Ken Borland

KAMOGELO Maseko is the baby of the Spar Proteas team at just 18 years old, but when she made her international debut in the first Test against Malawi this week at the Sun City Superbowl and succeeded with three of her four shots at goal it was indicative of the great job coach Dorette Badenhorst is doing in nurturing the South African team.

There are big things on the horizon for the Proteas, most especially the World Cup South Afrca will be hosting in Cape Town in 2023, an ideal opportunity for the country to medal for the first time since 1995, when they were runners-up to Australia in Birmingham.

In their first assignment since January, after which Covid-19 brought all sport to a full stop, the Proteas, ranked fifth in the world, have clinched their series against world number six Malawi with convincing 65-25 and 62-29 victories in the first two Tests, and they will be hot favouites to achieve a 3-0 clean sweep in the final match on Sunday afternoon.

Apart from how impressively South Africa have performed, a feature of the series has been Badenhorst’s willingness to give all 12 members of the matchday squad a go, while also moving players around to try out different combinations. Which is why someone llike Maseko now has two caps against top-class opposition as Badenhorst looks to bring new stars through for 2023.

“There are different combinations I wanted to work on, so I tried some of those out and I’m happy that that’s a goal we reached. There are not necessarily just certain combinations we want to play with and I’m a happy coach because we did some experimenting but still played really great netball. Malawi are not easy opponents and the scores don’t reflect how tough and physical the games were.

“I want to be able to start with any player. So someone like Tshina Mdau made her debut as well but she is a starter. Kamogelo is a great talent, she has a great future, but we need to protect her and give her opportunity. She was very nervous before her first game but she played unbelievably well and enjoyed it. And the experienced players are showing such leadership that it makes it easier to make changes,” Badenhorst said.

Captain Bongi Msomi is one of those experienced players, at 32 years old and playing for the Proteas since 2011, consistently producing the goods and she shares Badenhorst’s vision of empowering a larger pool of players who can ensure South Africa improve on their fourth-place finish in the 2019 World Cup.

“Everyone who has stepped out on to court has been fantastic, the work-rate has been outstanding, and everyone is doing their best to make the combinations work, which is what we are about as a team. So I’m really pleased because the coaches have not had much time with us. It’s wonderful if any combination can go on and pull it through for us.

“The Spar Proteas have to be a team that has depth, we cannot just rely on the same seven people on court, we have to trust the players coming from the bench as well. Our youngest players are stepping up and really enjoying what they do, and the fact that they trust us senior players to support them shows out on court. The whole team is excited about the debuts Tshina and Kamogelo made,” Msomi said.

Badenhorst professes that she does have a ‘first’ line-up in mind and has been happy in the first two Tests for them to start and lay the solid platform that enables her to then try out new players and new combinations. But she believes she will need all 18 players in the greater squad to achieve their goals at the World Cup.

“You don’t always get the opportunity to give everyone game time so it’s been great to allow the whole squad to showcase their talent and for me to see what they can do.

“It’s important for our rankings and the confidence of the team that we finish on a high and win the series 3-0, we don’t want to go into Christmas with a loss but with a good win. Plus it will be important for our preparation for the series against Uganda in January,” Badenhorst said.

The Sharks produced a clinical performance replete with seven tries as they thumped the Pumas 45-10 in their Currie Cup opener at Kings Park in Durban on Friday night, sticking to their tried and tested game-plan of exerting pressure through the kicking game.

The error-prone Pumas had their moments, but made too many mistakes with ball in hand and really struggled against the Sharks’ aerial bombardment, allowing the home side to set up camp in their territory.

While the Sharks using their kicking game has become the norm, what was most impressive about their performance on Friday night was the swarming, all-consuming defence that accompanied it. The Sharks players were so quick off their line, and they harried and hassled the Pumas throughout, which was the main reason for the number of errors made by the visitors.

