Ken Borland

A stubborn refusal to ever concede defeat has been in the genes of several Bulls sides, but the current group showed extraordinary determination and perseverance as an 84^th-minute drop goal by flyhalf Chris Smith snatched them a 30-27 victory over the Sharks in a thrilling United Rugby Championship quarterfinal at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Sharks had fully matched the Bulls in an enthralling and feisty first half which ended with the scores locked at 13-13. But the visitors seemed to have let the genie out the bottle when they conceded two tries in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.

Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee rounded off a period of concerted pressure for the first try, and then great work by outstanding fullback Canan Moodie and scrumhalf Zak Burger down the blindside earned the home side a lineout inside the Sharks’ 22. After a maul and some big carries, the Bulls went wide and centre Cornal Hendricks cut back inside to score.

But far from being brought to their knees by scoreboard pressure and altitude, the Sharks fought back superbly and finished strongly, a wonderful try by replacement loose forward Sikhumbuzo Notshe, and Curwin Bosch’s brilliant angled conversion, levelling the scores at 27-27 with five minutes remaining.

But Coetzee then won a vital turnover penalty deep inside the Bulls half. The lineout was set after Smith’s lengthy touchfinder, and the Bulls marched inexorably forward until they were under the Sharks’ poles. Tired bodies were smashing against each other at close range, neither side willing to give up, but then the ball was sent back to Smith, who slotted the winning drop goal to go with three conversions and two penalties in a perfect kicking display.

Before that, the Sharks had looked the more likely winners in the final quarter, their outside backs flourishing as they made the game more loose. Notshe’s try was a sublime effort as Lukhanyo Am, Ben Tapuai, Phepsi Buthelezi and Henco Venter had somehow kept the ball alive down the left touchline without much seeming to be on, and the Springbok then snaking over as the Bulls defence was caught offguard.

Earlier, the ever-threatening Makazole Mapimpi had taken the Sharks to the Bulls line with his magic basically disappearing three defenders, and scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse then dummied and dived over from the ruck to begin the remarkable Sharks comeback. A storming run by brilliant eighthman Buthelezi had put them on the front foot.

The Bulls started the first half slowly as they made soft mistakes, but the second quarter would see them start to get into their game.

They scored the first try, very much against the run of play, through Madosh Tambwe, rounding off a spectacular intercept by Moodie, but the Sharks soon replied with a rolling maul try by hooker Bongi Mbonambi.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Madosh Tambwe, Marcell Coetzee, Cornal Hendricks. Conversions: Chris Smith (3). Penalties: Smith (2). Drop goal: Smith.

Sharks – Tries: Bongi Mbonambi, Jaden Hendrikse, Sikhumbuzo Notshe. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (3). Penalties: Bosch (2).

“We will take a lot of confidence from beating one of the top sides in the world with our first XI not in place,” Proteas coach Mark Boucher said after his team completed an astonishing 3-0 series whitewash of India with a thrilling four-run win at Newlands on Sunday.

Even without pace spearheads Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, and with ace spinner Tabraiz Shamsi sitting out the last game, South Africa dominated the ODI series in conditions that were more suited to the Indian team, following their memorable Test series triumph.

“There has been a great progression in the field, both on the field and off, in terms of the environment – it’s a happy changeroom and the results show that,” Boucher said.

“I believe we turned the corner a while ago, before that we gave lots of players opportunities and we are reaping the rewards now. When players are injured or sitting out, the guys are coming through.

“I like the look and balance of our batting, they did really well, we are getting hundreds and it is a powerful top six. We have a couple of all-rounders who have put in solid performances.

“In terms of our fast bowlers, Anrich and KG still have to come back, Marco Jansen has a lot of potential and Lungi Ngidi did a fantastic job leading from the front. And we have world-class spinners,” Boucher said.

One of the biggest positives from the series for Boucher was the way India, renowned both for playing spin and their own slow bowlers, were outplayed by both the Proteas batsmen and their spinners, Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj and Aiden Markram, whose selection for the sixth bowler role paid off.

“We’ve put a lot of hard work into playing in subcontinental conditions and the heatwave in the Western Cape meant the pitches played a bit like that.

“We played spin really well in Sri Lanka and we have a good batch of spin bowlers now, with Aiden doing a good job too. So I’m not surprised we did so well.

