Ken Borland

Harlequins will be the first Champions Cup team to be hosted at Kings Park, bringing an entertaining brand of rugby, but Sharks prop Ox Nche said on Tuesday that it is important they do not offer their English opponents any freedom on the field on Saturday.

Harlequins have won their last four matches and are in the top three in the English Premiership.

“Harlequins are going to be a good challenge, they have been playing well,” Nche said on Tuesday. “They are dangerous and they score most of their tries within three phases of a set-piece.

“So that’s pretty similar to the URC, relying on the set-piece to attack from, but they can also run from anywhere, they have a more attacking mindset than the teams in the URC.

“Quins are more unpredictable, they want to play with ball-in-hand and they will even run from their own five-metre line. They are willing to take much more risks.

“But they have such a successful strike-rate from set-piece that it is very important for us to put that under pressure, to disrupt their set-pieces. We have to neutralise a guy like Andre Esterhuizen, who is a big ball-carrier on the gain-line,” Nche said.

While the musical chairs that has been going on in the Sharks coaching set-up has seen the players lose a good friend in Sean Everitt, Nche said their focus is on moving on and ensuring they make their mark in the Champions Cup.

“There’s always a certain level of relationship and respect with your coach – he has confidence in you and he backed your talent – so you feel for him and his family.

“But as professionals we understand these things happen. As a player, if things don’t go well then you might not get a contract. The team is always more important, and sometimes hard things have to be done to keep getting better.

“We need to move on as quickly as possible to our next challenge and we want to show we belong in the Champions Cup. We want to put Sharks rugby on a pedestal and make our names.

“We have all our experience back and we want to see if we belong with the best in the world, and we are very positive and full of energy, we’re pretty excited,” Nche said.

It is a run of defeats that South African captain Jean de Villiers has admitted rankles him, the veteran of 79 Tests having played against far better Wallabies teams since making his debut in 2002.

Australia’s five straight wins against South Africa is a record for them, but they have also won seven of the last eight meetings.

De Villiers said Friday that that record is “simply not good enough. That can never be acceptable and this team has now inherited that record, so it’s our job to rectify that.”

De Villiers also added that the 2012 Springbok class is a distinct team to last year’s, pointing out that they were responsible for six of those seven defeats. But there was more than just a hint of mental block when South Africa thoroughly dominated the Wallabies in the first half in Perth but failed to put them away.

What sets Saturday’s Springbok side apart from the teams that have lost in previous years is the presence of Johan Goosen at flyhalf.

The 20-year-old has the all-round game to trouble the visitors with ball-in-hand, he engages the defence and seems to have a marvellous temperament for one so young. Plus he is in good form with the boot and a strong defender.

If the Springbok pack once again gives 100 percent and plays like they did in Dunedin against the All Blacks, then Goosen should have the platform to enjoy a successful debut start.

De Villiers admitted on Friday that the forwards were doing most of the hard work lately and that it was time for the backline to contribute.

“The forwards have really stood up, even though they are the less experienced players, they got us close in the last two Tests and the backs now need to catch up,” he said.

While the hunger of the team is not in doubt, they will obviously require more than that to beat a team with the smarts of Australia. The inexperience of the forwards suggests they could fall prey to the trap of trying too hard and making mistakes as a result.

The challenge, de Villiers said, is to not get too excited.

“That was probably shown by Dean Greyling against the All Blacks. He really wanted the opportunity to show what he could do, he was so psyched up and he really got the guys going in the changeroom before the game. But then he came out and made one or two poor decisions,” De Villiers said.

South Africa have played well enough to beat both Australia and New Zealand away from home, but it is the decision-making of the Springboks (and missed kicks) that has prevented them from turning their dominance into points on the scoreboard.

“We need to step up for 80 minutes, some soft moments cost us in the other games. The margins are very small in Test rugby, one or two mistakes and you find yourself 10 points behind.

“We’ve definitely created opportunities to score, but I believe playing for 80 minutes is the problem. We need to improve on those small mistakes,” the captain said.

Lady Luck will also no doubt have her say in what is expected to be a fast-paced game that will fully test the bodies of the Springboks.

