Ken Borland

With the 2022 Rugby Championship now two weeks away, we take a look at the form of the four teams involved, with today’s focus on Australia.

What they did in July

Following an incredible win (30-28) in the opening Test of their series against England, with 14 men and key injury disruptions, Australia then lost the second (17-25) and third Tests (17-21) to allow the tourists to keep the Ella-Mobbs [formerly Cook] Cup they have had since 2012.

In the first Test, in Perth, Australia lost lock Darcy Swain to a red card in the 34^th minute and had already lost flyhalf Quade Cooper just before kickoff with a calf strain. Prop Allan Alaalatoa went off in the first half with concussion and fullback Tom Banks broke his arm. But a remarkable second half saw the Wallabies score three tries in the last 17 minutes to take control of the game, England scoring two consolation tries in and after the final minute.

Having beaten England for the first time since 2015, Australia went to Brisbane confident of wrapping up the series, but, beaten in the collisions and the territory battle, had to fight back from19-0 down to pile on the pressure at 17-22 against 14 men. But a key lineout miss saw England survive and then seal victory with a penalty.

The third Test again saw the Wallabies’ mount a rearguard action as they came back from 10-21 down in the final quarter, but still fell short.

What they did in the Champs in 2021

Coach Dave Rennie breathed new life into Australia’s challenge in the southern hemisphere competition as he steered them to second place and four successive wins in the tournament for the first time.

The Rugby Championship did not start well for the Wallabies, though, as they set a new low for most points conceded against the All Blacks, going down 57-22 at Eden Park to also allow their neighbours a 19^th-straight year of holding the Bledisloe Cup.

Another sparkling All Blacks display in Perth saw Australia lose 38-21, although the contest was closer with New Zealand scoring two intercept tries.

But with Quade Cooper restored at flyhalf and playing his first Test in four years, the Wallabies’ fortunes turned with successive wins against the Springboks.

Cooper snatched a 28-26 win on the Gold Coast with a long-range, angled penalty after the final hooter, and then backline stars Len Ikitau and Marika Koroibete both scored twice as Australia ran South Africa ragged in a 30-17 bonus point win in Brisbane.

A 27-8 victory over Argentina in Townsville and then a 32-17 triumph over the Pumas, wing Andrew Kellaway scoring a hat-trick, saw the Wallabies break new ground in the Rugby Championship.

Fixtures

August 6: Mendoza, v Argentina

August 13: San Juan, v Argentina

August 27: Adelaide, v South Africa

September 3: Sydney, v South Africa

September 15: Melbourne, v New Zealand

September 24: Auckland, v New Zealand

With the 2022 Rugby Championship now two weeks away we take a look at the form of the four teams involved, with today’s focus on the All Blacks.

What they did in July

All Blacks coach Ian Foster will be under immense pressure to very quickly reverse the poor results that saw New Zealand set all sorts of unwanted landmarks in going down 2-1 to Ireland. They were Ireland’s first ever wins in New Zealand, it was the first time they had suffered consecutive defeats at home since 1998, and they became only the third All Blacks team to lose a three-Test series at home.

Losing four of their last five Tests has seen New Zealand drop to fourth in the world rankings, their lowest ever place since the rankings began.

The All Blacks romped to a 42-19 win in the first Test at Fortress Eden Park, but the score was inflated by their ability to take their chances better than Ireland did, and 42% possession and 40% territory were warning signs.

A determined defensive effort by Ireland enabled them to win the second Test 23-12 in Dunedin, and the speed and intricacy of their attacking play, as well as monumental defence, saw them beat the All Blacks 32-22 in the decider in Wellington.

What they did in the Champs in 2021

The All Blacks showed no hint of their waning fortunes in the 2021 Rugby Championship, winning five out of their six matches to claim the title with a seven-point lead in the final standings over Australia.

New Zealand had already clinched the crown with a game to spare as they beat the Springboks 19-17 in Townsville, the 100^th Test between the two great rivals.

The All Blacks’ only defeat came in the last game as the Springboks rebounded to beat them 31-29 with the last kick of the match, the following weekend.

The campaign started on a high for New Zealand as they hammered Australia 57-22 at Eden Park, retaining the Bledisloe Cup and notching the most points they have ever scored over the Wallabies.

Australia were stiffer opponents in the next match, going down 21-38 as the All Blacks’ discipline faltered with a red card. They were also disrupted by a couple of key injuries, but two intercept tries sealed the win.

New Zealand used a lot of fringe players in their two Tests against Argentina, but saw the Pumas off comfortably – 39-0 on the Gold Coast and 36-13 in Brisbane.

