Ken Borland

The passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has not only caused great sorrow in the United Kingdom as they have lost the longest-serving monarch they ever had, but around the world where she was a much-loved figure, one of the constants of the 20^th and 21^st centuries and all the turmoil practically three generations lived through.

The charming sight of the Queen, always so immaculately turned out, meeting sporting teams is also now a thing of the past. I wonder if King Charles III will bring the same gravitas and elegance to the occasion …

While meeting government ministers who invariably end up delaying the scheduled starting time of whatever sporting event they are piggybacking on is not the sort of thing sports stars keep in the memory banks, and they largely annoy spectators, shaking hands with the Queen was always a memorable moment.

Part of that had to do with the fact that she was engaging, had a famously mischievous sense of humour and always had a sharp eye on proceedings. She and Prince Philip were avid cricket fans and she visited Lord’s on 25 occasions.

Jonty Rhodes scored a quickfire, sparkling century in the opening match of South Africa’s 1994 tour of England, against the Earl of Carnavon’s XI at Highclere, but his memories of that day revolve around meeting the Queen.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh had spent a few hours watching the game from a marquee and Rhodes tended to stand out whenever he was in the field – a real livewire in terms of his dazzling fielding skills, but also constantly cajoling his team-mates with handclaps and shouts of encouragement.

During the lunch break, the teams were lined up and introduced to Her Majesty and she showed how keen an observer she had been as she stopped and asked Rhodes “Are you the one making all the noise?” with an amused glint in her eye.

“Yes Ma’m, I’ve got to keep the old guys moving,” Rhodes replied, drawing a smile and a nod from the Queen before she moved on down the line.

As one would probably expect, Australian cricket teams have had rather more uncouth interactions with Her Majesty, with Dennis Lillee asking for her autograph and Rodney Hogg commenting on her attractive legs. She later sent Lillee a signed photograph of the incident and he says the photo still has pride of place in his office, while Elizabeth II apparently had a warm friendship with the late Shane Warne, who also passed away this year.

She would also routinely hand out the silverware at the Wembley football stadium, most notably when England won their only soccer World Cup, in 1966.

Prince Harry, fresh from celebrating the birth of his second child, Lilibet, in June, is known for his love of rugby. The Springboks are perhaps his ‘second team’ and his celebrations after their 2019 World Cup win, including a conversation with scrumhalf Faf de Klerk who was wearing just his famous Springbok flag underpants, gave rise to many hilarious memes.

When one thinks of the Royal Family and sport, however, the obvious main connection is with horse racing. Queen Elizabeth II has been described as the sport’s “greatest supporter”. Her royal meeting at Ascot is one of the most famous equestrian events in the world and, as an owner of thoroughbreds, she enjoyed several big wins there.

Both Nicky Henderson and Sir Michael Stoute, who trained the Queen’s horses, mentioned her thorough knowledge of all things equestrian in their warm tributes.

Her daughter, Princess Anne, rode in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and her daughter, Zara Tindall, wife of former England rugby star Mike, won a silver medal with the Great Britain equestrian eventing team at the 2012 London Olympics.

The scent of mourning hung around South African cricket on Tuesday with the news that their much-loved, and longest-serving manager, Goolam Rajah, had passed away, another victim of Covid-19.

The 74-year-old Rajah had been on a ventilator for the last couple of months in a Johannesburg hospital.

In many ways, Rajah was the glue as the Proteas made their way back into international cricket in 1991 and went through tumultuous times such as the 1999 World Cup semi-final tie, the fall of Hansie Cronje, and further World Cup disappointments in 2003, 2007 and 2011 (the year he retired); as well as the highs of becoming the No.1 side in Test cricket through numerous memorable wins on tour.

Apart from being the most meticulous man, his logistical and man-management skills were phenomenal, Rajah was the epitome of a gentleman. Softly-spoken, but with a warm smile, any time spent in his company would leave one feeling better for the experience.

A qualified pharmacist, Rajah was the perfect manager. Extremely organised, with a high sense of integrity, he was also a great servant of the game.

Former Proteas captain and coach Gary Kirsten summed up Rajah perfectly in his autobiography:

“Goolam was probably the most unsung hero I have ever encountered. I can categorically state that I never met a more selfless person in the entire decade we were together. Goolam’s approach to his job was to add as much value and make life as pleasant and as trouble-free as possible for the people around him. His own goals and ambitions were never apparent.

“The solitary target he set himself on tour was to allow his team to focus all their mental and physical energy on cricket. If they were worried or distracted by anything else, Goolam treated it as a personal failure on his part. He allowed no detail to escape his attention and he was a shrewd deal-maker too. He was generous to a fault and there were times I wished Goolam would just take half-an-hour for himself,” Kirsten said.

Conrad Smith is a much-loved son of Wellington and a stalwart of the Hurricanes side for the last 12 years, and he believes the franchise finally has the right blend of players to challenge for the SuperRugby title.

Captain Smith has seen many disappointments in those dozen years of SuperRugby, with the Hurricanes making the playoffs four times but appearing in just one final – the 2006 clash with the Crusaders which they lost 19-12.

And the one thing Smith, who is bound for promotion candidates Pau after the World Cup, has learned from those experiences is that champion teams need to have grunt up front.

“You need to be a complete team if you’re going to go far in this competition and in the dozen seasons I’ve played with the Hurricanes, we’ve always had an impressive backline but we’ve still come up short.

“It’s because we haven’t always had the complete team, but now our forwards are really fronting up,” Smith said after his team beat the Bulls 17-13 at Loftus Versfeld, their pack leading the way in securing their second successive win in South Africa and ensuring a highly encouraging start to their SuperRugby campaign.

Against both the Bulls and the Lions last weekend, sides renowned for having abrasive forwards, the Hurricanes pack really got stuck in and dominated their opposition.

“Hats off to the forwards, they’ve really carried us through these first two games. There’s lots for us blokes in the backs to improve on,” Smith admitted.

Although the Hurricanes boasted TJ Perenara, Beauden Barrett, Julian Savea, Ma’a Nonu, Smith and Corey Jane in their backline, it has been their work in the set-pieces and at the breakdowns that has highlighted their winning start to the season.

There has also been a noticeable improvement in the Hurricanes’ defence, with the Kiwis conceding just eight points against the Lions and 13 versus the Bulls.

“Our defence is something we have focused on, if we’re going to be there at the end of the competition, then defence is something you have to rely on. It’s what wins big games and we’ve been really encouraging there in the first two weeks. In the past the Bulls’ lineout drive has caused us real problems, and our defence of that was outstanding,” Smith said.

New Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd was delighted with the start, but was also cautious to not get carried away.

“We’re delighted with our start, especially winning at Ellis Park and Loftus Versfeld, two bastions of the game over here, and we’re certainly happy with eight points.

“But we’re not overly happy with the way we played tonight and it’s a 16-round competition. Two wins is great, but we could lose the next two or three games,” Boyd said.

However, with a top-class backline waiting to click and a mobile, willing pack, the Hurricanes now have a match against the Force in Perth and then a bye, before a run of home games. They must be a decent bet to challenge strongly for the playoffs if they can maintain their current momentum.