Ken Borland

Since comfortably dispatching the Lions 48-21 at Ellis Park four weeks ago, the Bulls have struggled to put away the other two teams who did not make the Currie Cup semi-finals – the Pumas and the Cheetahs. But Arno Botha, captain for those three matches, says he does not believe his team have lost any momentum ahead of their knockout game against Western Province in Pretoria on Friday night.

The Bulls needed their set-piece prowess to squeeze past an adventurous, passionate Pumas side 33-26 in Nelspruit, and then struggled to an uninspired, messy 39-36 win over the fast-finishing Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld last weekend.

“I don’t think we have lost any momentum. We need to look at a couple of technical things, we had a few slip-ups, but individuals have put their hands up, myself included, for those. They are small things that are easy to fix, coming from just a momentary lack of effort or concentration. Rugby is never going to be easy every week – we would have lost if we thought that,” Botha said.

“We have a very strong group of leaders who are very relaxed, but we all take responsibility. Being defending champions doesn’t matter, we always want to win every game and our focus is really just on one thing and that’s this weekend’s semifinal. We don’t look too far ahead, but we’re in a good place and looking forward to what’s coming.”

The hero of last year’s Currie Cup final triumph with two tries, Botha has been very much the senior statesman in the pack, which is young and extraordinarily willing. And nothing much damages the confidence of the hugely exciting crop of youngsters currently at Loftus Versfeld.

“When I go back to when I was 21 or 22, we were not where this group of youngsters is now, they are so far in front of where we were back in 2012. They are already comfortable in the system, some of them have played in a Currie Cup final already. You’re no longer young as a rugby player as soon as you lift that trophy and we are all learning so much from each other,” the tough Springbok loose forward said.

The Bulls have an abundance of riches in midfield as they plan for their Currie Cup semi-final against Western Province, but Cornal Hendricks, their most consistent midfield star, said they are preparing for a highly-competitive showing from the centres who will be visiting Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.

Centres Dan du Plessis and Springbok Juan de Jongh were in excellent form in Western Province’s crucial win last weekend against the Sharks, and they also have the powerful presence of Ruhan Nel as an option, the Springbok Sevens star playing on the wing in Durban.

“Western Province have a good, exciting backline and we need to give them credit for last week’s performance. They have Juan back to add experience to some special, exciting players. So we are preparing for good competition from them. Juan and Godlen Masimla [scrumhalf] both come from Wellington, but they must know who the King of Wellington is – it’s me!” Hendricks joked on Tuesday.

“Look, Harold Vorster and Lionel Mapoe are quality players as well, they have done well as a combination and Stedman Gans is also there. So we are pretty sorted at centre and myself and Marco Jansen van Vuren won the Currie Cup last season together at centre. We are all learning from Lionel, who has travelled a long road and what he brings for the team is unbelievable,” Hendricks added.

The 33-year-old’s miraculous return to rugby following a heart condition began in 2017 when he played for the Asia Pacific Dragons (under the Chinese Zodiac he was also coincidentally born in the Year of the Dragon – 1988) at the Hong Kong Tens under Heyneke Meyer, who first selected him for the Springboks in 2014.

That same resilience that saw him overcome a ‘death sentence’ for his career is what he has brought to the high-flying Bulls and he says his attitude is just to handle whatever Western Province, the weather or life throws at him in the coming days.

“Home is Home, we’re playing at Loftus Versfeld so rain or dew, it does not matter. We will adapt to whatever we get, we will take it as it comes. Jake White has been testing different combinations at centre, so if we have injuries then we know we have very good combinations there. I became a Springbok on the wing, so that position is always in the memory banks.

“I know I have the ability to go back there and if I do then all the old feelings just come back. I feel very good with my rugby, we are well-prepared and really looking forward to the weekend. I have no animosity for Western Province, I come from the Cape. And I don’t know when I will be able to play for the Springboks again, but that is always an honour,” Hendricks said.

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.

Western Province have endured a most average season and, unless they beat the Sharks in Durban on Saturday, they will miss out on the Currie Cup semi-finals for only the second time since 2008. And Sharks coach Sean Everitt foresees a desperate visiting team that will play more rugby than usual.

The problem with that is that Durbanites are expecting to see squalls of rain sweeping in from the sea and the Sharks have made using their kicking game to force teams deep into their own territory something of an art form.

“Western Province are a proud franchise and they won’t be happy with where they are on the log. They will see the opportunity to get five points, I’m sure they will come to Kings Park and give it their all and play more rugby than usual. Our kicking game will certainly help us because the conditions Durban is expecting will bring a lot of rain and gale-force winds.

“So we are very happy to have Curwin Bosch back and we will have another look at him at fullback, where he played very well against Griquas when we played them at Kings Park. He’s certainly dying to play again and that big boot of his will definitely be very useful for us,” Everitt said this week.

The Sharks lost that match to Griquas because they failed to grab their scoring opportunities and the Northern Cape team have since moved to third on the log with their thumping of Western Province last weekend, giving them wins home and away against the team that has won the Currie Cup more than any other (34 times).

The match between Griquas and the Pumas in Kimberley on Saturday afternoon will be a feast of celebration for the winners as they will be assured of a semi-final place. The losers of this 2.30pm clash will have to wait until after dinner on Saturday night to see if Western Province can upstage the Sharks and sneak past them into the knockout round.

In between those games, the Bulls host the Free State Cheetahs at Loftus Versfeld. Having devoured the Pumas pack in the set-pieces, which was crucial as the Bulls were not dominant in any other area, Jake White’s young pack will be eager to stamp their mark again and get the win that seals first place on the final log.

“I do not think the Pumas have been dominated at set-piece before this season like they were by the Bulls, which was a great boost for us. We generally have quite a young pack, only Arno Botha is older than 25, and their performances have given us massive confidence. Credit to forwards coach Russell Winter, who has done a fantastic job getting that pack going.

“Mornay Smith at tighthead is one of the most improved players we’ve had and I’m very happy to have Jacques du Plessis covering lock and flank. Ruan Combrinck is not a bad replacement either, he’s a Springbok who has played in Super Rugby finals. Although he has not played for a while, I’ve seen enough in the small time he’s been with us to know he has rugby in him,” White said on Friday.