Ken Borland

The Springboks still have 20 of the 23 players (presuming Duane Vermeulen will be unavailable until the closing stages of the Lions series) who featured in the 2019 World Cup final available as they return to international action. So there is probably not much scope for fresh faces to burst on to the scene, but there are still opportunities for some players to show they can be trustworthy regulars in the couple of years leading into the next World Cup.

Trevor Nyakane: The 32-year-old suffered the misfortune of being injured in the first week of the 2019 World Cup and missed out on the final. One of seven props in the squad, the Bulls star will want to return to his pre-eminent place in the tighthead pecking order alongside Frans Malherbe and will need to see off the claims of Vincent Koch, who came off the bench early in the second half of the World Cup final, and the versatile pairing of Thomas du Toit and Coenie Oosthuzen, who can both be considered ‘swing props’.

But Nyakane says he is up for the challenge – “This is a completely different environment, there’s less room for error and all the players are top-quality. So you need to step up to that level, make it as hard as possible when it comes to selection, give them a headache when it comes to picking, Healthy competition Is good.”

Marco van Staden: The Bulls No.6 is sometimes described as a ‘typical fetcher who gives away lots of penalties’, but this is misleading because Van Staden has contributed in so many different aspects of play for the South African pace-setters – while he has conceded 11 penalties in the Rainbow Cup and won several turnovers, he has also won 91% of the tackles he was called to make and gains 2.1 metres per ball-carry. So he is tending towards the sort of hybrid flank that could be very useful to Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber’s replacements bench.

Rynhardt Elstadt: When people think of the 31-year-old Toulouse star, they have a picture of a hugely physical loose forward making big carries and bashing away on the gain-line. But Elstadt has developed his game at the European champions and has also become a trustworthy lineout forward. With locks Lood de Jager and RG Snyman both in doubt due to injury concerns, Elstadt has the chance to become a regular in the Springbok 23 particularly because of his utility value.

“For us, coming from this side of the world, we can have a bit more of a contribution, I hope. We have played a bit more rugby up in the northern hemisphere than the guys in the south. They have only been playing against each other, whereas we have played a lot against the guys in the Premiership and Pro14 who will be on the Lions tour. We have got quite a good feeling about it, I am really amped to be going and joining the boys and see if we can’t go and win another title,” Elstadt told the Talking Rugby Union website this week.

There has been much talk lately as regards the prospects of the world champion Springboks as they return to action in July, but we should probably ignore the extreme views of certain bitter New Zealanders who have denigrated South African rugby and also those of local journalists who have arrogantly predicted a 3-0 whitewash of the British and Irish Lions.

The familiar Bok-bashing from the Antipodes made many people in South Africa very angry, especially the suggestion that the Springboks won the World Cup due to a “helpful schedule”. I don’t remember too many people from New Zealand thinking anyone but England were going to win the final, especially after they battered the All Blacks in the semis, so it’s difficult to understand how that was an “easy” path to the trophy for Siya Kolisi’s team.

The article also churlishly wrote off South Africa’s 2019 Rugby Championship win and, perhaps most disgustingly, accused South African rugby of cowardice for not playing in the tournament last year. Author Ben Smith is normally someone whose articles I enjoy, but to just ignore the horrors of the Covid-19 pandemic and the many thousands who lost their lives, never mind the effect on the economy, was just plain ugly. Our country suffered through one of the hardest lockdowns on the planet and playing rugby would have been thoroughly irresponsible at that time. It would have been idiotic for our players to try and take on Aussies and Kiwis who had enjoyed a few months of rugby already.

The good thing about the tripe that was published though was that it provided one of the most classic take-downs on social media because director of rugby Rassie Erasmus actually replied to Smith. His response was “This always made sense to me: A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinion of a sheep.”

That was so good that it really deserved a mic drop or a “Regards, Rassie” at the end.

One can understand the bitterness of some All Blacks supporters because they play with such elan and confidence but that does not make them the best team in the world. The Springboks have chosen substance over style and they have the World Cup and the No.1 ranking to show that they are currently the team to beat.

Smith is correct though when he says talk of a Springbok whitewash should be quelled and we should be happy with just winning the series. England and semifinalists Wales showed at the World Cup that they are powerhouses of the game, while New Zealand and Australia have certainly declined, and now the British and Irish teams are sending their best of the best.

While I have no doubt that the crafty Erasmus and head coach Jacques Nienaber will have honed the Springbok team in the training camps and two Tests against Georgia in the build-up, they will still have to adapt to that step-up in intensity that Test rugby provides, especially when it’s a bunch of manic British and Irish Lions who are the opposition.

I have no doubt it’s going to be a hotly contested series, both teams are going to have to work very hard for any advantage and a 3-0 result either way is extremely unlikely. Which is the way it should be.

