Ken Borland

It was perhaps even tougher than coach Jake White expected but the Bulls managed to end their tour on a winning note as they beat Benetton 44-22 in their United Rugby Championship match in Treviso on Friday night, but their performance was still not good enough to muzzle their critics.

The Bulls were a puzzle in the first half, showing occasional glimpses of promise but being unable to sustain pressure for long due to unforced errors. Defensively they also failed to contain a physical Benetton team that also attacked with purpose and width.

Were it not for the Bulls managing to stifle Benetton at the breakdown, where Marcell Coetzee led the way in winning numerous turnovers, helped by Bismarck du Plessis and Marco van Staden, the home side would have been much further ahead than 9-3 at halftime.

The Bulls started brightly in the second half, strong driving play by the forwards earning flyhalf Chris Smith a penalty and then a superb carry by flank Van Staden had defenders hanging off him, scrumhalf Embrose Papier was quick to the ball, sniped and broke through and lock Ruan Nortje was up in support as ever for the try.

A 13-12 lead became 20-12 when eighthman Elrigh Louw plunged over for a try from close range, but Benetton were back in front 22-20 by the hour mark as scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenhage orchestrated a clinical dissection of the Bulls defence for flank Manuel Zuliani to score.

It took a moment of good fortune to shift the momentum as the Bulls escaped sustained pressure inside their 22 when the ball mysteriously popped out on their side. They swept upfield and Smith kicked a penalty to put them back in front 23-22.

Morne Steyn then came on to ensure the Bulls dominated territory in the final quarter, kicking the ball into the corners and the maul was able to set a solid platform. The veteran flyhalf also slotted his conversions from tight angles.

In the last 10 minutes, the Bulls scored three ties as replacement hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels tidied up well at a five-metre lineout to score, just managing to stay in touch, man of the match Coetzee scored a well-deserved try and Stravino Jacobs rounded off a breakaway in the final minute.

Scorers

Benetton Treviso – Try: Manuel Zuliani. Conversion: Tomas Albornoz. Penalties: Albornoz (5).

Bulls – Tries: Ruan Nortje, Elrigh Louw, Jan-Hendrick Wessels, Marcell Coetzee, Stravino Jacobs. Conversions: Chris Smith (2), Morne Steyn (3). Penalties: Smith (3).

Former Springbok World Cup winning captain John Smit has advised fiery Stormers eighthman Evan Roos to find a way to keep his passion on the field, but stay close to the line without overstepping it when it comes to ill-discipline.

Roos, who made his Springbok debut against Wales this year, was yellow-carded last weekend for an off-the-ball tussle, that saw him lean his elbow on his opposite number’s neck, in the 52^nd minute of the Stormers’ win over Edinburgh.  It came at a bad time when the Stormers were under pressure, and it allowed the Scottish team to close the gap to 13-17.

Overseas critics have accused the 22-year-old of being unnecessarily confrontational, some calling his play dangerous and thuggish.

“Evan is a player who is really driven internally and he needs to find a way to control that emotion,” Smit said when asked at a Vodacom United Rugby Championship media call how he would handle a player like Roos if he were captain.

“Players get away with absolutely nothing these days, the most aggressive thing you’ll see on a field now is someone grabbing a collar and looking angry.

“Eben Etzebeth does it very well, controlling his passion right up to the end point of not getting in trouble. Evan needs to somehow know how to bottle that passion, and you don’t want to temper his enthusiasm.

“He just needs to be told though that losing control won’t just cost him but the team too. I would tell him that the angrier he gets, the more the team’s ability to succeed is diminished,” Smit said.

Smit of course had arguably rugby’s hardest ever enforcer to rely on to lay down the law in Bakkies Botha. But sometimes it took all of Smit’s considerable leadership wisdom to keep the legendary lock on the field.

“I had a few players in the Springbok team who sometimes suffered from over-stimulation!” Smit laughed. “Take Bakkies. Whenever I wanted to try gee up the team in the changeroom, I would wait for Bakkies to go to the toilet or get his knee strapped, otherwise my team talk would make him a bit over-zealous in the first five minutes! And that would be to our detriment.”

