Ken Borland

Enoch Nkwe says there will always be a part of him that will hanker after the excitement of on-field, hands-on coaching, but for now the former Proteas assistant coach sees his future as being in more strategic ways, setting up systems for teams.

The Central Gauteng Lions announced this week that Nkwe was returning to them as their Strategic Cricket Consultant for March and April. It is a short-term gig, but at least the coach who took the Lions to three franchise trophies in 2018/19 is back in the system.

But what will the 39-year-old be doing after that? Does he have his eye on the Technical Director position rumoured to be in the process of being created by Cricket South Africa? Or will he aim even higher and go for the Director of Cricket post because Graeme Smith’s contract concludes at the end of this month and the position will be readvertised.

“There will always be a part of me that enjoys the on-field coaching,” Nkwe told The Citizen at his unveiling at the Wanderers on Wednesday, “but I’ve made peace with the technical aspect of coaching, having done it through from U19s and Academy level to the Proteas.

“There are different ways of coaching and I’ve always been very strategic in my approach. I like setting up systems and I’m a big believer that for your main team to be successful, they need a well-aligned system beneath them.

“The Lions have offered me a great opportunity to step into that direction and we’ll see how far we get to or if I am led into a different space.

“My passion is driving systems and entrenching new ways of playing the game. I’m always open to opportunities, but it needs to speak my language, I need to fit in,” Nkwe said.

Having experienced life at international level and enjoyed tremendous success domestically, Nkwe would seem to be an excellent asset for CSA to keep involved. Despite his unhappy departure from the Proteas, Nkwe did not rule out working for the national body again.

“As a cricketer or as a coach, if you get an opportunity to make a difference to the national system then you would certainly look at that.

“If it makes sense to me and if it fits me, then I would be willing to realign my plan to take things forward at national level,” Nkwe said.

Former New Zealand captain Sean Fitzpatrick is willing to endorse the Six Nations as the best tournament in rugby outside of the World Cup, but the All Blacks great believes it would be a terrible idea for South Africa to join that Northern Hemisphere competition.

Speculation has been rife recently that the world champion Springboks will follow their domestic franchises into European rugby, breaking from their traditional Sanzaar alliance with New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, and joining France, Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, and maybe Italy, in a new-look Six Nations.

“The Six Nations is arguably the best tournament outside the World Cup,” Fitzpatrick told a Laureus World Sports Academy media opportunity on Wednesday. “The first three rounds have been compelling viewing.

“There has obviously been a lot of talk in New Zealand and up north about South Africa joining, but why add to something when it is not broken? I don’t like the idea of Southern Hemisphere teams in the Six Nations because the history of the competition is Northern Hemisphere.

“And I don’t think the Southern Hemisphere can afford to lose South Africa from the Rugby Championship, it will be devastating to lose them. If they join, it would be a Seven Nations because Italy can’t just be ejected, they have a right of veto.

“So starting a new competition would add a pretty big new international window. It would be a sad day for rugby,” Fitzpatrick said.

The current form of the All Blacks has many of their fans already having kittens, but the chairman of the Laureus World Sport Academy said he was confident they were on track, while acknowledging the demise of the old Super Rugby competition that included South Africa has hurt them.

“Ian Foster [head coach] knows where he is going for sure,” Fitzpatrick said. “Traditionally the All Blacks have not worked on four-year cycles, they try and win every year.

“But I think this time they are building for the World Cup. The results have been disappointing but Ian has exposed a lot of players to international rugby. In 2019 they were exposed a bit in the heat of World Cup battle.

“Super Rugby has not turned out to be the competition it should be. Super Rugby Aoteroa in 2020 was fantastic, everyone loved it, coming back to New Zealand, it was very tribal.

“But last year was different and we’ve missed South Africa. Super 12 was such a good product, but they got greedy going to 14, 16, 18 teams and it blew out because it was unsustainable,” Fitzpatrick said.

