Ken Borland

Jasper Wiese will now be the man the Springboks turn to to wear the No.8 jersey and try and make up for the much-mourned absence of Duane Vermeulen, while the much-criticised replacement of prop Ox Nche for the second half of the first Test against the British and Irish Lions has now officially been confirmed as being due to injury.

Nche, who held his own against highly-rated Lions tighthead Tadhg Furlong and was typically impactful in open play, will sadly miss the second Test on Saturday due to a neck injury he picked up towards the end of the first half. It has forced a rejigging of the Springboks’ front-row plans, with Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe now the starting props. Trevor Nyakane, who also did well last weekend, will now cover loosehead from the bench, with Vincent Koch brought in as the tighthead reserve.

But scrummaging was not the Springboks’ major issue in the first Test defeat. In the second half they were exposed in the aerial battle and there was little explosive gainline work either. Wiese, who has been a superb offensive ball-carrier for Leicester Tigers, will hopefully be able to bring some improvement in both problem areas.

“Jasper has been part of our plans and he could form a nice combination with Kwagga Smith coming off the bench too and able to play to his strengths. His main role will be the same as Kwagga’s last week – to get and stop momentum and he was Player 24 last weekend. He’ll have another week of preparation now to get used to how we do things.

“He did very well in the Premiership, his carries were so dominant. Tactically I was probably not sharp enough last weekend to protect Kwagga on the high balls, he was hung out to dry a bit. So we have changed things around there and we want to see from Jasper what got him into the squad. We just needed to improve on how we handled the contestable kicks in the second half,” Nienaber said at the team announcement on Monday.

Smith and Marco van Staden both coming off the bench are certainly two high-energy players and the Springboks have returned to the 6/2 split on the replacements bench they used so successfully in winning the World Cup. That makes Damian Willemse the key backline substitute, fulfilling the role of the veteran Francois Steyn in Japan in 2019.

“Damian has participated in all of the warm-up games and has had time at 12, 15 and 10, similar to what Frans Steyn gave us. He’s versatile and we’ve introduced him into the various roles. We’re comfortable that he can slot into all three of centre, fullback and flyhalf. We’re comfortable the backs can now all handle a full 80 minutes, after a couple of guys had been in isolation for 10 days before the first Test.

“We knew it was going to be tough last week, which is why we didn’t go for the 6/2 split, guys had just not been exposed enough to training, someone like Handre Pollard started cramping. Now they have all been exposed to high-intensity rugby, they are topped up and the muscle memory will still be there having dropped off after isolation,” Nienaber said.

Springbok team: Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handré Pollard (vice-captain), Faf de Klerk, Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff. Bench – Malcolm Marx, Trevor Nyakane, Vincent Koch, Lood de Jager, Marco van Staden, Kwagga Smith, Herschel Jantjies, Damian Willemse.

The Sharks’ Currie Cup stars have enjoyed a five-week break in the sun and fun of Durban, but now is the time for them to start filtering back into action, with coach Sean Everitt on Thursday naming 13 of the squad that played in the final in the line-up for Saturday’s preparation series match against the Lions in Johannesburg. New arrival Siya Kolisi is still conspicuous by his absence, however.

Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Lukhanyo Am, Dylan Richardson, Thomas du Toit and Curwin Bosch will all return to action on Saturday, but Springbok captain Kolisi will have to wait a little longer for his first match in the Black and White jersey following his move from the Stormers.

“These matches are about opportunity and game time for the whole 45-man squad and we’ve rotated after two matches because it’s time to make changes now and bring the seniors back. After a five-week break they ae ready to rock-and-roll. We showed we can vary our play in the Currie Cup and now it’s about developing confidence in our style of play.

“Siya is still in his pre-season, he’s just completed his first full week of training. Our defence and attack systems are very different to what he’s used to and it does take time. We’ll give hm a go next week if we feel he understands our systems well enough, but it’s by no means a definite,” Everitt said on Thursday.

A couple of interesting new youngsters will make the trip up to the big city with the Sharks.

Centre Rynhard Jonker, the son of leading referee Marius, is a Glenwood High School product who Everitt said the Sharks have recruited for his utility and creative skills, while replacement lock Emile van Heerden is an U21 star who is the son of former Springbok Fritz.

Sharks – Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok, Lukhanyo Am (C), Rynhard Jonker, Yaw Penxe, Boeta Chamberlain, Sanele Nohamba, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Mpilo Gumede, Henco Venter, Reniel Hugo, Le Roux Roets, John-Hubert Meyer, Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola. Bench: Dylan Richardson, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Thomas du Toit, Emile van Heerden, Thembelani Bholi, Grant Williams, Curwin Bosch, Marius Louw.

