian Willemse were tried at flyhalf.

But on Saturday, from 49 metres out and on an angle, Swiel was able to land the penalty and keep Western Province on course for a home semi-final; if he had missed, they would have slipped to fourth on the log and been in danger of missing the playoffs all together. His kick has also ended Free State’s hopes of defending their Currie Cup title.

Swiel had earlier landed six other penalties as Western Province punished the ill-discipline of the Cheetahs and took a 23-9 lead after 53 minutes.

But then Free State wing Rosko Specman made his mark, first of all sparking the counter-attack, Venter showing his all-round skills with a good run and slick hands, which allowed the home side to kick a penalty to touch, setting the rolling maul from which hooker Wilmar Arnoldi scored.

Two minutes later, fullback Clayton Blommetjies fielded a kick ahead by Western Province around the halfway line and sliced through a gap in the chase line, before feeding Specman, who raced away to score and suddenly the match was all square at 23-23.

It was an astonishing comeback because for most of the first hour, Western Province had looked in firm control. Their industrial-strength scrum and the Cheetahs’ own ill discipline was earning them a steady flow of penalties. As the first half came to an end, it was still a tightly-fought contest on the scoreboard though with the visitors only 12-9 ahead.

But a massive eight-man scrum allowed Swiel to kick a penalty deep inside the Free State 22. Hardworking loose forward Jaco Coetzee then burst around the front of the lineout and, with the Cheetahs expecting a maul, there was only one defender in front of him, the poor scrumhalf, and he blasted over for the try to give Western Province a 17-9 lead at the break.

Two offsides penalties early in the second half stretched that to 23-9 and the contest looked over. But Free State mounted a ferocious comeback and Western Province were hard-pressed to hold their nerve in the end.

Scorers

Free State Cheetahs – Tries: Wilmar Arnoldi, Rosko Specman. Conversions: Francois Steyn (2). Penalties: Steyn (5).

Western Province – Tries: Jaco Coetzee, Bongi Mbonambi. Penalties: Tim Swiel (7).

*Lions fullback Tiaan Swanepoel will return from Nelspruit with 22 points in his property as he spearheaded their 33-25 win over the Pumas on Saturday.

The hard-fought triumph means the Lions are still in the hunt for a home semi-final, with Swanepoel’s two tries and four penalties playing the major role in that.

*The Sharks posted a comprehensive 47-19 win over Griquas in Durban which ended their two-match losing streak.

They are now level with the Lions on 33 points, two points behind the Bulls and Western Province.

Next week’s matches between the Bulls and Lions and Western Province and the Sharks will be crucial in deciding who gets home semi-finals.

According to coach Jake White, the Bulls team expected a “bollocking” from him at halftime in their Currie Cup match against the Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, but a return to the basics saw them romp to a 40-13 victory in the second half.

The Bulls started the match well, racing into a 13-3 lead in the first quarter, but they then allowed the Cheetahs to dictate affairs and the visitors had pulled level at 13-13 at the break.

“Just before the game I think I gave them a bit of a scare when I told them a thunderstorm could stop the match so we needed to be in front at halftime. We were up 13-3 but then we started defending and waiting for halftime. I think the guys were a bit scared of the weather, they were a bit naïve and psychologically it’s part of the learning process.

“I think they expected a bollocking at halftime but I just said that we had had no ball but when we did have possession we created pressure in their half. I just told them to go back to what they had practised, to believe in it. And in the second half everything worked, we definitely got it right. It was very pleasing, very good rugby and the bench impact was very good too,” White said after the win.

White said his team continues to learn how to come out on top in different match situations.

“Last week we had to show massive character to win with 14 men against Western Province and this week we had to work really hard in the second half and go hard to the end to get the bonus point. Overcoming these sort of challenges are all building blocks, it goes in the memory bank and it’s another box ticked. There’s that understanding how to get it done and the direction.

