Ken Borland

The man behind the favourites to become SuperRugby’s 18th franchise is French-born, studied in Paris and has citizenship in Mauritius.

Eric Series is the brains and financial muscle behind Singapore’s bid to host one of SuperRugby’s expansion franchises from 2016 and will be in South Africa this week to have discussions with SARU chief executive Jurie Roux.

The 18th franchise – debuting in 2016 alongside the Southern Kings and an Argentinian team – will be playing in the South African Conference and Singapore’s bid is the favourite because the Republic is firmly in their corner.

Sanzar have confirmed that Singapore and Japan are the two bidders remaining in contention, having rejected proposals from South Africa’s Mpumalanga Pumas, Namibia, Kenya, three interested parties from the United Kingdom and two from North America.

The main reason for South Africa to favour Singapore ahead of Japan is that the city-state is only a 10-and-a-half hour flight away, while the 2019 Rugby World Cup hosts are a further eight hours north-east. Flying to Australia and New Zealand from Singapore is also much easier than from Japan.

Series, a businessman who studied law and economics, has been heavily involved in rugby for the last three years through his ownership of the Asia Pacific Dragons, a Barbarians-style invitational team that showcases the talent outside of Australasia. Getting strong Pacific Islanders representation into SuperRugby would be another big attraction for Sanzar.

The 37-year-old also has major business interests in New Zealand – Sealegs, the makers of amphibious vehicles, are the “Marine” sponsors of the All Blacks and last year Series became an investor in the Chiefs. He is also the chairman of Samoa Water.

Counting against Singapore is the fact that Japan has much more of a rugby culture, the IRB (who have no say in the Sanzar decision) would obviously favour the 2019 World Cup hosts and they have much better local players and a thriving league.

But Singapore’s team would be built around Pacific Islanders, who have the physicality to survive in the most gruelling competition on earth (largely because of the travel), and Series has pointed out that there is already a precedent for getting other players in Asia involved through the Asia Pacific Dragons.

“We firmly believe that the Pacific Islands players must be strongly represented in the expanded format in 2016 and the composition of our Asia Pacific Dragons side is the ideal platform to include these players and also to capitalise on the growth in Asia,” Series told The Sunday Samoan.

“The issue has always been where the Pacific Islands team could play and how it could work commercially. This is where the Asia Pacific Dragons provides the perfect platform. Pacific Islands players are the heart of our squads, with other players being selected from the whole region.

“Sanzar have already publically stated that any new team must be competitive. That would be a given with Islanders being at the core of our squad, but we would also see the option for more Japanese players having opportunities to gain SuperRugby experience as well and create a meaningful pathway for Asian players in the future.”

Cherry Blossoms coach Eddie Jones has revealed himself as the president of the Japanese bid’s fan club and Australia are also favouring them.

The former Wallabies coach has been an eager basher of Singapore’s bid, describing it as “a joke”.

“Sanzar will lose all credibility if Singapore is selected to serve South African interests with a less demanding travel load. If travel is the deciding factor, then Dubai should be selected and rugby ethos and history ignored altogether,” Jones said.

But Sanzar have shown they are not asses when it comes to spotting the best financial deal and the deep pockets of Series, and the answer he provides to the Islander “problem”, could well see Australia isolated.

The strong support of the Singapore government, who are driving large sums of money into sports development, adds further lustre to the Series bid.

Ultimately, however, the three founding nations – South Africa, New Zealand and Australia – have to agree or else the decision will have to go to mediation, as was the case in 2009 when the Melbourne Rebels won a franchise ahead of the Southern Kings.

Assupol Tuks finished the group stages of the Red Bull Campus Cricket Finals on top of Group 2 on Wednesday as they saw off a determined Jamaica Inter-Collegiate Sports Association side by 56 runs at Wormsley Cricket Ground in London.

Tuks will now play the defending champions, Rizvi College of Mumbai, the Indian representatives, in the semi-finals on Saturday at the Oval, while the other semi-final is between the University of New South Wales and the Jamaicans, who finished second in Group 2.

The West Indian representatives in the T20 Varsity World Cup were chasing 179 for victory and, with opener Oraine Williams scoring an aggressive 55 off 38 balls, they reached 83 for two after 12 overs against the hitherto unchallenged University of Pretoria students.

But spinners Aiden Markram and David Mogotlane killed off the uprising, sharing six wickets for just 20 runs in five overs as the Jamaicans collapsed to 122 all out.

A well-judged innings of 76 off 56 balls by Markram had earlier been the foundation of the Tuks innings as they scored 178 for five in their 20 overs after electing to bat first.

SA U19 captain Markram then completed a stellar all-round performance by taking three for 12 in three overs with his off-breaks, while Mogotlane was also outstanding with three for eight in two overs.

