Ken Borland

Jasper Wiese had big boots to fill standing in for the injured Duane Vermeulen but he says he is settling in at No.8 in the Springbok team and he certainly looked most comfy there in his barnstorming display against Argentina at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium at the weekend.

The Leicester Tigers star was playing his fourth Test, having made his debut against Georgia at the beginning of last month and then starting the second and third Tests against the British and Irish Lions, which the Springboks won to take the series. Wiese carried the ball superbly against Argentina and was involved in almost aspects of play.

“I’m definitely settling in and the players around me give me confidence. Although I got man of the match, it was really a team performance. The guys are all so positive and lifting each other up, it’s an amazing squad. The first thing we have to do is put the team first and as individuals we must know our role. You put yourself behind the team’s interests.

“You are playing for something bigger than yourself; playing for yourself is the worst thing you can do, you can’t try to shine by yourself. It’s difficult to put into words how it felt coming into the team, I was half star-struck. There are players that you look up to so much and it is so special to share a field with them. A good individual game does not happen without the 14 other players around you,” Wiese said.

Hailing from Upington, Wiese played most of his senior rugby in the Free State before joining Leicester last year, and he has also looked at home doing Vermeulen’s trademark job of fielding the kickoffs and charging back at the opposition, establishing a bulkhead for the Springboks. Now that Vermeulen is back in the squad, the 25-year-old says he is delighted to have the World Cup hero around.

“Nobody else can be Duane Vermeulen. But I have taken confidence from him helping me at training sessions, the experience he brings, the way he puts the team first. He might not be playing but he’s really helping the guys. I really respect him and he helps you to reach into yourself and find something special. I’m sure he will be massive when he plays again. He’s such a unit,” Wiese said.

There are many words to pen about the dominance of the Bulls in the admittedly insular world of Currie Cup rugby, but there just seems to be no stopping the blue juggernaut at Loftus Versfeld as they notched another comfortable win there on Sunday, hammering the Lions 40-21.

They put six tries on the board and their efficiency in all aspects of the game was too much for a willing Lions team. The likes of hooker Johan Grobbelaar and eighthman Elrigh Louw had mighty games, but it was how the side combined as a unit that was most impressive.

While one should deservedly wax lyrical about the Bulls attack, the defence was equally impressive as they fiercely protected their line. It is clear that this Bulls side takes enormous pride in their defence.

The Bulls led 28-14 at halftime, but it was the Lions’ second try that deserves full description because it was an absolute marvel.

The Bulls were hard on attack but Lionel Mapoe’s pass infield from close to the corner flag went to a Lions player. From behind their own goal-line, they launched a counter-attack, fullback Wandisile Simelane stepping his way all the way to the 22. There he found flank Vincent Tshituka, who produced a remarkable display in a well-beaten team. To see Tshituka galloping from 22 to 22 was an amazing sight and he then produced a superb offload in a double-tackle for wing Courtnall Skosan to score.

But the Lions could not add to that score before halftime despite camping in the Bulls’ 22 and throwing the book at them with wave-after-wave of strong carries. Apart from loose forward Arno Botha being yellow-carded as the penalties piled up, the Bulls suffered no loss.

After that the result was assured as they dominated the second half. It took them 15 minutes to crack some staunch Lions defence as well, with flyhalf Johan Goosen cleverly deviating from all the pick-and-goes as he sent a crossfield kick to wing Richard Kriel for a well-taken try.

His older brother David, playing at fullback, put his name on the scorers list six minutes later.

The Bulls are back on top of the log and look in good shape to book their place in the semi-finals some time soon.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Harold Vorster, Zak Burger (2), Johan Grobbelaar, Richard Kriel, David Kriel. Conversions: Johan Goosen (5).

Lions – Tries: Vincent Tshituka, Courtnall Skosan, Sti Sithole. Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (3).

