Ken Borland

Nollis Marais was confirmed as the Bulls’ SuperRugby coach for the next four years over the weekend and he said he will continue with the enterprising new style of rugby he has introduced in the Currie Cup and which has taken the Blue Bulls to the brink of a home semi-final.

“Of course we will need to be more accurate in SuperRugby, but we’ll have more time to prepare than we did for the Currie Cup. We will change one or two things in the three months we have pre-season and there’s still a lot of improvement needed,” Marais said.

“It’s a huge surprise to be appointed because I only applied on the second-last day, but I’d like to thank my captain [Lappies Labuschagne] and the support of the fans and players because their backing is what got me appointed. I know there will be a lot of challenges and we have a lot to improve on for SuperRugby,” the 43-year-old said.

Bulls CEO Barend van Graan described Marais as “fearless” and a “straightshooter” who has “turned the tide at Loftus Versfeld”.

“He knows the players and understands them and they have adapted very well to his coaching style. The board and I have got a lot of faith in Nollis and that’s why we have given him a four-year contract. It gives him the opportunity to build,” Van Graan said.

Even though the Blue Bulls will go into the final round of league play in the Currie Cup with a firm hold on second place, four points ahead of Western Province, after their 48-27 win over the Eastern Province Kings at Loftus Versfeld, the match showed the improvement that is still needed by the young side if they are to be a force in Super Rugby.

The Kings went into half-time with a 20-17 lead having dominated the gain-line and been slick with ball-in-hand as they probed both the near and wide channels. The Bulls managed to up the intensity to produce an impressive second-half display, but the ability to play an 80-minute game still eludes them.

“The first half was a bit lacklustre, we made mistakes and they capitalised, and we only started to get momentum in the second half. The pattern needs to suit the players and we needed to play less expansively because we lost Deon Stegmann before the game and Jacques du Plessis had to move from lock to flank, when we wanted to play a quick game. We had to stick to playing the ball closer and not going wide and the best thing was the improvement in the driving maul. We put them under pressure with it in the second half and it paid off for us,” Marais said.

A dismal first half put all their hard work this year at risk, but the Blue Bulls came storming back in the second half to beat the Eastern Province Kings 48-27 in their Currie Cup match at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night to stay on track for a home semi-final.

The Bulls trailed 17-20 at half-time as the Eastern Cape side pondered a sensational victory in Pretoria, but two moments of dazzling brilliance by scrumhalf Francois Hougaard led to tries in the 56^th and 66^th minutes as the home side pulled clear for a comfortable bonus-point victory. With the Cape mourning her side’s 62-32 thrashing at the hands of the Lions at Ellis Park, the Bulls now have a four-point lead over Western Province heading into the final weekend of round-robin action.

The Bulls’ defence around the fringes was woefully absent in the first half as centre Tim Whitehead and flyhalf Elgar Watts scored tries after breaks by side-stepping wing Sylvian Mahuza and scrumhalf Enrico Acker respectively.

They came out a different side after coach Nollis Marais no doubt laid down the law in the half-time break, and they employed the rolling maul to good effect, with Lappies Labuschagne (twice), centre Dries Swanepoel and replacement flank Ruan Steenkamp all scoring from the drive, which also caused two Kings players to be yellow-carded – replacement front-rankers Edgar Marutlulle and Schalk Ferreira.

Hougaard’s own try was a scintillating 55m effort as he broke from the back of a retreating scrum and beat half-a-dozen defenders with blinding pace, while he broke blind from a lineout drive 10 minutes later, Steenkamp cracking on the pace before passing back to the scrumhalf, who juggled and stumbled but powered on to within a couple of metres from the line,  substitute prop Werner Kruger scoring from the resultant ruck.

Scorers

Blue Bulls – Tries: Lappies Labuschagne (2), Dries Swanepoel, Francois Hougaard, Werner Kruger, Ruan Steenkamp, Jacques du Plessis. Conversions: Tian Schoeman (4), Louis Fouche. Penalty: Schoeman.

EP Kings – Tries: Tim Whitehead, Elgar Watts, JP du Plessis. Conversions: Scott van Breda (3). Penalties: Van Breda (2).

