Ken Borland

The wonderful thing about sport is that it will constantly surprise you, with tales of the underdog triumphing being one of its most inspirational features. But it will also humble you, especially when hubris is allowed to take root.

Cricketers will talk about Mother Cricket and making sure no-one gets big-headed; rugby players will constantly talk up the opposition to ensure they will not be complacent on match day.

But every now and then, someone will get it horribly wrong and sporting misfortune will come back to bite them, often hard.

The Springboks, having played so brilliantly to beat the All Blacks in Nelspruit, came a cropper the following weekend at Ellis Park. They did not seem over-confident in the week leading up to the clash and said all the right things about an expected New Zealand rebound.

But there were certain selections which have led to them being accused of hubris and Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber needed to do better when asked questions about these controversial picks after the game.

No-one who was in the cauldron of Ellis Park last weekend will doubt the passion of Springbok supporters. And they don’t like having the wool pulled over their eyes or being told the reasons for a player being selected are “privileged” or a secret.

And yet this is what Nienaber did when the media wanted to know his justification for starting Joseph Dweba at hooker ahead of the rampant Malcolm Marx, and an underdone Duane Vermeulen at eighthman.

Both selections smacked of arrogance – fielding anything less than your best team against the All Blacks, and a desperate one at that, is bound to result in embarrassment.

When considering the worths of Dweba and Marx, the latter is clearly the better hooker at the moment and one of the best, most dangerous forwards in world rugby.

But given the injury to Bongi Mbonambi, Nienaber almost had to play Dweba and then the discussion could change to how does one get the best out of both players? If the inexperienced Dweba has to play, when will he be most effective?

There’s no doubt that a fresh Marx coming off the bench is a massive weapon for the Springboks, so one can understand the attraction of going that route.

But there’s also no doubt All Blacks coach Ian Foster, craggy-faced during the week but etched with relief after the game, was smiling inside when he heard their nemesis of Mbombela would not be tormenting them for the full 80 minutes.

Nienaber has already put himself among the elect group of coaches who have beaten the British and Irish Lions, but the hallmark of great coaches is their ability to keep the public on their side whether winning or losing, while also grooming the confidence and belief of their players.

Nienaber needs to embrace the fact that the fans are his constituents and the media are his conduit to them. Nobody is suggesting the fans should have a say in selections, but they do deserve to have them better explained than just being told “it’s privileged”.

There was another example of hubris in the last week that made me chuckle.

England Lions captain Sam Billings had some strong things to say after his team had played the Proteas off the park in an innings win in Canterbury, albeit in a warm-up match in which South Africa only fielded two first-choice bowlers. He implied Proteas captain Dean Elgar was stupid for ignoring how wonderful ‘Bazball’ is and said it should have been a massive wake-up call for the tourists.

But as the Springboks discovered, things seldom stay the same for long in the world of sport, and now it’s England who are under the pump at Lord’s.

Bulls coach Jake White spent most of the last week emphasising how important a good start would be for his underdog team against the fast-starting Leinster side in their United Rugby Championship semi-final in Dublin.

So when the Bulls almost immediately conceded a soft offsides penalty and hot favourites Leinster were straight on to their goal-line, bashing away, one would imagine White would have been angry. But what followed was 11 phases of brilliant, brave defence that kept Leinster out. It would arguably be the making of the Bulls side and their stunning 27-26 win, the scoreline flattering Leinster because they scored after the final hooter.

“A lot has been said about Leinster, but they generally start well,” White said after what he rated as one of his most memorable wins as a coach. “We were forced to defend for the first couple of minutes.

“But then we managed to kick downfield and that changed the momentum of the game. Leinster were shown to be human, they normally don’t make silly mistakes, but they had one or two moments.

“In a one-point game, that makes the difference. It was never fait accompli against them, you have never done enough to keep them out. I’m happy they didn’t start like they ended with that last phase.

“This has got to be up there for me in terms of wins, Leinster have been the dominant force in European rugby, but our team has learnt what they need to do against international players,” White said.

The Bulls pack produced the sort of proud, combative, massively powerful display that inspires songs to be written about them and, in Dublin, it would probably be translated as the Bulls eateth not off the floor.

But White was also pleased his team showed some wonderful touches on attack.

“The Bulls have always historically had good forward play, but I really enjoyed the interplay between backs and forwards, especially in the first half.

“But the key against Leinster is to not give them set-piece, and we turned the ball over in a couple of key late lineouts, and our physicality on the gainline caused them to have a couple of knock-ons, which they don’t generally do.

“It was obviously a great win for us, but a couple of things did work in our favour, like the weather turning bad at one stage.

“But this whole group has grown significantly and the one thing we have got right is to play our best rugby in the knockout stages. I hope we continue to play with that intensity, composure and confidence,” White said ahead of this weekend’s final against the Stormers in Cape Town.

Western Province shocked the Sharks and disappointed all those supporters of the underdog who thought it would be cute to have both Griquas and the Pumas in the Currie Cup semi-finals as they won 35-24 at Kings Park on Saturday night.

Griquas and the Pumas shared the spoils 13-13 in their earlier match in Kimberley, played in tough conditions with a gale-force wind, which meant Western Province had to beat the second-placed Sharks with a bonus point in order to stay alive in the competition.

And Western Province were inspired, playing with great tempo and ambition, with their outstanding support play and ability to maintain quick ball leading them to five tries.

