Ken Borland

The Ford Pumas used the rolling maul to great attacking effect as they hammered the Boland Cavaliers 33-10 (half-time 26-3) in their Absa Currie Cup First Division match at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday.

The Cavaliers were at sixes and sevens trying to stop the powerful Pumas pack and it took just three minutes before flank Jaco Bouwer was at the back of a rolling maul to dot down for the opening try.

Flyhalf Carl Bezuidenhout converted for the home side, but his opposite number, Elgar Watts, brought Boland back within four points with a penalty in the eighth minute.

But the Pumas were in firm control by the end of the first quarter as Bezuidenhout used slick hands and quick feet to get in the gap and score their second try, followed soon afterwards by Bouwer once again dotting down in the maul.

Bezuidenhout converted both tries and the Pumas were 21-3 in front in 17 minutes.

Bouwer’s hat-trick try completed a hellish first half for the Cavaliers, the visitors going into the break 3-26 down.

Things would go better for the visitors in the second half as they made a host of substitutions, but Pumas captain and centre JW Jonker was able to go over in the 63rd minute to stretch the lead to 33-3 after Bezuidenhout’s conversion.

The Cavaliers were well and truly chasing the game in the final quarter and replacement centre Jonathan Francke sped over for their only try with 13 minutes remaining.

The Pumas, controversially relegated from the Premier Division, certainly made a bold statement as they go in chase of the title the Boland Cavaliers won last year.

SCORERS

Ford Pumas – Tries: Jaco Bouwer (3), Carl Bezuidenhout, JW Jonker. Conversions: Bezuidenhout (4).

Regent Boland Cavaliers – Try: Jonathan Francke. Conversion: Elgar Watts. Penalty: Watts.

– http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120707/Pumas_hammer_Cavaliers

The Valke, with their pack making the hard yards, successfully stymied the dangerous Border backs as they beat the Bulldogs 33-11 (half-time 19-6) in their Absa Currie Cup First Division match at Buffalo City Municipal Stadium in East London on Friday.

The Valke’s dominant, bulky pack was able to make life very difficult for the Bulldogs backs, who had to put up with back-foot ball almost throughout the game.

The weather might have been cooler in East London, but the Valke were hot, with flank Jacques Nieuwenhuis, freshly back from France, and flyhalf Karlo Aspeling revelling in the platform provided by their tight forwards.

Aspeling showed the silky handling skills of flyhalves in a bygone era as he dummied his way through for the opening try, in the fifth minute, and his deceptive running also set up the try on the stroke of half-time by centre Willie Odendaal that gave the Valke a 19-6 lead.

The Valke then scored in the first minute of the second half as Nieuwenhuis charged over and, even though the Bulldogs replied with a fine try by eighthman Lubabalo Mzwakali, it was a forlorn enterprise as the Gautengers remained in control and added to their tally with a second try to Namibian international Nieuwenhuis.

Aspeling’s fine game also extended to his kicking, as he also slotted four conversions.

The Valke’s other try came in the 38th minute as they kept things tight and hooker Werner du Preez, a tidy replacement, forced his way over the line.

While Aspeling was one of the standout players, he was well-served by scrumhalf Jaco Snyman, who invariably took the right options. The Valke were also helped by having two formidable locks in Johann de Bruin and Christopher Yearsley.

SCORERS

Border Bulldogs – Try: Lubabalo Mzwakali. Penalties: Reinhard Gerber (2).

Valke – Tries: Karlo Aspeling, Werner du Preez, Willie Odendaal, Jacques Nieuwenhuis (2). Conversions: Aspeling (4).

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/currie-cup-first-division/news/120706/Valke_beat_Bulldogs

Pierre Spies has served the Springboks under Jake White, Peter de Villiers and now Heyneke Meyer, and the eighthman says South Africa’s newest coach’s strengths of precise planning and mental skills will keep the team moving forward.

“It’s been a great privilege to play under three Springbok coaches now and they’ve all had a significant impact on my career,” Spies tells Midi Olympique at his home fortress of Loftus Versfeld.

“Heyneke has such amazing plans set out for the team and has a great pride in the Springbok jersey. He is someone who really enjoys the psychological side of things and he always has an interesting story to tell which motivates the players.

“That’s what makes him special and also that he is such a meticulous planner.”