Mfuneko Ngam points to the north-east and says “Vuyisa comes from that mountain over there”, referring to Vuyisa Makhaphela, the Warriors opening batsman and his home village in the foothills of the Amatole Mountains in Alice.

We were standing alongside the main cricket field of the University of Fort Hare rural academy that Ngam runs in the heartland of Black African cricket, shortly after Cricket South Africa and Momentum announced that they are going to invest significantly in the joint venture programme that is undoubtedly going to produce successors to the likes of international fast bowlers Ngam and Makhaya Ntini, both of whom come from the same area.

Earlier, Raymond Booi, the Border Cricket Board’s high performance coach, had pointed out Mdingi village, lower down in the foothills, where Ntini and more recently Aya Gqamane (who, according to CSA development consultant Greg Hayes “never missed the ball with his plank as a little youngster”) come from.

Thando Mnyaka and Somila Seyibokwe are also members of the Warriors squad who hail from the same area and have all come through the Fort Hare academy.

“Vuyisa gave up cricket, he wanted nothing to do with it. But I managed to convince him to come and register at our MSC Business College and for the last two years he has been with the Warriors,” Ngam says.
The educational aspect is a key component of the program, because not everybody is going to make it in top-class cricket, as Ngam stresses.
“We are trying to build holistic cricketers, they must study and play. When we first started, nobody wanted to study but these kids need to understand that they need something to fall back on. That also takes the pressure off them when it comes to playing cricket.”
As a company, Momentum have placed a special emphasis on education leading to financial wellness, and Danie van den Bergh, the head of brand, said the academy is a perfect fit.
“They’ve built a dream here, we love it and we have bought into it. It’s a common thread in Africa that education is a key to success and if we can link sport to education then we can leave a legacy long after our six years with Cricket South Africa are over. It’s about long-term values and spreading the love of the game to everybody,” Van den Bergh said.
Amongst the improvements recently completed at the academy are a residence for the 15 cricketers per year that are in the programme, indoor and outdoor nets, a pristine outfield, large sightscreens and an electronic scoreboard.
If this initiative could be repeated in all the provinces, imagine the talent that could be unearthed and, as CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat pointed out, the rural areas have also produced legends such as Dale Steyn and Lance Klusener.
But the one characteristic that most rural areas in this country share is that they are poor and the Eastern Cape is particularly hard up, judging by the condition of some of the roads and abandoned factories. But nevertheless they are rightfully proud of their history and what they have produced, including numerous great leaders starting with Madiba and Oliver Tambo.
“The University of Fort Hare has a rich history and people know about it without knowing where Alice is! A former ICC head, Ray Mali, comes from here, as do two former ministers of sport, Ngconde Balfour and Makhenkosi Stofile. There are also famous schools like Lovedale and Healdtown here.

“It’s a tower of knowledge but people in the Eastern Cape are so poor that they don’t benefit. But they’ve built a beautiful facility here where African cricket was first played,” Border president Thando Ganda said.

“We’re very humbled that CSA are using Fort Hare as a venue. We’re often second-best in Border but an academy like this, with its unified approach, is something different and we’re sure cricketers from here will now come out on top,” Noel Knicklebein, the university’s deputy registrar said.

The likes of Queen’s, Dale, Selborne and Hudson Park have a close relationship with the academy and boys placed in those schools have regularly made provincial teams. Two girls from the programme have gone on to represent the Proteas Women and eight other students have successfully completed their varsity degrees.

The hills of the Eastern Cape have once again started to provide memorable talent.

Hottentot Teal cruising around Marievale Bird Sanctuary

The Marievale Bird Sanctuary is a Ramsar-site whose vast reedbeds and multitude of open pools are home to thousands of waterbirds.

Perhaps the most regal of its denizens is the African Marsh Harrier, an uncommon raptor that spends most of the day gliding over the pools and reedbeds on the hunt for rodents and other tidbits.

The African Marsh Harrier spends half of its day in the air and it likes to get an early start, so there it was as the sun was rising on Human Rights Day setting off on the breakfast run as it quartered low over the reedbeds.

