Ken Borland

Storming Cell C Sharks loose forward Jean Deysel will be unavailable for four-to-six weeks after injuring his ankle, but the fabulous news for the KwaZulu-Natal team is that Springbok regular Willem Alberts is back to full fitness and ready for action again.

Deysel, who has earned four Springbok caps himself, had what the Sharks termed a “small procedure” on his ankle after the unfortunate defeat to the Bulls and is currently on crutches.

But the return of Alberts for this weekend’s crunch encounter with the Stormers at Newlands, four weeks into the competition, can barely have come at a better time for a Sharks team that has just one victory under their belts.

Alberts has been training at full intensity for two-and-a-half weeks now and is likely to be unleashed against the South African Conference leaders on Saturday.

Renaldo Bothma has been outstanding for the Sharks thus far, so Deysel’s absence will hardly be felt with either Alberts or the former Pumas hard man taking the empty place on the bench.

Currie Cup captain Tera Mtembu is also in contention and, as he pointed out on Tuesday, there is plenty of depth at loose forward for the Sharks.

“Every guy who has stood in has done well and it’s a good headache for the coach. It’s awesome to have Willem back and he’s raring to go, but Renaldo has done very well at number seven as well,” Mtembu said.

While a lot of the blame for the Sharks’ defeat to the Bulls can be laid at the door of poor officiating, Mtembu said the team has to shoulder the responsibility for their own shortcomings.

“Obviously it was a disappointing result and we’ve been working hard on certain things for the last two days to rectify them. The main thing is our consistency. We didn’t start well against the Cheetahs, we were awesome against the Lions and then we let ourselves down last weekend. That can’t go on. The energy is there, we just need to be smarter in our decision-making,” Mtembu said.

The return of hugely experienced backs Frans Steyn and JP Pietersen to the Sharks fold will also help them to match an in-form Stormers backline.

Not all players going to Japan come back in tiptop condition, but Steyn and Pietersen are both looking in tremendous shape.

“They’ll definitely give us a lift, as old as they are, they both want to do well, they bring a lot of energy and they are going to inspire the guys around them,” Mtembu said.

The Sharks team to travel to Cape Town will be announced on Thursday.

http://citizen.co.za/337125/deysel-out-but-alberts-back/

 

Rising South African star Callum Mowat no doubt has a date with destiny waiting for him on the Sunshine Tour and the 23-year-old is confident that if it comes this week in the Africa Open at East London Golf Club, he will be ready.

Mowat, a leading amateur golfer, turned pro in 2014 and finished a highly-creditable 62nd on the Order of Merit. He has built on that solid start to his professional career with impressive recent form that saw him finish in a tie for third at the Dimension Data Pro-Am and then tied-13th at last week’s Joburg Open, earning himself over R400 000 for the fortnight and lifting him to ninth in this year’s money-list.

“I’m in good form at the moment and I’m getting used to playing alongside some top golfers, playing with my role-models, just putting that aside. I feel like I’m finding my comfort zone and if I get towards the top of the leaderboard on Sunday, I’m ready to take my chances, I’ll definitely go for it. You never know what might happen,” Mowat said on Tuesday at East London Golf Club.

Mowat was pleased with his efforts at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club in the Joburg Open, which was just the fourth co-sanctioned European Tour event he has played in. An opening round of 71 on the West Course was his undoing, but rounds of 65, 71 and 68 on the tough East Course showed what he is capable of.

“I had a good finish in the Joburg Open, but it was a pity about my start – to shoot level-par on the West Course when most of the golfers were going more deep under-par there,” Mowat said.

A tied-29th finish at last year’s Tshwane Open was his previous best finish in a co-sanctioned event, and Mowat is looking forward to competing with the best in windy coastal conditions now.

There is reportedly a gale brewing and heading towards East London in time for the Africa Open, but the Central Gauteng-based Mowat is unconcerned.

“I’ve done well in windy conditions previously and if it blows this week then I could have a look in,” the winner of the 2013 Southern Cape Amateur Championship said. “I played an SA Amateur here in East London and it’s a good course, you can do well if you keep the ball in play. I think that’s the key because there’s a lot of bush around.