There is a certain mythology that grows around Lions tours and the strategic battle between Warren Gatland and Erasmus/Nienaber is going to be fascinating. Reports from the UK suggest Gatland has identified a brutal physical battle as the most important factor, but I fancy the Springboks will be a bit sneakier than to just rely on their brawn.

The last time the Springboks were preparing for action it was all about making sure they peaked for the 2019 World Cup, and Bulls prop Trevor Nyakane said on Tuesday that the same levels of readiness are now being sought ahead of the series against the British and Irish Lions.

Although no dates have yet been set for the Lions tour, the Tests are probably not much more than three months away and the Springboks based at home will only return to action this weekend with the start of the Rainbow Cup. Which itself will be cut short if the South African franchise are not allowed overseas.

Nyakane has an added complication in that he will miss the Bulls’ opening match, against the Gauteng Lions in Pretoria on Saturday, due to a rib injury. But he played a full part in the Springbok alignment camp that was held last week.

“There hasn’t been much time for big Springbok camps but we received a lot of enlightening information so we can do what is required to prepare for the Lions series. I really enjoyed it and it was good to see the unions working with each other. We were able to see how the Springbok management want to go forward and they reminded us of what is expected.

“At the World Cup, we went in firing at our best and that’s what they’re looking for again now. They were reminding us of what we produced before, what we are capable of, and work-rate things, whether they want us to gain weight or lose weight, or be fitter. So we have to make sure we meet those standards and we know what is required to play Springbok rugby,” Nyakane said on Tuesday.

In terms of the Bulls, Nyakane said they have been working hard on giving the consumers of Bulls rugby what they want: Which is more trophies, and a dominant scrum.

“At the Bulls we are always striving to be the best and winning trophies, which we’ve done in the last few months. But those trophies are now just in the cabinet and it’s time to focus on the next one. We don’t want to just compete in the Rainbow Cup, we want to win it. Obviously there are going to be new teams that we are playing against so we’ll have to adjust to that.

“We’ve put some emphasis on our scrum but you can’t talk it right, you have to do it right and the only way to do that is with live scrums. We’re trying to sort out some little issues, so we have done a lot of scrumming and the bodies have taken a bit of heat. But we hope to see some improvement in our scrum on the field on Saturday,” Nyakane said.

There are still six weeks of action remaining in the Indian Premier League, but notwithstanding the weak performances of the Proteas T20 side, there were some strong showings by South Africans in the first week of the biggest tournament in cricket, highlighted by David Miller and Chris Morris combining to steer the Rajasthan Royals to a thrilling win over the Delhi Capitals.

AB de Villiers had not played a competitive game of cricket since the previous IPL finished in November, but he opened his 2021 campaign with a matchwinning 48 off 27 balls for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in their thrilling win over the defending champion Mumbai Indians. In their next game, he was still trying to work out the wizardry of leg-spinner Rashid Khan when he was dismissed for just a single.

Chris Morris has had a frustrating start to the IPL in terms of his fast bowling, having figures of two for 41 in four and one for 27 in three overs, but he vanquished all those negativities as he roared to 36 not out off just 18 balls to win a thriller for the Rajasthan Royals against the Delhi Capitals.

David Miller missed the Rajasthan Royals’ loss to the Sikhs from the Punjab Kings in their opening game, but played hide-and-seek with the Delhi Capitals’ bowlers, hammering 62 off just 43 deliveries as he led the recovery that was finished by Morris after coming in at 17 for three.

Marco Jansen has been thrust into the limelight at the IPL from the outset by the champion Mumbai Indians, but the 20-year-old has shown immense heart with the ball. His debut was impressive as he took two wickets in the 15^th over of the Bangalore innings, including that of Glenn Maxwell, finishing with fine figures of two for 28 in his four overs. He then bowled two overs for 17 runs against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Unfortunately he has made ducks in both his visits to the crease.

Kagiso Rabada played in that thrilling Rajasthan Royals’ loss to the Delhi Capitals and was the bowler of that penultimate over that cost 15 runs as Chris Morris hit him for two sixes. Rabada had been excellent with the ball before that, taking two for 15 in three overs. He also scored nine not out off four balls with the bat.

Quinton de Kock missed the first game and then scored just two off six balls, but he can still console himself with the fact that his Mumbai Indians team can still defend a low total like 152 as they beat Kolkata by 10 runs.

Faf du Plessis never got going in his opening IPL match, being dismissed for a three-ball duck as the Chennai Super Kings lost by seven wickets to the Delhi Capitals.

Lungi Ngidi and Imran Tahir have not yet played a game, while Anrich Nortje’s participation with the Delhi Capitals was delayed by a false positive Covid test.