Ken Borland

The independent arbitration panel that cleared Graeme Smith of racism allegations found that Thami Tsolekile was not selected to replace Mark Boucher in 2012 for cricketing reasons, saying the wicketkeeper/batsman himself accepted that AB de Villiers being chosen ahead of him was better for the team.

Tsolekile testified at the arbitration in support of Cricket South Africa’s claim that Smith had used his influence as captain to persuade the selectors not to include Tsolekile based on his race, after Boucher suffered the eye injury that ended his career.

But while finding that Smith, the Proteas longest-serving and most successful Test captain, did have an influence on selection, the arbitrators, advocates Ngwako Maenetje SC and Michael Bishop, ruled that he did not actively seek to exclude Tsolekile because of his race. Instead they found “it is more likely that Smith just wanted his team to win”.

Andrew Hudson, the convenor of selectors at the time and current CSA Board member, and Linda Zondi, who was also a selector before succeeding Hudson as the convenor, gave evidence that De Villiers had been selected for the tour to England in 2012 as the reserve wicketkeeper and both the selectors and coach Gary Kirsten agreed that De Villiers replacing Boucher behind the stumps would allow them to play an extra specialist batsman in JP Duminy, himself Black.

Smith was consulted about the decision and agreed with the strategy.

In Paragraph 90 of their findings, the arbitrators state: “Tsolekile … agreed with the proposition that this was ‘a strategy that will make complete sense and was something which played very strongly in favour of the Proteas cricket team’. He accepted that there were ‘very good cricketing reasons to prefer AB de Villiers to yourself for the position in the Test starting XI’.”

CSA then tried to change their argument and alleged Smith was guilty of discrimination by omission because he had an obligation to speak out on behalf of Tsolekile because the wicketkeeper/batsman was previously disadvantaged.

But the arbitrators found this change of tack was prejudicial to Smith, describing it as “a trap sprung on him” and they also criticised CSA for making submissions that were inconsistent with the facts.

The arbitrators did have sympathy for Tsolekile, describing his non-selection as “unfair” and his subsequent involvement in a matchfixing scandal as only “exacerbating the tragedy” of his story of adversity.

Curwin Bosch has been through hell this season and so has Sean Everitt for backing him, but the Sharks coach said he was delighted the flyhalf has made a strong return to form, highlighted by some marvellous attacking touches in their hard-fought 28-23 win over the United Rugby Championship defending champions and log-leaders Leinster at Kings Park at the weekend.

Bosch made a shaky start to the game by missing two penalties, but he grew into the game and made a significant impact on attack, making some great line-breaks as the Sharks showed their ability to counter from deep.

“I’m very happy for Curwin,” Everitt said, “he’s been criticised a lot and I was too for selecting him. But he’s showing the saying that form is temporary and class is permanent is true.

“He showed his all-round game, his defence has improved and his tackle percentage is up in the 90s, when that used to be a glaring weakness of his.

“He also showed what he can do on attack. He countered well, he took the ball to the line and he made good decisions.

“I’m very happy where his game is at the moment and I’m very proud of him for how he has stood up,” Everitt said.

While the counter-attacking brilliance of fullback Aphelele Fassi, assisted by Bosch, stole the limelight, Everitt praised his forwards for their performance, which meant the Sharks were in control of territory and possession for most of the game.

“I was really happy with the way the front row and the pack stood up. We look to them for ascendancy, and they certainly gave us that in the mauls and scrums.

“Aphelele has been out with a lengthy injury, but he was in form when it happened and we probably rushed him back a bit. But the character he is, he just gets on with it, he’s not fazed by anything.

“He has certainly got x-factor and you could see his kicking game has improved as well. It’s really good to have him back and hopefully he will get higher honours in June when the international window opens,” Everitt said.

The Bulls had to come from a 13-0 deficit to beat Benetton Treviso 46-29 in their United Rugby Championship match at Loftus Versfeld at the weekend, and coach Jake White said he was most pleased by the adventurous rugby they played under pressure to do so.

The Bulls scored six tries to make it a bonus point win and only two of those tries were scored by forwards driving over from close range.