“My ball-flight is lower, not like most Gauteng golfers, which helps in the wind. I’m more of a ‘feel’ golfer, I think I can manipulate the ball quite well and I enjoy playing different shots. I enjoy the challenge, you have to really think about where to hit the ball and then ‘feel’ it in there, it becomes a fun game,” Mowat said.

The shortness of the East London Golf Club course – it measures just 6051 metres but is hilly – also suits the talented all-round sportsman from King Edward VII High School.

“Pitching is my strength and on the shorter courses I’ve done better because of that. It all depends on the wind though, because if it blows the wrong way then it can make the course very long,” Mowat said.

The value of experience at the old-style course, one of the oldest in South Africa, that mixes aspects of parkland and links golf, is shown by the list of previous winners – Thomas Aiken, Darren Fichardt, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Retief Goosen – but Mowat is confident he can carry the confidence from winning at amateur level into the paid ranks.

“I think it will be the same feeling at the top of the leaderboard, there will obviously be nerves. The fact that you’re playing for money makes it a bit bigger, but it’s still the trophy you’re playing for at the end.

“You just have to try and keep it together down the stretch, it’s just a bigger event. It’s about coping with pressure and I just need to think about how I’ve done it before,” Mowat said.

– http://www.elgc.co.za/ELGCNewsroom/tabid/41/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/104/Default.aspx

 

The time to panic has arrived and Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is going to have to shed his fear of losing because the struggles of 2015 have now developed into a full-scale crisis after the shock loss to Japan in their opening World Cup match.

As magnificently as Japan played, what makes the loss even harder to swallow is that Eddie Jones telegraphed their game plan during the week; everybody knew they would go low in the tackle, bring pressure on the breakdown and move the ball away quickly from the collisions, and yet Meyer and the Springboks were unable to develop or execute a strategy to counter this.

All those tired old, injured bodies were not able to physically dominate the smallest team in international rugby, so what chance do they have against the massive Samoans? And if anyone says “no, but the Springboks will be ‘up’ for that game”, then I’d like to know what the hell was wrong with them that they couldn’t get properly motivated for the World Cup opening game?!

A defeat to Samoa will, in all probability, mean a flight home after the pool stages for the Springboks, so Meyer is now in a position where he has to go for broke.

A second-row of Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager will bring a more physical edge, which will be a prerequisite against Samoa. Francois Louw was anonymous against Japan after his injury woes and a second flank playing to the ball in Siya Kolisi could be useful. Frans Malherbe must come in for the unfit Coenie Oosthuizen.

Schalk Burger was a busy contributor, but what did he actually achieve? He is no longer a dominant force in the collisions, turning over ball far too often in contact, and constantly popping up at flyhalf or inside centre made him a disruptive force in the backline. Duane Vermeulen has to return, as captain, and maybe even Willem Alberts, if the medical team can actually get him on to a rugby field.

Zane Kirchner, after a bright opening 10 minutes, disappeared and is a total non-contributor on attack; Willie le Roux has to return at fullback to add a creative edge to a Springbok team that is a blunt weapon offensively.

Jean de Villiers has been a tremendous captain and a great player, but the emotion of a tenacious comeback should not be allowed to cloud the reality that the best centre pairing available for the Springboks right now is Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel.

It’s a great sadness that the legacy of top-class players like Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger, Fourie du Preez and De Villiers is being tarnished as they stumble on for a tournament too far. Du Preez should start at scrumhalf against Samoa and have a last chance to show that he still has a role to play for the Springboks.

 

 

 

ANDY SULLIVAN

 

The former Walker Cup representative first sprang to prominence in 2014 with five top-10 finishes to end 33^rd in the Race to Dubai. His successful year included a hole-in-one at the KLM Open, which won him a trip to space.

2015 has been a glorious year for him, beating home favourite Charl Schwartzel in a playoff, thanks to a superb approach shot from the Glendower rough, to win the SA Open, and then triumphing in the Joburg Open at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington on a tense final day.

 

BORN – 19 May 1986

COUNTRY – England

TURNED PRO – 2011

RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 7th

2015 RESULTS – 2 wins in Johannesburg at the SA Open & Joburg Open; T4 at Dubai Desert Classic

CAREER WINS –  2015 SA Open; 2015 Joburg Open

 

 

ALEX NOREN

 

His career has been hampered by injuries and he is currently on a medical extension having missed all but two events of the 2014 season due to tendonitis in both wrists. He won twice in 2011 and had seven top-10s in 2012.