Centre Dan du Plessis enjoyed an excellent first half as he scored two tries to put Western Province 14-3 up in the first quarter. The Sharks struck back with two excellent tries sparked by scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba, with wing Yaw Penxe and roving eighthman Phepsi Buthelezi dotting down as the home side led 17-14 at the break.

Western Province opened the scoring in the second half as their outstanding scrumhalf Paul de Wet dived over for a try from close range.

The Sharks were guilty of trying to be a bit too cute on attack and their only points of the second half came when flyhalf Lionel Cronje cut back inside and somehow managed to elude a handful of defenders with good footwork and a deceptive turn of pace. He then chipped ahead and Penxe raced through to score the try.

But Western Province responded immediately as they once again won the restart, roared on to attack and replacement hooker JJ Kotze powered over for the crucial bonus point try and a 28-24 lead with six minutes remaining. Wing Edwill van der Merwe then sealed the win with an 83^rd-minute intercept try as the Sharks desperately tried to snatch victory at the death.

At Loftus Versfeld, the Free State Cheetahs were like ravenous pups as they nipped at the heels of the table-topping Bulls throughout, harassing them with an excellent kicking game led by veteran halfback Ruan Pienaar and held their own in the physical exchanges, while their attacking play was typically incisive.

The Bulls eventually seemed to have settled matters down when they led 39-24 going into the final quarter, but fullback Cohen Jasper and wing Malcolm Jaer scored superb tries to reawaken the Cheetahs’ hopes.

Eventually the Bulls held on to win 39-36 and will host their semifinal against Western Province.

The Pumas will be kicking themselves for wasting so many points-scoring opportunities, allowing Griquas into the semi-finals and they will face the Sharks in Durban.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Marco Janse van Vuren, Elrigh Louw, Jan-Hendrik Wessels (2), Madosh Tambwe. Conversions – Johan Goosen (4). Penalties – Goosen (2).

Free State Cheetahs: Tries – Mihlali Mosi, Duncan Saal, penalty try, Cohen Jasper, Malcolm Jaer. Conversions – Ruan Pienaar (3). Penalty – Pienaar.

Scorers

Sharks: Tries – Yaw Penxe (2), Phepsi Buthelezi. Conversions – Curwin Bosch (3). Penalty – Bosch.

Western Province: Tries – Dan du Plessis (2), Paul de Wet, JJ Kotze, Edwill van der Merwe. Conversions – Tim Swiel (5).

Scorers

Griquas: Try – Chris Hollis. Conversion – George Whitehead. Penalties – Whitehead (2).

Pumas: Tries – Tapiwa Mafura, Sebastian de Klerk. Penalty – Eddie Fouche.

The Bulls often moan about the stereotype that portrays them as playing ponderous, one-dimensional kicking rugby but they did that and more in the Rainbow Cup final as they were deservedly hammered 35-8 by an underdog Benetton Treviso side that were full of vigour and invention.

The Bulls’ physicality and intensity were meant to be their trumpcards but Benetton, guided by an astute Kiwi coach in Kieran Crowley, merely speeded the game up in hot, humid conditions, getting the ball quickly out of the collisions areas, and with physical contests stripped of their importance, the visiting side were left looking like dumb brutes. Outscored by five tries to one, the Bulls embarrassingly lost by the sort of scoreline many expected to be their winning margin.

In many ways the Bulls were the architects of their own demise as they consistently failed to kick the ball into touch even if just to slow Benetton down; flyhalf Chris Smith perhaps had concussion judging by the shiner he took the field with because his head was not in the game as he constantly fed the dangerous Treviso back three.

Their lineouts were scrappy – tapped balls leading to two tries – and even their rolling maul failed to gain much traction. There were basic errors aplenty in one of the most frustrating Bulls days for many years.

The Bulls did score via a maul, and the quick thinking of wing Madosh Tambwe, to go into the last 10 minutes of the first half level at 8-8. But eighthman and captain Marcell Coetzee, who produced a strangely timid display for someone who wants to force their way back into the Springbok squad, then allowed a restart to go over his head and bounce into touch. Lock Walt Steenkamp tapped instead of catching the ball, scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl was caught between passing or dotting down, and hooker Corniel Els pounced for the try.

The former Bulls man was then the central figure as Benetton scored on the stroke of halftime to take their lead to 20-8. A clever kick behind by scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenhage saw the Bulls again struggle to clear their lines properly, another tapped lineout putting them under pressure, and Els then burst from a rolling maul but lost the ball over the line. A penalty try was awarded though because Stravino Jacobs, who was yellow-carded, had tackled him around the neck. It was a fair decision, because either Els or Duvenhage would certainly have scored.

Benetton flyhalf Paolo Garbisi produced a masterclass at flyhalf and he continued to boss the second half as the home side scored three more tries, continuing to create space out wide with ease.

The big question the Springboks will be asking ahead of their crunch series against the British and Irish Lions is whether this feeble display by the team that has been so dominant at home was just an awful day in the office or indicative of the poor standard of South African rugby?

Scorers

Benetton Treviso: Tries – Monty Ioane, Corniel Els, penalty try, Michele Lamaro, Edoardo Padovani. Conversion – Paolo Garbisi. Penalties – Garbisi (2).

Bulls: Try – Madosh Tambwe. Penalty – Chris Smith.