Ken Borland

A rough year in the Currie Cup just got worse for the Lions as the Bulls unexpectedly beat their URC-strength side 43-37 at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday evening, in an entertaining game watched by more than 7000 spectators.

The Bulls led 35-10 at one stage, but they only sealed victory in the 77^th minute when Lions captain Burger Odendaal conceded a bizarre try and would have learnt a harsh lesson that it always pays to remember the colour of your team’s jersey!

Bulls took their chances

When you are the underdogs, taking your chances is crucial. Territory and possession were fairly even in the first half, but the Bulls were just so clinical in using their opportunities inside the Lions’ 22 as they went to the break 35-17 ahead.

Their forwards were a tight unit, carrying most effectively and prop Lizo Gqoboka, hooker Bismarck du Plessis and lock Janko Swanepoel all powered over the line.

There was also some beautiful running and handling by the backs, who showed some really smart touches. Like the line wing David Kriel ran to score from a dummy maul and the lovely kick infield he made for outside centre Stedman Gans to run on to and score.

Bulls on the wrong side of the referee in second half

On the anniversary of a Captain’s Challenge being introduced on a trial basis in the Rainbow Cup, the Bulls would have been desperate for anything to stop the incredible flow of penalties awarded against them by referee Griffin Colby in the second half. At one stage he gave the Lions 10 penalties in a row and overall the Bulls conceded twice as many penalties as their opponents.

Discipline is obviously an issue the Bulls will have to deal with, and they were regularly penalised at ruck time.

It meant they could barely get out of their 22 and the Lions fought back to within a point at 37-38 with five minutes remaining.

Odendaal’s awful mistake

The Lions captain has been flourishing this season, but he also spent many happy years at Loftus Versfeld playing for the Bulls. He will be gutted by the mistake he made right at the end though, when he passed the ball straight to Bulls replacement wing Richard Kriel inside his own in-goal area. Brother David Kriel had made the initial searing break that put the Bulls on attack, but the Lions regained possession behind their tryline, only for Odendaal to think he was back playing for the Bulls and passing to a blue jersey!

Learnings for youngsters as hard men shine

Playing against, and beating, a URC side would have been a tremendous learning experience for the Bulls’ young Currie Cup players. And the way they defended for the vast majority of the second half showed superb character. They had some hardened campaigners to help them along though and Du Plessis and Gqoboka were in the frontline of the effort.

Swanepoel, strong with the ball and in defence, and able to make crucial lineout steals, looks a player with a great future, and it was an excellent outing for David Kriel, who has been out in the wilderness for the last few weeks.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Lizo Gqoboka, Bismarck du Plessis, David Kriel, Janko Swanepoel, Stedman Gans, Richard Kriel. Conversions – Juan Mostert (5). Penalty – Keagan Johannes

Lions: Tries – Ruben Schoeman, Burger Odendaal, Francke Horn, Jordan Hendrikse, Sibusiso Sangweni. Conversions – Hendrikse (3). Penalties – Hendrikse (2).

Anyone who watches Griquas play rugby knows that they are a side that may be a little rough around the edges but they go all-in with everything they do, and their high-flying third position on the Currie Cup log is the reward for their determination. Bulls coach Jake White certainly knows how difficult they are to tame even though he will be fielding a rejigged outfit against them at Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday afternoon.

Centre Lionel Mapoe, wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, flank Arno Botha and prop Gerhard Steenekamp all return to the starting line-up, while tighthead Jacques van Rooyen and the highly-rated utility forward Jacques du Plessis, who has returned to Pretoria from Montpellier, are on the bench.

“We’ve picked a strong team with a couple of guys coming back from injury, because Griquas are not easy to play against. Griquas are really enjoying their season, they’ve done phenomenally well and have had big wins away from home. Every contest on the field they go in with 100% commitment. They have good players who are playing well. My first game coaching the Bulls was against Griquas here at Loftus Versfeld and we were 10-0 down very quickly,” White said on Tuesday.

Both the Bulls and Griquas are coming off defeats last weekend, but the defending Currie Cup champions were probably more annoyed by the way they were ripped apart amidships by the Sharks in the third quarter, when they went from being 20-13 up to trailing 32-20.

“If you’re not on top of your game then you can be on the receiving end, that’s the fantastic thing about sport. If you’re not winning you’re learning, so that will be a learning curve for us. We need to understand pressure cycles better, we managed to build pressure but we didn’t seem to understand that we had the opposition by the throat. But you only learn to understand those things on the field,” White said.

Bulls team – David Kriel, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Johan Goosen, Zak Burger, Elrigh Louw, Arno Botha, Marcell Coetzee, Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Schalk Erasmus, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench:Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima, Jacques van Rooyen, Janko Swanepoel, Jacques du Plessis, Keagan Johannes, Chris Smith, Stedman Gans.

Ernie Els breezed to a five-under-par 67 in the morning and then made a clarion call for the organisers of the South African Open to make the rough even tougher on the first day at Glendower Golf Club yesterday, and his point was perhaps proved when Jbe’ Kruger and Andy Sullivan overtook him in the afternoon with 66s.

Just about everyone else was complaining about the thick, tangled grass off the fairways however, and Kruger produced the only bogey-free round of the day, his precise iron play being the key, particularly on a back nine that he studded with four birdies.