“What I was most pleased about was the brand of rugby we played, but we did not finish enough of our chances,” White said after the win. “There was a nice balance to our rugby, we used our forwards and our backs.

“You’re not going to win this competition by winning matches 13-9, you need to score tries, and how we counter-attacked and looked to play with ball-in-hand was most enjoyable to watch.

“Like when Kurt-Lee Arendse [fullback] runs from his own half to score, that’s where rugby is going. You have to be able to play like that, you need different arrows in your bow.

“We’re still not close to where we want to be, but it was good that we showed we can muscle up and use our maul as well. To be 13-0 down and still win 46-29 shows a lot of character,” White said.

The Bulls have been criticised in the past for their lack of creativity, some going as far as to liken them to the marvellous athletes but mechanical players of Russia under Communism, but those days are long gone.

The Bulls could, in fact, have scored a few more tries and the finishing, as well as the finer technical details of their breakdown work, are two areas White says need work.

“One can always be critical after a match and we were a bit inaccurate at the breakdown and three or four times our clearance kicks did not go far enough,” White said.

“We just needed to show more calm and not be so hasty. There were also three or four times we were on their tryline but we let the ball fall.

“The slow start was maybe because we haven’t played for two weeks, but we got in their 22 many times but did not finish. We’re not going to get 10 chances against one of the big sides.

“But Benetton were very tough physically and they did not go away, we had to work hard to break down their defence on the goal-line. We definitely have to improve,” White said.

The Sharks finally stopped giving Leinster get-out-of-jail-free cards as they scraped a 28-23 win in their United Rugby Championship match at Kings Park on Saturday.

Wasteful Sharks

The Sharks held the upper hand for most of the game but they were extremely wasteful. It started with flyhalf Curwin Bosch missing two penalties in the first 12 minutes. They also gave away several soft penalties when in possession deep inside the Leinster 22, for things as unnecessary as shoving their own player into contact or grabbing an opposition player around the neck when their maul was only a few feet from the line. Basic errors in handling and poor decision-making when players had made line-breaks also contributed to the Sharks being their own worst enemies.

The 31st man

One of legendary former Sharks and Springbok coach Ian McIntosh’s most famous quotations is that “the referee should be No.31 on the field and not No.1”. Unfortunately, the URC decided, in their wisdom, to appoint a 27-year-old referee with just one previous game under his belt in this competition, to officiate in a crunch fixture between two of the top sides in the tournament.

In the frantic closing stages, Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli was at the centre of several controversial decisions.

Leinster were given two yellow cards in seven minutes, and Sharks fans will believe they should have had three.

The Sharks were then penalised at the scrum when it seemed clear Leinster had collapsed, setting up a daunting last five minutes when the visitors camped on their line. There were more big decisions by Amashukeli, including his on-field call of held-up after the final hooter, which the TMO did not find evidence to overturn.

Bridging the gap

The positive side for the Sharks is that they showed they can compete with the defending champions and log-leaders, who were missing their major stars. But the Sharks held the upper hand for most of the match, their scrum and rolling maul being dominant, their territorial kicking was better and they also showed tremendous penetration in their counter-attack.

Given all of that, the Sharks should have won more comfortably, but, once again, their finishing and composure in the red zone left a lot to be desired.

On the other hand, their composure in defence on their own tryline at the death, was nothing short of heroic, especially with replacement hooker Kerron van Vuuren yellow-carded.

Fabulous Fassi

Sharks coach Sean Everitt had said in the build-up to the game that the return from injury of Aphelele Fassi would be important for their counter-attack, and the fullback was able to cash in when Leinster kicked too long.

The Sharks were 7-17 down with halftime rapidly approaching when Fassi fielded a kick eight metres inside his own half, ghosted past the first defender and then weaved away on a brilliant counter-attack, before a lovely underarm pass to Jaden Hendrikse saw the scrumhalf score.

It was a moment of magic that kept the Sharks in the game.

Bosch was also dangerous running back kicks.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Makazole Mapimpi, Jaden Hendrikse, Bongi Mbonambi, Phepsi Buthelezi. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (4).

Leinster – Tries: Scott Penny, Tommy O’Brien. Conversions: Ciaran Frawley (2). Penalties: Frawley (3).