Ken Borland

The desire not to be pinned in their own half for lengthy periods has seen the Sharks recall Curwin Bosch to the starting flyhalf berth for their United Rugby Championship match against Benetton in Treviso on Saturday.

Italian vogue might be extremely exciting for those who consider themselves to be dedicated followers of fashion, but their rugby, apart from 2015 when the national team wore pinstripe shorts, can be dour at times. Kicking long and deep is a tactic Sharks coach Sean Everitt is fully expecting from Benetton Treviso on Saturday, and in Bosch he has one of the longest boots in the game to repel the strategy.

“Benetton have made the fourth-highest kicking metres in the competition so far, so we thought we would go like-for-like,” Everitt said on Thursday. “Curwin has gone well over the last couple of weeks, and he kicked for poles very well when he came on against the Bulls.

“Our goalkicking accuracy has not been as good as we would have liked and hopefully Curwin can take that away. It’s going to be the same challenge as we faced against Ospreys, who are also in the top-five for metres kicked.

“We have to be really smart in how we manage the game. Benetton also rely a lot on their maul, so we have to make sure we’re playing in the right areas. I’m excited that Curwin has earned a starting berth again,” Everitt said.

Although Benetton Treviso will be missing their Italy national squad players, they showed in hammering the Bulls in the Rainbow Cup final eight months ago that their no-name-brand team are a lean, mean, fighting machine.

“Benetton are just outside the top-eight already and they have run teams close in their five defeats, even when they’ve been under-strength,” Everitt said. “They won the territory and possession battle last weekend against Glasgow Warriors, but lost the match 13-3.

“We have learnt lessons from teams like the Bulls and we won’t take them lightly. They have still got their overseas players – five of them South African in Irne Herbst and Carl Wegner at lock, Dewald Duvenhage, Andries Coetzee and Rhyno Smith.

“Those are all good players, some of the best in South Africa. We are sure they will come with a lot of emotion and passion, and we’ll have a target on our backs with a lot of Springboks.

“And we expect a lot of local support in the Stadio Monigo. Treviso is a small city, but there is lots of rugby interest. We’re expecting hostile stands,” Everitt said.

Sharks – Aphelele Fassi, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (c), Marius Louw, Makazole Mapimpi, Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Henco Venter, Siya Kolisi, Gerbrandt Grobler, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit (v/c), Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Replacements: Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khutha Mchunu, Le Roux Roets, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Cameron Wright, Tito Bonilla,  Werner Kok.

Juan Mostert has followed a similar road to Loftus Versfeld as the great Handre Pollard and he could get his first chance to shine at senior level as he was on Thursday named on the bench for the Bulls for their United Rugby Championship match against Zebre in Parma on Friday night.

Mostert has been named as the flyhalf cover for starting No.10 Chris Smith. The Bulls have something of a flyhalf crisis on the go at present as Morne Steyn is suspended for three weeks and Johan Goosen is out with a long-term knee injury.

So the 21-year-old Mostert has been lured out of a deal with the Seattle Seahawks for Major League Rugby and offered a two-year deal by the Bulls, whose director of rugby, Jake White, has been tracking the young talent’s career.

“Fortunately Juan had not quite done all the paperwork for the United States because Covid and visa requirements did not make it as easy as he thought it would. So we have signed him to stay,” White said on Thursday.

“He has a two-year deal and we’ll probably look to keep him for longer. He’s big and tall and he played for SA Schools and Paul Roos Gimnasium. He’ll be an understudy to Morne, Chris and Johan.

“He probably didn’t think he would get a chance so soon, but he’ll always be in the mix because he can play flyhalf, centre and fullback. Hopefully he can get on the field against Zebre and get a feel for this level.

“He’s had a bit of injury problems with a quad strain that has gone on for a while, but he’s got everything – pedigree of playing for South Africa at junior level and versatility,” White said.

Pollard was also schooled in the Western Cape (Paarl Gim) before heading to Pretoria and Mostert is even more of a physical specimen, being four centimetres taller than the Springbok star at 6’4”. Mostert starred for Maties in the Varsity Cup before his decision to further his career in America.

But when Jake White makes an advance, it’s probably best for a young rugby player to take up the offer. With Steyn already 37 years old, Goosen turning 30 in July and Smith 27, Mostert could well be the flyhalf of the future for the Bulls.