Spreading the ball wide is not a major feature of the Meyer plan and Spies explains that this was because he wanted the Springboks to play to their strengths – massive forwards who can carry the ball and dominate the tight phases.

“It’s important for us to get momentum, to build pressure and then convert that into points, because that’s what rugby is about. The result is all that matters,” Spies says.

The Springboks began the Meyer era with a 2-0 series win over England, but the final Test was drawn 14-14 in Port Elizabeth with the home side struggling to match the hunger and intensity of the visitors.

“It’s important that we learn from the last game, but I think the series as a whole went really well. We were together as a group for just three weeks and it was a massive challenge because England had been together for the whole Six Nations and were desperate for the result.

“We had to work really hard, but Heyneke and the management team planned things properly and we were able to build and lay a good foundation for the Rugby Championship,” Spies says.

While the 27-year-old believes the Springboks can only get better, he adds that England have sent out a clear message that they are gearing up well for another World Cup challenge on home turf in 2015.

“England have some great players and if they can keep this squad together for a few more years, then they will definitely be a threat at the next World Cup,” Spies says.

“But we’ve also laid a good foundation. England were definitely fresher than us and had much better preparation because we came straight off SuperRugby, while they played Six Nations together and then had a break.

“That’s why it was such a good result for us. We hadn’t played together for a while and the only way for us to get better is by playing together,” Spies says.

The former wing is heading into a crunch game for his Bulls team on Friday night when they take on the Sharks in Durban. Defeat for Spies and his men will signal the end of the road for their hopes of topping the South African Conference.

But even so, it has still been an impressive campaign for the Bulls, considering they have lost so much experience with the departures of Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez, Bakkies Botha, Danie Rossouw, Gurthro Steenkamp, Gary Botha and Derick Kuhn.

“As a group, at the beginning of the season, we looked at the calendar and set goals for ourselves. Even though we lost a lot of experience, we still have the right mix of youth and talent and experience. Hopefully this will set us up for the years ahead.

“The management group has set us up nicely for the final run-in now and we’re heading into an exciting part of the tournament. There’s a lot at stake, but we must just focus on our play and our processes.”

With the changing of the guard at Loftus Versfeld, Spies was given the captaincy and the committed Christian has handled the added responsibility relatively easily.

“It’s a journey on which I learn every day. I’m just very proud to be part of such a talented group. There’s a great environment created by the management and the culture around the players is very special.

“It’s a great honour and I learn a lot every day. Hopefully I’ll be captain for a few more seasons,” Spies says.

With the publication of his autobiography, More than Rugby, last year, Spies revealed an impressive ability to rise above hardship – the loss of his father when he was still a teenager and injuries that kept him out of the U19 World Championship and the 2007 World Cup with a potentially career-ending blood condition.

So it is no surprise that he still believes the Bulls have a date with destiny with the SuperRugby final on August 4.

“Our mentality is the same as always, we want to win every game.”

And after that comes the Rugby Championship, which the Springboks will finish on October 6 at the stunning FNB Stadium in Soweto, the venue for the 2010 Soccer World Cup final.

Cricket South Africa may have been restored to reasonably good health, but like the nasty winter flu that just won’t go away, the bonus scandal is still causing all manner of coughs and splutters next door at the offices of the Gauteng Cricket Board.

While Gerald Majola reaped the whirlwind of his duplicated bonuses and has been blown away from the CSA offices, an icy wind is howling through the corridors of the Wanderers and its source is seemingly the same.

It was Gauteng cricket that first raised questions about Majola and his handling of the IPL and whether he was paid bonuses that were not in keeping with good governance, and the then-CSA CEO’s heavy-handed response was to remove the GCB board by way of the Langa Commission, using the lack of transformation in the province as an excuse.

A new board, headed by an interim administrator in former International Cricket Council president Ray Mali, was put in place in August 2010, with representation from each of the race groups involved in Gauteng cricket.

With the two-year term of that administration coming to an end in August, each of these groups is now seemingly jostling for position in what is becoming an ugly power struggle.

A group of Premier League clubs has accused Mali of either wanting to continue his stay or making decisions, such as extending acting CEO Cassim Docrat’s contract by a year, that will effect Gauteng cricket long after August.