The Australian pack has shown the ability to absorb the physicality of the Springboks and then up the pace and spread the ball in the latter stages, and nobody will be surprised if their new starting flyhalf, Kurtley Beale, dashes and darts from the outset in an effort to move the home side around as much as possible.

“Beale is a classy player and it’s quite a tantalising prospect to see him and Johan Goosen against each other in their first starts at flyhalf. Kurtley has shown what he can do at Test level and he’s also shown what he can do at flyhalf in SuperRugby. We need to be up for it defensively because he’s definitely going to test us,” De Villiers admitted.

Teams:

South Africa: 15-Zane Kirchner, 14-Bryan Habana, 13-Jaco Taute, 12-Jean de Villiers, 11-Francois Hougaard, 10-Johan Goosen, 9-Ruan Pienaar, 8-Duane Vermeulen, 7-Willem Alberts, 6-Francois Louw, 5-Andries Bekker, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Jannie du Plessis, 2-Adriaan Strauss, 1-Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: 16-Tiaan Liebenberg, 17-Pat Cilliers, 18-Flip van der Merwe, 19-Marcell Coetzee, 20-Elton Jantjies, 21-Juan de Jongh, 22-Pat Lambie.

Australia: 15-Berrick Barnes, 14-Dominic Shipperley, 13-Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12-Pat McCabe, 11-Digby Ioane, 10-Kurtley Beale, 9-Nick Phipps, 8-Radike Samo, 7-Michael Hooper, 6-Dave Dennis, 5-Nathan Sharpe, 4-Kane Douglas, 3-Ben Alexander, 2-Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1-Benn Robinson. Reserves: 16-Saia Fainga’a, 17-James Slipper, 18-Rob Simmons, 19-Scott Higginbotham/Mike Harris, 20-Liam Gill, 21-Brett Sheehan, 22-Anthony Fainga’a.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-09-28-rugby-championship-test-sprinkboks-hungry-for-wallaby-meat/#.WnhFva6WbIU

If anyone has their finger on the pulse of the future direction of cricket it is former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and Joburg Giants Proteas marquee player Kagiso Rabada is really looking forward to tapping into his knowledge when the T20 Global League gets underway.

McCullum was snapped up by the Johannesburg franchise as the second pick in the draft for international marquee players, providing the tantalising prospect of a batsman and captain who did much to reinvent the game teaming up with a young fast bowler who is tipped to become one of the greats.

“As captain of New Zealand he was a really positive influence with the way he was able to lead a young side. He’s a very experienced campaigner who does not play by the book, the way he approached his cricket was very interesting and it shows he does not just conform to the boxes people impose.

“He questions all the strategies of the game, which is a really good thing. And he can certainly give me insights on what balls are hard or easy to hit, so I’m looking forward to tapping into his experience and picking his brain. He has dominated a lot of bowlers so it will be interesting to hear from him where batsmen can’t score,” Rabada told The Citizen on Saturday night.

West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard was the first pick of the evening and will be playing for the Bloemfontein City Blazers, while his compatriot, Chris Gayle, will turn out for the Cape Town Knight Riders.

The Durban Qalandars plumped for England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan, while another West Indian star, Dwayne Bravo, will be plying his all-round skills for the Pretoria Mavericks.

“It’s fantastic to have Dwayne, he will bring a winning mentality having played in T20 World Cup and IPL winning sides, he can contribute with both bat and ball and all the players who have played with him previously speak very highly of him, so I’m really excited to have him in our team,” Mavericks coach Russell Domingo said.

“It’s great to have one banker at six or seven plus he can bowl four overs under pressure and then we have AB de Villiers at four. And Dwayne has great death bowling skills which is of paramount importance, particularly at Centurion.”

The other international marquee placements saw Englishman Jason Roy joining fellow opener Quinton de Kock at the Benoni Zalmi, Kevin Pietersen heading to Port Elizabeth to join his mate Mark Boucher’s Nelson Mandela Bay Stars side and Sri Lankan pace bowler Lasith Malinga playing for Faf du Plessis’ Stellenbosch Monarchs.

https://citizen.co.za/sport/south-africa-sport/sa-cricket-sport/1629151/kagiso-rabada-cant-wait-to-learn-from-a-new-zealand-legend/