Ken Borland

South Africa’s women have never won a series in the West Indies, but coach Hilton Moreeng is confident the Proteas can knock their hosts off that perch when they tour the Caribbean for three T20s and five ODIs starting on August 31.
Much of Moreeng’s confidence is based on the return of players such as captain Dane’ van Niekerk and Chloe Tryon, plus the wonderful form shown by South Africa’s representatives in The Hundred competition in England that ended last weekend. All-rounder Van Niekerk was named player of the series as she led the Oval Invincibles to the inaugural title, and pacer Marizanne Kapp was named player of the match in the final, her record figures of four for nine destroying the Southern Brave.
“This is the first time we’ve had the entire squad fully fit and raring to go since the last World Cup. We have not won a series before in the West Indies and our last tour there was not very joyful. But this time we are anticipating a very good tour as we welcome back Dane’ and Chloe. We’re very happy where we are sitting now.
“To see how our players contributed in The Hundred, the way Dane’ and Marizanne dominated in the final, shows the quality we have. We’re very happy with their achievements and it means we have players who are in good nick. And along with someone like Shabnim Ismail, they show the other players how to handle that high-pressure environment and execute your skills on the day,” Moreeng said on the morning of their departure on Monday night.
South Africa’s previous away series against the West Indies was in 2018 when they drew both the ODI and T20 series. In the final wash-up it was the slowness of the pitches that caused the Proteas the most problems.
“We know what to expect, we have players who have played a lot in the West Indies. The hardest thing are the very slow pitches, the West Indies play well on those and use their bowlers very well. We’re used to more pace on the ball, but over there you have to deal with the ball keeping low and facing lots of spinners.
“Our expectation though is to win a series in the West Indies, something we haven’t done before. We arranged slow pitches on this side to prepare better and it’s up to us to adapt. Our last tour to India was a good indicator of how well we can bat in those conditions and we must make sure we continue with that,” Moreeng said.

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen admitted after another chastening defeat against the Sharks at the weekend that the franchise is going to have to get some reinforcements to ensure they are competitive in the United Rugby Championship that is set to start next month.

The Lions bowed out of the Currie Cup at Ellis Park with a dismal 14-56 hiding at the hands of the Sharks, which has condemned them to last place on the log. Having won just two of the nine matches they took the field for, concerns have been expressed over whether the Lions are going to be slaughtered by the even tougher European sides.

“The most logical thing will be to pull players from elsewhere and there are discussions about that going on. There is an opportunity for the company to get some additional hands in the squad. We are understaffed so we have to do it and there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes,” Van Rooyen said.

It is, however, looking likely that Van Rooyen will no longer be at the helm of the side for the URC with the Lions administration openly talking about “restructuring”. Van Rooyen’s contract, and that of his assistant coaches, ends in October and last place in the Currie Cup is not a good look for someone trying to get a renewal.

While there has been speculation that CEO Rudolf Straeuli, a former Springbok coach, will take over the coaching reins, weekend reports suggested that former Springboks Victor Matfield and Jaque Fourie, a Lions legend, are also being looked at as potential replacement coaches.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber was pleased to report after their second Rugby Championship match against Argentina that their injury problems at loose forward are easing, but he has fresh worries over the scrumhalf position, which was already in crisis before the 29-10 win at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
The Springboks were in complete control of proceedings for three-quarters of the game, but things began to go awry towards the end when they were forced to play with 14 men when replacement scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse suffered an unfortunate leg injury in a tackle.

The 21-year-old Hendrikse was himself brought into the squad due to injuries to Faf de Klerk and Herschel Jantjies, and Nienaber admitted he was probably going to have to call up another scrumhalf. Sanele Nohamba, also a Sharks player, is potentially in line for a recall having been part of the squad for the British and Irish Lions series and playing for SA A.