Williams ensured the Jamaicans made a fine start to their run-chase, but Mogotlane dismissed him at the end of the 11th over and the last eight wickets fell for just 48 runs in 8.3 overs.

The slow left-armer then picked up the wickets of captain Delbert Gayle (7), to a wonderful return catch, and Kimani Morgan (2) with successive deliveries in the 16^th over to kill off any lingering hopes the West Indians had.

A change of tactics saw Markram bowl the second over of the innings and it bore immediate fruit with Javaughn Buchanan sweeping the fourth ball to backward square-leg.

Markram was the obvious choice for man of the match, but the tall right-hander enjoyed the strong support of the middle-order in the Tuks innings.

The Jamaicans claimed the wickets of Gerry Pike (4) and Theunis de Bruyn (16) inside the first four overs, but Johan Wessels then scored 30 off 26 deliveries as 55 was added for the third wicket in 9.3 overs.

Markram batted through to the final over and quickfire contributions from Heinrich Klaasen (22) and Sean Dickson (19*) ensured the powerful finish Tuks needed to bat the Jamaicans out of the game.

Tuks coach Pierre de Bruyn said his team could not be going into the semi-finals in better shape.

“I’m over the moon with the results, we’ve had two bonus-point wins and all departments have been tested and come up with the goods.

“We had a batting man of the match in the first game [Theunis de Bruyn], a bowler [Corbin Bosch] in the second match and today Aidan’s all-round performance.

‘I was delighted with the way we started, we summed up conditions quickly and although we’ve had some individual brilliance, there’ve been two or three other players contributing greatly in every game,” De Bruyn said.

http://thesportseagle.co.za/cricket/tuks-see-jamaican-uprising/

It was a month ago to the day that Russell Domingo, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers set off from O.R. Tambo International Airport on a new era for South African cricket, their first assignment a daunting tour of Sri Lanka, where the Proteas have found it hardest to win.

On Tuesday they returned triumphant, full of smiles, after beating the in-form Sri Lankans on their home turf in both the ODI and Test series; the Proteas are as much champions as the Springbok Sevens team who were on the same flight from Dubai with Commonwealth Games gold medals.

“We knew going to Sri Lanka would be a very tough tour, but the ODI series win gave us lots of confidence. We weren’t favourites for the Tests, though, but winning the first Test gave us that tag. Everyone just clicked at the same time,” Test captain Amla said on Tuesday.

“Last year we came back from a tough tour of Sri Lanka and we were much more glum. Now we are very excited and proud, beating Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in both formats. Our record there over the last 20 years shows how tough it is to do that,” coach Domingo said.

Six-and-a-half months out from the World Cup, ODI captain De Villiers was also understandably buoyant as the 2-1 series victory takes their record to 10 wins in their last 14 matches.

“You can never be perfectly ready for a World Cup, but I’m very comfortable with where we are at the moment. The players have a greater understanding of their roles and I know my players better, who I can rely on in pressure situations, who I can strike with and who I maybe need to rally around at times,” De Villiers said.

Despite the positive mood, however, the Proteas know that there are areas that they need to address if they are to hang on to the number one Test ranking and be challengers at the World Cup.

The Test side can obviously do with a more solid opening partnership and a more consistent frontline spinner and, although Domingo backed the incumbents in these positions, his eye is surely on them.

“We know we’re not the finished article, there’s still a lot of tinkering to be done. This is very much a new start, with new faces. I’m not saying we’re going to experiment, but there is space for one or two guys to get an opportunity. Sri Lanka is not the right place to blood new players and it was our most experienced players who really fired over there,” Domingo said.

Imran Tahir, despite his heroics with the bat at the end of the second Test, tended to provide a four-ball an over with his leg-spin and an average of 47.17 after 15 Tests as a strike bowler suggests that the selectors’ patience may be wearing thin when it comes to five-day cricket.

“It’s tough for a spinner in the sub-continent because there’s a lot of pressure on you, people always look to the spinner to do well. But Sri Lanka have some of the best players of spin in the world and I honestly felt Imran bowled better than his figures suggest. His performances weren’t as good as he knows he can be, but he can still offer a helluva lot in all formats,” Domingo said in defence of the leggie, who took four wickets at an average of 84 in the Tests.

“There are not many opening batsmen with the pedigree of Alviro Petersen in domestic cricket and, with Graeme Smith retiring, it’s very difficult to replace two opening batsmen. Alviro has played 32 Tests and scored five centuries, including knocks of 182 and 156, so he has the potential to play match-winning innings, he has the experience and a calm head,” Domingo said of the 33-year-old, who has scored just 133 runs in eight innings this year.

For De Villiers, the biggest improvement needed in the ODI side is in the fielding.

