Ken Borland

A big season looms for the Lions’ exciting young flyhalf Jordan Hendrikse and for the 21-year-old, the 2022/23 season will be all about consistency.

Hendrikse fractured his ankle in just the second game of last season’s United Rugby Championship, and his return to the side in February coincided with a turnaround in fortunes for the Lions, who surprised many by finishing 12^th in the final standings. He played 12 URC games for the Lions and started in 11 of them.

“Our focus as a team is to improve and make the top-10 this time. Of course the ultimate goal is to win the competition, but as players we also want to see development and improvement as individuals, and as a team and union,” Hendrikse told The Citizen.

“Towards the end of the competition we were able to get into the swing of things and adapted very well. We had a four-game winning streak at home and we finished well.

“I definitely enjoyed the competition, it was a very nice experience, my first senior tournament. It was fantastic to experience the atmosphere in all sorts of stadiums, with fans back, and to play against world-class players.

“Injury is always a part of rugby, but it knocked me off-course a bit last season. For me, this coming season is all about being consistent, I just want to get better than the season before in all the things I do.

“I will push my positives to the limit and pick up where I need to in terms of negatives. I’m going to be chasing those one-percenters,” Hendrikse said.

As the current Rugby Championship has shown with an off-form Handre Pollard and an underdone Elton Jantjies both injured, Damian Willemse being inexperienced at No.10 and largely playing inside centre at the Stormers, and Johan Goosen just making his way back from serious injury, South Africa’s pool at flyhalf is not exactly extensive.

But the way Hendrikse was thrown in the deep end by the Lions and certainly did not sink, says much for the former Junior Springbok’s ability and temperament. He has also shown a maturity beyond his years in his all-round game.

“I would definitely say my kicking game is my greatest strength, although it gets hard sometimes in certain conditions and pitches. Defensively, I think I’m strong, I bring physicality at flyhalf.

“I’m a 10 that loves to take the ball to the line, I’m not scared to get my hands dirty. I’ll get in the rucks or beat players with ball-in-hand, I don’t mind.

“But I would like to read the game better. Playing flyhalf is all about being in control, being in charge and having that aura for the team.

“I’d like to bring my positive mindset and calmness under pressure to the team,” the 1.86m tall youngster said.

As they say, you cannot buy experience in the shop and Hendrikse has been forewarned and forearmed when it comes to playing in Europe again in the coming season.

“We had to tour overseas first last season and it was a positive experience for when we go back this winter [northern hemisphere]. They are tough conditions, some places are very windy, others are cold and wet.

“We’re also playing on different fields – 4G pitches – which we are not used to. We’re used to it being dry inland and moist on the coast. So it’s a massive change.

“And we’re up against world-class players who have different styles of playing rugby. Ireland are very attacking, Wales and Italy are more physical.

“And now that we’ll be playing in the EPCR Challenge Cup, we’ll be coming up against French teams, who play more physical and slower rugby.

“We had new coaches come in just a month before leaving for overseas last season, and it takes time and patience before things started clicking. Their teams struggled coming over here too,” Hendrikse pointed out.

The bakery at Ellis Park in Doornfontein is trying to produce a quality product using some fairly raw ingredients and they need to get the texture and taste of their rugby, and those all-important finishes, just right.

There will be a familiar face back in former Springbok fullback Andries Coetzee, and the likes of Ruan Dreyer and Jaco Kriel are still around up front. Lions fans will be hoping the gifted Hendrikse can bring something more exotic as a playmaker, especially since his taste of Sevens rugby with the Blitzboks earlier this year.

“Playing Sevens was definitely an eye-opener and an immense experience,” Hendrikse said. “Just the skill level and small details, it will definitely benefit me in XVs and I would certainly look forward to the opportunity to play Sevens again if it arises.”

On Saturday, Hendrikse was watching his older, by 15 months, brother Jaden playing for the Springboks in Sydney.

The scrumhalf is producing his own deli of special goods down in Durban with the Sharks, but Jordan hopes one day the two brothers from King William’s Town and then Glenwood High School will be able to play together as a halfback pairing.

“I’m immensely proud of Jaden and I love him to bits. We were very competitive growing up, we would keep pushing ourselves. But we watch each other’s games and give each other input.

“We’re just grateful for what we have and definitely, in the future, the plan is to play together. We have that bond, call it instinct, but we see eye-to-eye and we share vision. But it’s all up to God’s will and plan,” Hendrikse Junior said.

