Ken Borland

Twenty-year-old scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse has been pushed front and centre by the Sharks as he will be starting in the Currie Cup final against the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday in the only change to the semi-final line-up announced by coach Sean Everitt on Thursday.

It has been an age since South Africa had such riches at scrumhalf, with World Cup star Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach overseas, Ivan van Zyl being consistently slick for the Bulls and Herschel Jantjies (WP) and Embrose Papier (Bulls) finding some form as well. And then there are the young talents at the Sharks: Sanele Nohamba has just turned 22 and is an exciting prospect even though he will be on the bench for the final; while Hendrikse is rated by Everitt as the next big thing.

“Jaden was actually supposed to start last weekend but he had a stomach ailment for most of the week so we thought it best to put him on the bench. He’s a good decision-maker at the base, a good defender and he even gets turnovers at the breakdown. But the main thing with him is his game-management, he conducts the play really well.

“Jaden is a tremendous talent, he’s a former nominee for World Junior Player of the Year for a reason and he has big game experience at U20 level. Then we will look at Sanele to bring tempo. He has a different skill set, he knows our plays really well and has come along nicely in terms of maturity. The last 20 minutes is going to be one of the most important parts of the final and Sanele can close out the game well,” Everitt said on Thursday.

One of the great successes of the Sharks’ game-plan at Newlands last weekend was the way they demolished the Western Province maul, which was one of the home side’s key building blocks of success this season. There are a few more Bulls buildings that the Sharks will need to demolish because their opposition has a greater range of attacking weapons than last week’s rivals, but being able to negate the Bulls’ lineout drive will stand the KwaZulu-Natalians in good stead.

“We haven’t had to train so many mauls this week because we had so many at the weekend! But we expect the Bulls to maul, they have their banker lineout jumpers and Russell Winter [forwards coach] has done a good job. But if you go back to when we beat them here in Durban, we stopped them at the drive, the pack stood up to them really well and there’s no reason they can’t do it again.

“JJ van der Mescht has a massive role to play in that, he has a lot of physicality and defends well, he’s brilliant at stopping mauls and he loves doing it. The more he plays the better he seems to get. Everyone says how badly Western Province played, but no-one gives the Sharks any credit for how many mauls we defended. The plan was to not give them any lineouts, we gave them 13 but we stopped them all,” Everitt pointed out.

Sharks team – Aphelele Fassi, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (c), Marius Louw, Yaw Penxe, Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Henco Venter, Dylan Richardson, Ruben van Heerden, JJ van der Mescht, Thomas du Toit, Fezokuhle Mbatha, Ox Nche. Bench: Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola, Michael Kumbirai, Hyron Andrews, Thembelani Bholi, Sanele Nohamba, Jeremy Ward, Manie Libbok

Front-foot ball and the ability to control the tempo of the game and execute their game-plan were the prime reasons for the Bulls’ success as they beat the Lions 26-21 in their Currie Cup semi-final at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

A superbly-controlled first half by the Bulls gave them an 11-0 lead, but there was a second-half wobble when the gutsy Lions fought back to level the score at 14-14 with two tries. But the Bulls then regrouped, and helped tremendously by the Lions’ ill-discipline which saw both locks, Marvin Orie and Willem Alberts, yellow-carded in the space of three minutes, they scored two tries to settle the issue.

The Lions scored a consolation try after the final hooter through centre Burger Odendaal, but they were a beaten side by then.

The Bulls’ dominance started with an excellent scrummaging display and, even though the Lions did win a couple of penalties at that set-piece, the home side won the scrums at vital moments. Their defence was also superb and the pressure they exerted led to the Lions simply making too many errors.

The Bulls backline, expertly marshalled by halfbacks Morne Steyn and Ivan van Zyl, also looked in prime attacking mood and their first try, in the 10^th minute, featured some superb running rugby in the build-up before Steyn, who had earlier made the break into the 22 off a deft pass from Van Zyl, stuck through a diagonal grubber which wing Stravino Jacobs gathered beautifully considering the tricky bounce and crossed over the line.

Another penalty early in the second half, when the Lions were once again punished for trying to run out of their own 22, allowed the Bulls to extend their lead to 14-0. The Lions half was the location where most of the game was played, but when the visitors did manage to string some phases together inside the Bulls half they scored a fine try as Alberts thundered over.

But even their second try came from deep within their own territory as scrumhalf Andre Warner’s box-kick came down just outside his own 22. But Jacobs missed the catch, replacement Francke Horn gathered and sent Wandisile Simelane free on his outside. The exciting outside centre had already shown great feet and hands in the match, but now he showed tremendous pace as he raced away for the try that levelled the scores.

Still the Lions conceded penalties though and the Bulls were allowed to set a lineout maul from which replacement hooker Johan Grobbelaar scored. From the restart, Orie was then yellow-carded, perhaps a bit harshly, for a high tackle inside the Bulls’ 22. It put the home side hard on attack, Alberts was then yellow-carded after the Lions were guilty of continued offsides offences, and the Bulls predictably decided to scrum with both opposition locks off the field. A delicate crosskick from replacement flyhalf Chris Smith to Jacobs provided the matchwinning try.

Location, location, location as they say in the real estate world and the Lions simply spent too much time trying to play in the wrong areas.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Stravino Jacobs, Johan Grobbelaar, Stravino Jacobs. Conversion – Morne Steyn. Penalties – Steyn (3).

Lions: Tries – Willem Alberts, Wandisile Simelane, Burger Odendaal. Conversions – Elton Jantjies (3).

