Ken Borland

There was a time not that long ago when everything was rosy at Newlands and the Stormers, having just beaten the defending champion Chiefs and the high-flying Brumbies, were happily ensconced as strong SuperRugby contenders.

But last weekend was a truly awful one for last year’s South African Conference winners as they crumbled before an under-strength Crusaders team and their own crowd was split down the middle, with allegations that the support for the visitors was way beyond the limits of decency. The Stormers team was booed when they stepped off the bus at their own stadium, were reportedly spat on and there were also reports of home team supporters being assaulted after the game.

The off-field clashes were bad enough, but once the Stormers were on the field, the lineout was a shambles, the scrum shaky and the attack virtually non-existent as they slumped to a 14-19 defeat that left them in 11th place on the log and trailing the Sharks by six points in the South African Conference.

Meanwhile, up in Bloemfontein, the Cheetahs were busy putting together an impressive 34-16 win over the Rebels. It was a record-equalling fourth successive win for the Central Franchise and it is difficult to imagine a bigger difference in the mood of two teams when the Stormers travel north to take on the Cheetahs on Saturday.

But as depressingly poor as the Stormers were against the Crusaders, they showed the previous weekend against the Brumbies that they are still equally capable of reaching great heights when they get it all together on the day.

Perhaps it was because the Brumbies gave them a very clear pointer of where to concentrate their efforts by all their talk of physicality before the match and the Stormers seemed rather vague in their game plan against the Crusaders, although even the best-laid plans will come to naught without any first-phase ball.

In previous years, the Cheetahs’ game has been based on all-out attack from even the most unpromising positions, but coach Naka Drotske has introduced a measure of selectivity now when it comes to spreading the ball wide, while the defence has been outstanding and the set-pieces solid.

Apart from the Cheetahs looking a better rounded outfit this year, Stormers coach Allister Coetzee also has injury problems to contend with.

Elton Jantjies has been named at flyhalf but has a badly bruised chest that may yet rule him out, while wing Gerhard van den Heever, flank Rynardt Elstadt and replacement lock Don Armand have succumbed to injury.

Up to now, there has been no pressure on the Cheetahs, but suddenly the expectation is growing and they can prove conclusively that their wonderful recent form has not just been a false dawn as they come up against one of the SuperRugby powerhouses.

Victory against the Stormers will lift the Cheetahs into the race for conference honours, in fact, they could top the South African section as the Sharks face their bogey team, the Crusaders.

But the Stormers have been knocked down, vilified and written off before. Their defence has remained phenomenal, heroic at times against the Crusaders, suggesting the attitude in the team is still good and Bloemfontein could well be the venue for their resurgence.

There has been speculation that the Crusaders might have poured all their resources and energies into winning at Newlands, but then again they have always found the Sharks a surprisingly soft touch, winning 14 of their 16 matches, including four at King’s Park. The average score is 32-22 to the New Zealanders.

A bye last weekend will ensure that the Sharks are well-rested, while the return of Jannie du Plessis at tighthead prop will give the home team considerable presence in a set-piece that has been a real strength for the Crusaders.

Sharks coach John Plumtree said this week that his team have also worked very hard to make sure that their lineout doesn’t suffer the same fate as the Stormers’, but much will also depend on the Natalians’ ability to win the collisions. Their loose trio of Keegan Daniel, Jacques Botes and Marcell Coetzee has a slightly lightweight look to it, and the injured Willem Alberts and Jean Deysel can’t return quickly enough.

Frans Steyn is back at fullback, where he should have much more space to attack, which the Sharks have the players to do with some success.

But they will not be beating the Crusaders unless they win the battle for possession up front. The Kiwis are also exceptionally clever in the legalised mess that makes up the rucks these days and, if they bring the same intensity and precise execution they displayed at Newlands, then the Sharks will be under pressure.

One feels the Sharks cannot afford to even be a bit off their game on Friday night, even though the Crusaders might not be as ferocious as they were in seeing off the Stormers.

The Southern Kings are the other local team in action as they take on the log-leading Brumbies in Canberra.

The Brumbies, after the hardship of flying back from their two matches in South Africa, produced perhaps the least impressive performance of their season last weekend in scraping past the mediocre Bulls, but the Australian front-runners can be expected to have regained the spark and clinical execution that saw them to the top of the standings.

The return of first-choice players like centre Pat McCabe, Fotu Auelua, the battering ram at eighthman, and Ben Alexander, the veteran prop, suggests coach Jake White is looking for the quick kill.

The rookie Kings have little protection against a slick Brumbies side if they fire on the night, save for the impressive tenacity they have shown in defence and some spirited attacking play that kept them in touch with the Hurricanes until the hour mark last weekend.

