Ken Borland

WHILE there is still understandable euphoria over South Africa’s Faf du Plessis-inspired great escape in Australia, the series has provided evidence that the Proteas’ pace bowling stocks are not as full as they would like.

South Africa’s rise to the No1 ranking has been built to a large extent on the strike-bowling brilliance of Dale Steyn, Morné Morkel and Vernon Philander, but when one of the trio is injured or not bowling to full capacity, their attack does not look totally convincing.

Rory Kleinveldt has risen up the queue to become the next paceman in line and has played in both Brisbane and Adelaide. But he looked innocuous, save for his three-wicket burst on the third afternoon of the second Test.

Ryan McLaren, meanwhile, could get the chance to start his international career afresh in Perth after being flown over as bowling all-rounder cover for both Jacques Kallis and Philander.

But while this Test generation is dominated by a superb batting line-up and the Steyn/Morkel/Philander bowling trio, these things are cyclical, and fans will await the birth of the next generation of fast bowlers.

So far, the next generation has thrown up Marchant de Lange, who claimed 7/81 against Sri Lanka on his debut in Durban last December.

But seven months later, the Titans youngster developed a stress fracture of the lower back and has been in cotton wool ever since.

De Lange will not be fit to play in the two Tests against New Zealand in January but Vincent Barnes, the national selector and former Proteas bowling coach, who is taking care of the 22-year-old’s rehabilitation, is still pleased with his progress.

“I’ve been tasked with overseeing his recovery from what was quite a serious injury, and it’s a slow process. We’ve mapped it out with the Titans and they send me video clips of every training session he does and a weekly report from the physio.

“It’s going slowly but the big positive is that we’re doing it properly and he’s not being rushed. Marchant is now bowling pain-free off a short run-up and we’re working towards him playing again in late December. But he definitely won’t be ready for the Tests against New Zealand,” Barnes said on Tuesday.

While everyone will be hoping De Lange’s return is not an anticlimax, there is another, more established bowler plotting his own return in Durban.

Lonwabo Tsotsobe missed the tour to the Antipodes because his form, and reportedly his attitude, were at odds with what was required. But Dolphins coach Lance Klusener on Tuesday praised his work ethic with his new franchise team.

“Lopsy has been extremely eager to get stuck in and while I’m really happy with his effort, I’m just sad that he hasn’t had the wickets to show for how hard he’s been training. He’s done his job really well for us, he’s just been unlucky and I’m sure wickets are just around the corner for him,” Klusener said.

Since South Africa’s return from the grim days of apartheid, their fast bowling stocks have been the envy of many — current bowling coach Allan Donald leading the way for the likes of Klusener, Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and now Steyn and Morkel.

Barnes believes newcomers such as Kleinveldt, Chris Morris and Hardus Viljoen have the potential to swell that list.

“We need to give Rory time, and the important thing is he’s getting better, not worse. And Chris and Hardus have both been quite impressive and both have good pace,” Barnes said.

And talented young fast bowlers such as Beuran Hendricks, Marcello Piedt, Graham Hume and Duanne Olivier have the potential to add their names to that list as well.

http://www.bdlive.co.za/sport/cricket/2012/11/28/series-shows-proteas-need-pace-revamp

Chartered accountant and Northerns Cricket Union treasurer Aniel Soma has been the man to steer Titans cricket through the difficult months following the tragic passing of long-time CEO Elise Lombard in August.

Although the franchise was understandably grieving the loss of the much-loved and highly-respected Lombard, someone needed to take over the reins with a Champions League to host and the new season about to start, and Soma stepped in as the acting chief executive.

“We didn’t drop any catches, so to speak, and the ship is running fine, it’s all in order. It’s about cricket and finance and I had big shoes to fill. The biggest challenge was maintaining the relationships with all our partners, but that’s bedded down now,” Soma says.

The quiet and unassuming Soma is steeped in cricket, having started playing when he was 13 and still representing Laudium Foresters when he was 50, and he admits to a nagging feeling of regret that he did not play more when he was younger. He was heavily involved in the development of Laudium as a Premier League ground, which also hosted matches during the 2005 Women’s World Cup.

Having studied BCom and BAcc degrees at Wits University, Soma did his articles at KPMG and has been a financial director since 1986, and is in his second stint as NCU treasurer.

