Ken Borland

Stormers great Bob Skinstad played 24 Tests in South Africa’s No.8 jersey and he believes his former team’s current eighthman, Evan Roos, has much to offer in a Springboks squad.

Roos is an integral part of the Stormers team that will be playing in the United Rugby Championship quarterfinals this weekend, hosting Edinburgh in Cape Town, but he will also be thinking about the possibility of being named in the Springbok squad for the first time. National coach Jacques Nienaber has said he will only announce his squad once the playoffs are over.

Skinstad, who played 42 Tests in all and was one of the best ball-players South African rugby has ever seen, said on Monday that he is thrilled by the expansive rugby the Stormers backs are playing, but said it is inspired by the work of the forwards on their inside.

“I love watching the Stormers matches because they are playing such great counter-attacking rugby. They’re trying to win by scoring more points than the opposition, rather than by just squeezing them.

“Leolin Zas is the leading try-scorer in the competition and an amazing finisher, but he’s doing it off the breaks of the players inside him. The beauty of the Stormers’ play is the linking between their carrying forwards.

“Like Evan Roos, who gets those extra three or four metres and then puts in the little offload, which can really break open the game. He also brings ball-carrying in the wide channels and is very hard to stop from five metres out.

“Evan would be an asset for the Springboks, although he won’t just necessarily burst into the starting line-up. But he can certainly add value in and around the squad, or even off the bench,” Skinstad, who is part of the Premier Sports broadcast team for the URC, said.

With more peace in the Western Province RFU boardroom these days and the team having done so well in the URC, Skinstad also said the Stormers, with an eye on the European Champions Cup next season, should be prime candidates for the sort of equity partners that have elevated the Sharks and Bulls.

“The Stormers have been in a bit of a state of flux lately, but their results have not been bad now, so there is a germ of real value there. If I was a big sports group I would really think there’s incredible value there.

“They have an incredible player base, school system, stadium and Cape Town is an amazing place,” Skinstad said.

The Bulls had to come from a 13-0 deficit to beat Benetton Treviso 46-29 in their United Rugby Championship match at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, and coach Jake White said he was most pleased by the adventurous rugby they played under pressure to do so.

The Bulls scored six tries to make it a bonus point win and only two of those tries were scored by forwards driving over from close range.

“What I was most pleased about was the brand of rugby we played, but we did not finish enough of our chances,” White said after the win. “There was a nice balance to our rugby, we used our forwards and our backs.

“You’re not going to win this competition by winning matches 13-9, you need to score tries, and how we counter-attacked and looked to play with ball-in-hand was most enjoyable to watch.

“Like when Kurt-Lee Arendse [fullback] runs from his own half to score, that’s where rugby is going. You have to be able to play like that, you need different arrows in your bow.

“We’re still not close to where we want to be, but it was good that we showed we can muscle up and use our maul as well. To be 13-0 down and still win 46-29 shows a lot of character,” White said.

The Bulls have been criticised in the past for their lack of creativity, some going as far as to liken them to the marvellous athletes but mechanical players of Russia under Communism, but those days are long gone.

The Bulls could, in fact, have scored a few more tries and the finishing, as well as the finer technical details of their breakdown work, are two areas White says need work.

“One can always be critical after a match and we were a bit inaccurate at the breakdown and three or four times our clearance kicks did not go far enough,” White said.

“We just needed to show more calm and not be so hasty. There were also three or four times we were on their tryline but we let the ball fall.

“The slow start was maybe because we haven’t played for two weeks, but we got in their 22 many times but did not finish. We’re not going to get 10 chances against one of the big sides.

“But Benetton were very tough physically and they did not go away, we had to work hard to break down their defence on the goal-line. We definitely have to improve,” White said.

The Hendrikse bros are two of the most exciting young talents in South African rugby, but it was clearly older brother Jaden who got the better of his sibling Jordan as he played a key role in the Sharks beating the Lions 37-10 in their United Rugby Championship match at Kings Park in Durban at the weekend.

Scrumhalf Jaden produced a sparkling all-round display, running attack slickly with pinpoint passing and excellent vision, while his x-factor was also apparent in some of the more outrageous things that the 22-year-old pulled off. He also kicked brilliantly, both in terms of box-kicks for territory and for attacking purposes.

