Ken Borland

An All Blacks side whose skills let them down in a Test match is certainly not the norm, and flyhalf Richie Mounga admitted on Monday that it was Springbok pressure that led to New Zealand’s error-strewn display in a 26-10 defeat at the Mbombela Stadium at the weekend.

South Africa produced an epic defensive display: their rush off the line, their scrambling and physical dominance of the gain-line; and their aerial mastery and an outstanding performance by the pack in the set-pieces were all too much for the All Blacks as the Springboks recorded their biggest winning margin over their greatest rivals since their 17-0 win in Durban in 1928.

“It was obviously very disappointing for us but it confirmed how good this South African team is,” Mounga said at their Sandton hotel on Monday. “They just build so much pressure.

“With their set-piece, coming round the corner and getting penalties, it just becomes an ongoing cycle that is really difficult to get out of. We’ll have to talk about how to counter that.

“It was just a matter of skill errors. You don’t have to be in the right frame of mind to catch the ball, to do your job or do the basics right. But not doing those put is in that cycle.

“It’s called a Test match for a reason because it will test your skill. It was tough to get around them, their high line put us under big pressure. The things we spoke about in order to combat that, we didn’t do well at all,” Mounga, who is likely to start at flyhalf on Saturday at Ellis Park because Beauden Barrett was injured in his collision with Kurt-Lee Arendse, said.

The classy Crusaders star said the All Blacks are trying to shut out all the outside noise, but he understands why their fans are up in arms.

“We know our fans can get frustrated with results and that is very fair, and it’s fair for them to care,” Mounga said. “We know that our performance was not good enough for All Blacks standard.

“But we don’t care what the fans think, I don’t really care what people think if they’re not in our squad. We are so close, but close is not good enough at this level.

“The Springboks’ game-plan is simple – they build numerous consecutive positive plays and that puts you under pressure. It takes just simple execution to change that.

“The most basic skills we couldn’t execute, but if we can fix that then we can start to put them under pressure. At the moment we’re frustrated because we’re making the same errors,” Mounga said.

Despite now being faced with the toughest of selection conundrums, coach Mark Boucher feels no sorrow at all for the difficult decisions he will have to make ahead of the T20 World Cup following the Proteas adding a series win over Ireland to their heady triumph over England.

With Reeza Hendricks in rampant form at the top of the order, Aiden Markram continuing to be an explosive presence in the middle-order and Rilee Rossouw showing his class, it seems inevitable that one of stalwart Rassie van der Dussen, appointed captain Temba Bavuma or even a struggling Quinton de Kock will not be selected for the World Cup in Australia in October.

Wayne Parnell’s superb five-wicket haul in the last T20 against Ireland also complicates the all-rounder situation, where he, Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo are probably competing for just two spots in a 15-man squad.

“As part of the selection panel, there are some tough choices to be made,” Boucher admitted after the 44-run win in Bristol on Friday night. “But it’s a good headache to have, especially with the World Cup around the corner.

“There’s great competition in the squad in quite a few different positions. We gave guys opportunities and they have come good. I like the brand of cricket they have played, it has been brave but smart.

“The guys coming back in have had fantastic attitudes and put in good performances, they’ve definitely added a different dimension. There’s not space for anyone to rest, guys keep challenging for selection and pushing the others to greater heights.

“It’s a very healthy place to be in for South African cricket. A year ago we would not have been having these discussions, so we have a lot more depth now,” Boucher said.

The coach said he was particularly impressed with what Hendricks has done, as he has basically reinvented himself as an aggressive opening batsman.

“Reeza has really come good, being Man of the Series twice in a row and scoring four successive fifties against very good opposition. We always knew he could play.

“But the way he has gone about it, his change in mindset to now being more aggressive, has really stood out. I know Justin Sammons [batting consultant] has done a lot of work with him.

“So credit to Justin, he’s been fantastic with the blueprints he has come up with and he’s had tremendous conversations with the players.

“As the coach, it’s up to me to come up with strategies – how we want to play in different conditions in Australia. The selection panel will then decide what characters they want to get that done,” Boucher said.

Two days made a world of difference to the Bristol pitch, but a poor start to the South African innings gave birth to a furious response from the middle-order as they posted a matchwinning 182/6 after being sent in to bat and beat Ireland by 44 runs in the second T20 on Friday night.

