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Ken Borland



Sharks wary of Stormers backs’ ‘mutant powers’ 0

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Ken

Wallabies centre Ben Tapuai might not be part of Saturday’s United Rugby Championship match against the Stormers, but he this week provided the most apt description of the threat they will pose to the Sharks in Cape Town when he described their backline stars as almost having mutant powers.

Tapuai received a knock on his knee in training this week and so is not part of the Sharks squad going to Cape Town, but he had a first-hand view of just how dangerous the Stormers backline are in the 22-22 draw at Kings Park last weekend. The visitors made up a 19-3 deficit with half-an-hour to go thanks partly to some dazzling play by their backs, spearheaded by Warrick Gelant, Seabelo Senatla and Damian Willemse.

“The Stormers have some absolute freaks when it comes to stepping, so we have got to be very careful in that space,” Tapuai said.

“We delivered a good performance in the first 50 minutes of the match, but then you need to close out the game in the last 30. The Stormers will go up another level at home, so we have to match that.”

It is a warning that Sharks coach Sean Everitt reiterated later in the week, especially since the conditions in Cape Town are likely to be more conducive to running rugby.

“We have to play according to the conditions we are dealt, but the weather in Durban is pretty extreme at the moment with the humidity,” Everitt said. “Cape Town should be dry this time of year.

“So hopefully we are able to play differently and hold on to the ball for longer periods. But the Stormers backs are certainly full of x-factor.”

The Sharks will know they had plenty of opportunities to beat the Stormers last time out, but those chances and their hopes of a win were flushed down the sewer by poor execution and ill-discipline.

“It was disappointing how we drew the game, but the positive is that we had a lot of opportunities but we just didn’t execute,” Tapuai said. “So we’re kind of excited by that.

“We’re still learning and our combinations will click over time. There are miles of growth ahead of us because I can see a lot of youth in the squad and I’ve lost count how many Springboks there are.”

Getting those combinations to gel is helped by continuity in selection, and Everitt has brought almost the same squad down to Cape Town.

“It’s great to be able to build momentum through consistency of selection,” Everitt said. “It takes time to get that cohesion and the players have had limited time together on the field.

“Rugby is a game of cohesion, the more you play together, the better you get.”

Boks won’t be conned again by the doe-eyed ball-in-handers 0

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Ken

The Springboks may have been conned into deviating from their strengths a bit in their two losses to the Wallabies, but their determination to build on what they did in their narrow loss to New Zealand last weekend will have been boosted by the three changes the All Blacks have made to their backline for Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test on the Gold Coast.

South Africa have spent this week stubbornly refusing to deviate from their plan despite mounting criticism from doe-eyed lovers of ball-in-hand rugby that kicking the ball away in the last 10 minutes was what cost them a 19-17 defeat at the death.

The All Blacks have changed their wings, with Sevu Reece and Rieko Ioane now set to face the aerial bombardment, and have chosen a scrumhalf with an even stronger kicking game in Brad Weber.

“We back our style and our physical presence, and we have great leaders we trust. We have full confidence in our plan and we want to rock up and play great rugby,” prop Steven Kitshoff said this week.

“We believe our DNA is good enough to win big matches, so on Saturday we want to really pitch up and play dominant rugby.”

Perhaps the key work-on for the Springboks, however, is ensuring that the chances that arise from their superb pressure game are utilised better on Saturday, especially in the closing stages. “We had a lot of opportunities and some crucial moments didn’t go our way,” Kitshoff admitted.

Sunny and warm conditions, with a bit of wind, on the Gold Coast on Saturday could also help the Springboks’ kicking game because sweat from what coach Jacques Nienaber described as “the biggest Test of the year, the same intensity as the World Cup final”, combined with sub-tropical humidity could make handling the ball when hundreds of kilogrammes of South African beef are bearing down on you rather tricky.

Nienaber also said South Africa’s strategy was conditional on how the All Blacks chose to defend. But even with three different players in their backline, New Zealand are unlikely to change from the packed frontline of 14 defenders and just one at the back that they had last weekend.

Nienaber: Worst Springbok performance in 3 years 0

Posted on October 08, 2021 by Ken

Coach Jacques Nienaber said it was the worst Springbok performance in three years as they succumbed to a 30-17 defeat at the hands of the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday, which would seem to be a fair call based on how thoroughly dismal South Africa were in so many departments.

