Ken Borland

A cricket ball that had had 116 runs belted off it by the opening batsmen was a pivotal item of lost property at SuperSport Park on Sunday as the Dolphins staged an impressive comeback against the Titans.

Having won the toss and batted, the probable Proteas opening pair at the same venue on Boxing Day, Aiden Markram and Dean Elgar, showed their class as they reached 92 without loss at lunch.

The runs were then flowing after the break when Markram unleashed a powerful straight drive for four off Daryn Dupavillon. Bizarrely, the Dolphins then could not find the ball and, after several minutes, a change of ball was ordered by the umpires.

And it proved a turning point as Elgar was caught in the slips off Ottneil Baartman in the next over for 52. Worse was to come in Dupavillon’s next over when the fast bowler got his hand to another fierce straight drive by Markram, deflecting the ball on to the stumps and running out Neil Brand for a duck.

Former Northerns star Ruan de Swardt then took over, removing the in-form Markram for 75 with the help of a superb catch at gully by Andile Phehlukwayo, and the seamer finished the day with career-best figures of four for 41 in 15 overs, nipping the ball in and out, as he did to great effect when he had Diego Rosier caught behind for 27.

With left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj getting some late reward for his lovely bowling all day, the Titans closed on 269 for nine. Maharaj ended the first day with figures of 23-9-48-3, winning his battle with Theunis de Bruyn (22), before Dayyaan Galiem denied him late in the day with a crucial contribution of 45 not out.

Batting at St George’s Park is even tougher, with the match between the Warriors and Cape Cobras looking already as if it is heading for an early finish.

The Warriors were bowled out for just 194 after winning the toss and batting, thanks in the main to Rudi Second’s 55.

Spinner George Linde wrapped up the tail to finish with four for 52, but Akhona Mnyaka (9-2-34-2) and Calvin Savage (15-7-23-2) were the chief threats.

The Cobras then struggled to 72 for three at stumps, but opener Pieter Malan, who is unfortunate not to be in the Test squad, is still there on 35 not out, along with Kyle Verreynne on 21*.

Glenton Stuurman, who is hoping for a Test debut after Christmas, was a handful up front, taking two for nine in nine overs.

In Bloemfontein, the Knights scored 327 for six after batting first, with Raynard van Tonder the only batsman to flourish, scoring a phenomenal 180 not out off just 226 balls against the Imperial Lions, the defending champions.

Van Tonder, who also has reason to feel hard done by with his exclusion from the Test squad, certainly gave the selectors more to think about as he stroked 23 fours and two sixes. No-one else scored more than 28 as pacemen Lutho Sipamla and Tladi Bokako took two wickets apiece.

Jake White was clearly having a bit of a laugh when he said his Bulls team might go to Newlands on Saturday and not kick at all in their Currie Cup opener against great rivals Western Province at Newlands, but the canny World Cup winning coach has already had the last laugh with the way he has turned things around at Loftus Versfeld.

White has always given a good press conference because he is engaging, loves a chat and he is not averse to playing a few mind games, especially before the big matches. In domestic terms, it seldom gets any bigger than the Bulls against the Stormers/Western Province, the famous north versus south derby.

Probably the most impressive feature though of White’s coaching at Loftus Versfeld has been the way the Bulls have shown the ability to play different kinds of rugby. The general expectation when he arrived in Pretoria was that the Bulls would play a conservative brand of rugby, going back to their old strengths of almost 10-man rugby: a powerful pack dominating the tight exchanges and then the halfbacks kicking the leather off the ball and the stuffing out of the opposition.

And while White has recently been giving hints that they will need to perfect the conservative approach once they start playing in the Pro16 competition in the miserable European winter, the Bulls backs have been playing with a new-found verve and sparkle. Sevens Springboks seem to be having a much bigger impact in XVs these days, but White has gone further than most in choosing three of them in his backline – Kurt-Lee Arendse, Stedman Gans and Cornal Hendricks.

White has never been a great publisher of his strategic thinking in the build-up to his campaigns, but there was barely a hint of Hendricks’ move to inside centre before it happened in the official opening friendly of the season, the Bulls’ game against the Sharks on SuperFan Saturday.

While many viewed the decision with trepidation – especially those used to the normal big bruisers who have played inside centre for the Bulls – White’s eye for talent and shrewd rugby brain has once again been proven because Hendricks has been a revelation in the No.12 jersey. He has been the key to the exciting backline play they have produced, while he has also shown no signs of vulnerability defensively.

The thing about White is that he is a true student of the game and his attention to detail is second to none; from prop to fullback, the coach will be very precise in what he wants from his players.

It has been remarkable how the Bulls have gone from the lower reaches of the 2020 Super Rugby log, winning just one of their six matches before Covid-19 struck, to the champion team in South Africa, but that’s what happens when hard work is backed up by tactical excellence and a coach who has the experience and nous to get the little things, that make such a big difference, right.

While White’s lateral thinking has taken him to the perimeters of rugby wisdom at times, he also puts great store in the importance of the basics. Little wonder then that in his recruitment and his selection thus far he has concentrated on building the most physically intimidating, formidable pack in South Africa. Their dominance of the gain-line has been key to everything else they have tried to do on the field.

There are many who wrote White, who will turn 57 in two weeks time,  off as one of the antiques of world coaching, but the value of having an experienced, well-travelled coach – he has also worked in Australia, France and Japan – has become very apparent at Loftus Versfeld.