Fixtures

August 6: Mbombela, v South Africa

August 13: Johannesburg, v South Africa

August 27: Christchurch, v Argentina

September 3: Hamilton, v Argentina

September 15: Melbourne, v Australia

September 24: Auckland, v Australia

With teams like the Chennai Super Kings and the owners of the Mumbai Indians investing in South Africa’s new T20 league, sources say Cricket South Africa and SuperSport could not turn down the millions of dollars they stand to make and have awarded all six franchises to IPL bidders with deep pockets and plenty of experience in operating professional sport franchises.

CSA confirmed that the owners of the six franchises in the new league to start next January would be Mumbai Indians owners Reliance Industries (based at Newlands); RPSG Sports Private Limited, the owners of Lucknow Super Giants (Kingsmead); Sun TV Network Limited, the owners of Hyderabad Sunrisers (St George’s Park); Chennai Super Kings (Wanderers); Royals Sports Group, of Rajasthan (Boland Park) and JSW Sports, the co-owners of Delhi Capitals (SuperSport Park).

And, in keeping with the Indian Premier League being the richest cricket tournament in the world, those six investors’ bids reportedly far outstripped any other of the 20-odd Expressions of Interest CSA received. Sources say the average bid for a franchise amounted to $25 million, and nobody else could compete with those numbers.

The team owners will pay 10% of that figure per year, for 10 years. CSA get roughly half of that annual fee, amounting to $1.25 million per team, per year; and that amounts to $7.5 million per year, which, by today’s exchange rate, is a whopping R128 million per annum.

It is not exaggerating to say domestic cricket will die without that extra income allowing CSA to subsidise their vital pipeline.

Over the 10-year lifespan of these franchise deals, that will be an injection of more than a billion rand into South African cricket.

One South African cricket insider described it as “crazy money” and, with an appealing time zone in terms of the Indian market, the new T20 league should become an international brand in its own right.

It is believed the Chennai Super Kings put in an enormous $40 million bid for the Wanderers franchise, which is probably 10 times more than the leading local bidders could afford.

The compulsory local development initiatives that all bidders had to have as part of their submissions is also an appealing prospect for the domestic game. It is hoped that these IPL owners will allow the provincial structures based at the six venues to play an active role in the league, rather than just flying in and taking over the premises for a couple of months and then jetting off again.

With the Indian teams having made such a massive investment, could the South African league be the first to benefit from an allowance for current Indian players to compete in the tournament in the years to come?

Rassie van der Dussen is known for being a phlegmatic, composed guy, but his mental strength shone as brightly as it ever has in the first ODI against England as not even heatwave conditions that saw other players and spectators require medical treatment could dissuade him as he cruised to a brilliant century that set up victory for the Proteas.

The stadium management in Chester-le-Street issued health warnings to their spectators as temperatures reached 36°C, but Van der Dussen kept his cool, taming the weather and the England attack as he used his three hours at the crease to compile a remarkable 134 off 117 balls.

His best score in Proteas colours led South Africa to their highest ever ODI total in England – 333/5 – and then when the bowlers produced a marvellous all-round display – both the pacemen and the spinners met expectations – victory was completed by 62 runs.

“It was pretty hot out there but not too bad, mid-30s. We’ve just had a tour of India where it was a lot worse,” Van der Dussen said with characteristic understatement after he had met the challenge.

“I just tried to read the situation and adapt. I feel like I have the game and the shot options to put the bowlers under pressure. It was a massive outfield and the wind was quite strong, so it took the six option out for 25 overs.

“We knew we had to play smart cricket, hit the pockets in the field and run hard, make sure we got runs off good balls. The pitch got tough towards the end with the old ball keeping a bit low.

“It was like playing in Bloemfontein in terms of field size and temperature. There was not a lot of bounce and you had to play straight and try and accumulate runs,” Van der Dussen said.

England’s bowlers and fielders looked like they needed medical care as Van der Dussen and Aiden Markram (77 off 61) cut loose in a third-wicket stand of 151 off just 123 balls.

Apart from their meeting against South Africa in the T20 World Cup last November, when the Proteas won by 10 runs but still missed out on the semifinals, the last time England played with much at stake against the Proteas was in 2019/20 when they visited Africa and won the Test series 3-1 and the T20s 3-0 before bailing out of the ODIs due to supposed Covid fears.

South Africa have done much to rehabilitate their image since then and Van der Dussen recognised the importance of the Proteas laying down a marker, while stressing that it was merely the first day of a long tour.

“Obviously it’s a massive result, but it’s only one match on a long tour. We had to prep well, the batting was really good and the bowlers executed brilliantly, and now we will see where we can improve.

“England are still a world-class team, with various matchwinners on their day. But you could see they’ve played a lot of cricket lately, we were a bit more up for it today,” Van der Dussen said.