Springbok Waylon Murray starts at outside centre and will beef up the midfield, while the coaching staff are also managing their resources by playing hooker Bandise Maku, prop Kevin Buys, lock David Bulbring, loose forward Jacques Engelbrecht and scrumhalf Shaun Venter off the bench for the fourth match of their arduous five-week tour.

Teams

Southern Kings (v Brumbies, Friday 10:40): George Whitehead, Sergeal Petersen, Waylon Murray, Andries Strauss, Ronnie Cooke, Demetri Catrakilis, Nicolas Vergallo; Cornell du Preez, Wimpie van der Walt, Devin Oosthuizen, Rynier Bernardo, Steven Sykes, Grant Kemp, Hannes Franklin, Schalk Ferreira. Replacements: Bandise Maku, Kevin Buys, David Bulbring, Jacques Engelbrecht, Shaun Venter, Marcello Sampson, Elric van Vuuren.

Sharks (v Crusaders, Friday 19:10): Frans Steyn, Odwa Ndungane, Paul Jordaan, Meyer Bosman, JP Pietersen, Pat Lambie, Cobus Reinach, Keegan Daniel, Marcell Coetzee, Jacques Botes, Franco van der Merwe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jannie du Plessis, Kyle Cooper, Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: Craig Burden, Wiehahn Herbst, Anton Bresler, Ryan Kankowski, Charl McLeod, Riaan Viljoen, Louis Ludik/Sbura Sithole.

Cheetahs (v Stormers, Saturday 17:05pm): Hennie Daniller, Willie le Roux, Johann Sadie, Robert Ebersohn, Raymond Rhule, Burton Francis, Piet van Zyl, Phillip van der Walt, Lappies Labuschagne, Heinrich Brüssow, Francois Uys, Lood de Jager, Lourens Adriaanse, Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane. Replacements: Ryno Barnes, Coenie Oosthuizen, Ligtoring Landman, Boom Prinsloo, Sarel Pretorius, Francois Brummer, Ryno Benjamin.

Stormers (v Cheetahs, Saturday 17:05pm): Jaco Taute, Joe Pietersen, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers, Gio Aplon, Elton Jantjies, Nic Groom, Duane Vermeulen, Michael Rhodes, Siya Kolisi, Andries Bekker, De Kock Steenkamp, Frans Malherbe, Deon Fourie, Steven Kitshoff. Replacements: Martin Bezuidenhout, Pat Cilliers, Gerbrandt Grobler, Nizaam Carr, Louis Schreuder, Gary van Aswegen, Damian de Allende.

Other fixtures

Friday: Blues v Highlanders (Auckland, 8:35)

Saturday: Hurricanes v Waratahs (Wellington, 8:35am); Force v Rebels (Perth, 10:40).

Byes: Bulls, Chiefs, Reds.

 http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-04-05-superrugby-preview-hot-and-cold-stormers-in-the-cheetahs-lair/#.VLZX2CuUde8

Mfuneko Ngam points to the north-east and says “Vuyisa comes from that mountain over there”, referring to Vuyisa Makhaphela, the Warriors opening batsman and his home village in the foothills of the Amatole Mountains in Alice.

We were standing alongside the main cricket field of the University of Fort Hare rural academy that Ngam runs in the heartland of Black African cricket, shortly after Cricket South Africa and Momentum announced that they are going to invest significantly in the joint venture programme that is undoubtedly going to produce successors to the likes of international fast bowlers Ngam and Makhaya Ntini, both of whom come from the same area.

Earlier, Raymond Booi, the Border Cricket Board’s high performance coach, had pointed out Mdingi village, lower down in the foothills, where Ntini and more recently Aya Gqamane (who, according to CSA development consultant Greg Hayes “never missed the ball with his plank as a little youngster”) come from.

Thando Mnyaka and Somila Seyibokwe are also members of the Warriors squad who hail from the same area and have all come through the Fort Hare academy.

