Ken Borland

The domestic cricket season starts on Friday in Kimberley and the CSA Provincial T20 Knockout Competition should highlight some of the exciting young batting talent coming through, starting with the Western Province duo of Johnny Bird and Tony de Zorzi and the Central Gauteng Lions trio of Josh Richards, Mitchell van Buuren and Shane Dadswell.

The Lions and Western Province are the two First Division sides in the pool so they will be the favourites to advance, but hosts Northern Cape, who have a couple of thrilling strikers of their own in Beyers Swanepoel and Evan Jones, and South-Western Districts, led by Jean du Plessis and Hanno Kotze, should not be discounted.

The 23-year-old Dadswell, who is something of a Pukke legend for his big-hitting exploits for them, has joined the Wanderers fold along with two other young North-West products in Ruan Haasbroek and Louren Steenkamp. The Lions are coached by Wandile Gwavu, who steered the franchise team to last season’s T20 title in February and, even though only two players return from that final, he will not want to bend the knee to anybody this early in the season.

Ryan Rickelton is one of the returnees and he has been named as Central Gauteng’s captain for the T20 competition, being joined by Sisanda Magala, who will be the Lions’ key bowler.

Whereas the Lions franchise used to slowly strangle teams in T20 cricket with their brilliant spin duo of Bjorn Fortuin and Aaron Phangiso, that option is not available to Gwavu now and he will be looking to pace to blow opposition batsmen away. Magala has Lutho Sipamla to share the new ball with and the likes of left-arm quick Carmi le Toux, Tladi Bokako and Aya Myoli are in the squad for Kimberley.

Former Knights offie Tshepo Ntuli, who was born and raised in Kimberley, is the chief spinner in the squad and Gwavu could be looking to the likes of Haasbroek and Dadswell for some part-time overs.

The Lions and Western Province meet in the season opener on Friday, followed by Northern Cape versus South-Western Districts. The Pool A games conclude on Sunday with the top two teams going through to the quarterfinals.

The 2021 Currie Cup final will be a repeat of last season’s match-up between the Bulls and the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld, and Sharks coach Sean Everitt, while acknowledging the brilliance of the defending champions in their semi-final win over Western Province, and the errors of his own team in struggling past Griquas, says the visitors can still win the title.

The Bulls hammered Western Province 48-31 after racing to a 24-5 lead in the first quarter, while the Sharks hung on grimly at the death to beat Griquas 28-24 in Durban.

“We beat the Bulls the last time we played them and we know they have a massive pack and they were sublime in the first 20 minutes of their semi-final. We know what’s coming and the big emphasis is going to be on stopping the momentum of their big ball-carriers. But our defence has improved, I’m happy where we are and in finals, defence wins the game.

“Under pressure we did make mistakes from a skills perspective against Griquas and we should have put them to bed earlier. It’s about making the right decisions at the breakdown, our reaction time was a bit slow and against the Bulls that will be suicide. But I’m not worried, we didn’t do a helluva lot wrong, we just need to neaten up our game and be squeaky clean in terms of our discipline,” Everitt said.

Bulls coach Jake White praised flyhalf Johan Goosen, who was as elusive as a cat on the prowl on attack with the way he exploited space and spotted the gaps. The well-travelled coach said his performance reminded him of the great Australian flyhalf Stephen Larkham.

“When I was coaching the Brumbies, my assistant coach Stephen Larkham used to run the B side attack in training against us and I saw the value of having a flyhalf who did not just see the space but could put the ball there so close to the defensive line. Johan Goosen is no different and we saw tonight what he’s like when he’s on song.

“Obviously the forwards got us front-foot ball, but before that he took control of the game, he was phenomenal and we basically won the match in the first 20 minutes. I’m very happy with the way we played, some of the plays we used were outstanding and the players also chose the right plays at the right time, in the right place. We don’t want to be one-trick ponies,” White said.

Western Province came to Loftus Versfeld full of running and adventurous rugby, but it was the Bulls who scored the bulk of the tries – six of them – as they cruised to a 48-31 victory in their Currie Cup semifinal in Pretoria on Friday night.

Western Province were simply battered into submission by the Bulls pack, who dominated the set-pieces and bossed the collisions with utter ruthlessness. But it was far from 10-man rugby by the home side as flyhalf Johan Goosen not only kicked superbly out of hand and from the tee, but sparked the backline with his tremendously skilful passing and adept vision.

Goosen’s ability to spot space out wide and his skill in throwing long, flat passes across the face of the defence led to two tries in the first 10 minutes, putting the Bulls 17-0 ahead.