The return of Jeandre Rudolph to the Cheetahs team turned around their Currie Cup fortunes in midweek and the loose forward was here, there and everywhere in their victory over Western Province in Bloemfontein, causing the Sharks to effectively pick two openside flanks for when they travel to meet the Free Staters on Saturday.

The 100kg Rudolph gave a glorious display of chasing after the ball, he was plucky in defence and carried the ball with authority as well, confirming earlier impressions that he is one of the Cheetahs’ stars. His ability to strangle teams at the breakdown and the effective partnership he forms with Junior Pokomela and Aidon Davis marks him out as a key man for the Sharks to contend with.

And the Sharks responded on Thursday by naming both Dylan Richardson and James Venter in their starting loose trio.

“We’re fortunate to have two guys who can fetch and they are both in world-class form at the moment, they both did exceptionally well against the British and Irish Lions. They’re both very good ball-carriers and have a very high work-rate, so we decided to experiment a bit with Henco Venter out with concussion and Thembelani Bholi and Celimpilo Gumede needing to cover lock.

“The Cheetahs are playing better now that they have some players back from injury and Jeandre Rudolph had a massive game against Western Province. You never go to Bloemfontein and get easy points, I asked the guys how many of them had won against Free State in Bloemfontein before and not many of them had, and none of them more than once,” coach Sean Everitt said on Thursday.

Everitt said his young Sharks team had learnt a lot in their two matches against the British and Irish Lions and he hoped this would result in increased maturity, leading to his team playing like full-grown adults in the Currie Cup and not the kids many of them are in terms of age.

“We’ve created a great vibe in the camp by giving everyone an opportunity against the Lions and we now need to build on that experience we gained and take it into this weekend. We want to play at high intensity for 80 minutes. We need to put in a performance similar to the one in the first half of the second game against the Lions, because the Cheetahs are desperate to win the Currie Cup and they have a point to prove.

“We’ve had two weeks rest, although one of those weeks was pretty tough mentally with food shortages, but the focus now is on ourselves and our intensity going forward. We have seven Currie Cup games left – this one against the Cheetahs and then the second round of six matches – and hopefully from now on there will be no more disruptions,” Everitt said.

Sharks – Anthony Volmink, Marnus Potgieter, Werner Kok, Marius Louw, Thaakir Abrahams, Curwin Bosch, Grant Williams, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Dylan Richardson, James Venter, Reniel Hugo, Le Roux Roets, Khutha Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench: Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola, Lourens Adriaanse, Thembelani Bholi, Celimpilo Gumede, Cameron Wright, Lionel Cronje, Jeremy Ward.

There remains a lingering perception that those Springboks based in Japan are somehow playing a brand of rugby that lacks physicality, but centre Jesse Kriel says it’s not as if he’s just been parking off playing touch rugby over the last year.

The 27-year-old plays for the Canon Eagles in the Top League, helping them to the quarterfinals, and is now looking forward to contributing fully to the Springboks’ effort to beat the British and Irish Lions.

“There’s always a lot of questions about the physicality in Japan, but there are a lot of foreign players there now and they are quite physical. There are a lot of Tongans and other Islands people playing there and they are not small! The tempo is quite quick as well. But no domestic competition matches Test match intensity and we’re getting a taste of the intensity we need at training this week,” Kriel said.

While Kriel has consistently inked himself into all Springbok squads since the 2015 World Cup, he had the ill-fortune to get injured during South Africa’s 2019 triumph, but he says he does not feel like the Lions tour is a case of unfinished business for him.

“I gave everything I could at the last World Cup up to the time I got injured and I still very much felt part of the team and was able to contribute. So I don’t feel like I have unfinished business, this is a different series and tour. The make-up of the Lions team is such that they are the best players from each country in Britain and Ireland, so every guy is world-class and we know what they bring as individuals.

“But all the young guys coming through for us shows that our grassroots structures are working and this is a great opportunity for them to showcase what they can do. And the youngsters have great guys around to learn off, just look at Morne and Francois Steyn. They do the basics really well, they don’t make mistakes and we can all look up to them and try and replicate that,” Kriel said.