Earlier this year, they attempted, unsuccessfully, to remove Mali and four other GCB directors, all of them black.

“When CSA placed Gauteng cricket under administration, there was never consensus, the clubs reluctantly agreed to what was meant to be an experimental structure. All sorts of things have been going on in the meantime and the clubs don’t feel they are effectively represented in Gauteng cricket anymore, because of this purely political act,” Keith Lister, who describes himself as a “volunteer in Gauteng cricket for 25 years” and is “assisting” the disenchanted Premier League clubs, told Mail & Guardian.

Lister says CSA are trying to run Gauteng cricket from across Corlett Drive.

“The clubs have rights and we won’t be bullied into being told what to do by CSA. They should be the servants of the provinces’ interests, but they want us to toe the line because of what they say is our history and because we brought the game into disrepute.

“Why do they think they have this power over us? Nowhere in the Langa Commission does it say in terms of Articles X, Y or Z that CSA has this power.

“And how did Gauteng cricket bring the game into disrepute? Who actually did?” Lister asks.

But both Mali and CSA acting CEO Jacques Faul have given assurances that the interim administration will end on August 31.

“My term ends on August 31, but this [attempt to oust him before that] affects the gains that have been achieved. There is a process, a formula, a way of doing things. Why has this happened after 21 months? Keith Lister was part of the process, they made submissions and this was the agreed-upon route, which must take its full course.

“I was not just imposed on the GCB, the structures agreed on my name which was put forward by [former GCB chairman] Mtutuzeli Nyoka,” Mali said.

Faul said there was no intention to extend the interim administration and he hoped that would bring an end to the bonus scandal.

“I am not aware that we are considering extending the period of administration and I am of the opinion that it will not be in the best interests of CSA or GCB to do that.

“We also note that no club objected to the administration for 21 months out of 24, and we are uncertain of the motive for doing so now. We do not see the matter, should it continue, being resolved within a month of the termination of administration and again question why certain individuals would want to do that at this very late stage.

“We can only hope that this is not a result of the division that was caused by the bonus scandal and that the GCB has become the battlefield for this very sad chapter of our cricket history. All indications are that the GCB will not be under administration after August 2012,” Faul said.

The new Gauteng cricket constitution is also set to be adopted at the AGM in August and could be the motive for the power struggle.

“Gauteng requires a new constitution and it is imperative to transform and restructure the administrative body. The board is committed to a new identity for Gauteng cricket that will reflect the different communities. We want to reshape the landscape of cricket in the province – there must be no domination of one group over another!” Mali said.

The chief stumbling block in the proposed new constitution is over voting rights: The old constitution gives Premier League clubs extra votes, while the proposal is to implement a system of one club, one vote, although Mali has indicated a willingness to compromise and have one team, one vote.

“The voting rights goes to the heart of the problem. The current board approved Premier League status for new clubs, which we objected to on cricketing and constitutional grounds. It increases the power of some clubs, while diluting the power of others,” Lister admits.

“Should a Sunday morning twenty20 club have the same power as a Premier League team? I understand the argument that the old traditionally white clubs are clinging to power, but I don’t think that’s so. There are responsible people taking care of the Premier League clubs and they support transformation in the Premier League.”

While the targets of the Lister-assisted clubs were all black, Mali says he does not believe the issue is a racial one.

“I won’t say it’s a racial issue. I would term it a power struggle,” he said.

The issue of power is clear when CSA acting president Willie Basson says things like: “Considering their history, they [Lister’s clubs] need to very seriously consider their positions and their actions from here onward. There are various options; CSA can withdraw or CSA can prolong the period of administration.” [Business Day, June 6]

The response of Daniel Phetla, the chairman of Alexandra Cricket Club, was “On the (Gauteng) board there have been murmurs that it could be extended. When people talk like that you start to wonder if we are moving towards a dictatorial situation; that’s a sign of Mugabeism.” [Business Day, June 22].

Lister has gone so far as to accuse CSA of wanting an Apartheid-style solution.

“CSA want three chambers of equal power based on colour. Dr Verwoerd would be so proud, he would say ‘I told you so’.

“That South Africans are not capable of solving their problems unless they’re in racial groupings is utter bullshit,” Lister said.

But is the love of the game in the province going to be enough for the people involved in Gauteng cricket to solve their complex problems?