The tone was set in the ninth minute when centre Jeremy Ward charged down a sluggish clearing kick by fullback Devon Williams and dotted down the loose ball for the opening try. Ward grabbed a brace of tries before halftime with a similarly opportunistic effort in the 23rd minute when tremendous defensive pressure – flank Dylan Richardson putting in a ferocious double tackle – resulted in the Pumas dropping the ball on their own line, the Sharks captain pouncing to put them 19-0 up.

A couple more maul tries gave the Sharks the security of a 31-3 lead at halftime and, even though their game was not as assured in the second half, their set-pieces letting them down, the win was never in question.

It’s also safe to say Springbok wing Sbu Nkosi is back firing on all cylinders as he scored two dazzling tries as a second-half substitute.

Nkosi scored with his first touch in the 53rd minute when he claimed the restart after the Pumas’ only try, by flank Phumzile Maqondwana from close range, and blazed through the defences to score. He then closed the scoring with an intercept try after the Sharks had conceded a scrum penalty, impressing with his sheer pace.

Scorers

Sharks: Tries – Jeremy Ward (2), Sanele Nohamba, Kerron van Vuuren, Dylan Richardson, Sbu Nkosi (2). Conversions – Curwin Bosch (5).

Pumas: Try – Phumzile Maqondwana. Conversion – Ginter Smuts. Penalty –Smuts.

Bulls coach Jake White was prodding the bear again this week ahead of their crunch Currie Cup clash with Western Province at Newlands on Saturday, reminding his opposition of the hiding they were dished out at Loftus Versfeld at the end of last month.

The Stormers were being put to the sword, the Bulls leading 39-6 after 64 minutes, when lightning forced their game to be stopped. Since then, however, the Stormers have registered convincing wins over Griquas and the Free State Cheetahs, prompting some talk of a title challenge being back on track from the Cape media, which White was quick to latch onto.

“It was a great performance to score practically 40 points in 60 minutes against the Stormers, but now I read Western Province have the momentum, they’ve hit their straps, they’ve got their game back together, so I’m sure it will be a great contest on Saturday. It’s a massive game and I know I would much rather be the team that won 39-6 in the first round.

“Western Province kick more than any other team, while we kick less than most so we’re not phased playing on the coast, in fact it will suit us. Because we are developing a team for the Pro16, our game has got to be good enough to get the win wherever we play – we’ve got to be good enough at altitude, at Newlands or at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin,” White said.

While the Stormers have a core of settled Springboks – the World Cup winning front row, Siya Kolisi back as captain and two in-form backs in Warrick Gelant and Herschel Jantjies – White is busy farming a crop of exciting youngsters at Loftus Versfeld. Trying to win at Newlands for the first time since 2009 will be a great test for the likes of exciting new fullback David Kriel, impressive lock Ruan Nortje, outside centre Stedman Gans and loose forward Marco van Staden.

“Western Province have a fantastic, settled side and it’s going to be almost like the old days with all the Springboks back. It’s going to be like the glory days of the Currie Cup, but it’s just a pity there won’t be any supporters where you usually have one of the best crowds in the world. We’re trying to build a team, to create a legendary team, and winning at Newlands this weekend would be a great way to finish at that stadium.

“A guy like Ruan Nortje is still young and his body will still change as he gets older, he will get bigger and stronger. But his involvement in the game is incredible, he goes in 100% in anything he does, he reminds me a lot of a Francois Mostert or a Pieter-Steph du Toit in terms of an unbelievable work-rate. And of course he’ll be up against the new Bakkies and Victor in Salmaan Moerat and JD Schickerling,” White said in a parting shot of irony.

Teams

Bulls: David Kriel, Travis Ismaiel, Stedman Gans, Cornal Hendricks, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Chris Smith, Ivan van Zyl, Duane Vermeulen (c), Arno Botha, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Trevor Nyakane, Johan Grobbelaar, Jacques van Rooyen. Replacements – Corniel Els, Gerhard Steenekamp, Marcel van der Merwe, Sintu Manjezi, Nizaam Carr, Embrose Papier, Clinton Swart, Marco Jansen van Vuren.