Western Province recovered from their hesitant start through the first of two tries to wing Edwill van der Merwe, but the Bulls’ mixture of power, great support play and running lines, and their eye for space saw them score three further tries before the break for a commanding 38-12 lead at halftime.

If Western Province were ever going to get back in the game, they needed to score a couple of tries early in the second half. They started well, with Van der Merwe going over for his second try after fullback Sergeal Petersen had broken through close to a ruck.

But Van der Merwe was denied his hat-trick try when the TMO ruled he did not have control of the ball when he finished superbly in the corner, despite the tackles of powerhouses Harold Vorster and Arno Botha. The winger was certainly not in touch and to rule he did not have control of the ball was a hopelessly harsh conclusion based on the replays.

Had the try stood, the gap could have closed to 26-38, but instead the dominant Bulls scrum won a penalty under their poles and the home side were back on attack.

With 12 minutes remaining, the exuberant Cornal Hendricks literally dived over the defence to score and seal the  triumph and an amazing performance by the Bulls.

Van der Merwe did eventually get his hat-trick try in the final minute, kicking through a dropped pass and then skinning Hendricks. Western Province’s one shining light is now off to the Lions though. Has rugby in the Western Cape ever been in such a dreadful state?

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Cornal Hendricks (2), Johan Goosen, Arno Botha, Lionel Mapoe, Marcell Coetzee. Conversions: Goosen (6). Penalties: Goosen (2).

Western Province – Tries: Edwill van der Merwe (3), Hacjivah Dayimani, Andre-Hugo Venter. Conversions: Tim Swiel (3).

The Bulls are in the healthy position of having a settled line-up and a well-established game-plan that works, and that is why coach Jake White says he is confident that if they play to the best of their abilities then they will see off Western Province in their Currie Cup semi-final at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.

Marcell Coetzee returns to captain the Bulls, with White happy he has been able to choose his strongest team. Western Province have been able to add more experience to their line-up with the return of Springbok hooker Scarra Ntubeni.

“The players are very confident because we have had a consistent game-plan through the year and it’s working for us. It’s important that the players are just relaxed and trust their preparation enough to get the result. This same group of players had the same pressure last year and they came through with flying colours. Plus we have added some wiser heads to the squad.

“So I really don’t need to say much to the team, we are where we want to be, which is exciting. I’m very confident that we have done the work and if we play as well as we can, then we don’t have to worry about being nervous. John Dobson said we have nothing to lose, but of course we are here to win the trophy. But we won’t go into the game thinking Western Province will just roll over either,” White said on Thursday.

When asked how the Bulls would counter chunky, in-form fetcher Deon Fourie, White simply said: “We’ve picked Marcell Coetzee”, and the Bulls loose trio is one of their great strengths. Veteran Arno Botha has been playing great rugby lately and eighthman Elrigh Louw has been one of the finds of the last year.

While White said Western Province locks Ernst van Rhyn and Johan du Toit deserve credit for stepping up during a second-row injury crisis, he pointed out that the Bulls have many locks to choose from and Ruan Nortje and Janko Swanepoel have grown considerably as players in the last year.

Lionel Mapoe and Harold Vorster are a well-established, experienced centre combination and their battle with Juan de Jongh and Dan du Plessis will be a meaty affair. Western Province have pace (Edwill van der Merwe) and power (Ruhan Nel) on the wings, up against the accomplished Bulls pairing of Cornal Hendricks and Madosh Tambwe.

Perhaps it will be Bulls flyhalf Johan Goosen though who will take control of the game and be the stand-out figure.

Teams

Bulls – David Kriel, Cornal Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Johan Goosen, Zak Burger, Elrigh Louw, Arno Botha, Marcell Coetzee, Ruan Nortje, Janko Swanepoel, Mornay Smith, Schalk Erasmus, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Simphiwe Matanzima, Jacques van Rooyen, Jacques du Plessis, WJ Steenkamp, Keagan Johannes, Chris Smith, Stravino Jacobs.

Western Province – Sergeal Petersen, Ruhan Nel, Juan de Jongh, Dan du Plessis, Edwill van der Merwe, Tim Swiel, Paul de Wet, Hacjivah Dayimani, Marcel Theunissen, Deon Fourie, Johan du Toit, Ernst van Rhyn (c), Sazi Sandi, Scarra Ntubeni, Leon Lyons. Bench: Andre-Hugo Venter,, Dian Bleuler, Neethling Fouche, Justin Basson, Nama Xaba, Godlen Masimla, Rikus Pretorius, Tristan Leyds.

*The Sharks host Griquas at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday in the other semifinal.