Wayne Parnell enjoyed one of his best days in Proteas clours as he took a brilliant 5/30 to lead an impressive Proteas bowling display that bowled Ireland out for 138.

On a pitch that had the bowlers celebrating more assistance than usual in a T20, South Africa struggled to 58/2 after 11 overs. Quinton de Kock (7 off 10 balls) and Rassie van der Dussen (4 off 14) again struggled, but opener Reeza Hendricks continued his hot form with a determined 42 off 40 balls.

Aiden Markram came in and provided some much-needed impetus as he slammed 25 runs off spinner Andy McBrine in the 12^th over, but both he, for 27 off 10 balls, and Hendricks were dismissed in the next over, bowled by leg-spinner Gareth Delany (4-0-24-2).

South Africa were 93/4 off 14 overs, but thanks to Heinrich Klaasen (39 off 16 balls) and David Miller (32 not out off 20), South Africa were given a crucial late boost. Dwaine Pretorius also chipped in with 17 off 7 balls.

Left-arm paceman Josh Little was the best of the Irish bowlers with 1/20 off four overs.

South Africa’s left-armer, Parnell, then struck twice in successive balls in his first over to rock Ireland’s chase from the start. Paul Stirling (28) and Harry Tector (34) lifted Ireland to 40/2 inside the 6^th over, but Lungi Ngidi (3-0-14-1) removed Stirling and Parnell returned to get Tector out.

Pretorius (3.5-0-33-3) then also took two wickets in two balls to all but seal victory.

Second-last man Barry McCarthy walloped 32 off 19 balls at the death to take Ireland over 100 and restore some dignity.

It is always terrible when one of our national teams prematurely loses one of their stars, but the sudden retirement of the 30-year-old Lizelle Lee from the Proteas women’s team has been followed by the ugliest of carping by the player in the aftermath.

Lee retired from the international game on July 8, shortly before the start of their ODI series in England. CSA, Lee, her agent and the players’ union crafted a rose-tinted statement in which the opening batter said she felt she had “given everything I could to the Proteas” and “I feel that I am ready for the next phase in my career and will continue to play domestic T20 cricket around the world.”

But the timing of her retirement, and the whispers that have been circulating that all is not well in the Proteas women’s team changeroom, suggested there was more to this story, and it subsequently emerged that Lee had retired because CSA had withdrawn her from the tour of England after she failed a fitness test and threatened to not give her a No Objection Certificate (NOC), which allows contracted players to ply their trade in overseas leagues.

And then last week Lee claimed in a BBC podcast that this was solely because of her weight, going on to accuse CSA of discrimination because of how she looks and breaking her mentally and physically.

She made it sound like CSA were really awful employers. But I’m afraid Lee has been playing a bit fast and loose with the truth.

The way CSA’s policy is structured, a player’s fitness is measured via four tests which are allocated points adding up to 10. In order to be declared fit for play, six points are required. A score of four or five will see a player put on probation and retesting will be done. Three points or under leads to the player being declared not fit to play.

The weight part of the test is only worth two points, the same as the strength test, while skinfold measurement and the 2km endurance test are worth three points each.

So even if Lee was 5% over her target weight and received zero points in that section, she must have still only earned 3/8 for the other tests.

The parameters of this testing have been investigated and compared with protocols from around the world to ensure they are suitable. Lee’s complaint that the current tests, “especially for women”, are more about how people look than winning games of cricket is disingenuous.

To be part of a winning team, Lee is not just going to be judged on how many runs she scores (which is precious few lately – she has not passed 40 in any of her nine innings for South Africa since September 2021). Things like being able to run quick singles for her batting partner, or mobility and agility in the field are also vital, especially since the Women’s Proteas play almost exclusively limited-overs cricket.

For the women’s game to be treated equally (as it should), it needs to offer skill and athleticism, because they cannot compete with the men in terms of power. There are some extraordinary athletes in women’s cricket and I often feel like the game is more skilful than the men’s version as well.

For Lee to cry discrimination is ironic because all CSA have done is ensure consistency. Sisanda Magala has been pulled out of a couple of men’s squads due to failed fitness tests. For me, it was not a good look when Magala was confined to the sidelines earlier this year for a lack of conditioning, while at the same time, Lee was allowed to join the World Cup squad late and then arrived looking out of shape.

Coupled with the talk of her negative vibe off the field, I’m afraid Lee, the toast of the nation last year, is now behaving like a spoilt girl who wants the team needs to be secondary to her own.