There is a wonderful saying in Afrikaans that is often used on the recalcitrant or the idle: they are told to ‘ruk julle reg!’.

It can be roughly translated as meaning ‘Shape up or ship out’ and fans watching the slide of the Springbok team towards mediocrity will no doubt be using it ahead of South Africa’s Rugby Championship match against Australia in Sydney on Saturday.

While the wretched display in Adelaide last weekend means the players desperately need to take a big step up in terms of executing basic skills and decision-making, it is also the management who need to up their game and thereby elevate the standard of rugby the Springboks are producing on the pitch.

While there are critics who say they rick their necks watching the Springboks kick the ball sky-high all game, or fall asleep while watching them scrum or maul for penalties, these are valid tactics. But they should be used as a means to an end, and not an end in themselves.

Much as coach Jacques Nienaber may hate it, penalties are only worth three points and tries are worth five, seven if converted. Which is why Australia, despite conceding 16 penalties against just nine given away by South Africa, won comfortably last weekend, scoring three tries to two.

And it’s not as if these Springboks can’t play attacking rugby or can’t score tries. It’s just that they hide that ability away behind an ultra-conservative game-plan that puts so much emphasis on the build-up and the process that there is very little room for the sort of instinctive, opportunistic rugby that can actually create tries against a defence that is as good as the Wallabies’ shifting line was last weekend.

While it is scary to go into a Test in Sydney without such key injured players as Lukhanyo Am, Handre Pollard, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Elton Jantjies, I am actually excited to see how their replacements go.

Damian Willemse was so positive with ball-in-hand last weekend, but his team-mates were often on a different wavelength. Let’s hope he can bring control and direction to the game at flyhalf, as well as some of that offensive brilliance.

Jesse Kriel will be chomping at the bit to start at outside centre again, while Canan Moodie’s Test debut is a dream story for someone who wasn’t even in the Bulls’ URC squad at the start of last season.

What was especially disappointing last weekend was the number of Springbok attacks that ran aground on the Great Barrier that was Australia’s defensive reef, mostly due to poor execution or naïve strategies.

Better attacking plans need to be put in place in order to fully utilise the talent in this Springbok side. The Wallabies’ slingshot defence is well-known, they give teams space on the outside and usher them into touch, so it was especially disappointing to see the Springboks crabbing across the field like they did when Du Toit passed into touch. At the start of the move, from turnover ball, there had been a clear overlap.

An excellent show to watch when it comes to dissecting the Springboks’ performances is Owen Nkumane’s Final Whistle. Both Swys de Bruin and Nick Mallett, two great attacking coaches of previous South African teams, were in agreement that the current side’s offensive efforts have not passed muster.

Mostly because they seem to be waiting for the perfect moment to attack, instead of trying to engineer those opportunities with more ambitious play. So many chances were not used in the 22 perhaps because the players are not in a suitably positive, attacking mindset?

Beating the Wallabies in Australia has always been a torrid Test for the Springboks, and now they need to do it under pressure and with key injuries. They will need to show massive character.

Wandisile Simelane has a burning desire to improve his game in all facets and his time with the extended Springbok squad last year and his move to the Bulls for the 2022/23 season have been used as a means to gather as much proficiency as he can.

Simelane has long been considered as one of the country’s brightest young talents and his selection for the initial 46-man squad for the British and Irish Lions series raised hopes of him making his Springbok debut.

In the end the established and world-class pairing of Lukhanyo Am and Damian de Allende did South Africa proud, but Simelane soaked up the atmosphere and the learnings to be gained at elite level.

“I learnt a lot, and I realised I need to get better in every aspect of my game, including things like work-rate, training and just being in that environment,” Simelane told The Citizen.

“It really helped me both as an individual and as a rugby player. Just being around Lukhanyo Am, who is one of the best No.13s in the world, you put yourself at a disadvantage if you don’t learn from him.

“He is an inspiration and a role-model to me, and there were others too like Jesse Kriel, Frans Steyn and Damian de Allende, who are great centres. You take bits and pieces from everyone and add it to your own game.

“I’ve always believed every rugby player in South Africa should aspire to play for the Springboks, and hopefully I’ll be back there sooner rather than later. It’s definitely my number one goal,” Simelane said.

While the 24-year-old did not want to go into the reasons why he left the Gauteng Lions this year, there was a sense among neutral observers that his game did not grow at Ellis Park, the Lions did not make the best use of him, over the last year, and playing in an exciting Bulls backline featuring Springboks in Embrose Papier, Morne Steyn, Lionel Mapoe, Cornal Hendricks, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Sbu Nkosi, Johan Goosen and now Canan Moodie, could see Simelane fulfil his potential in the coming season.