It started at the breakdowns, where the Springboks conceded a dozen turnovers on attack, the defence was astonishingly ineffective as South Africa missed 20 of their 88 tackles, and they were too lateral with ball-in-hand and poor in the basic skills of handling and passing.

“I was disappointed with every department of our play today, we were beaten hands down. We have to figure out quickly why because I can’t put my finger on a reason at the moment and we have a massive challenge coming up next weekend against the All Blacks. We get tested differently by our Sanzaar partners and it has been a big eye-opener for us.

“It definitely wasn’t just our worst performance this year but our worst since 2018 when we lost to Argentina in Mendoza. We weren’t great at everything. The defence was not up to standard, it’s the first time we’ve conceded four tries since against New Zealand in 2018. We did have a bit of attacking opportunity, but there were lots of errors, too many with ball-in-hand,” Nienaber said after the match.

Skipper Siya Kolisi said he was shocked by how poorly his team had played, describing their preparation as being good.

“We’ve been training very well but then every single guy made mistakes today. You make a mistake at one maul and then it carries through to the next maul. We were losing things which we are normally good at, like physicality. Oh we need to look at ourselves alright and pull tighter together. We were well-prepared for this game but we just couldn’t enforce what we had planned.

“Especially at the breakdowns, we spoke about it on the field but just did not deliver. Losing breakdowns, especially the wide ones, was one of the big things we chatted about at halftime, but then it happened again in the second half. As players we have to take the responsibility for that. I wouldn’t go as far as to say our plan is not working, it’s just we did not implement it properly and we missed 20 tackles,” Kolisi said.

Boks have measured themselves … & found themselves wanting – Kolisi 0

Posted on October 04, 2021 by Ken

Captain Siya Kolisi said on Friday that the Springboks have been measured by themselves and they found themselves wanting in last weekend’s defeat to Australia, which is why they will be running out with great determination to rectify that when they meet the Wallabies again in a Rugby Championship Test at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.

South Africa went down 26-28 to Australia last weekend in an unfocused, error-strewn and ill-disciplined performance. Kolisi said the world champions and the team clinging on to the number one ranking under pressure from the All Blacks know they are much better than what they showed on the Gold Coast.

“We know exactly where we went wrong, it was very upsetting to lose like that. The mistakes we made with things that are normally a given, it was so tough to see that on the review. They were simple errors. Just on the day, we were not at our best in the physical part. We have our standards, but we made fewer tackles and especially less dominant tackles, Australia dominated their hits with ball-in-hand.

“We compared ourselves to how we played against Argentina and the British and Irish Lions and the standard was definitely not the same. We need to make that better first before we complain about anything else. So we are going to be more determined on Saturday to bring what we did not show on the field last weekend,” Kolisi said.

To make matters tougher, the Springboks have a very disappointing record in Brisbane. Since the return from isolation, South Africa have won just once there in 12 attempts against Australia. Kolisi, along with Willie le Roux, Eben Etzebeth and Duane Vermeulen, is one of the players who featured in that memorable 38-12 hammering of the Wallabies in 2013.

“We’ve only won once at Suncorp and we want to change that, but the most important thing is for us to stay in the competition and defend the Rugby Championship. So we are going to throw everything into this game. We’ve spent the week asking ourselves why we did not get to where we are meant to be in the previous game and I’m confident we will pitch up this weekend.

“Winning is what we care about, that’s the only way we can maintain our number one ranking. But the ranking is not our focus, we want to get back into the competition and give ourselves a chance of winning it again. But if we’re not disciplined then we won’t get the result we want,” Kolisi said.

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  • Thought of the Day

    1 John 2:5 – “But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him.”

    James 2:14 – “What good is it if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?”.

    Love without action is useless.

    If you love God unreservedly, you will offer your best to him and be willing to serve him wherever he wishes to use you.

    Love has to manifest itself practically.

    “Love requires uplifting and inspirational deeds.

    “How genuine can your love for God truly be if you are aware of a serious need and do nothing to alleviate it?”- Solly Ozrovech, A Shelter From The Storm



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