“Vuyisa gave up cricket, he wanted nothing to do with it. But I managed to convince him to come and register at our MSC Business College and for the last two years he has been with the Warriors,” Ngam says.
The educational aspect is a key component of the program, because not everybody is going to make it in top-class cricket, as Ngam stresses.
“We are trying to build holistic cricketers, they must study and play. When we first started, nobody wanted to study but these kids need to understand that they need something to fall back on. That also takes the pressure off them when it comes to playing cricket.”
As a company, Momentum have placed a special emphasis on education leading to financial wellness, and Danie van den Bergh, the head of brand, said the academy is a perfect fit.
“They’ve built a dream here, we love it and we have bought into it. It’s a common thread in Africa that education is a key to success and if we can link sport to education then we can leave a legacy long after our six years with Cricket South Africa are over. It’s about long-term values and spreading the love of the game to everybody,” Van den Bergh said.
Amongst the improvements recently completed at the academy are a residence for the 15 cricketers per year that are in the programme, indoor and outdoor nets, a pristine outfield, large sightscreens and an electronic scoreboard.
If this initiative could be repeated in all the provinces, imagine the talent that could be unearthed and, as CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat pointed out, the rural areas have also produced legends such as Dale Steyn and Lance Klusener.
But the one characteristic that most rural areas in this country share is that they are poor and the Eastern Cape is particularly hard up, judging by the condition of some of the roads and abandoned factories. But nevertheless they are rightfully proud of their history and what they have produced, including numerous great leaders starting with Madiba and Oliver Tambo.
“The University of Fort Hare has a rich history and people know about it without knowing where Alice is! A former ICC head, Ray Mali, comes from here, as do two former ministers of sport, Ngconde Balfour and Makhenkosi Stofile. There are also famous schools like Lovedale and Healdtown here.

“It’s a tower of knowledge but people in the Eastern Cape are so poor that they don’t benefit. But they’ve built a beautiful facility here where African cricket was first played,” Border president Thando Ganda said.

“We’re very humbled that CSA are using Fort Hare as a venue. We’re often second-best in Border but an academy like this, with its unified approach, is something different and we’re sure cricketers from here will now come out on top,” Noel Knicklebein, the university’s deputy registrar said.

The likes of Queen’s, Dale, Selborne and Hudson Park have a close relationship with the academy and boys placed in those schools have regularly made provincial teams. Two girls from the programme have gone on to represent the Proteas Women and eight other students have successfully completed their varsity degrees.

The hills of the Eastern Cape have once again started to provide memorable talent.

Currie Cup rugby players, franchise cricketers and Premiership footballers will dominate the sporting headlines this weekend, but some of them will take time to think back and remember the largely anonymous people operating at amateur level who made such a big difference to their careers.

Similarly, I will remember this last week for the two reminders it gave me of the many people toiling out of love for the game rather than money. In the sports journalists’ industry, we tend to focus on the small elite triangle at the top of the pyramid, while the thousands of amateur and social players and administrators that are the base – the very foundation – are largely ignored.

Take David Bagg, Gordon Brews and Mike Klatz.

At great personal expense and effort, they have restored Huddle Park, the famous Johannesburg municipal golf course, to its former glory; how successful they have been is borne out by the Sunshine Tour hosting their annual – and hugely popular – Media Challenge there this week.

In the last two years they have taken a derelict, overgrown property that had been abandoned by the City of Johannesburg and turned it into a friendly, first-class facility. They had to remove numerous squatters to do so, but they have employed over 80 people and are providing training in greenskeeping and hospitality, as well as once again providing a cheap pay-and-play option (R190pm membership, as little as R90 for a midweek round) for the public who want to get into golf but cannot afford the exorbitant membership fees of the established clubs.

Apart from restoring one of the most popular courses in Johannesburg – between 150 000 and 200 000 rounds of golf were played at Huddle Park annually in the 1970s – to its rightful place, the trio have also developed a mashie course, a floodlit driving range, a coaching academy, restaurant and sports bar, function venues, walking trails and even a trout-fishing dam as tie-ins.

Future plans include a mountain bike trail, cycle track, zip-lining facility, eco park, gym, beer and food festivals and arts and crafts expos as the Public Private Partnership provides a fun space for the community.

Many Johannesburg golfers learnt the game on the spacious fairways of Huddle Park and it is great news that the 75-year-old parkland green lung will continue for many more years.

Bad news I received this week was the passing on of Dave Edmondson, a legendary figure in KwaZulu-Natal sport who played an important part in setting me on my path to sports journalism as a career.

In 1992, when I was on the University of Natal Pietermaritzburg sports executive, I approached Dave, who was the head of sport, to find out what careers were available in sport (sadly, actually making it on the field wasn’t going to be an option!).

He suggested writing about sport and he approached another legend, John Bishop, at The Natal Witness and six months later my career was launched.

The University of Natal sports department did not have nearly as many resources as the likes of Tuks, Maties or UCT, but Dave gathered together some tremendous sportsmen and women during his time – Jonty Rhodes, Mark Andrews and Greg Nicol being amongst the most famous of them.

During his own playing days, Dave represented Natal and South African Universities as a hockey goalkeeper, played Natal U19 rugby and was a premier league cricketer. He went on to become a Natal cricket selector, the president of the Maritzburg Cricket Association and an honorary life president of KZN cricket.

But the mark of the man was the time he was willing to spend – for little material reward – enhancing the careers of others. A nicer man you couldn’t hope to meet and the encouragement and assistance he gave many future stars as a coach, schoolmaster and administrator is the point of sport, even if his name was not at the top of the triangle.