Ken Borland

Adriaan Strauss has been confirmed as the new Springbok captain and it’s difficult to find a current player whose leadership skills and personality are more admired across the board in South African rugby.

The 30-year-old is one of those people for whom leadership comes naturally, even though he is softly-spoken and rarely demonstrative, a classic example of someone who leads from the front through actions, rather than words. He is currently doing a fine job as the captain of a young Bulls side, having previously led the Cheetahs, and has been a member of the Springbok leadership group for some time, having already played 55 Tests and been a vice-captain on several occasions.

Former Springbok eighthman Anton Leonard, who is working closely with Strauss as the Bulls’ forwards coach, is well-placed to speak about the hooker’s leadership skills, having led the Loftus Versfeld outfit himself to two Currie Cup crowns.

“Atta is a great person before he’s a rugby player and I have a lot of respect for him, a lot of players have a lot of respect for him as well. He’s not a big-talker, he’s more of a doer, but when he speaks, people listen. He’s done a tremendous job at the Bulls, especially with a young side, showing them the ropes of life and rugby. He’s personally earmarked and is growing some other leaders in the squad,” Leonard told Saturday Citizen.

There is little flashy about Springbok captain number 57 – although he is rather adept at stealing balls in the ruck – but he will be bringing technical excellence to his core role as a hooker and that is in solidifying the set-pieces. Leonard said these will be exciting times under the stocky Billy Bunter-like figure of Strauss, who did his schooling at Grey College in Bloemfontein like so many other Springboks.

“His appointment is very satisfying for us who work with him and I’m very glad for him. Firstly, he deserves to be the number one hooker, he’s number one in SuperRugby in that position if you look at the stats for the lineout. His hard work has paid off and he will bring fighting spirit to the Springboks in what is obviously going to be an exciting new era.

“He will have a lot of leaders around him, helping, respected guys like Warren Whiteley and the experienced Pat Lambie. But Atta’s strengths are that he is very good at summing up the game and he looks first at himself. He’s very humble and straightforward, every player knows where he stands with him. He handles pressure well, he shifts it on to himself and takes responsibility,” Leonard said.

Adriaan Strauss is living proof that not saying much does not mean you cannot have an amazing impact on those around you.

LAST 20 SPRINGBOK CAPTAINS

NAME              DATE          VERSUS      WHERE   RESULT    AGE   TEST No.      PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE

Wynand Claassen  30/5/81    Ireland                  Cape Town          23-15          30           Debut                       Natal captain

Divan Serfontein    20/10/84  S America & Spain   Pretoria    32-15          30           18^th                         Led WP to 3 Currie Cup titles

Naas Botha               10/5/86        New Zealand         Cape Town      21-15       28            18^th                        NT captain 4 previous seasons

Jannie Breedt        26/8/89      World XV            Cape Town            20-19        30           5^th                    Tvl captain in 2 Currie Cup finals

Francois Pienaar   26/6/93     France                   Durban                 20-20         26           Debut          Captained Tvl Super 10 title 1992

Tiaan Strauss           9/7/94       New Zealand       Dunedin      14-22        29           12^th             WP capt, close contender when Pienaar appointed

Adriaan Richter        30/5/95     Romania           Cape Town             21-8        29           8^th            Midweek captain on Boks’ 93 tour of Australia; NT captain

Gary Teichmann         17/8/96      New Zealand   Durban            19-23              29        7^th         Captained Natal to ’95 Currie Cup title

Corne Krige               19/6/99                Italy              Durban       101-0            24          Debut         Captain Paarl BHS, SA Schools & WP

Rassie Erasmus        17/7/99        Australia      Brisbane      6-32        26                21^st      Turned down captaincy earlier when Krige appointed

Joost van der Westhuizen   7/8/99    New Zealand      Pretoria  18-34    28           52^nd                   Led Blue Bulls to ’98 Currie Cup title, inspired confidence

Andre Vos                        10/10/99           Spain                    Edinburgh   47-3  24           7^th                 Lions captain ’98 & former Bok midweek captain

Bobby Skinstad                  30/6/01           Italy                Port Elizabeth    60-14    24           18^th                Maties, WP & Stormers capt

John Smit                             24/10/03          Georgia               Sydney      46-19        25           24^th     Led SA U21 to Sanzar title & Natal ’01 CC final

Victor Matfield                  23/6/07      New Zealand        Durban        21-26    30         58^th       Bulls Super 14-winning captain, highly respected