“Trevor Nyakane is a World Cup winner, he comes on and all of a sudden we get a scrum penalty and that changes the whole game because the scrums are very important. Duane Vermeulen played well and spoke well to the team, he brings massive composure. Nizaam Carr also brought composure and Morne Steyn was good too, it’s very good to have him back in the system,” White said.

The Bulls produced a telling mix of power in the tight phases and slick attacking play in the second half to run away with their Currie Cup match against the Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, eventually romping to a 40-13 victory.

The Bulls started like a house on fire, cruising to a 13-3 lead after the first quarter, but the Cheetahs, taking advantage of their impressive scrum and some errors in judgement by the Bulls in their own territory, dominated the rest of the first half and the score was level 13-13 at halftime. And that was with the Free Staters wasting a few opportunities for more points.

But with Trevor Nyakane replacing Marcel van der Merwe at tighthead prop after 34 minutes, the Bulls shored up their scrums, their lineout work was excellent and they contested very well on the Cheetahs ball, they used the rolling maul to good effect and were clinical in forcing turnovers and then capitalising on them.

Having been sucked into playing the way the Cheetahs wanted to in the first half, the Bulls once again showed that when they stick to their game-plan, they are tough to beat.

Openside flank Marco van Staden went to town at the breakdowns, was prominent in the mauls and carried the ball strongly, being rewarded with two tries and the man of the match award.

Other heroes for the Bulls were flyhalf Morne Steyn with his educated boot, which netted him a perfect six-from-six record from two conversions and four penalties, as well as gaining the home side plenty of territory with pinpoint accuracy. He did go through a bit of a distracted phase in the second quarter though, his mistakes allowing the Cheetahs to pin the Bulls in their own half.

The experienced hands like captain Duane Vermeulen, flank Arno Botha and Steyn led from the front in ensuring the Bulls returned to basics, and coach Jake White followed his urgent introduction of Nyakane by bringing on lock Ruan Nortje and scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl early in the second half, both of them making a difference in lifting the energy of the home team.

The Free State Cheetahs certainly extended the Super Rugby Unlocked champions more than the final scoreline suggests, but for all their valiant efforts, they were simply not accurate enough, handling errors and soft penalties costing them dearly.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Embrose Papier, Marco van Staden (2), Chris Smith. Conversions: Morne Steyn (2), Smith (2). Penalties: Steyn (4).

Free State Cheetahs – Try: Rynhardt Fortuin. Conversion: Francois Steyn. Penalties: Steyn (2).

The Sharks team look to flyhalf Curwin Bosch for direction and on Friday night against the Free State Cheetahs at Kings Park they also received a matchwinning performance from the Springbok, according to coach Sean Everitt.

The Sharks bumbled their way to a 19-13 win in a Super Rugby Unlocked match that was strewn with errors from both sides, and it was Bosch who hauled the home team over the line by slotting all five of his kicks at goal, bombarding the Cheetahs with towering up-and-unders and also providing the pinpoint crosskick for the decisive try by replacement wing Madosh Tambwe.

“When you have a flyhalf like Curwin then the team look to him for direction and he did an excellent job. His kicking was pinpoint and the chasers did very well too. Curwin is playing with a lot of confidence at the moment and if we get the contestable kicking right then we are a very difficult team to play against.

“We like to play what’s in front of us and Curwin is vital for that. The Cheetahs had good line-speed and they put him under pressure, but he won that battle and with his kicking game he’s able to counteract that rush defence,” Everitt said after the hard-fought win.

While the television broadcaster’s staff gave the impression that conditions in Durban were ideal, Everitt confirmed that it was in fact a typically humid summer’s evening on the sub-tropical east coast, which partly explained the multitude of basic errors made by both teams.

“They were difficult conditions and it was a very physical contest. In order to combat the humidity, we went for contestable kicks and they were extremely difficult to handle. The conditions were very similar to the early rounds of Super Rugby at the start of the year and it was very difficult to hold on to the ball,” Everitt explained.