Ken Borland

Springbok fullback Warrick Gelant scored a controversial 78^th minute try to save the Stormers from a humiliating defeat as they edged out the Pumas 42-37 in their Super Rugby Unlocked match in Nelspruit on Friday night.

Gelant produced a fine finish, stepping inside to evade a tackler and then racing away to beat the cover-defence and score the try, but the pass he received from flyhalf Tim Swiel was ‘flat’ enough to raise suspicions in even the most ardent Western Province fan. Referee Marius van der Westhuizen referred the decision to TMO AJ Jacobs and there was certainly enough evidence to rule out the try.

The Stormers were able to come back from a horror first half and they trailed 14-37 after 52 minutes, but they scored three tries in the last 10 minutes to steal the spoils.

The Pumas came with a simple and highly-effective game-plan by coach Jimmy Stonehouse but they were able to execute it perfectly in the first half as they raced into a 30-14 lead.

It was an epic effort by the Pumas, led by inside centre Wayne van der Bank, who took over the generalship duties after an injury to flyhalf Eddie Fouche, and the underdogs produced an outstanding display of clinical rugby to race into a 30-14 lead at the halftime break.

The Pumas were able to overcome an unfortunate blow five minutes into the second half when flank Jeandre Rudolph, an enormous figure in an asphyxiating display by the Pumas pack, was harshly yellow-carded by Van der Westhuizen after an innocuous jersey-pulling episode that saw Stormers scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies end up in the advertising boards.

It was Van der Bank who created an opportunity for an overwhelming 37-14 lead as he rounded off an armada of strong carries by breaking the gain-line and then producing a brilliant offload for wing Niel Maritz to score.

But it all served as an enormous wake-up call for the Stormers and tries from close range by replacement prop Neethling Fouche and hooker Bongi Mbonambi, followed by a classic backline try by wing Leolin Zas, brought them right back into the contest before an unfortunate end to the game for the plucky home side.

The Pumas may have lost, but what they clearly showed is that there is certainly an abundance of talent outside the big franchises and Stonehouse remains an extremely effective manipulator of that talent.

Sharks assistant coach Ryan Strudwick thinks there may have been some underestimation of the Pumas by some of the inexperienced members of their squad, leading to their chastening 33-24 defeat in Nelspruit in their Currie Cup opener last weekend.

“We spoke all week about them taking it to us physically, but I don’t think the guys expected it to be that hard. They underestimated the Pumas, there were eight guys in our side who were new to Currie Cup rugby, and I think they were shellshocked to some extent.

“Nelspruit is not an easy place to go and the intensity of a match situation is a lot different to whatever you’ve had in the warm-ups,” Strudwick said.

The former Sharks, Harlequins and London Irish lock said the major problem area for the Sharks was the set-pieces, while the biggest plus was the second-half comeback that saw the KwaZulu-Natalians close a 7-27 gap at the break to just nine points.

“It was a very disappointing start to the campaign, both in terms of the result and the way we played. They outmuscled us and we made way too many mistakes. But we won the second half so there are a lot of positives from that, that got the confidence up a bit. The defence let through three tries though and the lineouts and scrums were massive problem areas,” Strudwick admitted.

Flank Khaya Majola and wing S’Bura Sithole are both on the doubtful list with niggles for the Sharks’ match against the EP Kings in Durban on Saturday, with the team set to be announced on Thursday.

The shoulder and ankle injuries suffered by Lourens Adriaanse and Thomas du Toit respectively have seen the Sharks issue an SOS for Leopards prop John-Roy Jenkinson, a Glenwood High School product and 2011 Junior Springbok, to join them for the remainder of the Currie Cup campaign, while the loose trio could also be shuffled with Jean-Luc du Preez having a leg injury.

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The Springboks open their Rugby Championship campaign with a game against Argentina at the FNB Stadium on Saturday that has huge potential to be a real banana peel of a match – everyone expects South Africa to maintain their unbeaten record against the Pumas, but a slip-up and a defeat on home turf is still a definite possibility.

Duane Vermeulen, a powerful, physical eighthman, returns to the back of the scrum after a season once again disrupted by injury, while Juandre Kruger, a brilliant lineout organiser and jumper, is back in the number five jersey.

There are a couple of new faces on the bench as well – although the actual visages of scrumhalf Fourie du Preez and prop Gurthro Steenkamp are famous all over the rugby world as experienced former World Cup winners.

Vermeulen comes in for the injured Pierre Spies, the Bulls’ eighthman whose abilities are way more highly rated by the Springbok management than by those who base their opinion on televised displays.

“Duane can bring something different, he’s physical and unbelievably good on the ground, he’s like an extra openside flank because he competes very well for the ball. He’s good in the lineout too and I expect a good performance from him,” Meyer said on Wednesday.

Kruger, a good communicator in the lineout, returns in place of Flip van der Merwe, who moved from his normal number four position to number five to add some fire to the pack for their last Test against the combative Samoans in June.

For the time being, Meyer has decided to ease the Japan-based Du Preez into action off the bench, with Ruan Pienaar again the starting scrumhalf.

While we all wait with bated breath to see whether the talismanic 31-year-old can still dominate proceedings on the field as he did during his prime, there is no doubting Du Preez’s off-field value in guiding and motivating the Springboks.

“It would be unfair to expect and a lot to ask for Fourie to come straight in and start during his off-season, and it’s the right thing for the team for him to ease back in. He will definitely get game time and that’s a lot of experience to bring on,” Meyer said.