Brother Jordan, two years younger, just lacked the same spark and Sharks coach Sean Everitt said his team winning the kicking-for-territory battle was crucial to their handsome victory.

“We knew if we could get into a kicking duel with the Lions then we could come out on top,” Everitt said after the win. “Obviously conditions suited that sort of game as well, it was very difficult out there.

“Jaden played well last week as well and he is starting to reach the form he was in when he played for South Africa last year. He and Curwin Bosch managed the game very well.

“We wanted to try and put pressure on the Lions, and with Anthony Volmink at fullback, we had a three-pointed kicking plan which worked extremely well. I think there were only three times we played more than three phases in our own half,” Everitt said.

The victory lifted the Sharks into sixth place on the URC log and, with just three games remaining, the playoffs beckon for the KwaZulu-Natalians. But those three matches are against top sides Leinster, Connacht and a particularly tough trip to Ulster in their last fixture.

Everitt said he is confident though that everything is coming together nicely for his team to finish strong.

“There are only three games left but there is a lot of rugby to be played. There are also a lot of overseas derbies coming up.

“We have shown glimpses of some really good stuff and we are getting our all-round game right – we’re not conceding many tries, we’re getting our kicking game right and when we get the opportunity to move the ball, we have shown intent.

“So yes, I think this has been the perfect build-up for the final run-in,” Everitt said.

Simon Harmer has not played for South Africa for six-and-a-half years but he has done the job for the Proteas with runs and wickets on the second day of the first Test against Bangladesh at Kingsmead in Durban on Friday.

Harmer scored a crucial 38 not out with the bat as South Africa rallied from a moderate 298/8 to a very tidy first innings total of 367 all out. The off-spinner then took all four Bangladesh wickets to fall as the tourists battled to 98/4 at stumps.

South Africa have played 55 Tests since Harmer last appeared, against India in Nagpur in November 2015, which is the most Tests missed between appearances for the country, beating the previous record of 47 by Justin Kemp between 2001 and 2005.

He had taken 491 first-class wickets in that period and he wasted no time in making a similar impact at international level, ending the second day with 4/42 in 20 overs.

He broke through with his ninth delivery, which was quicker and flatter but still well pitched up. Shadman Islam was beaten by the flight and went back, the quicker ball whizzing into his stumps to bowl him for 9.

After tea, Harmer won an intriguing battle with Nazmul Hossain Shanto (38), bowling him with a beautiful delivery that drifted into the left-hander, who stretched forward in defence, but the ball spun past his outside edge and just clipped off-stump.

In his next over the 33-year-old had Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque brilliantly caught by Keegan Petersen at silly point for a duck and he followed up four overs before stumps with the important wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim, well-caught down the leg-side by wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne for 7.

Opening batsman Mahmudul Hasan Joy has fought through it all to score 44 not out.

While the Proteas enjoyed an excellent day, there was sorrow for Temba Bavuma, who once again fell frustratingly close to a second Test century.

Bavuma scored a marvellous 93 in the testing conditions,  but fell in the 90s for the second time in his career when he was bowled by off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz (40-8-94-3).

Playing in his landmark 50^th Test, Bavuma received a short delivery from Mehidy and went back to cut, but the newish (less than 20 overs old) ball inexplicably turned extremely sharply, cramping the batsman, coming off his pad and ricocheting on to the stumps.

Keshav Maharaj was then bowled for 19 by Ebadot Hossain (29-10-86-2), who nipped a fine delivery through his gate, in the next over. Bavuma and Maharaj had done the bulk of the scoring for South Africa on the second morning as they added 53 for the eighth wicket.

The home side had begun the day on 233/4 after 76.5 overs and the third over with the second new ball saw Bangladesh break through.

Khaled Ahmed (25-3-92-4) seamed the ball back into Verreynne (28), who was trapped lbw in the crease as he did not play with much foot movement. Khaled’s next delivery was a lifting ball outside off stump, which Wiaan Mulder (0) sparred at, sending an edge to gully which was brilliantly caught by a diving Joy.

But Harmer then combined with pace bowlers Lizaad Williams and Duanne Olivier, who both scored 12, to provide a late hurrah for the innings.