Apart from all that star quality and wise old heads, Simelane, as a Jeppe High old boy, was also delighted to come under the wing of school legend Jake White, and also get the chance to play alongside Nkosi, Jeppe’s most recent Springbok.

“Jake winning the World Cup in 2007 was a massive achievement and knowing he’s a Jeppe old boy, he’s a great hero at the school and in South African rugby generally,” Simelane said.

“When the opportunity came to be coached by him at the Bulls, I didn’t think twice. I can gain so much knowledge from him.

“Unfortunately, when Sbu played first XV at Jeppe, I was still U16 and I missed playing with him by one year,” Simelane said.

As fate would have it, the Bulls’ opening United Rugby Championship fixture this season is against the Lions at Ellis Park on September 17, but the Johannesburg-born player will not be focusing on the unhappy memories of his previous home.

“I’m definitely excited to start the season and I’m looking at it as my first game for the Bulls and not the first match I will play against the Lions.”

The Lions tended to shift Simelane away from the midfield and play him on the wing, but he said this was not the cause of his unhappiness.

“I don’t mind at all, I don’t care if I play wing, centre or fullback, as long as I am in the team. It doesn’t bother me much. Number 13 is my main position, my number one choice, where I want to be a specialist.”

The defensive nous required to be a world-class outside centre will no doubt come with more experience, but what Simelane already possesses are the feet of a magician.

“I guess it’s just natural instinct, it’s something that gets better and better the more I play, since my school days. But the key is to keep working on it,” Simelane, who first started playing rugby in Grade V at Dalmondeor Primary in Johannesburg South, said.

He is a nightmare to defend against if he’s in space because of his ability to not only beat the man with a late sidestep, but also his passing skills. Many of his team-mates have profited from delayed ball that has put them right through the gap.

“To make the most of space, I like to use the pass also. It depends on how you analyse different players, what you want to achieve as a team and also your feel for the game.

“The more I put myself in those situations in training, the more I will make the right decisions. It’s something I’ve had to work hard on too,” Simelane said.

Simelane will be 25 when the next World Cup is played and then the Springboks will surely enter a new cycle in terms of personnel. Hopefully the selectors don’t leave it too late to introduce him to the international stage that seems to be his destiny.

The Joburg Super Kings have secured the services of Stephen Fleming as their head coach for the inaugural SA20 tournament and the New Zealander will obviously have good memories of returning to the Wanderers, where he steered the mother franchise – the Chennai Super Kings – to the Champions League title in 2010.

As the owners of the Johannesburg franchise, it is understandable that CSK would appoint their much-admired head coach to take the reins. Fleming has won the IPL four times and been runner-up another four times during his two stints as Chennai coach.

“My last memory of being at the Wanderers was with Chennai, winning the Champions League. I remember it very fondly, it’s a wonderful ground,” Fleming said.

“First thing I remember was the support that we got through South Africa, which was a surprise for all of us. It just shows the passion of the South African cricket fans to follow good cricket.

“We like to produce that and we’re really hoping we can get good support from Johannesburg and around the country. That’s a big part of what Chennai is about,” Fleming said.

Faf du Plessis, who made his IPL bow with the Chennai Super Kings in 2011, spent a decade with the franchise and it must have been hell for him when they did not retain him ahead of this year’s IPL auction, where they then lost out on his services in a bidding war with Bangalore Royal Challengers.

But he is now back in the Chennai fold and will captain the Joburg Super Kings. Du Plessis has an impressive record at the Wanderers, averaging 40.61 in his 15 T20s there, and he made South Africa’s highest T20I score – 119 off 56 balls – there against the West Indies in 2015.

“I have an extremely lucky and long relationship with Chennai,” Du Plessis said. “When the opportunity presented itself to play for them again, I was extremely happy.

“I think the SA20 league is going to be incredibly crucial for the sustainability of South African cricket. Being involved with the IPL for the last 11 years, I’ve seen first-hand the difference that T20 leagues can have on a country’s cricket.

“You see the difference that it makes to the younger players. That knowledge, wisdom and experience that you can share with your young talent in your own country, that’s extremely important for the growth of the national team.

“I’ve been lucky as a player and as a captain to have some really good leaders in my time. Starting under Graeme Smith, then moving to AB de Villiers, then my time at Chennai Super Kings, where Stephen Fleming was really influential at the beginning of my leadership journey,” Du Plessis said.