Meyer said Pienaar’s retention in the number nine jersey was all part of his desire for continuity.

“Ruan is the number one choice, he’s the guy in the saddle and we’ve opted for continuity.

“I don’t want to chop and change every week, we’ve won six Tests on the trot and we want to take that momentum forward. We’ve only had one week’s proper preparation for this Test, so that’s why I wanted to keep continuity. Because we’ve had very little time to prepare, continuity has been the deciding factor in selection,” Meyer said.

Because of this policy, the in-form Adriaan Strauss also retains the number two jersey ahead of the benched Bismarck du Plessis, who is considered the best hooker in the world.

The other key features of the selection are Meyer placing his faith in Willie le Roux at fullback and Bjorn Basson on the left wing, while the scavenging skills of Siya Kolisi see him earn the loose forward reserve’s spot on the bench ahead of ball-carrier and tackler Marcell Coetzee, a result of the coach’s new emphasis on the breakdown.

The defensive frailties of Basson are a concern and the awful mistake he made in the Bulls’ 22 during the SuperRugby final led to the match-winning, last-minute try by the Brumbies. JJ Engelbrecht, the outside centre for Saturday’s Test, has also shown a propensity to rush out of the defensive line, and the cut-throat intensity of international rugby means such mistakes can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

“We’ve only had one defence session during the week and it’s difficult to fix things like that in that time. But they are both great players and I have a lot of confidence in our defence, we’ve only been conceding a little more than one try per Test on average.

“Bjorn and JJ are both brilliant attackers and that means the other guys need to defend too. I want an attacking mindset, they say the best form of defence is attack, and even the best backline in the world will make mistakes now and then,” Meyer said.

Kolisi confirmed that the breakdown would be his key focus.

“I want to become more of an openside flank and I’ve been working hard on slowing down the ball and getting to the ball first. Richie Gray [the Springboks’ new breakdown consultant] really knows what he is talking about and he’s had us getting quickly off the ground.

“These days you can’t play with nobody for the breakdown, you need quick ball in order to score tries, and we’re looking forward to getting better in that department.

“It’s my first game in the Rugby Championship, so it’s huge for me. I don’t feel entrenched in the squad because there are a lot of good loose forwards, and I must perform well every week to stay part of the 23,” Kolisi said.

Meyer said pace to the breakdowns would be crucial against Argentina because they employ similar tactics to the All Blacks.

“Argentina give you the outside gaps and then counter-ruck you, like the All Blacks do. So cleaning out at the rucks is very important,” Meyer said.

Meyer will hope for the same precision and attention to detail in all facets of the game if the Springboks are to avoid turning the celebrations of Nelson Mandela’s birthday into a sorry start to the Rugby Championship.

Team: 15-Willie le Roux, 14-Bryan Habana, 13-JJ Engelbrecht, 12-Jean de Villiers, 11-Bjorn Basson, 10-Morne Steyn, 9-Ruan Pienaar, 8-Duane Vermeulen, 7-Willem Alberts, 6-Francois Louw, 5-Juandre Kruger, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-Adriaan Strauss, 1-Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: 16-Bismarck du Plessis, 17-Gurthro Steenkamp, 18-Coenie Oosthuizen, 19-Flip van der Merwe, 20-Siya Kolisi, 21-Fourie du Preez, 22-Pat Lambie, 23-Jan Serfontein.

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The competitiveness of some of the Sharks’ youngsters will be on display early on in the Currie Cup with the suspension of Garth April for a breach of team protocol allowing 19-year-old Curwin Bosch an early chance to shine in the flyhalf position against the Pumas in Nelspruit on Friday.

The exact nature of April’s ill-discipline has not been revealed but it is obviously another blow to an exciting prospect whose game has gone dramatically backwards since his inclusion in the Springbok squad as more of an observer than anything else, culminating in a shellshocked display in the awful Wellington weather in the SuperRugby quarterfinal against the Hurricanes.

Bosch, a star member of the South African team at the Junior World Cup in June, made three appearances off the bench in SuperRugby, while he will have two debutants outside him in the backline in wing Neil Maritz and outside centre Lukhanyo Am.

“There’s great competition with the youngsters, which is fantastic. Hopefully we can expose them at that level and they will learn a lot. We’re blessed to have basically the same pack as in SuperRugby, which will give us great confidence, but there are a couple of new guys in the backline. But I’m very excited and positive about what lies ahead,” coach Robert du Preez said.

The former Springbok scrumhalf said he hoped some of the attacking ambition that was unborn in SuperRugby would now come to fruition in the Currie Cup.

“We had a good SuperRugby season, the focus was on sorting out our defence and I think we did that quite successfully, although we did leak tries towards the end of the competition. But the Currie Cup is certainly about attacking rugby, that’s our focus now. Defence is obviously a major part of what a team is about, but we want to play rugby that inspires,” Du Preez said.

Sharks team – Odwa Ndungane, Neil Maritz, Lukhanyo Am, Andre Esterhuizen, S’bura Sithole, Curwin Bosch, Michael Claassens, Philip van der Walt, Jean-Luc du Preez, Keegan Daniel (c), Stephan Lewies, Etienne Oosthuizen, Lourens Adriaanse, Franco Marais, Dale Chadwick. Bench: Chiliboy Ralepelle, Thomas du Toit, Ruan Botha, Tera Mtembu, Stefan Ungerer, Innocent Radebe, Heimar Williams.