Ken Borland

Potential Springbok new cap Salmaan Moerat has spent a reassuring week training alongside starting locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager and has just let their experience and wisdom rub off on him ahead of the first Test against Wales at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Moerat was named on the bench on Tuesday alongside Elrigh Louw as the only uncapped players in the Springbok squad to tackle Wales in their first Test of 2022.

Franco Mostert, who can also play lock, is starting in the No.7 jersey, while Louw can also provide cover in the middle-row. But Moerat was one of the most consistent players in the Stormers’ triumphant URC campaign, and he will surely get a chance to replace either Etzebeth, who will be playing his 98^th Test, or De Jager, making his 57^th appearance.

“It’s a really comforting factor to have Eben and Lood there and they have been helping me throughout the week,” Moerat said at the Springbok hotel in Fourways on Tuesday.

“I’ve been taking their advice and just trying to let them rub off on me. It’s a real plus to be playing with guys like them and now I must just execute my job.

“And in this environment you know exactly what your job is and you are expected to execute it, nothing more. I just have to do my role, nothing flashy.

“It’s a dream come true and very emotional for me and my family. Hopefully the guys who are starting do well and we all have the opportunity to get on off the bench,” Moerat said.

Given that Moerat has been on the Springboks’ radar since he was chosen for the SA Schools side in 2015 and then captained them the following year, and that he was part of the national squad for the end-of-year tour in 2021, coach Jacques Nienaber was not going to leave him on the window sill for long.

The towering 24-year-old, who weighs 116kg, is one of the brightest talents in South African rugby and likes to get stuck in. Nienaber clearly likes what he sees.

“Since 2015 we’ve operated together and Salmaan has been a leader for both Western Province and the Junior Springboks. He’s a good human being, we should start there,” Nienaber said.

“He’s a hard-worker and he’s coachable. Salmaan brings nice physicality, and we like that. Those are the standout features,” Nienaber said.

Everyone knows the saying about what is behind every successful husband, and the Springboks are really looking forward to having a capacity Loftus Versfeld crowd behind them as they return to action in the first Test against Wales in Pretoria on Saturday.

By late afternoon on Monday there were only a couple of thousand tickets still available for the 52 000-seater stadium that is considered one of the cathedrals of South African rugby. Saturday’s match will be the first time the Springboks have been able to play in front a capacity crowd at home since their 2019 World Cup triumph.

“We are very excited to be playing in front of our home crowd,” assistant coach Deon Davids said on Monday. “It’s also important for us to say thank you for all their support after the World Cup win.

“We want to feed from their energy on Saturday and reward them with the way we play. It’s a special occasion for us.

“Playing at Loftus, altitude is always a factor, but visiting teams have also evolved in terms of coping with it. Wales would have done lots of research on how to deal with it.

“I believe they will be conditioned well enough to hang on in there and that’s what Wales do – they stay in the fight until the last minute,” Davids said.

The Springboks will announce their team on Tuesday and Davids did not want to be drawn on selection matters, while sending a reminder that the Springboks have winning as a priority, along with giving exciting new players the sort of exposure at international level that the fans are clamouring for.

“We are working towards a bigger picture, which is next year’s World Cup,” Davids said. “But it’s also important for us to win our games and give ourselves the best opportunity of doing that.

“So it’s important to get the balance right between the importance of giving young players opportunity, building combinations and ensuring victory.

“We’re under no illusions – it’s going to be a tough series – and we have had some discussions, we’ve looked at what we want to achieve in this Test. We’re looking at a combination we feel can give us a result.

“It’s also about how you prepare the next 23 of players, get them aligned with how we are doing things differently at the Springboks. Success is also measured in how quickly we can get them aligned and get our combinations right,” Davids said.

Having come a cropper last weekend in Bloemfontein, Bulls Currie Cup coach Gert Smal is hoping for a more cohesive, disciplined display as a side boasting some additional players with URC experience was named for their semifinal against Griquas at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.

The Bulls went to Bloemfontein last weekend to try and finish top of the log, but they were heavily beaten. Needing just two bonus points to clinch No.1 spot, they were demolished 35-5.

But for the semi-final, inspirational captain Lizo Gqoboka is back after his father’s sad passing and funeral, and he will join a powerful front row alongside the exciting Jan-Hendrik Wessels and the seasoned Jacques van Rooyen.

