Ken Borland

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.

The Bulls are obviously going though a period of introspection after successive losses on tour but the belief of the team is still there according to backline player David Kriel and technical analyst John-William Meyer.

The Bulls not only lost 35-21 to Glasgow Warriors and 31-17 to Munster, but played poorly on both occasions, the lack of intensity in their performance being particularly concerning. They now face a tricky match against Benetton in Treviso on Friday night.

“It’s been a time of self-reflection for us and we’re asking ourselves how physical we were, are we satisfied with our individual performances?” Kriel said.

“We are obviously a much better team than we showed these last couple of weeks, but we’re getting scars in terms of where the tour is going.

“That’s enough motivation on its own to end on a high note against Benetton this weekend,” Kriel, one of the few players to shine for the Bulls last weekend against Munster, said.

“In terms of morale, the group trust the process and it’s the players that enforce that,” Meyer said. “They come up with plans X, Y and Z, and there’s been no need for management to intervene.

“The players are all still positive and they believe in what they are doing. But we ask questions like ‘Did we execute our plan?’, ‘how many opportunities were there and why weren’t they taken?’” Meyer said.

The good news for the Bulls is that their match against Benetton will not be played on a 4G pitch but on normal grass, and the heat in Italy will make a welcome change to the wet and cold of the United Kingdom.

But Benetton still play at a cracking pace, Meyer saying they have the second-fastest game in the United Rugby Championship, behind log-leaders Leinster.

“Benetton are also very physical and good on defence, knocking you back,” Meyer added. “Their kicking game will definitely be a challenge as they try to expose the space behind us.

“They also have a lot of variety on attack and we’ve seen some sneaky moves inside the 22 which we have not seen before.

“What will also put our defence under pressure is when we kick inaccurately, that puts your defensive structure under huge pressure,” Meyer said.

There is an old rugby cliche that defence shows the character and unity of a team, and the Bulls must be a tight-knit family indeed judging by the great defensive display they produced in beating Connacht 28-14 in their United Rugby Championship match at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.

While the Bulls did some good things on attack, two of their four tries coming from offensive moves, it was their defence – smart, physical and untiring – that was the outstanding feature of their play.

Connacht only managed to breach the swarming Bulls defence after referee Andrea Piardi had given the home side their third yellow card. The three naughty kids were Marco van Staden, Johan Goosen and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, and all of them were for offences deemed to have occurred in the tackle, whether dangerous, high or late.

Clearly the Bulls’ defensive steel was a bit too intimidating for the referee.

Connacht were also unable to make the most of their possession thanks to the Bulls’ excellent efforts at the breakdown, where the likes of Van Staden, hookers Johan Grobbelaar and Wessels, and flank Marcell Coetzee were scavenging like a pack of hungry hyenas.

Captain Coetzee gave his usual industrial-strength display of power, muscling over for an important try on the stroke of halftime that put the Bulls 21-0 up at the break.

They had scored their first two tries in the first 10 minutes, the defensive pressure leading to an early dropped pass which was snapped up by fullback Kurt-Lee Arendse, who ran 75 metres to score; three minutes later, flyhalf Goosen kept a couple of defenders busy before putting Cornal Hendricks in the gap, Canan Moodie’s mazy run was stopped inside the 22, lock Walt Steenkamp was held up just short, but scrumhalf Zak Burger then went over for the try.

The Bulls scored their fourth and final try when centre David Kriel delayed his pass beautifully to put lock Ruan Nortje through the hole, from where Burger was found in support, roaring over for his second try, and the Bulls’ last, six minutes into the second half.

In between the tries, the Bulls had to show great industry in defence, especially since the referee’s whistle was as undermining for them as State Capture has been on South Africa’s economy. The lineout was also a highly profitable area for them.

Connacht were eventually on the board in the 68th minute through replacement prop Jack Aungier, and then when the Bulls lost another man because they were forced into uncontested scrums due to Wessels’ yellow card and Grobbelaar being injured, flyhalf David Hawkshaw charged down a Chris Smith clearance and scored.

By the end of this stop-start affair, dominated by officialdom, many in the crowd were more interested in watching their fellow spectators build multi-storey beer snakes out of their empty cups.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Kurt-Lee Arendse, Zak Burger (2), Marcell Coetzee. Conversions – Johan Goosen (4).

Connacht: Tries – Jack Aungier, David Hawkshaw. Conversions – Hawkshaw (2).

Ill-discipline in a rugby team is a great evil for coaches and Jake White was firm on the Bulls team’s failings in that regard in their 28-14 victory over Connacht in their United Rugby Championship match in Pretoria at the weekend.

The Bulls were incredible in defence and at times inspired in attack as they surged into a 28-0 lead after 46 minutes, but they felt the wrath of referee Andrea Piardi in the second half as Connacht finished strongly with two converted tries. In the end the home side conceded 20 penalties, and Connacht 15, while the Bulls were also given three yellow cards.

“I’m not going to justify the discipline,” coach White said afterwards. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it, we shot ourselves in the foot doing some stupid things.

“Johan Goosen was a bit unlucky, but head-to-head contact is a yellow card these days. I just hope the referees make sure they blow it that way for the whole competition.

“We play against Glasgow Warriors in Scotland next weekend and you’re not going to win too many games when you’re playing 14 against 15 men for 30 minutes, especially on tour. We spoke about the discipline after the match, but it’s no use just talking about it, there needs to be action.

“That should be driven by the players, not the coaches, and they will do that, Marcell Coetzee already told the team in the changeroom now that they have to sharpen up their discipline,” White said.

White was full of praise, however, for a top-class defensive display that held at bay a Connacht side that showed a willingness to play expansive, ball-in-hand rugby. The Bulls did not concede a single point until the 68^th minute, and that was after they had been sapped by three yellow cards and were playing with 13 men due to replacement hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels being in the sin-bin, necessitating uncontested scrums and the loss of another player.

“The defence was outstanding, considering we played eight minutes with 13 men and 30 minutes with 14,” White said. “Last week it was poor, but we spoke honestly about it and had a better shape today.

“We stopped them carrying around us and then we stopped them carrying through us. It shows me that we can defend, which is a massive bonus.

“The defence also really understood the breakdown, we were a lot smarter there, we didn’t just go in.

“Defence is not always just about line-speed, sometimes we had to be patient because they had the numbers. There was a recognition of when you need to buy time,” White said.

The smart, physical and untiring defence of the Bulls made it an uphill struggle for Connacht as they were already 14-0 down after 10 minutes and captain Jarrad Butler credited the home side for the pressure they exerted.

“It was a really good job by the Bulls defence, they forced us back inside and we had to keep resetting. Credit to them for forcing the individual errors that would keep creeping in, that meant we just could not finish off, we kept just giving them the ball,” Butler said.