Ken Borland

The Bulls are raring to go and eager to rip into Benetton Treviso, their Italian opposition, in the Rainbow Cup final on Saturday, captain Marcell Coetzee said on Wednesday.

But as pumped up as the Bulls are to deliver a typically rip-roaring display of ferocity against Benetton, they know that there will be much to adapt to in the strange surrounds of the Stadio Monigo and they have to ensure they do not get frustrated.

Refereeing interpretations in Europe can also be very different to what the players are used to in South Africa, which is another potential area of frustration the Bulls will need to adapt to.

“There’s a great deal of excitement and it’s awesome to be overseas and to be playing against a European team. We have a bunch of guys who are very hungry for success and this is an opportunity to win a trophy, that’s the main thing. But we have to be ready to adapt, the final is not going to be about individuals but about the team effort and pulling together.

“And you want all your personnel on the field, particularly in finals, so we have to adapt to things like the referees being very much more cautious about the height of tackles – your body height and where you make contact have to be squeaky clean over here – and the breakdowns are blown differently too. There’s not a lot of time for us to put too much emphasis on it, but champion sides have to adapt,” Coetzee said.

Just making the final has been quite the miraculous resurgence by Benetton Treviso, after they suffered the horror of losing 15 of their 16 games in the 2020/21 Pro14 season and drawing the other one.

“Benetton have changed a lot since I played against them a few years ago for Ulster and they are currently playing some incredible rugby and they have personnel doing great things for them. They play at a high tempo, their ball-carries are strong and they like to play a distribution game, off a very good set-piece platform. And they have a couple of former Bulls players so they’ll know what we bring.

“There’s a great energy in our squad, everyone was just so keen to hop on a plane for some long travel, but we’re not here on holiday but for business. If we can play with synergy then the result will come and it will be fantastic for the guys and for people back in South Africa for us to show we have the talent, the experience and the will to win over here,” Coetzee said.

Jacques Nienaber is about to go into his first assignment as head coach of the Springboks and he believes his initial career as a physiotherapist is going to be advantageous as he negotiates the slings and arrows of misfortune that inevitably go with the most high-pressured job in South African rugby.

Nienaber studied physiotherapy at the University of the Free State, where he first hooked up with Rassie Erasmus. He had moved into the strength and conditioning role with the Free State Cheetahs by the time Erasmus went from player to coach in 2005, and he then became one of the most successful defence coaches in the country when he moved with the now director of rugby to Cape Town in 2008.

“I didn’t even play for my school 1^st team, in fact I played for the 7ths at Grey College, but I love the game. My pathway to here was through being a physio. That involves what we call ‘clinical reasoning’, where you trial some treatment, then you assess and see how it goes. If it doesn’t work, you don’t sulk, you just get on to the next thing. My attitude is that you at least then know what doesn’t work.

“That attitude will help as Springbok coach because there are certain things you cannot change. You can’t control destiny, things like injuries and cards are going to happen, but we’ll give it a helluva go. We know discipline will be massive in the Lions series and we’ll be concentrating on accuracy in the fundamentals – tackles and breakdowns, make sure we execute those legally,” Nienaber said on Wednesday.

While Erasmus and Nienaber won the World Cup as much through their cerebral approach as the tremendous physicality the Springboks brought on the field, the probable loss of Duane Vermeulen and the possible absence of RG Snyman and Damian de Allende will be big blows to their efforts to overpower the British and Irish Lions.

Staying true to his ‘no sulking’ philosophy, Neinaber tried to be optimistic though on Thursday.

“The most important thing is that Damian and RG’s families are fine too after the well-documented fire pit incident. And Jesse Kriel cheered me up about Duane today when he sat in front of me on the plane and told me he had a similar injury just before the 2019 World Cup and he made a quick recovery. So when I phoned Duane I reminded him about Jesse and he said he remembered he got back in time for the World Cup.

“Accidents and injuries happen, but we can’t control them and both those incidents could have been worse. Of course they’re not ideal and I would love the full squad to be training together. It’s just the Japan-based players training at the moment, six of them, but whatever we’re doing must be meaningful, and we’re doing a lot of skill-based work,” Nienaber said.

The Sharks went into their match against the Lions needing a bonus point win to maintain their hopes of making the Rainbow Cup final and coach Sean Everitt is an apostle of attacking, positive rugby. But there were times when the helter-skelter Sharks seemed destined to get four tries but lose the game and so land on 12 log points, ensuring the Bulls cannot be caught in the last round next weekend.

In the end, the Sharks did eventually repel a gutsy Lions side in the last 10 minutes to register a 33-21 win and they can still win the competition if they beat the Bulls with a bonus point next weekend and don’t allow their visitors any log points.

The Sharks scored three tries in the first half but were still only 19-14 ahead at the break. Their first two tries came through lineout drives and were scored by hooker Kerron van Vuuren.

But their third would have thrilled their coach and was made by outstanding wing Makazole Mapimpi, the World Cup star who rather lorded it over everyone else on the field with a majestic display.

The Lions won a turnover but Sharks fullback Anthony Volmink fielded their kick downfield and had a dart, before passing to Mapimpi, who exploded through a tiny gap, and found scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse, who miraculously held off several Lions defenders in mid-air, seemingly levitating as he popped the pass to eighthman Phepsi Buthelezi, another chief among the stars on the field, to score.

It was typical of the Lions, however, that they stayed in the game with a try by loose forward Len Massyn in the sixth minute of extra time.