They may not have Quinton de Kock nor Faf du Plessis, but the Titans are not in any way uncomfortable with their absence as they start their CSA T20 Challenge campaign against the Knights at Kingsmead on Friday morning, thanks to the riches in playing depth they have and their unavailability being communicated well in advance.

Even without De Kock, who is on a “mental health break”, and Du Plessis, heading to the Pakistan Super League to join Dale Steyn at the Quetta Gladiators, the Titans have six White Proteas to squeeze into the five slots allowed for them and it seems champion off-spinner Simon Harmer will not be playing in the opening game on Friday, thus allowing batsman Theunis de Bruyn to get a shot. The other White Proteas in the squad are captain Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar and Chris Morris, who on Thursday became the most expensive overseas player ever in the IPL.

“We’re probably a bit overstocked to be honest and Quinny and Faf not being available was communicated to us early on. It wouldn’t make sense to force them to play. Quinny was very open and honest with us a while ago that he would need a break after the Pakistan tour and Faf put in his request to skip the competition a while ago too. It doesn’t make sense to force people to play when they’re not in a good space, they’re unlikely to perform well,” Titans CEO Jacques Faul told The Citizen on Thursday.

Pace bowler Kyle Abbott is another conspicuous absentee from the Titans squad having only played the one Momentum One-Day Cup match for them since his high-profile signing. But Faul confirmed they “still have long-term plans” for Abbott, who has played 11 Tests, 28 ODIs and 21 T20s for the Proteas.

The Knights only have three Proteas in their squad – veteran Farhaan Behardien, Pite van Biljon and new international Jacques Snyman, but it is surely only a matter of time before Raynard van Tonder and Migael Pretorus earn their first caps and the Central Franchise are a well-balanced, powerful outfit.

The return of tighthead prop Thomas du Toit to the Sharks line-up and the absence of loosehead Steven Kitshoff for Western Province will be an obvious shift in the fortunes of the two teams for the Currie Cup semi-final at Newlands on Saturday, but Sharks coach Sean Everitt said on Thursday that it is what happens after the set-pieces that is of more importance than the scrum or lineout itself.

Everitt was able to choose both his Springbok props in Du Toit and Ox Nche on Thursday, while Kitshoff, South Africa’s No.1 loosehead and one of the world’s best in that position, was ruled out of the semi-final due to Covid-19 protocols.

“Even if you get set-piece dominance, what happens next is the important thing. After a dominant scrum or lineout is does make getting the gainline advantage easier, but the set-pieces are just a platform to play from. There are lot of other aspects that have to take place to get points on the board. But it will be good to have Thomas back after he was out for quite a while with Covid problems and injury before that.

“The set-piece battle is about the unit though and although Kitshoff is one of the best and exceptionally fit, Ali Vermaak is a good player as well and Western Province still have Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, JD Schickerling and Salmaan Moerat so it is a formidable tight five. So we certainly cannot take it easier and we are never happy when someone falls sick,” Everitt said on Thursday.

While Everitt had the full complement of players to choose from, the Sharks’ tight five does show a couple of changes from the outfit that would have been considered the first-choice selection a few weeks ago. The selections of Fez Mbatha to start at hooker and JJ van der Mescht at lock point to the KwaZulu-Natalians bulking up the scrum to counter Western Province’s key strength.

“Fez Mbatha went really well against Griquas and made the scrum stronger; Dan Jooste was struggling wit an eye injury last week and we actually weren’t sure whether he’d be fit this weekend, so he will start off the bench. JJ van der Mescht is purely picked on merit, he had one of his best performances against Griquas and Hyron Andrews hasn’t played for a while so we didn’t feel his body could last the whole 80 minutes.

“One would obviously like the continuity of playing every weekend and picking the same players, but we are level-pegging in that regard with the other three teams in the semi-finals. It’s all about how you train and the quality of your preparation. It’s a bit like the first game of the season, we all worry about how we’re going to go. But we’re on an equal footing with Western Province, it’s not as if they’ve been playing either,” Everitt said.

Sharks: Aphelele Fassi, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (c), Marius Louw, Yaw Penxe, Curwin Bosch, Sanele Nohamba, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Henco Venter, Dylan Richardson, Ruben van Heerden, JJ van der Mescht, Thomas du Toit, Fezokuhle Mbatha, Ox Nche. Bench – Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola, Michael Kumbirai, Hyron Andrews, Thembelani Bholi, Jaden Hendrikse, Jeremy Ward, Manie Libbok.