Ken Borland

Veteran scrumhalf Conor Murray scored for Munster in the 74th minute to snatch a 27-22 victory over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night, moving the defending champions into the top three in the United Rugby Championship standings.

Graham Rowntree’s team were inspired in the first half as they took a 17-10 lead, but the second half saw them embroiled in a punishing dog-fight with the Bulls, despite the home side losing their flyhalf, Johan Goosen, to a red card in the 54^th minute.

Goosen was sent from the field after he rushed forward to try and envelop replacement scrumhalf Craig Casey ball-and-all, he was always upright in the tackle and made head contact with the halfback as he stood up. In a double blow for the Bulls, Canan Moodie’s try after he gathered the loose ball was disallowed. It would have put the home side 27-17 up after a strong start to the second half.

Casey left the field for a concussion check and never returned, and it was ironic that that brought the seasoned Murray back on the field and he claimed the matchwinning try.

The Bulls had dominated the opening exchanges of the second half, but as soon as Munster enjoyed a one-man advantage, they turned the screw and dominated the rest of the match.

The equalising try came just four minutes later when excellent flyhalf Jack Crowley put in a crosskick for John Hodnett, the replacement flank going around Moodie and through Kurt-Lee Arendse to score.

But the Bulls then stepped up a gear and were in their faces with tremendous defence, making it hard graft for the visitors to seal the deal.

With both packs bashing away at each other, Murray sniped around the defence to give himself some space and then reached over the decisive try.

Having been mostly the architects of their own problems in the first half, one could bet one’s house on the Bulls fighting back strongly after the break and they did that with two tries in the first 10 minutes. Lock Ruan Vermaak’s powerful surge set up field position, but the Munster defence was superb at close quarters. Eventually the Bulls went wide to the blindside wing and Kurt-Lee Arendse sniped over for the try.

Goosen’s arcing run then put the Bulls on attack again, leading to hooker Johan Grobbelaar going over from a tap penalty.

The former Springbok flyhalf kicked some lengthy touchfinders and a brilliant 50/22 that led to their opening try, eighthman Elrigh Louw muscling over from eight metres out, but Munster had the better kicking game and looked more secure tactically in the first half.

Lock RG Snyman showed why he is in the high-finance section of the rugby world with a dominant display, ruling the lineouts. The Bulls felt the pressure in the first half with several throws going astray, including the one pouched by hooker Niall Scannell in the 19^th minute, with the ball then slickly shipped out wide for wing Shane Daly to score in the corner.

The Bulls did level matters seven minutes later, but Munster were able to give themselves a handy halftime lead with 10 points in the last three minutes of the first half. The scrambling, never-say-die defensive effort kept the Bulls pinned in their 22, and as the visiting pack rumbled forward carry-after-carry, Snyman reached over for the try.

A Jack Crowley penalty on the whistle was an encouraging end to the half. It was not smooth sailing in the second half and the Bulls did help by shooting themselves in the foot, but Munster deserved the spoils for a performance of great character and control.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Elrigh Louw, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Johan Grobbelaar. Conversions – Johan Goosen (2). Penalty – Goosen.

Munster: Tries – Shane Daly, RG Snyman, Josh Hodnett, Conor Murray. Conversions – Jack Crowley (2), Penalty – Crowley.

Teams

Bulls: Le Roux, De Klerk, Moodie, Kriel, Arendse, Goosen, Papier, Steenekamp, Grobbelaar, W. Louw, Vermaak, Van Heerden, Hanekom, Ludwig, E. Louw.

Replacements – Williams for De Klerk (40th-41^st), Gumede for Hanekom (52^nd), C. Smith for Le Roux (63^rd), Van der Merwe for Grobbelaar (64^th), Matanzima for Steenekamp (64^th), M. Smith for W. Louw (64^th), Swanepoel for Van Heerden (69^th), Burger for Papier (72^nd), .

Munster: Zebo, Nash, Frisch, Nankivell, Daly, Crowley, Murray, Loughman, Scannell, Archer, Snyman, Beirne, O’Mahony, Kendellen, O’Donoghue.

Replacements – Coombes for O’Mahony (52^nd), Hodnett for Kendellen (52^nd), Casey for Murray (52^nd), Wycherley for Loughman (54^th), Murray for Casey (54^th), Clarke for Scannell (63^rd), Jager for Archer (63^rd), Carbery for Nankivell (67^th).

It’s probably advisable not to watch the Sharks play rugby at the moment because it’s a bit like watching someone struggle with a serious illness in hospital; their latest display being an ugly 25-10 win over the Ospreys at Kings Park in which they scored 14 points in the last three minutes.

The sacking of head coach Sean Everitt was not the instant panacea some people expected it would be, as the Sharks were still severely lacking in polish, error-ridden in the red zone and disorganised on attack. The fact that they were only leading by one point at home after 76 minutes against a side that had won just one of their previous eight matches says it all.

Of greatest concern was the number of basic errors they made, far too many to be considered serious contenders for any silverware.

That the Sharks had more than enough chances to put the Ospreys away was thanks to the utter dominance of their scrum and their excellent defence leading to several turnovers at the breakdown.

And yet, despite enjoying 60% of possession and territory in the first half, they could only lead 6-0 at the break through two Curwin Bosch penalties. The flyhalf was playing his first URC game of the season after a fractured arm in pre-season, and showed enough glimpses of class to suggest the Sharks should persevere with him in the No.10 jersey.