“I spoke quickly with the doctor and he said Jaden had everything of his weight on the leg so it might not be a ligament injury, it might actually be bone. It takes us four weeks to get a player abroad – counting backwards, we would like that player to have one week of training, there’s two weeks of quarantine before that and they also have to go through the protocol of multiple tests before that at home.

“It’s why we need a minimum of four scrumhalves. The severity of Jaden’s injury will be the big thing, but I think he’s in trouble. We had four scrumhalves but only two were standing in the build-up to this game. At least Faf de Klerk is running well again. And fortunately I think three out of four of our injured flanks should be right to play our next game,” Nienaber said.

Duane Vermeulen is taking contact again in training, Jean-Luc du Preez has recovered from his medial ligament strain and Rynhardt Elstadt is almost back to full fitness, according to the coach.

As if injuries were not complicating their planning enough, the Springboks, who were meant to fly to Australia on Sunday, don’t even know who they are playing next in the Rugby Championship or where, after New Zealand’s amazingly late decision not to play in Perth this coming weekend or host their scheduled matches against South Africa after that.

Nienaber said hosting the rest of the tournament on the Highveld would be ideal for the Springboks, but they have become used to changes being sprung on them at the last moment.

“Things change rapidly with Covid so we have five plans loaded. We will be staying in Gqeberha until Tuesday/Wednesday, by then we will hopefully know if we’re staying in South Africa. If we have to travel, there are different plans for Brisbane, France, the UK or America. We have to be adaptable but I honestly don’t know where we will be going.

“We would love to host the rest of the competition, South Africa showed we can do it in the Lions series, which is the next biggest thing in the Southern Hemisphere after the World Cup. Everything is lined up and ready and I wold prefer to play in Gauteng at altitude. That would be nice for us,” Nienaber said.

The Springboks have no idea when or where their next Rugby Championship appointment will be, but coach Jacques Nienaber said he was “unbelievably proud” of his team for getting over what he described as a “massive” hurdle when they beat Argentina 29-10 in their second Rugby Championship Test at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday evening.

For now, the Southern Hemisphere tournament is in limbo following New Zealand’s unilateral decision to not travel to Australia next week or host South Africa in their matches scheduled for September 25 and October 2. As accustomed to uncertainty the Springboks have had to become in these Covid times, Nienaber hinted that the shock developments on the eve of Saturday’s Test could well have rattled his team.

“I’m unbelievably proud of the squad because this was a massive Test for us, not far off the World Cup final, winning the Rugby Championship in Salta or the last Test against the Lions. I was actually very nervous about this game, we put lots of pressure on ourselves and the guys challenged themselves massively. Our focus had to be on this game and not if we’re going to stay in South Africa or travel to the UK or Brisbane or wherever.

“The players deserve all the credit, they are the ones who sacrifice their bodies for the country at the end of the day. I’m delighted for them. The game-management was excellent for the first three-quarters of the game, but we weren’t perfect because there were opportunities created that we did not finish. But you need to look at that from the perspective that we were up against a very desperate Argentina side,” Nienaber said after the win.

Despite their dominance, the Springboks only scored two tries, flyhalf Handre Pollard giving a polished goalkicking display as he added the other 19 points. Nienaber pointed to his team’s heavy schedule recently and the disruption caused by replacement scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse’s injury, which forced South Africa into playing the last eight minutes with only 14 men as wing Cheslin Kolbe had to shift to halfback, as mitigating factors.

“We’ve had to play six Tests on the trot, which you seldom have to do and doing that at this intensity takes its toll. We would have loved the bonus point and we went all out for it. But we also had to make changes because we need some guys to get more experience. We did that, we had to rotate and guys like Jaden Hendrikse, Damian Willemse and Kwagga Smith came on early.

“We were going full on at the end for the try that would have given us a bonus point and we said to them they should take chances, so I am not disappointed with the try we conceded in the last minute. It was absolutely worth it and it’s fantastic that we were in the position that we could go for it. But there were lots of things we also didn’t get right on our side,” Nienaber said.