Ken Borland

The Stormers hung on to the top spot in the South African Conference with a 19-14 (half-time 9-11) victory over the Bulls in the all-South African SuperRugby derby at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Stormers were trailing 9-14 and pinned back in their own territory for most of the second half by the Bulls’ strong territorial kicking game and forwards who were dominant in the collisions, but the unerring boot of flyhalf Peter Grant kicked a penalty, before wing Bryan Habana scored a 69th-minute try to snatch the victory from the team he first made his name for.

The Bulls’ percentage rugby seemed to be wearing down the Stormers as flyhalf Morne Steyn kicked three penalties and eighthman Pierre Spies muscled over for a try after a free kick from a lineout inside the Stormers 22.

But it was the only try the Stormers’ brilliant defensive system allowed, despite the Bulls spending 66% of the match in their territory.

Flank Siya Kolisi, who had been an enormous defensive presence throughout, superbly evaded two on-rushing Bulls defenders, racing into the 22 and firing a pinpoint pass to Habana, who up till then had been limited to attacking off up-and-unders.

Grant kicked the conversion to stretch the lead to 19-14 and ensure the Bulls had to score a try in the last 10 minutes, a penalty not being enough to win.

With the Lions dealing a mortal blow to the Sharks with their shock victory in Johannesburg earlier on Saturday, the Stormers are now five points clear at the top of the South African Conference, with three matches to play against the lowly Lions, Cheetahs and Rebels.

The Stormers are on 54 points, in second place in the overall standings, with the Bulls on 49 and the Sharks on 45 with just two matches to play.

Scorers

Stormers – Try: Bryan Habana. Conversion: Peter Grant. Penalties: Grant (4).

Bulls – Try: Pierre Spies. Penalties: Morne Steyn (3).

Former South Africa and Italy coach Nick Mallett believes the Springboks will approach their three-test series against England next month with a conservative game plan, more out of necessity than anything else.

The Springboks have a new coach in Heyneke Meyer and the first test against England comes just seven days after two intense SuperRugby derbies between the top-of-the-conference Stormers and Bulls and the challengers, the Sharks, against the Lions.

“I pity Heyneke because it’s going to be very hard trying to prepare a team for a test one week after those derbies, while England will have two weeks’ preparation,” Mallett told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

“Heyneke was my assistant with the Springboks before and he will understand that if he loses a single test, then he will be crapped out. He has to win all three tests in order to buy himself some time to develop his philosophy,” Mallett, who was South Africa’s head coach between 1997 and 2000, said.

“So I believe Heyneke’s mantra will be execution above innovation and it will be a very conservative team and game plan – he’ll be happy to win 25-18 with a handful of penalties, a drop goal and a breakaway try.”

Mallett, who was close to being appointed as England coach himself following the end of his contract with Italy, warned, however, that the visitors should not be underestimated.

“I would not be surprised if England sneak a game. They’re a very strong team, they’re bringing an air of confidence out of the Six Nations, as the tourmament developed, so did they. They’re scoring tries and they’re really well coached – Stuart Lancaster needed to bring pride back to the country and the jersey and he did that by picking the youngsters.

“It seemed definite that I would get the England job, but after the way Stuart Lancaster performed in the Six Nations, it was very difficult to drop him. It was very clear that they needed to turn over a new leaf and he’s given England the ability to counter-attack and they can hurt the Springboks,” Mallett said.

The Italy coach up until the end of last year’s World Cup pinpointed England’s halfbacks, loose forwards, front row and South African-born centre Brad Barritt as being stellar players.

“Owen Farrell at 10 is an outstanding talent, he’s a bit like Henry Honiball [Mallett’s flyhalf during the Springboks’ record 17 successive wins between 1997 and 1998] – his defence is great and his tactical kicking is good.

“Their front row of Alex Corbisiero, Dylan Hartley and Dan Cole has really come through and I think they’ll give the Springboks a real going-over.

“And England have great scrumhalves in Danny Care and Ben Youngs, they can both kick and they’re very quick and they like taking on the defence.

“But Barritt is the key player in the backline, he is tenacious, solid, he can take the ball up and he’s a good communicator and tackler. He believes he has the ability to play at that level, despite being ignored in the previous set-up.

“And the loosies, with Chris Robshaw in front, will be in the Springboks’ faces as well. The big question for England is can they match the Springboks in the physical exchanges?” Mallett said, adding that he felt there were several question marks in the selection of the South African pack.

The first test between South Africa and England will be played in Durban on June 9, followed by tests in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.

England have previously played 10 tests in South Africa, winning three and losing seven. Their last game in the republic was in 2007, when they lost 55-22 in Pretoria.

Former South Africa captain Victor Matfield believes Fourie du Preez would be “a great choice” to lead the Springboks in next month’s three-test series against England.

New national coach Heyneke Meyer seriously considered bringing lock Matfield himself out of retirement to lead the Springboks, but an International Rugby Board ruling that retired players cannot play test rugby within six months of making their comeback scuppered that idea.

Scrumhalf Du Preez, who is currently playing his rugby in Japan for Suntory Goliath, has been widely named in South African media as the next Springbok captain, although it is believed contractual obligations to his club could rule him out of the first test against England.