Hailing from the agricultural town of Wallmansthal north of Pretoria, Soma was schooled in Marabastad and is passionate about sport in general.

“I love golf, I just don’t play enough. I do a lot of gyming and cycling these days and I’ve ridden three 94.7s and two Argus’s. I love soccer, which I played too, and I also enjoy watching rugby. Travelling is also something I enjoy,” he says.

Another interest is food and Soma has been in the restaurant business as well, his wife Preeya being a caterer.

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The Titans are busy developing tomorrow’s fans today with the introduction of their junior fan club.

On match days, a members’ area will be reserved exclusively for Titans Junior Fans at SuperSport Park. In addition, the first 10 members to arrive on the day stand a chance to meet and interview some of the Nashua Titans players.  And, as a Titans Fan Club member, if you buy two tickets you will get two tickets free.

Titans Fan Club membership is available for all primary school scholars from Grade 0 to Grade 7.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer says his team’s rise from number four to number two in the world rankings tells him they are on the right track, but it was the smattering of applause his squad received when they arrived at O.R. Tambo International Airport on Monday that was perhaps an even bigger advisory that the public, his sternest critics, are pleased with his efforts.

It’s hard to remember when the Springboks were last applauded in the arrivals hall at O.R. Tambo, but it must have been 2009 when they returned from Hamilton with the Tri-Nations trophy. Generally, the media gathered for interviews have been the only ones to show much interest, the general public keeping an awkward distance, much like how the employee who got drunk and took all his clothes off at the office Christmas party is treated.

But South Africa’s unbeaten tour of Great Britain and Ireland, the first perfect end-of-year trip since 2008, has enabled Meyer to lift his record in his first year in charge to seven wins, three losses and two draws from 12 Tests. The former Blue Bulls coach has admitted that for him, too, it has been a steep learning curve.

“Our three goals were to remain unbeaten, which has not been done for quite some time on the end-of-year tour, secure the number two ranking and, perhaps most importantly, make our supporters proud. So it was really great to see the support here at the airport.

“It’s been a tough year, we’ve lost three out of 12 Tests, but the great thing is we started at number four on the world rankings and now we’re second. So I’m very happy, especially considering we lost a lot of guys through injury, and we can only grow from here,” Meyer said.

While the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Willem Alberts, Adriaan Strauss, Francois Louw, Marcell Coetzee, Duane Vermeulen and Pat Lambie have stolen the limelight, captain Jean de Villiers has been the unsung hero of the team, alongside ever-present tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis.

De Villiers was initially appointed as captain for just the three June Tests against England, which was quickly extended to the whole year and now, after an often torrid season, Meyer advised that he was unlikely to change captain next year in the light of the calm, intelligent leadership shown by De Villiers.

“Jean has been awesome. He’s one of three players to have started every game this year and he’s also been a great ambassador for the country. In the last three games, he was our main ball-carrier and he gained good ground for us. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be captain again next year,” Meyer said.

The two areas about which Meyer has been most strongly criticised have been the attacking play of his side and his transformation record.

While the wet conditions overseas served to undermine much of their attacking ambition, there were hints against England at Twickenham last weekend that, with Lambie at flyhalf and Juan de Jongh at outside centre, the backline could develop into more of a threat.

The transformation issue is one that all Springbok coaches – save for Peter de Villiers – have had to face, but it is disingenuous to single out Meyer for criticism.

Nine players of colour, including five black Africans, were in the touring squad which is as good a record as any of his predecessors, including De Villiers. With Siya Kolisi out injured, it is difficult to imagine other black players who can feel unfairly treated by not being selected.

Even criticism that these players did not get game time on the tour is unfounded, because there were a heap of white players who also spent the three weeks carrying tackle bags. It’s the nature of sport that not everyone can get a run and even someone like Elton Jantjies, whose form has begun to taper off after a great start to the Currie Cup campaign, was overlooked because Lambie deserved a fair chance to stake his claim at flyhalf.

Meyer’s focus in 2013 should be on wedding better backline attacking play to the formidable pack he is building and the outstanding defence shown on tour. He will also want the team to perform more consistently: they have produced their best for the full 80 minutes perhaps only once this year (against Australia in Pretoria) and the need for a ruthless, killer edge was shown in the last two matches when they allowed both Scotland and England back into contention in Tests that looked done and dusted.