Bulls team:Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Chris Smith, Embrose Papier; Elrigh Louw, Arno Botha, Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Jacques van Rooyen, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. IMPACT -Bismarck du Plessis, Simphiwe Matanzima, Robert Hunt, Janko Swanepoel, WJ Steenkamp; Keagan Johannes, Juan Mostert, Canan Moodie.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt said the United Rugby Championship standings are so closely contested that he regrets his team did not put the 14-man Bulls away properly, instead allowing them two log points, while saluting the determination his side showed in defence.

The Bulls looked ripe for the taking at Loftus Versfeld as flyhalf Morne Steyn was red-carded for a late, high hit on Lukhanyo Am’s neck and the Sharks surged into a 14-0 lead after half-an-hour. But the Bulls fought back and actually dominated for long stretches of the game, forcing the Sharks to defend manfully in their 22. Especially after they had scrumhalf Grant Williams sent off permanently for a high hit on Steyn’s replacement, Chris Smith, who also left the field due to his head injury.

The Bulls had more than enough chances to snatch a remarkable victory, but eventually went down 22-29, with bonus points for four tries and losing by seven points in consolation.

“The log is so closely contested, so every point counts,” Everitt said. “We will enjoy this win, we haven’t beaten the Bulls at Loftus for quite some time, but there are obviously work-ons.

“But the character the guys showed was unbelievable, just keeping the Bulls out although they had 11 opportunities inside our 22 by halftime. So we showed great resolve and pride.

“It was a good but not complete performance by any means, but we did perform much better than last week.

“Defence is about character and I have to credit the team with defending really well. But when Grant went off at 26-12, the job was not done and we needed to be more accurate,” Everitt said.

One player who was faultlessly accurate was captain Lukhanyo Am, who produced two massive individual moments when he claimed a restart just after the Bulls had scored and dashed down the touchline before grubbering and regathering to score in the last play of the first half. His brilliant turnover when the Sharks were leading just 26-22 then won the penalty that was the final play of the match.

Everitt was unequivocal in describing Am as the best outside centre in the world.

“The skill he showed at the end and the try he scored just before halftime: He makes magic, he just gets it right every time,” Everitt said.

“His try took the wind out of the Bulls’ sails – to score and then immediately concede again. Lukhanyo is just an unbelievable player, making better decisions and executing better with age.

“I am totally convinced that we do have the best outside centre in the world in him,” Everitt said.

Bulls coach Jake White praised his team for their determination to not just lie down and die after Morne Steyn’s red card against the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld, even though he admitted their lack of finishing and ultimate defeat leaves them in a very difficult position in the United Rugby Championship.

The Bulls had to play for 70 minutes without their talismanic flyhalf after he was permanently sent off for a late, high tackle that struck the neck of Lukhanyo Am. But a tremendous effort and some superb rugby saw them come back from 26-12 down, eventually losing 22-29 with several scoring chances left on the table.

“I’m really proud of the way the team fought back,” White said, “because some teams just lay down and die after a red card. Your flyhalf runs everything, and Morne is the best kicker in the competition and we missed three conversions. Kick those and we would have won.

“It’s never nice to lose, we don’t feel good, but there’s a lot to be positive about. You lose your flyhalf for 70 minutes and still score four tries against probably the best team on paper in South Africa.

“It was not the result we wanted, but you can’t question the players’ commitment. We just needed to be more clinical in their 22, we managed to pin them there for long periods of time.

“We had enough opportunities in the 22, but things went wrong with our maul and some of our ball-carries. But I’m very confident with where we are going with this team,” White said.

The former Springbok coach expressed his surprise that the Bulls did not see more reward from referee AJ Jacobs either for their rolling maul or their concerted pressure on the Sharks’ tryline.

“We ran 40 metres with our maul and got no reward, which I can’t understand,” White said. “We also had a half-a-dozen penalties on their tryline.

“Our forward pack did not take a step backwards and we showed that we can dominate against a team that is like the Springboks side.

“I thought Robert Hunt and Jacques van Rooyen did well today against the incumbent Springbok front row and we are much better off in terms of scrummaging than we were seven weeks ago.

“But this loss puts us in a very difficult position. Our backs are against the wall for the first time for this group. But good teams find a way of making the playoffs and our challenge now is to find the low road,” White said.