Ken Borland

The surprise selection of the exciting Aphelele Fassi on the wing for the first Test against Georgia, making his debut alongside another uncapped wing in the hot-stepping Rosko Specman, does not advertise the Springboks’ intent to necessarily play expansive, attacking rugby, but is rather down to Covid leaving them with no other choice.

While Sbu Nkosi’s positive Covid test was announced at the start of the week, what wasn’t revealed is that his Sharks team-mates Makazole Mapimpi and Lukhanyo Am are isolating as well because they were close contacts, while the France-based Cheslin Kolbe only arrived in camp at the weekend.

The only other wing available in the squad is another Sharks player, Yaw Penxe. But although regular fullback Fassi is younger than Penxe, he has more experience of top-level franchise rugby and has played occasionally on the wing for the Sharks.

“We’ve had a few Covid issues, Lukhanyo and Makazole were deemed to be close contacts after we originally selected the team on Saturday. That’s why Fassi and Jesse Kriel have had to come into the mix. Aphelele is very talented, he has a massive skill set. We know he is predominantly a fullback, but he has slotted in beautifully on the wing.

“Rosko is a livewire who brings lots of energy but he is fully professional. They have both trained really well and will bring x-factor and lots of spice, and they have good guidance around them in Willie le Roux, Handre Pollard and Jesse Kriel, which is important. Hopefully the debutants can express the skills that make them unique on the day,” Nienaber said on Tuesday.

While the Springbok back three all have the ability to score that peach of a try that is like sweet nectar for rugby lovers, Nienaber knows the forwards will have to smooth their way up front first against a physically-imposing Georgian team. The Springboks have a pack with players like Bongi Mbonambi, Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit that know how to get under the opposition’s skin.

And then there’s Jasper Wiese, the massively impactful Leicester Tigers eighthman who will come off the bench for his debut.

“We’ve followed Jasper closely, he’s outstanding at getting and stopping momentum, he basically knocked the door down for selection. Georgia are ranked No.12 for a reason, we’ve done our homework on them.

“In the Autumn Nations Cup their game against Wales was close for 75 minutes. So we need to work hard to get a foothold in the Test. Georgia are very good in the tight phases – scrums, mauls, lineouts and ball-carries,” Nienaber said.

Springbok team: Willie le Roux, Rosko Specman, Jesse Kriel, Francois Steyn, Aphelele Fassi, Handré Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Kwagga Smith, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Trevor Nyakane, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nché. Bench – Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe, Marvin Orie, Jasper Wiese, Herschel Jantjies, Elton Jantjies, Damian Willemse.

While buxom ladies in the stands at St George’s were up and down off their seats on a regular basis celebrating a steady flow of boundaries from the West Indies batsmen, South African fans watching the first T20 on their TVs at home saw their team make an encouraging start with the bat and then the runs just simply dried up.

Boundaries – how to score them and how to prevent the West Indian batsmen from plundering them – will be the key factor on the Proteas’ minds as they go into the second T20 international on Sunday night at the same venue, following their thrashing by eight wickets with five overs to spare in the first game.

“We were outplayed and it started with the batting, where our score [160-6] was definitely below par and we did not maximise a good start. The second half of our innings was the period we let the game slip. But both departments let us down because we understood the pitch would be a bit slow, but we weren’t able to adapt. We knew the West Indies would test our skills, they are one of the best teams in the world.

“So we need to come with different plans but there’s not much time to change anything before the next game. Not having a sixth bowler is a bit of a concern and part of the conversation we need to have. It would be nice to have a sixth bowler, that would give us a bit of breathing space,” captain Temba Bavuma said after the chastening defeat.

While the balance of the South African side – with just five frontline bowlers and part-time spinner Reeza Hendricks bowling one over that cost 21 runs – certainly needs amending, it would also be advantageous for the Proteas quick bowlers to take a leaf out of the West Indies’ book.

While Ngidi, Rabada and Nortje bowled as if they were in a Test match – relying on sheer pace and lots of short balls – the West Indies were far more skilful. After the great work of left-arm spinner Fabian Allen (4-0-18-2), Dwayne Bravo (4-0-30-2) and Obed McCoy (4-0-30-0) were outstanding as they strangled the innings with a succession of slower balls and cutters. Having reached 80 for two after nine overs, South Africa collected just five fours and two sixes in the last 11 overs.

“When you’re under pressure you go to what you know and bowling short is generally their go-to. Even though conditions dictated differently,” Bavuma said of his quick bowlers.

