Ken Borland

A return to the Proteas is not on fast bowler Kyle Abbott’s radar right now, but the former Kolpak star said on Thursday that he always keeps an eye on South African cricket, which is why he believes the domestic restructuring that will do away with the six franchises is exactly what the game here needs.

Abbott this week joined the Titans until the end of the season, the expiration of the Kolpak system meaning he is once again available to South African teams as a domestic player. The 33-year-old, who played 60 matches for the Proteas across all three formats, was previously a stalwart for the Dolphins, turning out 122 times for the franchise.

But after Covid travel restrictions wrecked his 2020 plans – he did not play a single game for Hampshire, his English county side who have signed him as an overseas player for another two years – Abbott says his focus is on regaining his best form with the Titans.

“At the moment the Proteas are not in my immediate view, after a very tough 2020 when I basically didn’t play I just want to get back into the space I was in 18 months ago, I want to get back to that level. It’s quite difficult because the body had a nice rest, but I lost that competitive edge. After such a long layoff I need an environment that is going to be hard, I need to be outside my comfort zone.

“But South Africa and the Proteas are still very close to my heart and I’ve always got my eye on them. It seems everyone is now incredibly happy in that environment, which is great to hear. And the change to 15 teams and two divisions in domestic cricket is exactly what South African cricket needs right now. That’s how the first-class game works in the UK and it is the strongest in the world.”

England are the top side in white-ball cricket and ranked fourth in Tests, with Abbott saying their power comes from the competitiveness of their domestic game.

“To have that number of teams playing every week can only strengthen the game and in Division One you have the top four or five teams trying to win the trophy and the bottom four are fighting to avoid relegation, so the strength and competitiveness of the league are excellent. It’s been a long time coming but South African cricket needed to do something that puts more value on results.

“In the past you would have a couple of rained-out games and then a draw and you’d be out of it with nothing to play for. But relegation is a terrible thing, no-one wants to be relegated, it’s a horrible feeling, so you keep fighting. I know what that’s like because in 2017 when I first played for Hampshire it came down to the last hour of the season whether we’d be relegated or not. South Africa have a number of first-class facilities, from Buffalo Park to Potchefstroom, and they should use all of those,” Abbott said on Thursday.

Bulls coach Jake White had every right to feel delighted that his team, despite playing with a new-look backline and a pack that has only trained together for three days in the last three weeks, were able to see off the high-flying Lions 22-15 in their Currie Cup clash at Loftus Versfeld and so ensure that they will finish top of the log.

It means the Bulls will be able to take on the Pumas in Nelspruit on Sunday with a second-string outfit and not risk any home ground advantage. Having weathered a Covid outbreak and not played any rugby for three weeks, the Bulls can focus on getting ready for their semi-final against the selfsame Lions on January 15/16; as White said “there is no need to risk any players” this weekend.

“I expected us to struggle because we were playing with four U21s in the backline with basically a whole backline unable to start, and we’ve hardly trained because of Covid, we only had three days together. So it was always going to be difficult, it was always going to take time to get going. But I must compliment the fightback, we didn’t have the ball at the start but once we had it I knew we would start believing.

“I’m very pleased, finishing top of the log is great for us and it means we can play our best team against the Lions again in the semis. Given our circumstances, we were not going to be able to afford to play everyone for 80 minutes so the bench would always have to come on and make an impact, and they did, which is always nice to see. I’m very happy with what I saw today,” White said on Wednesday evening.

While the worst of the Covid outbreak has passed, White acknowledged that it was still causing vacancies in the team as players took varying lengths of time to complete their recoveries. So while there will certainly be changes for the Pumas game, some players are simply not yet match-fit enough to be considered.

“For a lot of guys, their return-to-play protocols are not yet good enough so I’m not sure yet what sort of team I will field against the Pumas. I’ll sleep on it and see what the niggles and injuries are like after this game. A lot of guys have now tested negative but still have to go through the return-to-play protocols, which measure things like heart-rate. For some of them it was too much of a risk to put them in a game situation.

“Hopefully they will all be fine in another 10 days time for the semi-final, but there’s no guarantee, we don’t know how long it will take when it comes to these respiratory things,” White said.

The one thing that can be guaranteed though when the Lions come to Loftus Versfeld again to take on the Bulls in their semi-final will be another suffocating physical display by the pack and a watertight defence.

“We want it to be difficult to play at Loftus but you’d have to admit our forward pack, in all departments, hasn’t always been up to expectations. The Bulls want their pack to dominate and I’m chuffed that people can see the Bulls pack has definitely taken a step up. And I’m very happy with the defence too because the Lions are a very good attacking side.

“To defend like that – and with a new group of players – was very pleasing. Not many teams have come here and scored many tries, which is good for us. To have such a good defensive performance and with new personnel was great. It’s defence coach Joey Mongalo’s birthday today so I’m sure he would have really enjoyed that and will be celebrating,” White said.

There was not much adventurous rugby on display at a damp Loftus Versfeld on Wednesday as the Bulls edged out the Lions 22-15 in their Currie Cup match to ensure they will finish top of the log.

