Ken Borland

Captain Siya Kolisi said on Friday that the Springboks have been measured by themselves and they found themselves wanting in last weekend’s defeat to Australia, which is why they will be running out with great determination to rectify that when they meet the Wallabies again in a Rugby Championship Test at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.

South Africa went down 26-28 to Australia last weekend in an unfocused, error-strewn and ill-disciplined performance. Kolisi said the world champions and the team clinging on to the number one ranking under pressure from the All Blacks know they are much better than what they showed on the Gold Coast.

“We know exactly where we went wrong, it was very upsetting to lose like that. The mistakes we made with things that are normally a given, it was so tough to see that on the review. They were simple errors. Just on the day, we were not at our best in the physical part. We have our standards, but we made fewer tackles and especially less dominant tackles, Australia dominated their hits with ball-in-hand.

“We compared ourselves to how we played against Argentina and the British and Irish Lions and the standard was definitely not the same. We need to make that better first before we complain about anything else. So we are going to be more determined on Saturday to bring what we did not show on the field last weekend,” Kolisi said.

To make matters tougher, the Springboks have a very disappointing record in Brisbane. Since the return from isolation, South Africa have won just once there in 12 attempts against Australia. Kolisi, along with Willie le Roux, Eben Etzebeth and Duane Vermeulen, is one of the players who featured in that memorable 38-12 hammering of the Wallabies in 2013.

“We’ve only won once at Suncorp and we want to change that, but the most important thing is for us to stay in the competition and defend the Rugby Championship. So we are going to throw everything into this game. We’ve spent the week asking ourselves why we did not get to where we are meant to be in the previous game and I’m confident we will pitch up this weekend.

“Winning is what we care about, that’s the only way we can maintain our number one ranking. But the ranking is not our focus, we want to get back into the competition and give ourselves a chance of winning it again. But if we’re not disciplined then we won’t get the result we want,” Kolisi said.

The Sharks rugby team may have endured a terrible Currie Cup final last weekend, but their star fullback Curwin Bosch was all smiles on Tuesday after a thoroughly enjoyable day out on the first day of the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series Pro-Am at Mount Edgecombe Country Club Estate.

The country’s top rugby players will be off to Europe to play in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship barely a week after the end of the Currie Cup, so Bosch was enjoying the opportunity to play some of his second-favourite ball sport.

“It’s really nice to have some off-time and be able to do what I love doing in my spare time – I play a lot of golf. It was a really nice experience today to mingle with the pros and I didn’t play too badly either. Fortunately Mount Edgecombe is my home course and I got one birdie. Overall I really enjoyed it,” the six-handicapper said.

Being accustomed to lining up pressure kicks at goal, Bosch should be used to the horrible nerves that can come with having to make clutch putts. But the lanky 24-year-old says putting is not as awful for him.

“I think the mental side comes into it more so with my driving and long irons, putting is actually a bit easier for me. I do hit my drives a long way, but not often as straight as my kicking,” Bosch, who is known for having a mega boot, chuckled.

Rumour has it that Bosch outdrove his professional by 20 metres on one hole.

With rugby now becoming an all-year pursuit, Bosch said he was also interested to see how golf professionals, many of whom have to grind it out week-to-week, approach the game. Work ethic is one thing that stands out for the Springbok.

“It’s nice to see how the pros go about it, that’s the fantastic part, seeing how they go about things on the course. You see how much thinking is done before every shot and talking to them was a great experience. The hard work, the many hours they put in to hone their game, you have to admire them. I have a better understanding of the things they go through now,” Bosch said.

The flyhalves – Chris Smith v Lionel Cronje

Currie Cup finals are seldom pretty affairs and both Smith and Cronje will probably have to put away many of the slick attacking tricks we know they are both capable of pulling out of the hat. Game-management is going to be their key role on Saturday and much of that depends on the platform given to them by their forwards. So kicking could wll be their key skill: Smith showed his mettle by slotting a 79^th-minute penalty to level the scores in last season’s final and he has also come out tops in other high-pressure situations at home. The 32-year-old Cronje has the experience though to know how to vary his play and, having played for both Verblitz and the Brumbies under Jake White, he has insight into the Bulls’ game-plan.

The Bulls loose-trio v the Sharks attackers

The Sharks do like to play a bit of running rugby and Elrigh Louw, Arno Botha and Marcell Coetzee will be like a hit squad lining up to crunch those visitors looking to provide some attacking spark. They love defence so much one can imagine them shouting “My Kill” to each other on the field. The Sharks are effective though in offloading and playing in the wide channels, and they have potent counter-attackers in Thaakir Abrahams, Curwin Bosch and Yaw Penxe. The Bulls are expected to boss the battles at close quarters, while the Sharks will have an edge in pace as the ball goes wider or play gets looser.

Thomas du Toit v Gerhard Steenekamp

The return of the Springbok tighthead will no doubt make a telling difference to the Sharks scrum, as there has been no consistency in that set-piece for them this season. And that’s not to mention the big hits the mobile 26-year-old makes around the field. Du Toit and lock Gerbrandt Grobler bring a lot of experience to a youthful tight five and the World Cup winner will also bring confidence having been one of the standout performers in the Springboks’ victory in the second Test against Argentina.

Du Toit will obviously not have it easy though against Steenekamp, who has been one of the finds of the season for the Bulls, a strong man both in the scrums and the tight exchanges.

Flyhalf Lionel Cronje made his name in the Eastern Cape with his ability to produce some magical trick plays, but Sharks coach Sean Everitt said on Thursday that the visitors will not be looking to deck out their game with any embellishments when they take on the Bulls in the Currie Cup final on Saturday.

Everitt’s comments mean the Sharks have been sending mixed messages this week, with captain Phepsi Buthelezi earlier saying that they wanted to play “their brand of rugby” and “move the Bulls around”.

But the coach who has risen through all the structures at Kings Park toned down the views of his enthusiastic eighthman.

“A Currie Cup final is not time to be experimenting with manoeuvres. Lionel kicks really well and he brings something to the attack as well. But there is a plan in place, Curwin Bosch has a very good boot at the back and he can counter-attack. But Lionel is our general and I’m sure he will execute the plan. A lot depends on what you get from the Bulls defence.

“They like numbers on their feet and they are really good at it. We will play what is in front of us and if they have a full defensive line then it means there will be space behind. A solid set-piece gave us the platform to beat the Bulls the last time we played them. If you get that right then it makes your job a lot easier. If we can do that again then I’m confident we can get the result,” Everitt said.

The Sharks coach said his team also have to avoid conceding a chain of penalties at the start of the final.

“If you look at the Sharks’ performances the last few games then our discipline has improved, but we conceded six or seven penalties in the first half of the semifinal and that put us under pressure, it meant we couldn’t build scoreboard pressure. In last season’s final, we also gave away a couple of early penalties which Morne Steyn kicked.

“Not conceding early penalties is important to how you want to play, you must never underestimate the influence of scoreboard pressure in a final. There will be nerves, and the team that settles down first will probably go on to make the better start. And that’s really important in a game of this magnitude. Both teams need to handle the intensity of the game,” Everitt said.

Sharks team: Curwin Bosch, Yaw Penxe, Werner Kok, Marius Louw, Thaakir Abrahams, Lionel Cronje, Sanele Nohamba, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Henco Venter, Dylan Richardson, Gerbrandt Grobler, Le Roux Roets, Thomas du Toit, Kerron van Vuuren, Khwezi Mona. Bench – Dan Jooste, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khutha Mchunu, Thembelani Bholi, Reniel Hugo, Lucky Dlepu, Jeremy Ward, Anthony Volmink.