My wife and I had a fine view of this long-winged beauty as we sat with our morning tea on the balcony of our little chalet overlooking the wetland. Blackcrowned Night Heron, Grey Heron, Greyheaded Gull, Redknobbed Coot, Cape Shoveler, Whitewinged Tern, Whitebreasted Cormorant, Cattle Egret, Spurwinged Goose, Greater Flamingo and Glossy Ibis were all easily spotted from our chalet on the edge of the water.

Soon we were on our way, heading for the causeway over the Blesbokspruit. This tarred section is a wonderful spot because there are pools of water close-by on both sides of the road, as well as vegetation right up to the causeway.

On the way there, Redshouldered and Longtailed Widows were busy in the grasslands, Southern Masked Weavers were almost ubiquitous and the sexually dimorphic Amur Falcons were dotted along the power and telephone lines along the road.

A lone Swainson’s Francolin was out and about in the brisk morning air – 15° was the temperature for most of the day – and popping into the Hadeda Hide en route produced Little Egret and Reed Cormorant.

Both Yellow and Blackthroated Canary were enjoying the seeds of the many Docks (Rumex spp) along the road, before we turned west on to the causeway and the waterbirds came thick and fast.

Common Moorhen in one of Marievale’s open pools

Common Moorhen were swimming around the pools, Pied Kingfisher were hovering and diving for breakfast, Cape Reed Warblers were singing merrily as they worked their way through the reeds, African Jacana were standing stately on the lilypads and Whitethroated Swallow, along with Brownthroated Martin, were zooming about.

Purple Gallinule and Malachite Kingfisher were also around and, as we exited the car and walked towards the Otter Hide, a sleek, sinuous dark head rose from the water – it could have been considered reptilian except it had whiskers, and a little black nose and eyes – a Spottednecked Otter just where it should be!

Spottednecked Otter rising from the waters at Otter Hide

A handsome Hottentot Teal was also swimming around and Black Crake and African Darter were spotted too.

The open waters between the causeway and the picnic site also produced Redbilled Teal and Dabchick.

The northern section of Marievale takes you through productive wetlands on your left and open grassland on your right. Here Blackshouldered Kite and Hadeda Ibis were on one side of the car, while Squacco Heron, Little Bittern and Whiskered Tern flew around on the other.

Great Crested Grebe were swimming on the large expanse of water in front of the Duiker Hide, while the Flamingo Hide, back by the picnic site, also has a wide vista of open water and reedbeds in front of it. Large flocks of European Swallow are found here, but there were also Blackwinged Stilt and a rather tame African Reed Warbler, who was at much closer quarters.

Popping into the Hadeda Hide again on our way back to our chalet yielded the archetypal wetland Cisticola, the Levaillant’s. From regal raptors to skulking little LBJs, Marievale Bird Sanctuary has it all.

Sightings list

Grey Heron

Greyheaded Gull

Redknobbed Coot

Cape Shoveler

Whitewinged Tern

Whitebreasted Cormorant

Cattle Egret

Spurwinged Goose

Greater Flamingo

Glossy Ibis

Blackcrowned Night Heron

Egyptian Goose

Blacksmith Plover

Sacred Ibis

African Marsh Harrier

Redshouldered Widow

Longtailed Widow

Little Egret

Reed Cormorant

Laughing Dove

Rock Pigeon

Southern Masked Weaver

Yellowbilled Duck

Swainson’s Francolin

Stonechat

Cape Turtle Dove

Amur Falcon

Fiscal Shrike

Yellow Canary

Blackthroated Canary

Common Moorhen

Pied Kingfisher

Cape Reed Warbler

African Jacana

Whitethroated Swallow

Purple Gallinule

Cape Wagtail

Brownthroated Martin

Malachite Kingfisher

Spottednecked Otter

Hottentot Teal

Black Crake

African Darter

Greater Striped Swallow

Dabchick

Redbilled Teal

Blackshouldered Kite

Hadeda Ibis

Squacco Heron

Redeyed Dove

Redfaced Mousebird

House Rat

Little Bittern

Whiskered Tern

European Swallow

Great Crested Grebe

Blackwinged Stilt

African Reed Warbler

Southern Greyheaded Sparrow

Levaillant’s Cisticola