The Bulls showed pleasing character as they rebounded from their embarrassing loss in the Rainbow Cup final, staying the course and pulling off a tight 32-27 win over the Pumas in an intriguing Currie Cup match at Loftus Versfeld on Friday night.

The Bulls dominated the set-pieces in the first half and two clinical tries by centre Harold Vorster, through a chip and regather with his first touch in a Bulls jersey, and Madosh Tambwe, who breezed past the last two Pumas defenders, gave the home side a 17-3 halftime lead.

Of course the ever-committed Pumas were going to fight back and some soft moments by the Bulls, letting wing Tapiwa Mafura to bounce off a couple of tackles down the right and then Tambwe allowing a grubber to go through his legs, saw excellent left wing Etienne Taljaard get a well-deserved try.

But Bulls centre Cornal Hendricks showed great game awareness as his long pass to Stravino Jacobs found the wing in space, although the Pumas reacted well. But the visitors tried to counter-ruck, Hendricks picked up the ball and went scooting down the blindside and scored to give the defending champions a 25-10 lead with 15 minutes remaining.

But far from setting up a comfortable finish for the Bulls, that’s when things started to become really tough for the home side. The Pumas began to exert pressure on the scrums and flyhalf Eddie Fouche flourished.

He firstly chipped over the top and regathered to score as Jacobs could not take the ball cleanly under the pressure, and then, after a particularly big scrum, Fouche’s wonderful long pass to Devon Williams saw the fullback come screaming through midfield and then pass out wide for Mafura to score.

It was suddenly a one-point game, but the Bulls managed to keep calm. Captain Marcell Coetzee burst down the blindside off a scrum, the Bulls then went left to exploit the space and good hands allowed replacement fullback David Kriel to step inside and score the matchwinning try.

Having been so below par last weekend in Italy, coach Jake White will be delighted the Bulls not only played with some confidence but also dealt with concerted pressure from the Pumas in the final quarter. Flyhalf Chris Smith, after a horrid time against Benetton, was especially impressive, succeeding with all six of his kicks at goal, getting stuck in on the gain-line and showing some superb hands as he got his backline away smoothly.

For all their impressive efforts, the Pumas seem cursed to continually just fall short at Loftus Versfeld.

Scorers

Bulls – Tries: Harold Vorster, Madosh Tambwe, Cornal Hendricks, David Kriel. Conversions: Chris Smith (4). Penalties: Smith (2).

Pumas – Tries: Etienne Taljaard, Eddie Fouche, Tapiwa Mufura. Conversions: Eddie Fouche (3). Penalties: Fouche (2).

Temba Bavuma can complain with righteous indignation over the misfortune that saw him miss the entire Test series against the West Indies, but he can have no complaints over the quality of preparation his T20 side will be getting against a home team packed with giants of the shortened version of the game.

The five-match T20 series starts at St George’s in Grenada on Saturday and the West Indies have T20 legends Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo in their squad. It will be a daunting challenge for Bavuma, who will actually lead his team out on to the field for the first time in a T20, having missed the series against Pakistan due to injury.

That bad luck with injuries followed him to the Caribbean, where he was on the sidelines of the memorable Test triumph due to first a hip problem and then a dislocated finger while training for the second Test. So Bavuma will certainly be eager for the contest.

“As a team we’ve had various discussions on the type of cricket we want to play and now we have a chance to test that against a very strong outfit, the West Indies obviously being one of the favourites for the World Cup later this year. We get the chance to test our skills against their’s and that should give us a clearer picture of what needs to be done.

“It’s going to be a good measure, it will show us where our standard is in our game. We don’t have confirmation yet of where the World Cup will be played, so we are just looking at the challenge against the West Indies now. We want to play our best cricket in these conditions and they might just happen to be similar to what is found on the subcontinent,” Bavuma said on Friday.

Half-a-dozen of the players who no doubt quaffed some celebratory drinks following their leading roles in the Test series triumph are likely to play in the first T20, while Bavuma and spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and George Linde were also part of the Test squad. So there is plenty of feel-good continuity in the Proteas camp.

“The Tests went exceptionally well and the outcome of that was momentum and confidence. Although this is a different format, quite a few of the players were involved in the Tests. It’s only natural that we want to continue as is, carrying the same language through, with most of the guys being the same. The discussions Dean Elgar and I have had about how to take the team forward obviously bore fruit.

“We’ll only finalise our plans after practice today because it has been raining and the weather is a bit of a concern. We haven’t had an opportunity yet to look at the pitch, but it’s fantastic we’ve got options when it comes down to spin, all-rounders or bolstering the batting,” Bavuma said.