“There are lots of areas to improve, but especially in the field. We’re not the strongest in the world there, but we should be in the top two or three by the time we get to the World Cup,” De Villiers said.

The tour to Zimbabwe – the one-off Test in Harare starts on August 9 and is followed by three ODIs and then a triangular series of four more matches with Australia – provides the opportunity for some fringe players to get game time.

Whether the management feel comfortable moving Stiaan van Zyl, a number three batsman, up to open instead of Petersen, or giving Quinton de Kock the job, and causing more questions over who takes the gloves, remains to be seen. And off-spinner Dane Piedt could be worth a run in relatively stress-free conditions in Zimbabwe.

Domingo did suggest, however, that the three ODIs before the triangular series could see some senior players being rested, particularly the pace bowlers.

“Nobody wants to be rested for Test matches and it’s not easy to chop and change the Test side, but in the ODIs we’ll probably rest Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander for the first three games. We played those three frontline seamers consistently in an ODI series for the first time in Sri Lanka and it paid off in a big way, but the Zimbabwe games are an ideal opportunity to look at younger fast bowlers like Kyle Abbott and Wayne Parnell, who haven’t had much game time,” the coach said.

While De Villiers said he felt much more confident in the ODI captaincy, the promotion of Amla to Test skipper was another major feature of the Sri Lankan tour. And, as expected, it was an obvious success.

“The Tests were a testament to Hashim’s ability to lead, he got the best out of his players and, in a very tense situation on the last day, they pulled through. That’s partly because the captain had such a cool head himself,” Domingo said.

The determination of this Proteas side can perhaps be summed up in Amla’s tenacious first-innings century in the second Test and the new captain admitted that he felt some relief after his 139 not out followed innings of 11 and 22 in Galle.

“You want to contribute as captain and, although it is still a bit too early to tell whether the captaincy affects by batting, I was really glad to get a century under the belt, it settled me into the captaincy.

“The final day in Colombo showed the extreme hunger and passion in this side to represent our country as best we can. The guys put averages aside, put the ego that makes you want to score runs to one side. The best example of that was JP Duminy, who scored six runs off 123 balls, which is never easy to do. But that’s what you need to be successful,” Amla said.

This Proteas side certainly seem to know the magic formula of success and the new era under Amla has enjoyed the smoothest of introductions.

The Jamaica Inter-Collegiate Sports Association received the same disdainful treatment as the rest of the sides in Group 2 of the Red Bull Campus Cricket Finals as Assupol Tuks brushed them aside by 56 runs at Wormsley Cricket Ground yesterday.

A well-judged innings of 76 off 56 balls by Aiden Markram was the foundation of the Tuks innings as the University of Pretoria scored 178 for five in their 20 overs after electing to bat first.

SA U19 captain Markram then completed a stellar all-round performance by taking three for 12 in three overs with his off-breaks, while fellow spinner David Mogotlane was also outstanding with three for eight in two overs.

Opening batsman Oraine Williams ensured the Jamaicans made a fine start to their run-chase with an aggressive 55 off 38 balls, taking them to 66 for one at the halfway mark, but Mogotlane dismissed him at the end of the 11th over and the last eight wickets fell for just 48 runs in 8.3 overs.

The slow left-armer then picked up the wickets of captain Delbert Gayle (7), to a wonderful return catch, and Kimani Morgan (2) with successive deliveries in the 16^th over to kill off any lingering hopes the West Indians had.

A change of tactics saw Markram bowl the second over of the innings and it bore immediate fruit with Javaughn Buchanan sweeping the fourth ball to backward square-leg.

Markram was the obvious choice for man of the match, but the tall right-hander enjoyed the strong support of the middle-order in the Tuks innings.

The Jamaicans claimed the wickets of Gerry Pike (4) and Theunis de Bruyn (16) inside the first four overs, but Johan Wessels then scored 30 off 26 deliveries as 55 was added for the third wicket in 9.3 overs.

Markram batted through to the final over and quickfire contributions from Heinrich Klaasen (22) and Sean Dickson (19*) ensured the powerful finish Tuks needed to bat the Jamaicans out of the game.

Tuks will now play the defending champions, Rizvi College of Mumbai, the Indian representatives, in the semi-finals on Saturday at the Oval.

The other semi-final is between the University of New South Wales and the Jamaicans, who finished second in Group 2.

Tuks coach Pierre de Bruyn said his team could not be going into the semi-finals in better shape.

“I’m over the moon with the results, we’ve had two bonus-point wins and all departments have been tested and come up with the goods.

“We had a batting man of the match in the first game [Theunis de Bruyn], a bowler [Corbin Bosch] in the second match and today Aidan’s all-round performance.

‘I was delighted with the way we started, we summed up conditions quickly and although we’ve had some individual brilliance, there’ve been two or three other players contributing greatly in every game,” De Bruyn said.