But these lapses of concentration that afflicted the team are in stark contrast to the mental strength they showed in winning all three Tests in Europe despite being in high-pressure situations (even if they were of their own making).

“A lot of guys hadn’t been on an end-of-year tour before and a lot of great players have lost over there. We’d lost the previous Test against Scotland and we’d only won one of the last three in Ireland. I always say there are only two types of rugby: winning rugby and losing rugby. And we won three out of three, so I’ll take that.

“There is still lots of room for improvement, but that will come with experience. It takes a lot of mental effort to grind out wins like that. But we made life hard for ourselves by conceding 17 penalties a game on tour, compared to six per game back at home, so that’s unacceptable and has to change,” Meyer said.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-11-27-meyers-mojo-growing-stronger

It was a day for the extraordinary at Twickenham on Saturday as the Springboks shaded England 16-15 courtesy of heroic defence, one of the strangest tries ever scored in international rugby and an outlandishly poor decision by the hosts at the end of the Test.

Rain before and throughout the match put paid to any hopes of expansive rugby, but it was still a gripping, thrilling encounter, played with great intensity.

As forecast, England posed the toughest challenge of the tour but, in truth, they were outplayed for long periods before the Springboks reacted to their 10-point lead by making a host of stupid mistakes that let their opponents back into the game.

Having battled their way into a 9-6 lead after a troubled first half, the Springboks piled on the pressure at the start of the second half, but had to rely on quite extraordinary bounces of the ball for their only try. Pat Lambie’s grubber first of all deflected kindly for the visitors, putting them into the England 22. Lock Juandre Kruger then spilt the ball, but it went backwards. The attempted hack clear by England scrumhalf Ben Youngs rebounded off JP Pietersen and flew high towards the tryline, where two England players failed to gather the ball, dropping it into the hands of Willem Alberts, who just had to fall over the line to score.

The Springboks led 16-6 and were poised to shut England out of the game. But it should be a major concern for coach Heyneke Meyer that his team once again failed to follow-through on a commanding position, letting England back into the game through mistakes like kicking directly into touch after taking the ball back into their own 22 or from the kickoff.

England responded by thoroughly dominating territory in the final quarter and, trailing 12-16 with 80 seconds left to play, they won a penalty. But instead of going for the try that would win them the Test, they kicked the penalty but then did not have enough time to get back into the South African half after they failed to win the restart.

England captain Chris Robshaw has been widely criticised for his decision, which was inexplicable. But one could see the worry in England’s eyes all the way back in Johannesburg whenever they contemplated a lineout or even trying to find a way through the Springboks’ outstanding defence.

Well-marshalled by captain Jean de Villiers, South Africa’s defence was phenomenally efficient, with every player willing to get down and dirty for the team as England unleashed wave after wave of big ball-carriers. But there was also minimal flair from the home side and the Springboks, who showed some neat touches on attack despite the conditions, always looked the more likely team to score.

Eben Etzebeth and Duane Vermeulen were once again major factors in the lineout, with England hooker Tom Youngs suffering an awful afternoon with his throwing-in, and the Springboks used their advantage in that set-piece to the maximum.

After a torrid first 15 minutes in which referee Nigel Owens could see only fault in the visitors and no wrong in the English, South Africa dominated territory, keeping England under pressure, and it was pleasing to see Lambie play with such assurance at flyhalf. The 22-year-old kicked especially well, but also ran with the ball and showed some fine touches on attack in a far more balanced display at pivot.

One of the areas where the Springboks struggled was in the scrums, but that was largely due to Owens not seeing loosehead prop Alex Corbisiero scrumming in on the angle against Jannie du Plessis.

Whatever their other shortcomings, the Springboks of today are a hardy, determined bunch and they can be well-pleased with a perfect three-from-three record on tour. Their play was far from faultless but, for a team that is still developing, they showed impressive mettle in absorbing pressure in all three matches and ensuring victory was achieved, even if it was in ugly fashion.

There is no doubt that the future is full of promise for Meyer and this team.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-11-26-boks-play-it-by-the-book-victory-first-entertainment-later