He has a degree in Business Marketing from Oklahoma State University.

 

BORN – 12 July 1982

COUNTRY – Sweden

TURNED PRO – 2005

RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 10th

2015 RESULTS – 2^nd at Dubai Desert Classic, 9^th at Qatar Masters & T11 at Thailand Classic

CAREER WINS – 2009 European Masters; 2011 Wales Open; 2011 Nordea Masters

 

 

ANDREW DODT

 

The winner of the inaugural Thailand Classic and the 2010 Avantha Masters in New Delhi, he is obviously comfortable in Asia having played there throughout 2014.

A native of Brisbane in north-eastern Australia, he started playing golf when he was four, at the local Gatton Golf Club.

 

BORN – 26 January 1986

COUNTRY – Australia

TURNED PRO – 2007

RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 14th

2015 RESULTS – 1^st at Thailand Classic; T36 at Malaysian Open

CAREER WINS – 2010 Avantha Masters; 2015 Thailand Classic

 

 

GREGORY BOURDY

 

Coming from a golf-loving family, he started played the game when he was four.

His Hong Kong Open triumph came when held off a charging Rory McIlroy and he also won the Wales Open with a hat-trick of birdies.

A keen visitor to South Africa.

 

BORN – 25 April 1982

COUNTRY – France

TURNED PRO – 2003

RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 22nd

2015 RESULTS – T5 at Qatar Masters & Malaysian Open; T13 at Dubai Desert Classic

CAREER WINS – 2007 Mallorca Classic; 2008 Portugal Open; 2009 Hong Kong Open; 2013 Wales Open

 

 

THOMAS PIETERS

 

There are lofty expectations for the lanky Belgian after he won the NCAA Golf Championship while at college in the United States.

Lost to Miguel Angel Jimenez in a playoff at the Spanish Open in his rookie season last year, finishing 83^rd in the Race to Dubai. Since then his ranking has risen into the top 25 on the order of merit.

Took up golf along with his whole family when they played when on holiday in South Africa in 1997.

 

BORN – 27 January 1992

COUNTRY – Belgium

TURNED PRO – 2013

RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 24th

2015 RESULTS – T4 at Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship; T8 at Alfred Dunhill Championship; T16 Malaysian Open

CAREER WINS – 0

 

 

BYEONG-HUN AN

 

The son of two Olympic table tennis medalists, Jiao Zhimin and Ahn Jae-Hyung (she represented China and his father South Korea), An has been based in the United States for more than six years.

The youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship when he triumphed in 2009, he followed another winner into Europe in Peter Uihlein.

 

BORN – 17 September 1991

COUNTRY – South Korea

TURNED PRO – 2011

RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 27th

2015 RESULTS – T5 at Qatar Masters; T7 at Joburg Open; T12 at Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship; T13 at Dubai Desert Classic

CAREER WINS – 0

 

 

MORTEN ORUM MADSEN

 

Told the media after his memorable SA Open triumph at Glendower that his maiden win had given him more hunger but also greater calmness and no fear on the golf course.

Had seven top-20 finishes in his rookie season on tour, including a T4 finish at the Nelson Mandela Championship.

He comes from the same club, Silkeborg GK, as Thomas Bjorn, who he considers a role-model. Wanted to be a footballer, but his father finally managed to win him over to golf when he was 12.

 

BORN – 9 April 1988

COUNTRY – Denmark

TURNED PRO – 2011

RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 29th

2015 RESULTS – T4 at Dubai Desert Classic; T12 at Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship; T16 at Alfred Dunhill Championship

CAREER WINS – 2014 South African Open

 

 

ANDREW JOHNSTON

 

Finished on top of the Challenge Tour rankings in 2014 and began this season on a high with a third-placed finish at Leopard Creek.

Known as “Beef”, he is a powerful driver of the ball.

 

BORN – 18 February 1989

COUNTRY – England

TURNED PRO – 2009

RACE TO DUBAI RANKING – 33rd

2015 RESULTS – 3rd at Alfred Dunhill Championship; T35 at Dubai Desert Classic

CAREER WINS – 0