Mapimpi scored himself eight minutes into the second half and this was just a stunning individual effort. The pass out wide had gone to ground so the Lions defence was set, but Mapimpi stepped and then burst, taking five defenders out of the game as he scored an exceptional try to stretch the lead to 24-14. Last October, the 30-year-old’s incredible off-field story was highlighted by the Chasing the Sun documentary, but in his current form he looks like beiing a sensation on the field in the British and Irish Lions series.

The Lions came back again with a rolling maul try by hooker PJ Botha, but the knockout blow by the Sharks came when replacement flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain regathered his own lovely little dink over the top and passed into space for Volmink to score.

Scorers

Lions – Tries: Andre Warner, Len Massyn, PJ Botha. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (3).

Sharks – Tries: Kerron van Vuuren (2), Phepsi Buthelezi, Makazole Mapimpi, Anthony Volmink. Conversions: Manie Libbok (3), Boeta Chamberlain.

Ahead of such major events as a British and Irish Lions tour, it is obligatory for all South African rugby fans to choose their Springbok squad to take on the tourists and, for me, just running through the list of players available makes me confident the hosts can turn the Lions’ roar into a meow.

Not that I am predicting a 3-0 whitewash by any means, I am sure all three Tests will be epic contests and a 2-1 margin is most likely. But the Springboks, providing they can reach Test match intensity quickly having not played at that level in over 18 months, can really hurt the Lions.

The superb Springbok pack that won the World Cup final, barring a couple of retirees, is still intact. And Jacques Nienaber is able to add players who have dominated their European opposition at club level, like Marcell Coetzee, Jasper Wiese, Rynhardt Elstadt and probably one of the Du Preez brothers (Dan or Jean-Luc), to that mix.

Set-piece prowess is going to be a big factor in the series and South Africa have wonderful back-up props and locks in Lizo Gqoboka, Trevor Nyakane, Ox Nche, Marvin Orie, Jason Jenkins and either JD Schickerling or Ruan Nortje. Imagine if Lood de Jager and RG Snyman were fit as well!

While South African rugby’s strength has traditionally been up front, it’s not as if the backline is going to concede tries like the Melbourne Rebels do. Plus they have some of the best attacking players in world rugby in their midst like Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi and Handre Pollard. In midfield, Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am are like the mailman, they always deliver, and Faf de Klerk is still a pain in the opposition’s butt.

And I am looking forward to some dazzling new international careers being born for the likes of Aphelele Fassi and Wandisile Simelane.

Apart from speed merchants Mapimpi and Kolbe, there is ‘toe’ aplenty in back-up wings Sbu Nkosi, Yaw Penxe, Raymond Rhule and utility back Damian Willemse.

I feel desperately sorry for the likes of De Jager, Snyman, Warrick Gelant and Sikhumbuzo Notshe, who did his knee three weeks ago, who will miss the series due to injury. It makes me even sadder that Cornal Hendricks, such an inspiring revelation at inside centre for the Bulls, is likely to miss out purely for off-field reasons relating to his legal action against SA Rugby over the handling of his heart condition.

I have sympathy for Nienaber and director of rugby Rassie Erasmus as they undertook the hellish task of choosing 45 players and breaking the hearts of several others. Who do you choose between Penxe and Madosh Tambwe? Even without Hendricks, does Andre Esterhuizen, so close to the 2019 World Cup squad, make it or do they recall Jan Serfontein?

What about Curwin Bosch? Does the squad need four flyhalves when you have the utility ability of Francois Steyn and Willemse?

Quality scrumhalves like Ivan van Zyl and Embrose Papier look set to miss out, while Jacques Vermeulen deserves a place for sheer tenacity, but is probably going to join one of the Du Preezs on the sidelines.

Even without De Jager and Snyman, there is probably only space for one of Schickerling and Nortje, and there are quality, in-form props like Carlu Sadie, Sti Sithole and Wilco Louw who will not get the nod.

Many of these players will just get to play in the one game against the Lions, for the SA A team in Cape Town on July 14, but they will forever have the experience of being in the Springbok camp, involved in the greatest series of them all, even if it is in a bio-bubble.

The squad will then be cut to 35-37 players depending on injuries, but in a hectic year for South African rugby, I’m sure many of those will be used in the team at some stage. There are going to be big squads chosen to sit in the bubbles in Australia and New Zealand for the Rugby Championship as well.

It is the nature of selection in a sport with such passionate provincial loyalties as rugby that everyone will have an individual player that they are adamant should have been in the squad. But these are the 45 men I would have in the Springbok squad (knowing full well that some of them are not going to be included):

Willie le Roux, Aphelele Fassi, Damian Willemse; Cheslin Kolbe, Raymond Rhule, Jan Serfontein; Lukhanyo Am, Jesse Kriel, Wandisile Simelane; Damian de Allende, Cornal Hendricks, Francois Steyn; Makazole Mapimpi, Sbu Nkosi, Yaw Penxe; Handre Pollard, Elton Jantjies, Morne Steyn; Faf de Klerk, Cobus Reinach, Ivan van Zyl; Duane Vermeulen, Marcell Coetzee, Jean-Luc du Preez; Pieter-Steph du Toit, Rynhardt Elstadt, Jasper Wiese; Siya Kolisi, Kwagga Smith, Marco van Staden; Franco Mostert, Marvin Orie, Ruan Nortje; Eben Etzebeth, Jason Jenkins; Frans Malherbe, Vincent Koch, Trevor Nyakane; Bongi Mbonambi, Malcolm Marx, Scarra Ntubeni; Steven Kitshoff, Lizo Gqoboka, Ox Nche, Thomas du Toit.