Ken Borland

Jacques Nienaber is about to go into his first assignment as head coach of the Springboks and he believes his initial career as a physiotherapist is going to be advantageous as he negotiates the slings and arrows of misfortune that inevitably go with the most high-pressured job in South African rugby.

Nienaber studied physiotherapy at the University of the Free State, where he first hooked up with Rassie Erasmus. He had moved into the strength and conditioning role with the Free State Cheetahs by the time Erasmus went from player to coach in 2005, and he then became one of the most successful defence coaches in the country when he moved with the now director of rugby to Cape Town in 2008.

“I didn’t even play for my school 1^st team, in fact I played for the 7ths at Grey College, but I love the game. My pathway to here was through being a physio. That involves what we call ‘clinical reasoning’, where you trial some treatment, then you assess and see how it goes. If it doesn’t work, you don’t sulk, you just get on to the next thing. My attitude is that you at least then know what doesn’t work.

“That attitude will help as Springbok coach because there are certain things you cannot change. You can’t control destiny, things like injuries and cards are going to happen, but we’ll give it a helluva go. We know discipline will be massive in the Lions series and we’ll be concentrating on accuracy in the fundamentals – tackles and breakdowns, make sure we execute those legally,” Nienaber said on Wednesday.

While Erasmus and Nienaber won the World Cup as much through their cerebral approach as the tremendous physicality the Springboks brought on the field, the probable loss of Duane Vermeulen and the possible absence of RG Snyman and Damian de Allende will be big blows to their efforts to overpower the British and Irish Lions.

Staying true to his ‘no sulking’ philosophy, Neinaber tried to be optimistic though on Thursday.

“The most important thing is that Damian and RG’s families are fine too after the well-documented fire pit incident. And Jesse Kriel cheered me up about Duane today when he sat in front of me on the plane and told me he had a similar injury just before the 2019 World Cup and he made a quick recovery. So when I phoned Duane I reminded him about Jesse and he said he remembered he got back in time for the World Cup.

“Accidents and injuries happen, but we can’t control them and both those incidents could have been worse. Of course they’re not ideal and I would love the full squad to be training together. It’s just the Japan-based players training at the moment, six of them, but whatever we’re doing must be meaningful, and we’re doing a lot of skill-based work,” Nienaber said.

Cricket South Africa’s Interim Board have clarified the process for the appointment of independent directors and, as long as the Members Council are still behaving like adults and have given the new MoI majority approval by 11am on Wednesday morning, what the new constitution says about the recruitment of new board members will be thoroughly explained to the public.

The Interim Board on Wednesday morning disputed suggestions published by The Citizen that they have any knowledge of who the applicants to be independent directors are and that they play any role in drawing up a shortlist for the Nominations Committee.

“The Interim Board does not know who has applied and will not be involved in the nominations process other than recruiting one former CSA president to serve on the Nominations Committee. All the applications are under lock and key in the office and will be passed on directly from the office to the Nominations Committee as soon as they are in place,” Interim Board spokeswoman Judith February told The Citizen.

The Interim Board hope to make the whole Memorandum of Incorporation public once the Special Resolution accepting it has been confirmed and will hold a briefing to take the media through the process thereafter.

The Nominations Committee also needs to be put in place later this week and that six-member panel will comprise either a men’s or women’s former international player nominated by SACA, alongside a former CSA president nominated by the Interim Board, a Members Council representative and people from the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Institute of Directors and the Legal Practice Council.

“The Interim Board is certainly not going to be appointing the new board and according to our agreement with the sports minister, nobody from the Interim Board is going to be standing for the new board,” February added.

When Lizo Gqoboka arrived in Montpellier on a short-term deal in September 2019, he was very much the new kid in town but there was a friendly South African fellow prop and man about town who helped him out considerably in Jannie du Plessis.

Gqoboka was signed by the French club as cover for the duration of the World Cup and stayed with the good doctor and his family in the city near the Mediterranean coast, and not only did Du Plessis show him the ropes at the club, but they also spent a lot of time discussing scrummaging.

And now on Saturday the Bulls loosehead prop and the veteran Springbok tighthead will be going to town on each other if they are both on the field at the same time when the Lions visit Loftus Versfeld in the opening round of the Rainbow Cup.

“I enjoy scrumming against Jannie, I did it a lot in training at Montpellier and we played against each other in the Currie Cup semifinal in January. So we know what each other can bring at scrum time, but with such experience, Jannie always has something in his back pocket. It’s difficult to scrum against a guy like him who has the attitude of always learning and getting better all the time.

“With Jannie there at the Lions, he plays a massive role in their scrum, he’s so experienced and very smart. It’s not just about power with him, you can feel it, he is very technically sound. So the young guys at the Lions like Carlu Sadie are really learning from him. The Lions scrum is very good, they have a good system and it’s going to be a nice challenge,” Gqoboka said on Tuesday.

But the Bulls scrum certainly have the credentials to win the crucial scrum battle this weekend, as they showed when they had the upper hand against the Lions in that Currie Cup semi-final and when they dominated the set-piece against the Sharks in the final. The home side might be without Springbok tighthead Trevor Nyakane due to injury, but Mornay Smith showed his ability to step up when he performed strongly off the bench in the two decisive Currie Cup matches.

“We know we can’t relax, every scrum is going to be a war so we have to show up and concentrate,” Gqoboka added.

South Africa looked like they were cleaning up in their T20 match against Pakistan at the Wanderers on Saturday with all the efficiency of a chamois cloth, but in the last five overs of both innings they were about as effective as a cheap calico cloth.

Not only did the Proteas batsmen only score 37 runs in the last five overs of their innings to go from a commanding 151 for three to a decent but far from impregnable 188 for six, but they then allowed Pakistan to go from 132 for three after 15 overs to winning by four wickets with a ball to spare.

It was wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi who had given the Proteas a strong position in the field with another brilliant spell of bowling, the world’s number one T20 bowler taking two for 29 in his four overs.

But in the last five overs there were several full tosses hit to the boundary and Pakistan went into the 20^th over needing 11 to win the first match of the series. Debutant Lizaad Williams actually bowled a decent over, the only boundary he conceded being an edge to third man, but there were two catches missed and the match came to a suitably farcical ending when the winning run came via a throw hitting the stumps and deflecting away.

Opener Mohammad Rizwan was the star of the show, scoring 74 not out off 50 balls, yet another clinical, remorseless innings by the wicketkeeper/batsman. Faheem Ashraf played a key role in the closing stages with his 30 off just 14 balls. Hasan Ali then helped finish the job with nine not out off three deliveries.

Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen were the busy bees at the wicket for South Africa, their half-centuries leading the way.

The pair added 61 for the third wicket, off 33 balls, putting the Proteas in a powerful position. Markram, a late addition to the T20 squad, looked extremely comfortable in his role opening the batting, scoring 51 off 32 deliveries.

Once he was dismissed, wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan taking a fine catch off left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz, Klaasen continued with his big hitting, collecting four sixes before he was caught at short fine leg trying to paddle Hasan.

The captain’s departure led to the buzz being lost as well, the rest of the innings rather fizzling out as Pakistan’s bowlers did exceptionally well, targeting the blockhole.

Pite van Biljon made 34 off 24 balls and the other main contributor to the innings was opener Janneman Malan, who scored a bright 24 off 16 deliveries, including a magnificent straight six off left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Debutant Wihan Lubbe hit his first ball in international cricket for four, but was deceived by a slower delivery from Hasan and caught at a wide deep mid-off two balls later.

Hasan, with two for 28, and Nawaz, who took two for 21, were the standout bowlers for Pakistan.