“That’s the big positive for me – the way we played spin and the way we bowled it. From a spin perspective, we outplayed and outbowled India,” Boucher said.

The second-innings fightback shown by the Northerns Titans will please coach Mandla Mashimbyi, but in the end his team could not complete the job as they lost by one wicket to the Eastern Province Warriors in a thrilling CSA Four-Day Domestic Series match at Centurion on Monday.

Eastern Province began the final day on 180 for seven, chasing 236 for victory, and it was young Tiaan van Vuuren who steered them to the win with a brave and aggressive 32 not out.

He and last man Mthiwekhaya Nabe (10*), who scored the winning runs via an excellent sweep for four off seasoned spinner Simon Harmer, added 24 for the last wicket to get the visitors over the line in exciting fashion.

Fast bowlers Corbin Bosch and Junior Dala both struck early on Monday, with Bosch getting the key wicket of Lesiba Ngoepe for 52 as he flapped at a lifter down the leg side and was caught behind.

But the Titans had further chances and Van Vuuren was dropped in the slips when he had just 4. Dala, who finished with three for 59, was the unfortunate bowler.

Western Province managed to draw their match against the KZN Dolphins at Newlands with the considerable help of unseasonal rain.

Western Province were 186 for seven in their follow-on innings, but only 28 deliveries were able to be bowled on Monday with the home side finishing on 190 for seven, still 30 runs short of making KZN bat again.

Daryn Dupavillon was the best of the bowlers with four for 35 in 13 overs.

Janneman Malan, in a new middle-order role, scored a top-class unbeaten 200 for Boland as they piled up 520 for nine declared against the Free State Knights in Bloemfontein.

Malan was completely dominant as he stroked 20 fours in his 319-ball innings.

Ferisco Adams also reached three figures, scoring a wonderful 127 and sharing in a partnership of 260 for the eighth wicket with Malan, a South African record, beating the 257 put on by Dane Vilas and Robin Peterson for the Cape Cobras against the Knights in Kimberley in 2011/12.

Trailing by exactly 200, Free State had to ensure they did not lose early wickets and Matthew Kleinveldt (31) and Jacques Snyman (49) ticked that box in an opening stand of 64.

Raynard van Tonder (33*) and Pite van Biljon (29*) then took the Knights to 143 for two when the teams agreed to call it a draw.

We know what to expect from David Miller, but Kagiso Rabada has always trained hard and the considerable work he has been putting into his batting lately brought reward as the pair of left-handers steered South Africa to a thrilling four-wicket victory with just a ball to spare over Sri Lanka in their T20 World Cup match in Sharjah on Saturday.

Miller stole the limelight with successive sixes in the final over, but Rabada played a vital role with a four and a six in 13 not out off just seven balls.

Rabada’s four was down to the third man boundary and it brought the winning runs when the Proteas needed a single to win. But his six, a glorious drive over long-off, in the penultimate over was a vital and magnificent strike when South Africa were needing 22 off just nine deliveries.

“KG always wins the shot of the day competition,” bowling hero Tabraiz Shamsi said after the match in which the wrist-spinner took 3/17 in his four overs. “No matter the situation, he pulls off the shot of the day, he does it so often.

“But it was a really special six today and reward because he puts in a lot of hard work on his batting. It was one of those games where you can’t guess which way it’s going to go.

“I was really nervous, not 100% sure, but you’re confident the guys in the middle can pull it off. It was really nice to see David and KG finish it off.

“This is a new team and we’ve won those sort of moments more often than we’ve lost them,” Shamsi said.

Their opening loss to Australia put the Proteas on the back foot, never mind the drama of the last week surrounding BLM and Quinton de Kock, but Shamsi said the team are not afraid to dream they can still win the World Cup.

“We’re very comfortable with where we are sitting. We are all ready to win our remaining games, that’s all that matters to us, we are here to try and win the World Cup.

“There’s a World Cup to be won, so how would anyone not be passionate about that? We’re just trying to win every game and if we don’t believe we can win the World Cup then we should rather stay home and watch on TV.

“Every game someone different is doing a great job for the team and we are really happy with the way things went in our last two matches. Sure, we are up against some very strong teams, but so are we,” Shamsi said.