“Fourie would be a great choice as captain, I think he would do very well. It’s important that the captain knows exactly how Heyneke wants to play – he will be his voice on the field. Plus he’s a fantastic player and everyone has huge respect for him,” Matfield told Reuters on Wednesday.

Du Preez, who boasts one of the most accurate tactical kicking boots in world rugby, was an integral part of the Blue Bulls teams that won four Currie Cups and a SuperRugby title under Meyer’s coaching between 2000 and 2007 and would fit seamlessly into the structure-based game plan the new Springbok coach is known to favour.

“In terms of tactics, there’s nobody better than Fourie and he is a guy who Heyneke will trust. The kicking game is still very important in international rugby, but Fourie also gives flow to the game. Everyone talks about his kicking, but people forget that he is also brilliant with the way he puts other players into space. Guys like Francois Hougaard [Springbok scrumhalf in waiting] and Morne Steyn [flyhalf] can still learn a lot from him,” Matfield said.

Du Preez was acknowledged as the architect of South Africa’s march to the 2007 World Cup crown, adding pace from the base of the scrums and rucks and brilliant reading of the game to his superb kicking skills, especially when the Springboks whitewashed England 36-0 in the pool stages.

There has been speculation that the 30-year-old Du Preez would lack the sharpness required for international rugby after spending the last season playing in the less intense Japanese league, but Matfield said it would be a fresh “general” that would take the field for the Springboks.

“I haven’t seen him play over there, but we’ve done a bit of training together. Talking to him, he’s very confident, he’s been playing very well and he said it’s the best he’s felt for a long time, he doesn’t have any niggling injuries. I definitely think he’ll be able to make the step up to test rugby,” Matfield said.

Of his own potential comeback, Matfield said: “The hope of playing again was exciting and it was a serious possibility. But it’s never 100% possible, we tried to get things in place but it just wasn’t allowed.”

The Springbok squad to play England in the three-test series will be announced in Pretoria on Saturday.

Flyhalf Freddie Michalak posted 19 points as the Sharks won the physical battle and beat the Cheetahs 34-20 (half-time 21-14) in an all-South African SuperRugby match at the Free State Stadium on Saturday.

In a bruising battle between two powerful forward packs, it was the Sharks who enjoyed a slight edge as their direct running took them over the advantage line and allowed their backs the space to run in four tries and notch a vital bonus point.

Frenchman Michalak scored a try and kicked four conversions and two penalties to keep the Sharks on the front foot.

The Sharks laid down an early marker as they kept the ball from the kickoff for 12 phases and two minutes and 25 seconds, loosehead prop Tendai Mtawarira and hooker Bismarck du Plessis carrying the ball strongly to fracture the Cheetahs defence and provide outside centre JP Pietersen with the space to dot down.

Michalak converted to give the Sharks an early 7-0 lead, but their ill-discipline at the ruck and the strong running of Cheetahs forwards Philip van der Walt, Adriaan Strauss and George Earle led to two penalties for flyhalf Riaan Smit.

The Cheetahs backs also have plenty of flair with ball in hand and outside centre Robert Ebersohn’s marvellous break from the restart led to powerful hooker Strauss muscling his way over for a try in the 32nd minute.

But Michalak struck back almost immediately with his try after a booming kick by fullback Riaan Viljoen had been allowed to bounce inside their 22 by the Cheetahs defence. The 29-year-old leapt up to get a hand to the ball, re-gathered and scored just his second SuperRugby try.

Wing Paul Jordaan then obstructed the Cheetahs chase at the restart and conceded a penalty, which Smit kicked to level the scores at 14-14.

But the Sharks attacked again with renewed vigour and, with the half-time hooter having just gone, they ran a penalty, with eighthman Keegan Daniel and Jordaan impressing with their handling to give wing Lwazi Mvovo the chance to beat the cover defence with dancing feet and a strong hand-off.

Michalak converted and then stretched the Sharks’ lead to 24-14 with a penalty six minutes into the second half.

Replacement flyhalf Sias Ebersohn kicked a penalty for the Cheetahs in the 53rd minute, as the Sharks, with Du Plessis in the sin-bin after a second shoulder charge earned him a yellow card, had their hands in the ruck.

The Cheetahs went into the final quarter just 20-24 down after Mtawarira infringed in the scrum and Sias Ebersohn kicked his second penalty.

The Sharks dominated the closing stages, however, as Michalak increased the lead to 27-20 with a penalty and the bonus point try came in the 73rd minute after Pietersen had stolen the ball on the right wing, Mvovo jinked his way deep into the Cheetahs 22 and replacement centre Meyer Bosman dived over the tryline.

Michalak added the conversion as the Sharks kept themselves inside the top six and the playoff places in the southern hemisphere competition.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: JP Pietersen, Freddie Michalak, Lwazi Mvovo, Meyer Bosman. Conversions: Michalak (4). Penalties: Michalak (2).

Cheetahs – Try: Adriaan Strauss. Penalties: Riaan Smit (3), S. Ebersohn (2).