Ken Borland

Although Bulls coach Jake White admitted he was “massively disappointed” by their performance and heavy defeat to Glasgow Warriors at the weekend, he said it was not the end of the world, pointing out that at this time last year, the eventual runners-up in the United Rugby Championship had only won one match.

The 35-21 loss was the Bulls’ first in four matches this season, and undoubtedly their most flat, lacklustre performance for a long time.

“Sometimes you just have a bad day at the office, it was difficult today, we had to play catch-up against the pace of the 4G pitch and Glasgow’s accuracy and physicality,” White said.

“We are still a very young group of players, but I told them there are no excuses, sometimes we let teams play well against us. I’m massively disappointed.

“We looked like young boys at times, while they had men, and we missed some tackles. The players know that I am disappointed and they are too. And I can’t fast-forward age or experience.

“But it’s a long tour and season, and one poor game does not mean we can’t still win the competition. This time last year we only had one win and we still made the final. We won’t lie down and die,” White said.

The last time the Bulls came across referee Andrew Brace was in the URC final in June, and White moaned about his performance after their loss to the Stormers. Against Glasgow, it was noticeable how many times the Bulls were penalised at the attacking breakdown inside the Warriors’ 22.

“It’s worrying that Glasgow didn’t concede anything inside our 22, but every time we were in their 22, something would go wrong. There was also Elrigh Louw’s yellow card.

“I can’t understand how every time we were five metres from their line we would make a mistake, but they got everything right in the same position in our half.

“We’ve been very accurate in the 22 with our forwards before, and the players really have no idea what went wrong tonight. And there was cleaning past the ball when you’re not allowed to touch the scrumhalf.

“But those are not the reasons we lost – we played poorly, we weren’t up for it and we looked lethargic – blame that, not two or three calls. It’s the nature of the competition away from home,” White said.

It was also quite a voyage for the Bulls to get to Glasgow in the northern United Kingdom. They had to travel for 24 hours, flying to Doha and then Edinburgh, before catching a bus to Glasgow. But White said that did not excuse their display.

“The travel is not an excuse. The Lions went for 27 hours and they have won all three of their games,” White stated.

Duanne Olivier is a big mean fast bowler and no toady trying to reingratiate himself with the South African public, so when he says, despite framing his Proteas cap, that he is massively honoured to play for the national team again, we should believe him.

Olivier last played for South Africa in February 2019, after which he declared himself a Kolpak player and therefore unavailable for the Proteas. His was a controversial departure too, because he was in the Test squad and had just negotiated a better contract with CSA.

When the Kolpak system was done away with due to Brexit, there were many who felt those players should not be selected again for the national team, but Olivier’s superb form for the Central Gauteng Lions has won the day.

But the 29-year-old seemed to have made peace with the fact that he might have played his last Test.

“I didn’t expect to play again, so I actually framed my baggy. It’s a massive frame … so I’m going to have to ask for a new cap if I’m selected in the XI or reframe it!” Olivier revealed on Thursday.

“But it’s a special feeling to get the call-up, I was so surprised to get the phone call when I was in Port Elizabeth with my wife, I didn’t expect it at all.

“It’s a massive honour and I’m very happy to be back. Wherever I can contribute, on or off the field, as 12^th or 13^th man, whatever, that’s what I want to do. I have not been here for nearly three years, so it’s very special to me.

“People will have mixed feelings about me playing, but that’s okay. I will deal with the criticism that comes with it, but I felt very welcome by the team when I came back,” Olivier said.

In Olivier’s first incarnation as a Test player, he was a fearsome fast bowler who worked batsmen over with pace and bounce as he generally dug the ball in short. But the former Free State and Yorkshire player says his bowling now has a few more qualities.

“I feel like a different player, I’m more mature now, a bit more grown-up. From a cricket point of view, the UK helped a lot and I was able to perfect that fuller length every bowler wants.

“Before, I became a bit floaty and wasn’t that consistent when I tried to bowl fuller. But three seasons in the UK have helped immensely with how I approach my bowling.

“I can still go short if I want to, but I feel like there are different elements to my game now and I believe in my strengths and processes.

“But I’m always nervous before I play and if I’m selected for the first Test then I think my nerves will shoot through the roof. The pressure and expectation is high, but it’s okay to feel it – it’s how you handle it that matters,” Olivier said.

South Africa and Australia have always been great World Cup rivals but they meet for just the second time in the T20 showpiece on Saturday in what has been a massively contrasting year for the two teams.

While the Proteas have won nine of their last 10 matches and were impressive in winning their warm-up games against Afghanistan and Pakistan, Australia have lost eight of their previous 10 games and are on a losing streak in their last four series. Their warm-up displays were also mixed, with a narrow win over New Zealand followed by a thrashing at the hands of India.

But Proteas captain Temba Bavuma said on Friday that he expects the toughest of tests for his side in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

“Australia are a very competitive side and I’m sure they won’t be deterred by their past results,” Bavuma said. “They will take learnings from them and they have good resources in terms of players.

“Obviously their bowling is strong and they’ll look to strike up front and get into our middle-order. We’ll have to play the powerplay well and not allow their slow bowlers into our middle-order.

“Their batting is quite top-heavy with Warner, Finch and Smith. So we’ll want to put their middle-order under pressure and the earlier we get them in, the more we can do that.

“But both teams are under pressure. We have come under heavy attack from our fans and media the last while and we understand how unforgiving the demand for excellence is from us,” Bavuma said.

While South Africa have clearly thrown off their old reliance on pace bowlers, Bavuma said they were still deciding whether to play all three frontline spinners in Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin, or just two.

Against a strong bowling side like Australia and pacemen who have terrorised the Proteas before in Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, it would be risky to go in with just six batsmen.

“We are considering both options of going in with three spinners or a longer batting line-up,” Bavuma confirmed. “If we do go the slower bowlers route then we do have the guys at our disposal, and the same if we go the extra batsman route.”

Australia are the old foe and they walloped the Proteas by eight wickets with 14 balls to spare in their previous T20 World Cup meeting, in 2012 in Colombo. They also won their last series, triumphing 2-1 in 2020 in South Africa as they twice bowled them out for less than a hundred.

“There’s no bigger motivation than playing against Australia, games against them are always full of fire and we don’t expect anything less this time,” Bavuma said.

“It’s obviously a big game and we want to start well, get some momentum going. It’s always important to throw the first punch early on and then ride that momentum.

“There isn’t really time in this tournament to be behind the eight-ball, so we really want to hit the ground running and play our best cricket tomorrow [Saturday].”