The Sharks were then rocked soon after the break when Ospreys scored a try of genuine quality. Eighthman Morgan Morris and prop Rhys Henry burst clear from a lineout inside their own half, and then there was great work down the short side by the forwards, leading to scrumhalf Matthew Aubrey being stopped just short of the line by a great Bosch tackle. The ball was recycled though and flyhalf Jack Walsh put in an excellent crosskick for wing Luke Morgan to score.

The Sharks did at least provide a prim and proper response as flank Sikhumbuzo Notshe turned over possession from the restart and then scored from close range after a maul.

Despite their dominance, the Sharks were left with a really nervous finish as the replacement front row conceded a scrum penalty and Morris forced his way between two poor tackles on the tryline to score and close the gap to just one point again with 13 minutes remaining.

The Sharks did at least finish strongly, sealing the win in the 77^th minute as Bosch ran around to find a hole in the defence and score after the forwards had bashed away at close range against a stout Ospreys defence. Replacement flank James Venter then added some gravy as he forced his way over for a try.

But there was little for director of rugby and new head coach Neil Powell to feel comfortable about.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Curwin Bosch, James Venter. Conversions: Bosch (2). Penalties: Bosch (2).

Ospreys – Tries: Luke Morgan, Morgan Morris.

Aiden Markram said it was “all about finding a way” on a spicy Perth Stadium pitch as he and David Miller scored top-class half-centuries to take South Africa to victory by five wickets with two balls to spare in a thrilling T20 World Cup clash with India on Sunday.

India had chosen to bat first and struggled to 133/9 against a bombardment from a ferocious Proteas attack led by Lungi Ngidi (4-0-29-4) and Wayne Parnell (4-1-15-3). But India then swung the ball superbly up front to reduce South Africa to 24/3. Markram and Miller then battled to 40/3 after 10 overs, at which point they had to make a brave push for victory. They had to shift the momentum and then ran with it.

Markram attacked first, his 52 off 41 balls, swinging hard for six fours and a six, serving to loosen the grip of the Indian attack. Miller then completed the task with typical class and composure, scoring 59 not out off 46 balls.

“Conditions were incredibly tricky for batting, we expected the extra bounce, but the ball was also nipping around quite a bit,” Markram said. “In T20, you have to take risks and play a positive brand of cricket.

“But the ball gets big on you from just short of a good length and makes you look silly at times. I felt far from being in form, but it was about finding a way.

“It’s tough when there’s that extra bounce, but you need to make a play, you’ve got to take the short ball on or you won’t be scoring quickly enough. After 10 overs, we had to pick someone to target, who we felt most comfortable against in the conditions.

“We discussed it at the drinks break and we knew that if it comes off then it would give us a chance,” Markram said.

While batting was something of a daunting adventure on a pitch with so much pace and bounce, Markram also praised the bowlers for not getting carried away when conditions were so much in their favour.

“It was important for us to set the tone up front and Wayne Parnell has been doing that for us in a lot of games. He’s got the experience and the calmness because he knows his skillsets with the ball.

“In conditions like this, Lungi is also a massive weapon for us and he executed extremely well to get the early breakthroughs for us.

“It was important to hit the right hard lengths to extract that extra bounce. Both bowling attacks bowled very well and made it difficult to score.

“You can get carried away in terms of your lengths and then start giving freebies, but neither attack did that. They made life very difficult for the batsmen,” Markram said.

October has not been a great month for Proteas captain Temba Bavuma as he has scored just 11 runs in three innings and has been battling with illness. But he has to now lead by example and not only score brisk runs up front but also steer his team through a massive last week of the month in which they play Zimbabwe on Monday, followed by Bangladesh (Thursday) and India (Sunday).

Bavuma has been knocked over in the first powerplay in five of his seven T20 Internationals this year, so there will be plenty on his mind as he opens the batting in what could well be seamer-friendly conditions in Hobart on Monday. He admitted that there are a few “conversations in his head”, but one thing we do know about Bavuma is that he is a tremendously tenacious character and he will be fighting hard at the Bellerive Oval.

“I feel good, I’ve gotten over that sickness in India and I’ve had a couple of net sessions,” Bavuma said on Sunday. “The pressure is not unique to me, all international players have to deal with it.

“Yes, as captain, it is a lot more blown up, all eyes are on you and there’s a lot more critique of your performance and how you lead. It comes with the responsibility, and I won’t shy away from it.

“I will face up to it as honourably and with as much gratitude as I can. I’m aware of the conversations in my head regarding my game and how I’m going to lead.

“But I’m not aware of any outside conversations, those are not discussed within the team. Our focus is on knowing what we want to do and how to do it, anything else is for other ears.” The only selection issues then, with the dominating Reeza Hendricks out in the cold, will be whether South Africa play two spinners or one, and whether their all-rounder will be Wayne Parnell or Marco Jansen.

The Proteas, ranked fourth in T20s to Zimbabwe’s 11^th and Bangladesh’s ninth, will go into their first two World Cup matches as favourites. They learned from last year’s event, in which they lost just one match but were edged out of the semi-finals on nett run-rate, that once they get the upperhand, there can be no hesitation in ruthlessly going for the jugular.

“Our biggest takeway from the previous World Cup was that every game matters, you have to perform as well as you can in every match, and make sure you keep the pulse of the run-rate,” Bavuma admitted.

“If you have the opportunity to win really well then you have to make sure you take it. We’ll be looking to execute as well as we can against Zimbabwe. There’s no time to ease into the tournament, it is so important to start well.

“It’s going to be challenging up front against the new ball, with the bowlers targeting off-stump. We have to be circumspect but obviously with the right intensity to put pressure on the bowlers,” Bavuma said.