A great forward-planner, White has also worked hard in his position of director of rugby to put together structures for the entire Bulls system. The art of coaching is not about gimmicks or fancy moves, but mastering the basics.

White seems to be doing that at Loftus Versfeld, and a powerful Bulls team is good news for South African rugby as a whole.

Jake White has always had an attachment to big, physical players, but the new Bulls coach was most excited about the attacking flair on offer from the several whippets in his squad when he named his roster on Thursday for their SuperFan Saturday match against the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld.

The squad includes two Springbok Sevens players in Stedman Gans and Kurt-Lee Arendse, and there are other players like Gio Aplon and Jade Stighling who make up for their lack of size with the size of their talent.

“I’m told I usually only like big okes and that we’re only going to play like the Bulls used to,” White said ironically, “but these are little guys with lots of skill and pace and I’m really excited about them. Watch this space!”

The other selections that the former World Cup winning Springbok coach seemed particularly excited about where that of 19-year-old loosehead prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who is 6’3 and 120kg and spent a season with Clermont Auvergne in France, and, at the other end of the spectrum, veteran flyhalf Morne Steyn.

“Jan-Hendrik reminds me of Os du Randt and he will be a Springbok, there’s no doubt about it. We need to give him a chance to develop and playing with Springboks this weekend and learning about senior rugby will be a great experience for him before the U21 tournament starts next week,” White said of the former SA Schools and Grey College star.

“I’ve never worked with Morne Steyn before and when he was flourishing in South Africa, I was overseas. I did watch his progression at Stade Francais, where he won championships with them, and he’s just an unbelievable team guy, full of energy. He’s a lot more athletic than people think and the older he’s got, the more he understands what he can and cannot do. He looks after himself, he’s very fit and he’s a great role-model. There’s no doubt he still has a massive role to play at the Bulls and he’s exactly the sort of general we need,” White said of the 36-year-old, who has 66 Test caps and three Super Rugby titles to his name.

The Bulls will be without the exciting front row expertise of tighthead Marcel van der Merwe, loosehead Lizo Gqoboka and hooker Johan Grobbelaar, who are all unfit for play at the moment. Grobbelaar has had a particularly unfortunate time, having his appendix out seven weeks ago and then catching the Covid-19 virus, but White said the 22-year-old will be back in the fray soon.

Given the recent history of underperformance at Loftus Versfeld, the maiden season under White will see the expectation levels start at a high level. But the coach stressed that the weekend’s hit-out is not so much about the result as getting the combinations right for when the Super Rugby local competition starts and also ensuring they develop some continuity.

“We have lots of options on Saturday, but we’ll probably start with the ‘team’, see how the combinations go and then try out others in a match situation. So far we’ve been running moves with both teams knowing the plays against each other, so it will be nice to try them when the opposition does not know them. But the most important thing is the combinations.

“Saturday is all about continuity as well, especially if we lose some players to the Springboks, who have a trial next week. It’s important to remember we finished last in Super Rugby and seventh in the Currie Cup, we’ve won one out of six games this year. So we can only go up, but we do still have expectations on us. But I think the pressure is on everybody, the Sharks have been front-runners and far above everyone else,” White said.

Squad – Gio Aplon, Jade Stighling, Cornal Hendricks, Stedman Gans, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Clinton Swart, David Kriel, Travis Ismaiel, Stravino Jacobs, Morne Steyn, Chris Smith, Ivan van Zyl, Embrose Papier, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Duane Vermeulen, Nizaam Carr, Tim Agaba, Arno Botha, Muller Uys, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Juandre Kruger, Jason Jenkins, Sintu Manjezi, Trevor Nyakane, Mornay Smith, Corniel Els, Schalk Erasmus, Jacques van Rooyen, Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

When Australia arrived in South Africa for their four-Test series, it was billed as the battle of the bowling attacks, and it was the Proteas who had the gas required to take 80 wickets, while the tourists could claim just 70 wickets as they went down 3-1.

So just how did South Africa manage to bowl Australia out in all eight innings of the series?

“Firstly, you’ve got to have good fast bowlers and we’re lucky that we do, and they’re good in any conditions. And then you add Keshav Maharaj to the mix and Lungi Ngidi came in and made his mark as well. There were guys putting their hand up all the time.

“Kagiso Rabada was Man of the Series, but I was especially pleased with Vernon Philander. I set him a challenge at the start of the series and he exceeded it, he bowled the overs and got the wickets, so I’m delighted for him. It’s a shame to see Morne Morkel go with the way he’s bowling at the moment, he’s a handful for batsmen,” Proteas coach Ottis Gibson said.

The solid batting performance was also down to the unit as a whole performing, with four different batsmen getting centuries.

Gibson said he was also especially pleased by the way his team handled the controversies and enmity that would burn through the series, until Australia arrived at the Wanderers a beaten side.

“One thing I focus on all the time is keeping the focus on the cricket. It was disappointing that after every game the story was never about the cricket. We lost the first Test badly and we needed a strong statement and we did that. But still our performance didn’t take centre stage, even though we had played really well.

“They were playing under the whole pressure of not winning a series against Australia here since readmission, fixing that was our goal and focus, and after not being at our best in Durban, the guys said it’s okay, there are three Tests left. It was a fantastic performance, with youngsters Aiden Markram and Kagiso Rabada leading the batting and bowling, but when we needed to see the experienced players come through, they did that. We performed across the board,” Gibson said.

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-gauteng/20180405/282325385537518