The Sharks found themselves on the winning side in the end, by the narrowest of margins, but for the vast majority of their United Rugby Championship match against the Dragons in Newport, they huffed and puffed, generally without accuracy, before a handling error or turnover would let the air out of their tyres.

The Sharks snuck home 20-19 thanks to a 75^th-minute try by wing Thaakir Abrahams, who was sent to the line by replacement back Marnus Potgieter, after substitute flank Sikhumbuzo Notshe had broken the line to create the space. Flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain then slotted an excellent conversion to give the visitors the lead for the first time since the 11^th minute.

Apart from their tendency to lose possession on attack, the Sharks were also not helped by a wayward lineout and the fact that the Dragons beat them in the kicking game. They were also outworked at the breakdown, although unlucky at times that referee Ben Blain did not seem to enjoy their efforts there, or in the scrums, where they won a few penalties but were also on the wrong side of a couple of momentum-breaking decisions.

The first scrum allowed the Sharks to land the first blow with a Chamberlain penalty, but their problems at the ruck, lineout and then, in the second quarter, at scrum time, began to hurt them as Dragons flyhalf Will Reed kicked four penalties.

Chamberlain was able to kick one more scrum penalty, but the Sharks would have been relieved that they went into the break 12-6 down, the Dragons opting for their fourth penalty after the hooter instead of pushing for the try that would have made that lead even more formidable.

But the Dragons went 19-6 up early in the second half when hooker Elliot Dee scored from a rolling maul, the Sharks having been deep on attack inside the 22 after a Rohan Janse van Rensburg charge was wasted by a pass going astray.

It’s a long way back from there away from home at an intimate, boisterous venue like Rodney Parade, but it’s to the Sharks’ credit that they did not panic and kept soldiering on.

An intercept try by scrumhalf Grant Williams was a massive blow for the Dragons, but the Sharks, on the ropes for so long, finally landed a knockout blow with just five minutes remaining, thanks to the strike-running of Notshe and sheer pace of Abrahams.

It’s surprising that the Sharks were so outplayed at ruck time given that their loose trio contained two flanks who play to the ball in James Venter and Dylan Richardson. Then again, Notshe is in the same mould as eighthman Phepsi Buthelezi, one of their few successes on a difficult evening.

It’s becoming apparent that the big-spending Sharks need less flash and more players willing to put in the big hits and do the dirty work around the rucks.

Scorers

Dragons: Try – Elliot Dee. Conversion – Will Reed. Penalties – Reed (4).

Sharks: Tries – Grant Williams, Thaakir Abrahams. Conversions – Boeta Chamberlain (2). Penalties – Chamberlain (2).

CAPE ST FRANCIS, Eastern Cape – Dylan Naidoo is one golfer who certainly won’t be ill-prepared for the vagaries of the St Francis Links when the Vodacom Origins of Golf Sunshine Tour event gets underway there on Thursday, the 24-year-old winning the pro-am on Wednesday with partner Malcolm Subramony.

After a blustery, totally overcast first day which really tested the golfers, Wednesday was much calmer and the sun made a welcome appearance. So Naidoo feels he is well-prepared for whatever weather the professionals get over the next three days.

“Today was a lot more like the weather we’re expecting for the tournament proper, so playing well works in my favour a bit. We’re expecting the same wind direction and amount of wind,” Naidoo said.

“But the first round was really different and difficult. I didn’t play great, but thankfully my amateur Malcolm came through with a bunch of points.

“This course is a really good test of every part of your game. You have to be good off the tee, your game-management needs to be really on-point and my chipping and putting was really good.

“I’m looking forward to a good week and I’ve been playing well for a little while, since I got through the first stage of European Tour School Qualifying three weeks ago. In fact, in the last six months my game has been heading in a good direction and I’m quite happy with it,” Naidoo said.

The globetrotting golfer now has his very own piece of Vodacom Origins silverware to cherish and he says the series has been a great help for him and many others in his fledgling professional career.

“It’s been a great series for many years now. To have the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series through the winter is a real bonus because otherwise there are not a lot of tournaments for us to play in.

“And if you’re a young pro who hasn’t played a lot, then the series gives your game really good preparation for the tour. It’s an opportunity to learn how to be a better golfer. It’s always a great start to the year for us,” Naidoo said.