The Bulls scored the only try of the game, soon after halftime, but otherwise relied on four penalties by flyhalf Chris Smith for the win.

Those four penalties came after a torrid start by the Bulls, who struggled to find their rhythm having not played for three weeks. They struggled in particular at the scrums and fullback Tiaan Swanepoel kicked three penalties to give the Lions a 9-0 lead after 18 minutes.

But, incredibly, the Bulls went into halftime 12-9 ahead as their scrum shifted the momentum and began to dominate, with Smith kicking penalties in the 22^nd, 25^th, 35^th and 40^th minutes. Three of those penalties had their genesis at the scrum, although one of them was a harsh call against a dominant Lions set-piece.

The Bulls then took control of the game after 46 minutes thanks to scrumhalf Embrose Papier’s try. In a clinical start to the second half, the Bulls won a kicking battle and a lineout just outside the Lions’ 22 as Swanepoel blinked first and made a mistake. The Lions then infringed at the rolling maul, allowing the Bulls to set a lineout deep inside the 22.

The Lions almost stole the throw but knocked on, and Bulls eigthman Duane Vermeulen burst from the dominant scrum and popped a pass to Papier, who fought his way over the line for a fine finish. Smith’s conversion put the Bulls 19-9 up.

Swanepoel was able to give the Lions a sniff of a comeback with penalties in the 60^th and 65^th minutes to bring the score back to 15-19. But the Bulls were able to counter the Lions’ maul through means fair and foul, and it was ironic that referee Cwengile Jadezweni would give Lions replacement prop Ruan Dreyer a yellow card for collapsing a drive in the 77^th minute. Morne Steyn kicked the penalty to give the Bulls a 22-15 lead.

The Lions finished the match desperately trying to salvage a draw with several penalties and rolling mauls. Bulls flank Marco van Staden was eventually yellow-carded for collapsing the drive, but the Lions lost the ball shortly thereafter and failed to secure themselves a home semi-final.

Scorers

Bulls: Try – Embrose Papier. Conversion – Chris Smith. Penalties –Smith (4), Morne Steyn.

Lions: Penalties – Tiaan Swanepoel (5).

While an injury-depleted Sri Lankan side beaten 2-0 on the Highveld is not going to provide the best measure of the Proteas’ progress as a Test side, South Africa have nevertheless ticked some boxes in the recent series. These are the positives coach Mark Boucher can carry forward to the tour of Pakistan and then the home series against Australia.

• The Proteas have a pair of veteran batsmen in Dean Elgar and Faf du Plessis that the rest of the batting line-up can bat around.

The gritty, tenacious qualities of Elgar at the top of the order have always been apparent, but the 33-year-old is now also leading from the front with a more positive, aggressive mindset. Good starts are crucial for a batting line-up to consistently produce the goods and Elgar’s reliability is undimmed.

Du Plessis has brushed aside any suggestions his Test days may be numbered through his sheer hunger to still be playing, to still improve and still be scoring big runs. To have him in the crucial No.4 position, looking as good as he ever has, is a massive boon for the Proteas.

• Lutho Sipamla’s successful introduction to Test cricket has increased South Africa’s pool of quality fast bowlers.

Sipamla suffered a nervy first day in Test cricket when he bowled his first 12 overs for 66 runs, going maiden and wicket-less. But he ended the series with highly creditable stats of 10 wickets for 167 runs; in other words, after his tough start, he bowled 27.5 overs and took 10 for 101. Although obviously still raw, the 22-year-old showed he certainly has something. The spells where he was able to find a consistent line and length were especially probing.

With Kagiso Rabada making his way back from injury, Beuran Hendricks also in the picture and much excitement over the potential of Glenton Stuurman, the Proteas have half-a-dozen quicks to choose from.

• Wiaan Mulder has the potential to do a similar all-round job to Jacques Kallis.

Mulder is ostensibly a batting all-rounder, but we only saw glimpses of his talent with the bat during his useful innings of 36 in the first Test. But his bowling was a revelation as he finished the series with nine wickets at an average of just 20.55. The 22-year-old has wonderful skill with the ball and is clearly a thinking bowler. His control was also very good and, as Boucher said, he is not just a holding bowler but he also has a reputation for having a golden arm so he makes timely breakthroughs, as he did in both Tests. Which makes him an ideal fourth seamer, much like Kallis was. They are both bustling, strong bowlers and while Mulder will surely never touch the same heights of batting greatness as Kallis, he certainly has the ability to be an important run-scorer in the top six even.

• Rassie van der Dussen has made an encouraging start to life at No.3

Replacing the great Hashim Amla was always going to be massive boots to fill, but Van der Dussen has performed creditably at one-down in the batting order, averaging 45 there in four innings, with two half-centuries. His slow start at the Wanderers drew an unnecessary amount of criticism and the fact that his approach was perfect for the match situation was borne out by the collapse of nine wickets for 84 runs that happened after his matchwinning partnership of 184 with Elgar.