Proteas captain Dean Elgar is not the type to get too carried away but South Africa’s remarkable victory over New Zealand in the second Test in Christchurch, following his stupendous decision to bat first, did draw a “brilliant” from the nuggety opening batsman.

Having been thrashed in humiliating fashion by an innings and 276 runs in the first Test, the Proteas bounced back in the second with an amazing all-round display that saw them win by 198 runs, keeping their unbeaten series record against New Zealand intact.

“To get a 1-1 result coming to New Zealand, at the start of the tour I would have taken it,” Elgar said. “We certainly didn’t start well, we didn’t really pitch up, but we took so many learnings from that.

“To see us really rock up in the second Test, to bounce back and show a lot of character and maturity was brilliant. Because of the first Test, it would have been easy to take the soft option and bowl first.

“But visually the pitch looked a little different, there was a lot less green grass and it looked a bit like a bat-first wicket. Taking the easy way out does not sit well with me, that’s not my character.

“Credit to the team for responding so well because the bowlers still posed quite a challenge on that pitch up front. It’s about playing a positive brand of cricket, playing from the front foot,” Elgar said.

Deprived of two key bowlers in Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi, it was pleasing to see two young bowlers from the Vaal, Wiaan Mulder and Lutho Sipamla, step up and admirably fill their places in the attack.

Other ‘foals’ to find their feet in the Test were Kyle Verreynne and Sarel Erwee, 32 years old but playing in just his second Test. Both of them scored superb centuries, Erwee on the first day and Verreynne under huge pressure in the second innings.

“It was good to see the young guys step up,” Elgar said. “Losing Lungi with a back issue was a big loss for the bowling unit, but it was a good squad effort with some older guys putting their hands up too.

“There were a lot of different influences on this game. Sarel really showed his character, his story goes a lot deeper than just playing cricket. He understands working hard for what you believe in.

“Kyle has not played a lot of Tests, he had to fill big shoes and he’s been under a lot of scrutiny, but the way he came out and played his natural style in the second innings was brilliant.

South Africa cricket tour of New Zealand“Keshav Maharaj is always a banker of mine and I know what I will get from him in terms of playing and competitiveness. And KG Rabada has been phenomenal,” Elgar said.

From dealing with a 10-day quarantine that almost turned their hotel rooms into prison cells, to getting over a humiliating defeat in the first Test, the Proteas showed immense resilience in bouncing back to beat New Zealand by 198 runs in the second Test in Christchurch on Tuesday, allowing them to level the series and ensure the Black Caps have still never won a rubber against South Africa.

Man of the Match Kagiso Rabada, who led the way with the ball with 8/106 in the match and played a vital innings with the bat, said after the impressive triumph that resilience seems to come naturally to the Proteas team.

“It just seems to be our natural character, resilience has always been the word that just seems to fit us best,” Rabada said. “It’s never easy to beat us and we proved it again in this series.

“And to see young guys stepping up like Lutho Sipamla and Kyle Verreynne, and Sarel Erwee in his first series, there are lots of good signs for the future.

“It was no use harping on about how badly we played in the first Test, we recognised that we totally did not rock up and New Zealand were too good for us, but we had to put game-plans in place and react under pressure.

“Mentally we had to come back. We had to wake up, rock up and execute. We were under pressure, so it means a lot not to lose the Test series. We would have liked to have won, but credit to us for bouncing back,” Rabada said.

Although the 26-year-old still occasionally has moments of breast-beating emotion that pour out on the field, he is now a much more calculating, composed bowler. While there can be no doubting his passion, Rabada has developed a cool, ruthless streak.

“As a fast bowler you very seldom feel at your very best, so I just go out and try and implement the basics as well as possible and try to adapt to the conditions as best you can,” Rabada said.

“You’re always overcoming challenges and you just try and create your own luck through hard work, sticking to your process and refining it where necessary. And then you just have to allow it to happen.”