Ken Borland

As head coach and one of the chief setters of goals for the Bulls, Jake White said he was content with their two successive United Rugby Championship wins over the Lions, although he felt they missed a golden opportunity for another bonus point in their 21-13 win at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend.

After a torrid first quarter, the Bulls look set to repeat their 34-10 triumph at Ellis Park a week ago when they stormed into a 21-6 lead after 49 minutes. But mistakes and a creaking scrum continued to plague their performance and they failed to add to their score as the gutsy Lions fought their way back into the game.

“I said to the players that if I had been offered nine points in two matches against the Lions in two weeks then I would have taken that based on where we were,” White said.

“We had to find a way to jump up the log. But we had enough chances to get the bonus point again, but we just couldn’t score again. Which was not ideal because we had set it up nicely.

“But the rain came when we had gone from 6-0 down to 21-6 up, which meant we went 21-0 in the middle block of the game, so you can’t be too upset, we were doing something right.

“I’m not satisfied that we didn’t get the bonus point, but we also can’t be arrogant. Two weeks ago we were under pressure and now we have nine more points against a Lions side that beat the Stormers in the Cape,” White pointed out.

The former Springbok coach also said that the Lions were adept at using the black arts to further frustrate his side.

“The Lions did a very good job of making the game as scrappy as possible, they were off their feet, not rolling away, hands in. And it worked because they got close to getting the result,” White said.

“But we are going to play games like this again, when the referee’s interpretations are different, and you’ve got to find ways to win when you’re under the pump.

“You’ve got to be good enough to adapt to whatever happens. And so many things happened. We just want consistency, but the same situations are being seen differently. There’s no common sense.

“But we have to be good enough to take the referee out of the equation,” White said.

Bulls coach Jake White said before their United Rugby Championship match against the Sharks in Durban that he would like his team to move towards the Northern Hemisphere approach of using the set-pieces as more of an attacking platform than as an opportunity to get penalties.

The Sharks clearly did not get the memo though as they thoroughly dominated the Bulls in the scrums, earning eight penalties as well as forcing referee Jaco Peyper to yellow card retreaded tighthead Lizo Gqoboka, and also putting the visitors under pressure in the lineouts. That dominance up front set in motion a commanding display as they swept the Currie Cup champions aside 30-16.

“The set-pieces are always important, especially with the conditions we have in Durban this time of year,” Sharks coach Sean Everitt said. “The set-pieces really functioned well and we got a maul try.

“So it’s been a good turnaround in that department. The scrum is one of three things that have to be in place for you to win, the others being territory and defence.

“We won the territory battle, although we were not as clinical as I would have liked in the first half. Defensively we stopped the Bulls’ momentum, we won the gain-line.

“At the breakdowns we were doing more cleaning next to the ball and not over it, but we got better at it, and in the second half we were able to put the opposition under pressure there,” Everitt said.

White said the Bulls are set to boost their front-row stocks, especially at tighthead prop, given the departure of Trevor Nyakane to Racing 92 in France, and the current unavailability of Jacques van Rooyen and Mornay Smith. The inexperienced Robert Hunt started in the number three jersey and was replaced by Gqoboka, who has not played on that side of the scrum since the start of his career.

“From a personnel point of view, we obviously need to get more experienced tighthead props because there are things in the scrum we have to get right,” White said.

“On our ball, I thought we played quite cleverly, but there was no stopping the Sharks on their ball and that put us under pressure.”

Everitt also gave a big thumbs up to his returning Springboks, who were very much the heartbeat of the side, especially Thomas du Toit and Bongi Mbonambi up front, and Lukhanyo Am at inside centre.

“Having the Boks back made a huge difference and they came through really well. It’s their attitude that was really pleasing.

“I’ve been at the Sharks for a long time and sometimes you worry about the attitude of the Springboks when they come back, but they came back very well prepared and it was a smooth transition.

“Lukhanyo played yet another 80 minutes and was man of the match, while Bongi fitted in seamlessly and did really well today. He was strong defensively and the set-pieces went really well,” Everitt said.

Elton Jantjies gets a welcome opportunity in the No.10 jersey for the Springboks against Argentina at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday and the 31-year-old sees himself as not only an experienced head in the team but also a facilitator for those around him.

Jantjies will be the Springboks’ starting flyhalf for the first time since the World Cup match against Canada in October 2019 but, largely due to the pivotal role he played in the rise of the Lions franchise, he has been one of the leaders in the squad for a couple of years. After the trench warfare of the series against the British and Irish Lions, Jantjies also has the vision and skills to unlock the attacking capabilities of the Springboks if the match against Argentina does open up a bit.

“For me, it’s all about the team, especially at this stage of my career. When you are younger you have more of an individual focus, but when you are older, more experienced, your efforts are focused more towards the team. I like to get to know the players around me personally, finding out what they like and what they don’t like.

“You try and find something in common with the way they play and then as flyhalf you give them what they want. Continuity is also very important and we need to get our feet back on the ground as quickly as possible after what was a big win for us over the Lions. We need to keep growing as a group and get the new guys into the Springbok system as quickly as possible,” Jantjies said.

The owner of 38 Test caps stressed that the Springboks see Argentina as very tough opponents. Jantjies remembers well the last time they played the Pumas on South African soil: back in August 2019, the score was locked at 18-18 going into the last 10 minutes at Loftus Versfeld. Jantjies was the breaker of Argentinian hearts that day with his two late penalties taking the Springboks to a 24-18 win.

“Argentina will definitely be confident because they have had a few good results in the Rugby Championship. They always bring emotion and the last time we played them, in 2019 before the World Cup, it took us the full 80 minutes to beat them in South Africa. They will take positives from that. But we’ve also grown since then as a team.

“We have refocused after the Lions series and we know the first two games in the Rugby Championship are very important for us to remain champions,” Jantjies said.

Some observers may be wondering why the SA A team to take on the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town on Wednesday night is basically a shadow Springbok Test side – and the reason is simple: every opportunity for the national team to play together is like gold at the moment.

The Springboks have only played the one Test against Georgia in the 20 months since winning the 219 World Cup and even that game only really shook off the rust. The world champions are still a long way off the tight, clinical unit that triumphed in Japan.

With the second Test against Georgia cancelled, the SA A match is the last opportunity to warm up before the first Test against the Lions on July 24, which is why director of rugby Rassie Erasmus named a team with a dozen players who featured in the World Cup final. Of the SA A side. The vast majority of the 23-man squad is expected to line up for the first Test against the tourists.

“We are working towards the first Test, the guys need playing opportunities, they need to get game-time. We have been struggling for that opportunity. The biggest goal is always that first Test and we need the World Cup guys to get good minutes under their belt, especially guys like Lukhanyo Am and Faf de Klerk, who did not play against Georgia.

“We are not where we were at the 2019 World Cup final and we will appreciate any opportunity for any practice game, I see there have even been rumours over us playing against the Bulls on Saturday. It’s no longer about what we have done in the past, it’s time now to write a new script and we couldn’t ask for a better team to do it against than the Lions,” assistant coach Mzwandile Stick said on Tuesday.

While the Springboks have been making sure they train with Test match intensity, it’s the match fitness – the big collisions against opponents who really want to smash you rather than your team-mates; the collisions that cause the bruises that these players wear with honour like the finest jewellery – that needs to be sharpened.

“We will see how we are placed on the physical side tomorrow,” captain Am said on Tuesday afternoon.