Newlands has been kind to the Sharks the last two times they have played there, including a 12-9 win in the Currie Cup final on October 27, 2018, and coach Sean Everitt says his team is quite comfortable travelling to Cape Town for their semi-final against Western Province on Saturday.

The Sharks have won their last two matches at Newlands, also beating them 12-9 in SuperRugby in 2019, and they have been triumphant in three of their last five outings at The Grand Old Lady of South African rugby. Those wins have all been narrow, however, all by less than six points, while their two defeats were heavy – by 11 and 22 points in 2018.

“We’re very happy to go to Cape Town, it’s a lot easier than going to the Highveld, especially playing in the afternoon at this time of year. It’s been really hot here in Durban, so we’re looking forward to better conditions and we do play well in those sort of conditions. The travel there certainly won’t deter us much.

“We did speak about the emotion involved from Western Province’s side that it might be their last game there. There’s a lot of tradition surrounding that stadium, including for the Sharks and we would really like to be the last team to win at Newlands. But we’re up against a desperate, emotional team with a good set-piece so it should make for a good game,” Everitt said this week.

Everitt also said that because of where the two teams are situated on the log – Western Province finished second and the Sharks were third – the home team will be favourites and that will bring added pressure.

“They finished second on the log, so we’re probably underdogs. So the pressure is on them playing at home, plus with all the emotion of Newlands. I’m not sure why the away team has won the last few playoffs between us, but it probably comes down to the pressure of playing at home. Because of that pressure, it’s all going to come down to error-rate and discipline.

“If we’re not accurate in receiving kicks then we may be in trouble. But having Aphelele Fassi back at fullback adds a different dimension to our counter-attack and Manie Libbok did really well at fullback too and is on the bench. From an attack point of view, maybe we haven’t performed as well as we would have liked, but without continuity you’re going to struggle to get that synergy in attack,” Everitt said.

Sharks’ last 5 results at Newlands

June 15, 2019             Won 12-9 (SR)

October 27, 2018        Won 17-12 (CC final)

September 29, 2018    Lost 28-50 (CC)

July 7, 2018                 Lost 16-27 (SR)

August 26, 2017         Won 21-20 (CC)

Sharks’ last 6 playoffs v WP/Stormers

October 27, 2018        Cape Town      Won 17-12 (Currie Cup final)

October 28, 2017        Durban                        Lost 21-33 (Currie Cup final)

October 26, 2013        Cape Town      Won 33-19 (Currie Cup final)

October 27, 2012        Durban                        Lost 18-25 (Currie Cup final)

July 28, 2012               Cape Town      Won 26-19 (SuperRugby semi-final)

October 30, 2010        Durban                        Won 30-10 (Currie Cup final)

With the Bulls having the experience of Arno Botha and Jacques van Rooyen on the bench, and a Springbok scrumhalf in Embrose Papier sitting alongside them, and the Lions fielding six forwards amongst their reserves, five of them relatively inexperienced, Bulls coach Jake White said on Thursday that he is confident his team will have the edge when it comes to the closing stages of their Currie Cup semi-final in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Lions will have a well-travelled reserve prop in Ruan Dreyer, but Jan-Henning Campher, Carlu Sadie, Reinhard Nothnagel, Wilhelm van der Sluys and Francke Horn are all still making their way at this level and White quickly seized on the composition of the visitors’ bench.

“When I look at the Lions, I see six forwards on the bench so that’s how they’re going to finish and I don’t think those guys have played a game together as a pack. They said they’re going to run the ball but they only have two backs on the bench. So it’s going to be hard for them to play from side-to-side and it’s a big risk with six forwards who haven’t played together before.

“So that will present opportunities for us as well, our preparation has been very good and we are full of confidence. We’ve won most second halves in the matches we’ve played, so by that measure we are a team that finishes well. We can change things around and not just be one-dimensional. We’ve beaten the Lions, Sharks and Western Province twice so there’s no reason for us not to be confident,” White said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Bulls starting line-up announced on Thursday is pretty much the first-choice team White would have had in mind a few weeks ago. The exceptions are at lock and hooker, where Sintu Manjezi and Schalk Erasmus have cracked the nod.

Promising 25-year-old second-rower Walt Steenkamp is still fighting his way through the Covid return-to-play protocols, while Erasmus is the heavier of the two hookers – 108kg to the 98kg of Johan Grobbelaar – and thus will start to bolster the scrum, where the Bulls will have to weather an early onslaught from the Lions.

“Walt is still not 100% in terms of the return-to-play protocols. Our medical team is very proactive and has lots of concern for the players, so his welfare comes first, we won’t take a chance and they are 100% sure that he’s not quite back where he should be. Schalk scrummed with Lizo Gqoboka and Trevor Nyakane last game and I just thought it was easier to keep them together.

“With Grobbies, Jacques and Arno on the bench we have a bit more senior, experienced heads to finish. We have the luxury of having Jacques on the bench, who is a great asset, but Lizo is a Springbok and has played many times with Trevor. They’ve been working with scrum coach Daan Human and the feeling was they are a settled combination,” White said.

Bulls: David Kriel, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Stravino Jacobs, Morné Steyn, Ivan van Zyl, Duane Vermeulen (C), Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Sintu Manjezi, Trevor Nyakane, Schalk Erasmus, Lizo Gqoboka. Bench – Johan Grobbelaar, Jacques van Rooyen, Mornay Smith, Jan Uys, Arno Botha, Embrose Papier, Chris Smith, Marco Jansen van Vuren.