Johan Muller                 14/7/07           New Zealand            Christchurch   6-33    27           16^th            Sharks Currie Cup captain

Jean de Villiers             9/6/2012           England                 Durban           22-17       31           73^rd    Stormers capt & long-term leader in Bok team

Schalk Burger                    25/7/15       New Zealand       Johannesburg  20-27    32           78^th         SA U21 & Stormers captain

Fourie du Preez              3/10/15         Scotland                   Newcastle       34-16     33        72^nd         2008 Bulls Super Rugby captain, had to turn down Bok captaincy in 2012

Adriaan Strauss            11/6/16          Ireland                 Cape Town       ??-??    30         56^th                Previously Bok vice-captain, Cheetahs & Bulls SR capt

As if the dismal performance over the weekend was not bad enough for Sharks supporters, there was even worse news on Tuesday as Pat Lambie was ruled out for six weeks and Jean Deysel received a seven-week suspension after his stupid red card against the Crusaders.

Captain Lambie has injured his neck vertebrae and his absence continues the curse of the captaincy for the Sharks. Bismarck du Plessis was named as the captain for the season but is currently suspended for an idiotic act of foul play, which his replacement, Deysel, has now replicated. Another member of the leadership team, Francois Steyn, is also suspended for a dangerous tip-tackle.

Eighthman Ryan Kankowski now looks certain to be handed the poisoned chalice and the responsibility of leading his team away from the precipice. Although, as director of rugby Gary Gold points out, the Sharks are still handily placed in the competition – in seventh place on 19 points, the same as conference leaders the Bulls, who do however have a game in hand – there is little doubt that they are standing at a crossroads.

If the Sharks don’t change direction, quickly rediscover some heart and sense of team purpose, then their season will probably sink without a trace. Alternatively, beating the high-flying Lions in Johannesburg this weekend would be just the tonic required to allow them to start forgetting about all the travails of the last few weeks.

Gold is not trying to make excuses but is also not just going to throw in the towel.

“It is an emotional time and it is a challenging week for us. People point at the scoreboard, and that is how it should be. But I honestly feel this adversity gives us an opportunity for real growth.

“We will fix it. I believe in these players, it is a great group of guys. We are just not playing well at the moment and nobody can deny that. But we are still in the hunt. It is not the end of the world, we are not in the bottom half of the table. We are just going to have to show some character. We are going to have to step up to the plate. It is as simple as that,” Gold said.

Lambie’s replacement at flyhalf is likely be Fred Zeilinga, who has shown he is not out of his depth in Super Rugby, while Renaldo Bothma should return to the starting line-up to replace Deysel.

It’s not all bad news for KwaZulu-Natal rugby at the moment with Michaelhouse and Maritzburg College emerging unbeaten from the St Stithians Easter Festival on Monday, joining Wynberg Boys’ High School as the only teams with a perfect three-from-three record.

Grey High from Port Elizabeth were also highly impressive at the festival and, although Maritzburg College pipped them 20-16 on the opening day, they ended their long weekend on a high with a brilliant 41-0 victory over Pretoria Boys’ High School. They have some quality players and one can expect to see the names of fullback Curwin Bosch, eighthman Kwezi Mafu and lock Kamva Dilima in the papers moving forward.

Michaelhouse were given their stiffest test by a plucky Windhoek High School side, but their ability to get quick ruck ball and the attacking skills of their players saw them run out 40-19 winners. Flyhalf Bader Pretorius scored 15 of their points and was impressive in marshalling his backline.

The Maritzburg College backline and the metronomic boot of fullback Ruben van Blerk were the main agents of destruction as they hammered the Schoonspruit Invitation XV from the Western Cape 78-0, right wing Kudzaishe Munangi scoring a first-half hat-trick and the other wing, Xolisa Guma, adding two tries.

Pretoria Boys’ High endured a disappointing festival, also losing to Wynberg on the first day, and they did not have the belief or consistency of skills to challenge Grey High in the third game on Monday.

Wynberg looked a tightly-knit, spirited unit as, led by inspirational scrumhalf Labib Kannemeyer, they overwhelmed St Alban’s 53-0.

Hosts St Stithians were forced to play second-fiddle at their own festival as, following their 51-3 thrashing at the hands of Michaelhouse on the second day, they surrendered a 24-7 lead and lost 29-24 to another KZN school, Clifton College, on Monday.

Helpmekaar finally enjoyed that winning feeling on Monday when they edged out St Andrew’s 29-28, fullback Chuiner van Rooyen scoring a dazzling solo try that was the difference between the teams in the end.