There is some real quality in the backline as well, with Springbok Lionel Mapoe now joined by Marco Jansen van Vuren in midfield and the elusive Stedman Gans on the wing.

“It’s very important to have that extra experience in the playoffs and we expect them to bring their best in the heat of the battle,” Smal said on Thursday.

“A game like the one in Bloem shows you a lot. But it was that team’s first time playing together and there were a lot of youngsters. We have put that match behind us, and the second time they play together will hopefully be much better.

“No matter how young you are, these are the type of matches you work so hard for, and the players are very hungry, both the youngsters and the seniors.

“We obviously missed Lizo, he was at his Dad’s funeral and we commiserate with him. But he has had a good week now, he’s very inspirational and it’s nice to have him back,” Smal said.

Griquas have had an uncanny ability this season to shock teams by coming back from large deficits, and Smal knows the Bulls have an 80-minute tussle on their hands.

“Griquas are well-coached and they will throw their maul at us, it is something we have worked hard on because we were not good there last weekend,” Smal said.

“Once they set the lineout, they either maul or the ball comes out from their hooker or No.6 to the scrumhalf and they play from there. We have a really good idea of how they play.

“But they also play for the full 80 minutes, so we have to really play for the full duration of the match. Good defence wins you trophies, so we have to get that right.

“Griquas can also pick up the tempo, especially in the last part of the game, so that’s another challenge. We will have to be accurate in everything we do,” Smal said.

Bulls team:Richard Kriel, Tharquinn Manuel, Lionel Mapoe, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Stedman Gans, Juan Mostert, Keagan Johannes, Muller Uys, Ruan Delport, Jaco Labuschagne, Reinhardt Ludwig, Raynard Roets, Jacques van Rooyen, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Lizo Gqoboka. Impact -Sidney Tobias, Dylan Smith, Francois Klopper, Willie Potgieter, Stephan Smit, Bernard van der Linde, Niel Beukes, Quewin Nortje.

Kick-off: 7pm.

Having staged a stirring comeback to level the scores at 27-27, the Sharks were meant to keep possession and force a penalty in the final stages of their nailbiting United Rugby Championship quarterfinal against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, coach Sean Everitt said.

They were also meant to avoid giving the Bulls the ball in their own 22. Sadly for the Sharks, they failed to do both things and the Bulls snatched victory with an 84^th-minute drop goal.

“The team is hurting and extremely disappointed,” a gutted Everitt said. “But I am proud of their effort and character. There were just a couple of soft moments, which were disappointing.

“At the end the result could have gone either way and we could have had a bit more fortune in the last five minutes. The plan was to hold on to the ball, put them under pressure and try to earn a penalty.

“We believed we could win, we showed tremendous character and never gave up. But our execution just needed to be a bit better. Things like that last pass just not going to hand.

“And we spoke about discipline and not giving the Bulls the ball in our 22, which is exactly what we did. They are clinical there and they have the best completion rate inside the 22 in the competition,” Everitt said.

The coach said he believes that if he mends a couple of things before next season, the Sharks can go all the way in 2022/23.

“If you look at where we have improved, the set-piece has come on a lot. But our balance on the field has improved too – now we can use our set-piece and we can score tries.

“We put ourselves in position to score tries today and there is no question about the character, culture or team environment because they showed their pride today.

“We just need to fix the rugby side and we especially need to work on the attacking breakdown. We gave the Bulls field position from there, it was a problem against Ulster and in our two previous games against the Bulls,” Everitt said.

By scoring twice in the final quarter to come back from 13-27 down, the Sharks showed their attack is plenty dangerous when it clicks. Phepsi Buthelezi is developing into a top-class ball-in-hand eighthman to provide the link to a backline in which wing Makazole Mapimpi was a threat throughout.

People should not run pell-mell to the conclusion that this is a poorly-coached Sharks team.

“I suppose if you look at Springboks and World Cup winners then we do have a lot of them and they can be proud of their effort. We played some really good rugby.

“I actually enjoyed watching the game even though my blood pressure was probably through the roof. We got the ball through the hands on a couple of occasions and looked really dangerous.

“Under-performance is a broad topic and rugby has a lot of variables. At times we’ve not played as well as we would have liked, and there are certain aspects of our game that need to be worked on.

“Obviously there are things to improve, and they are all fixable. The team has done exceptionally well and they want to play for the jersey,” Everitt said.