“I hit my irons very well today, considering that I only hit a couple of fairways. But the greens are very good and if you hit it straight, then there are a lot of birdies out there,” Kruger said.

Els alternated between driver and three-wood off the tee and it came off as he produced an impressive round that featured just one bogey, on the par-four 12^th.

“I was much better off the tee than I’ve been recently and I managed to hit quite a few fairways. I hit a few three-woods and when I used driver it came off as well. On quite a few holes, if you miss the fairway you’re finished, but I was more aggressive today, I was swinging freely and not steering the ball.

“But the organisers are getting soft, they had complaints and they cut the rough down this morning. You now can get decent lies in the rough and I hope they leave it to grow now again,” Els said.

Sullivan really put the wind up Kruger and Els as he charged to six-under with five birdies in seven holes from the eighth, capped by an eagle at the par-five 15^th. But the Englishman could only come home with three pars to ensure he and Kruger share first place, with Els a daunting figure just below them.

Driver was Sullivan’s instrument of choice and it set him up for six birdies overall. Even his double-bogey on the par-four fifth came from the middle of the fairway.

“I played really good golf, I took on the course, used driver as much as you can and it paid off. Generally I do drive the ball well, it’s a strength of mine, and I was swinging well and made the most of it,” Sullivan said.

Former champion Richard Sterne was tied for third with Els and Denmark’s Lasse Jensen on five-under, while Charl Schwartzel shot an encouraging four-under-par 68.

Thomas Aiken shot an up-and-down 70, as did George Coetzee, while Branden Grace was four-under-par through 12 holes before a single visit to the reeds at the par-three sixth derailed his round and he finished with a 71.

Spanish rookie Jordi Garcia Pinto and South African Erik van Rooyen will both be kicking themselves as they faltered on the closing holes to take the gloss off very good rounds.

Pinto bogeyed the last three holes but still managed to post a 68, while Van Rooyen dropped shots on 17 and 18 to slip back to three-under-par.

The affable Kruger, who finished second in the SA Open last year at Glendower was clearly delighted with his round, but was quick to express his happiness at Els’s successful return to the national Open.

“It was the perfect start after two weeks off, you couldn’t ask for a better way to get your confidence back. The rough was hectic and if you miss the fairway, you have to get lucky like I did on 18.

“It’s great for South African golf that Ernie is in contention, it’s because it’s Ernie Els and you simply have to respect him. But I’m one ahead of him, which is very nice!” Kruger said with an impish smile.

The leading contenders used various terms to describe the rough at Glendower Golf Club, but one thing they all agreed on was that this year’s South African Open starting on Thursday in Edenvale will be a stern test.

Anything offline and away from the fairway will be punished, with chipping out of the rough often the only option.

Ernie Els, recently announced as the tournament’s ambassador and searching for his sixth SA Open title, is pleased that the Glendower set-up is tough.

“If you stray just off the fairway, you can really get a very tough lie. I hit one at 18 yesterday where I was a metre off the fairway and I could only advance it maybe 100 yards. But it’s what Opens are all about it, isn’t it? I think for a tournament of this stature it needs to be tough.

“Kikuyu is obviously a very thickly-laid grass and they’ve obviously let it go when there’s been a lot of rain, so it’s as thick and as tough as I’ve ever seen rough. But we want to find the best player this week and that’s what we’re going to get. You’re not going to get a guy who’s hitting it offline and getting lucky lies in the rough winning. You’re going to have to play proper golf and that’s what I think a national Open should be like,” Els said on Wednesday.

Charl Schwartzel thought the rough should have been even longer, while Branden Grace hoped it would be cut a bit, and George Coetzee described the course as “a real challenge”.

“If you miss a fairway, there is an 80% chance that you’ll have to chip out and I hit an eight-iron about 15 yards on one hole,” the Joburg Open champion said.

The greens, however, are soft and receptive, so conditions will favour the most accurate golfer rather than the most powerful.

“If there’s no rough then it’s usually a big hitter that wins, but this week is about hitting fairways and greens, which changes things a bit,” Danie van Tonder, the leader of the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit, said. “I won’t be stupid and hit driver everywhere. I’ll take three-wood or four-iron and lay-up before going for the green. To the pins I’ll be aggressive, but not on the tee shots.”

That doesn’t suit a guy like Coetzee, who likes to bomb it off the tee, but the 28-year-old said he will apply himself and look to adapt.

“I prefer tricky greens to tricky rough, but you’ve got to make your game suit the course. Hopefully I’ll hit it straight and make a few putts. You’ve got to hit a lot of fairways, because I don’t think the best putter will win it this week,” Coetzee said.

What is certain is that the leading South Africans – Schwartzel, Els, Coetzee, Grace, Richard Sterne and Hennie Otto – are all extremely hungry to claim their national Open and return the imposing trophy to home soil for the first time since Otto’s triumph in 2011.

Victory would be especially sweet for Ekurhuleni products like Els, Otto, Van Tonder and J’be Kruger.

“It’s wonderful to be back at the SA Open, especially here at Glendower in Ekurhuleni, the city where I’m from,” Els said. “I’ve played a lot of golf at Glendower, I grew up 12km from here and we’ve got a great venue this week. I feel very motivated to win as many as I can before I’m done,” the 45-year-old said.