Western Province: Warrick Gelant, Seabelo Senatla, Dan du Plessis, Rikus Pretorius, Angelo Davids, Damian Willemse, Herschel Jantjies, Juarno Augustus, Ernst van Rhyn, Siya Kolisi (captain), JD Schickerling, Salmaaan Moerat, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff. Replacements (from): Scarra Ntubeni, Ali Vermaak, Kwenzo Blose, Neethling Fouche, David Meihuizen, Chris van Zyl, Jaco Coetzee, Marcel Theunissen, Godlen Masimla, Tim Swiel, Ruhan Nel.

Kickoff: 7pm.

Jake White was clearly having a bit of a laugh when he said his Bulls team might go to Newlands on Saturday and not kick at all in their Currie Cup opener against great rivals Western Province at Newlands, but the canny World Cup winning coach has already had the last laugh with the way he has turned things around at Loftus Versfeld.

White has always given a good press conference because he is engaging, loves a chat and he is not averse to playing a few mind games, especially before the big matches. In domestic terms, it seldom gets any bigger than the Bulls against the Stormers/Western Province, the famous north versus south derby.

Probably the most impressive feature though of White’s coaching at Loftus Versfeld has been the way the Bulls have shown the ability to play different kinds of rugby. The general expectation when he arrived in Pretoria was that the Bulls would play a conservative brand of rugby, going back to their old strengths of almost 10-man rugby: a powerful pack dominating the tight exchanges and then the halfbacks kicking the leather off the ball and the stuffing out of the opposition.

And while White has recently been giving hints that they will need to perfect the conservative approach once they start playing in the Pro16 competition in the miserable European winter, the Bulls backs have been playing with a new-found verve and sparkle. Sevens Springboks seem to be having a much bigger impact in XVs these days, but White has gone further than most in choosing three of them in his backline – Kurt-Lee Arendse, Stedman Gans and Cornal Hendricks.

White has never been a great publisher of his strategic thinking in the build-up to his campaigns, but there was barely a hint of Hendricks’ move to inside centre before it happened in the official opening friendly of the season, the Bulls’ game against the Sharks on SuperFan Saturday.

While many viewed the decision with trepidation – especially those used to the normal big bruisers who have played inside centre for the Bulls – White’s eye for talent and shrewd rugby brain has once again been proven because Hendricks has been a revelation in the No.12 jersey. He has been the key to the exciting backline play they have produced, while he has also shown no signs of vulnerability defensively.

The thing about White is that he is a true student of the game and his attention to detail is second to none; from prop to fullback, the coach will be very precise in what he wants from his players.

It has been remarkable how the Bulls have gone from the lower reaches of the 2020 Super Rugby log, winning just one of their six matches before Covid-19 struck, to the champion team in South Africa, but that’s what happens when hard work is backed up by tactical excellence and a coach who has the experience and nous to get the little things, that make such a big difference, right.

While White’s lateral thinking has taken him to the perimeters of rugby wisdom at times, he also puts great store in the importance of the basics. Little wonder then that in his recruitment and his selection thus far he has concentrated on building the most physically intimidating, formidable pack in South Africa. Their dominance of the gain-line has been key to everything else they have tried to do on the field.

There are many who wrote White, who will turn 57 in two weeks time,  off as one of the antiques of world coaching, but the value of having an experienced, well-travelled coach – he has also worked in Australia, France and Japan – has become very apparent at Loftus Versfeld.

A great forward-planner, White has also worked hard in his position of director of rugby to put together structures for the entire Bulls system. The art of coaching is not about gimmicks or fancy moves, but mastering the basics.

White seems to be doing that at Loftus Versfeld, and a powerful Bulls team is good news for South African rugby as a whole.