Results

Day Three – Michaelhouse 40 Windhoek HS 19; Maritzburg College 78 Schoonspruit Invitation 0; Grey High 41 Pretoria BHS 0; Wynberg BHS 53 St Alban’s 0; Clifton College 29 St Stithians 24; Helpmekaar 29 St Andrew’s 28.

Day Two – Pretoria BHS 22 Windhoek HS 12; Maritzburg College 34 St Alban’s 16; Clifton College 54 Schoonspruit Invitation 12; Wynberg BHS 36 St Andrew’s 12; Grey High 31 Helpmekaar 13; Michaelhouse 51 St Stithians 3.

Day One – St Andrew’s 31 St Alban’s 12; Wynberg BHS 24 Pretoria BHS 17; Windhoek HS 26 Clifton College 19; St Stithians 36 Schoonspruit Invitation 5; Michaelhouse 52 Helpmekaar 19; Maritzburg College 20 Grey High 16.

The Emirates Lions shrugged off any suggestions that they might fade after returning from their epic tour of Australasia as they snatched a last-minute 22-18 win over the Vodacom Bulls in a dramatic SuperRugby match at Ellis Park on Saturday.

For 79 minutes there weren’t any tries, but there was no shortage of intensity nor excitement as the two neighbours went at each other tooth, claw and horns, flyhalves Elton Jantjies and Jacques-Louis Potgieter trading the penalties that came from hard-earned, narrow advantages.

There also cannot be any doubts about the belief within this Lions side either as, having controversially seen Jaco Kriel called up for a marginal late tackle by the TMO, the penalty being advanced into range for Potgieter to give the Bulls an 18-15 lead with less than a minute to play, they came storming up in defence to set themselves up for the dramatic winning try.

Hooker Armand van der Merwe is the sort of employee any union would want – he sits long hours on the bench but never fails to make an impact when he comes on and is a constant source of inspiration for his team-mates. The stocky 23-year-old merely added to his growing legend at Ellis Park as he barged over for the winning try after the Lions had tapped the penalty they earned after counter-rucking the Bulls off the ball from the restart.

For most of the first half, it looked as if the slow poison of the Bulls would get the better of the Lions. The visitors had dominated territory and possession, and although the attacking play of the Lions had looked sharp, they simply never had enough of the ball.

The effects of the strangulation took a while to be reflected on the scoreboard, however, as Potgieter missed an early drop-goal attempt and two long-range penalties, while Jantjies took six points from the Lions’ two forays into Bulls’ territory.

But the ferocious work of the Bulls at the breakdowns and in defence eventually took its toll.

The scrums were a terrific contest throughout and the Bulls gained an early confidence boost with a massive effort that shoved the Lions back 15 metres, earning Potgieter’s first successful kick at goals in the 26^th minute.

The powerful driving play of Trevor Nyakane, Pierre Spies and Deon Stegmann earned another three points eight minutes later and then the power of the rolling maul allowed Potgieter to put the Bulls 9-6 ahead at the break.

The Lions started the second half with all the verve they are famous for, lifting the tempo and stretching the Bulls. But eventually the stout defence forced the error and the Bulls swept upfield. They looked set to score the opening try in the left corner, but the ball went astray and they could not add to their lead.

It was obviously a crucial moment as the game then “regressed” into a tremendous arm-wrestle, with penalties the only concessions either side was willing to give.

The scrum took centre stage and the penalties went this way and that as the reserve front rows came on.

Jantjies first levelled the scores at 9-9 in the 57^th minute and then claimed a 12-9 lead after Morne Mellet lost his bind  and scrummed in on the loosehead side.

But the Lions were then penalised for hands in the ruck (12-12) and then the Bulls scrum won another penalty for Potgieter in the 70^th minute.

The Bulls’ 15-12 lead only lasted four minutes, however, as the Lions’ maul then steamrolled their way to another penalty, kicked by Jantjies.

But the controversial Kriel penalty in the 79^th minute seemed to have decided the outcome, before the Lions showed the spirit and belief that characterised the matches overseas to claim the spoils from the most dramatic of matches.

Scorers

Lions – Try: Armand van der Merwe. Conversion: Elton Jantjies. Penalties: Jantjies (5).

Bulls – Penalties: Jacques-Louis Potgieter (6).

http://citizen.co.za/356733/lions-finish-strong-in-dramatic-win-against-bulls/