Ken Borland

The Lions have always played their rugby in expansive fashion believing that one or two mistakes are affordable if they are scoring plenty of tries themselves. It is a bold approach which Sharks fullback Aphelele Fassi is primed to try and take advantage of when the two sides meet in their United Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park on Saturday.

If Fassi has shown one thing so far in his exciting career it is how lethal he is when it comes to counter-attacking opportunities. And the Springbok who turns 24 on Sunday is just delighted to be getting out into the heat of action again, having last taken the field on November 20 in the Toyota Challenge friendly against the Free State Cheetahs. Before that, his previous game was on August 14 for the Springboks against Argentina.

“The Lions are always full of intensity and we expect a very fast game,” Fassi said on Tuesday. “They love to play with a lot of intensity and keep the ball in play.

“But then a lot of mistakes can also come into play and we need to be able to capitalise on the opportunities we get. If we get five chances, maybe we convert four of them, which would be great.

“But I’m just super-excited to get out there and play. It’s the first time playing in the United Rugby Championship for a lot of us, and for some of us it’s the first time we’re playing a match in a long time.

“The mood in the squad in general is relaxed and eager to play. We’re just delighted to have these fixtures,” Fassi said.

While it seems like the South African teams have been playing each other on an almost monthly basis when the rugby season has been in full swing, Fassi said the Sharks have their eyes set on improving their overseas performances in the new year.

“Phase 1 of the URC was playing overseas and it was quite difficult for us. But we will take those learnings into this year. Our goal is to improve and we look forward to rectifying those mistakes and building from there.

“The things I’ve learnt from the Springboks, obviously I’m trying to bring those to the team and there are a couple of Boks bringing experience from there.

“But we’re also taking knowledge from the URC guys as well, they’ve been telling us how the competition is,” Fassi said.

What a victory for the Dolphins in the 4-Day Series final and, while home ground advantage clearly played a big role in their triumph, that is not why they won the premier domestic title.

The Dolphins ended the franchise era on top of the pile because of their indefatigable fight and belief, and an enormous amount of skill and hard work. In the well-deserved clamour over the spectacular performances of spinners Prenelan Subrayen and Senuran Muthusamy, who took 19 of the 20 Titans wickets (the other one being a run out), it is easy to forget how wonderfully well the Dolphins had to play just to first make the final and then to ensure it was staged where they could bring into play their greatest strength.

The Kingsmead pitch has completely changed character over the last 20 years and is now the most sub-continental of venues in South Africa, allowing the Dolphins to use their brilliant spinners to dominate visiting teams.

But in order to get into the final and then host it, people may forget that the Dolphins had to win back-to-back games at the Wanderers and St George’s Park, two of the toughest venues for away teams. The brilliant Keshav Maharaj had much to do with those victories.

Before that they beat the then high-flying Knights at Kingsmead, fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon taking 11 wickets to prove the Dolphins aren’t just one-trick ponies. Winning your last three matches outright is surely the sign of a champion side.

Having overcome the odds just to get into the final, the Dolphins seemed destined to have to share the title with the Titans after only 10 overs were able to be bowled on the first two days due to rain. When the Titans  began their first innings on the penultimate day, replying to a solid 295 by the Dolphins, there were not much more than five sessions left in the match.

The Titans swear that they were trying to be positive and not just bat for the draw, but in no time at all they were thoroughly entangled in the Dolphins’ spinners’ web and shot out for a record low score of just 53.

The Dolphins then had plenty of time to bowl the Titans out a second time and ensure they had the last trophy of the franchise era all to themselves.

It is just reward for all the good things going on at Kingsmead and the shares of coach Imraan Khan and CEO Heinrich Strydom have understandably risen considerably over the last year.

While the loss of the famous old Kingsmead greentop will be mourned in some quarters, and we do need to keep some of those sort of pitches going in our country, I am all for having a venue at which spin bowling is trumps. The Proteas have suffered so many calamities on the subcontinent in recent years that learning how to play in those conditions is clearly a priority.

More and more cricket will be played on the subcontinent in the years to come, so if South Africa are to challenge for global silverware, they have to master the skills needed on low, slow, dusty pitches that turn.

We need a variety of surfaces in our domestic cricket and I remember well how exciting it was in the 1980s and 90s when Kingsmead was the Green Mamba, St George’s Park and Newlands brought the spinners into play, Wanderers and Centurion had pace and bounce, and places like Bloemfontein and Potchefstroom were batting tracks which made the bowlers toil.

With the introduction of Boland and North-West into the first division for next season, Potchefstroom will be back and let’s hope Paarl will back the spinners and be a result pitch.

Having qualified for all three finals this season and taken away silverware in two of them, the Dolphins, playing a brand of cricket they trust and have mastered, and enjoying a strong culture and environment around the team, will be backing themselves to continue their dominance in the new structure as well.

When Danie van Tonder’s 40-foot eagle putt fell on his last hole of the second round of the Vodacom Championship Reloaded at Huddle Park Golf Club on Thursday, it catapulted him from a narrow one-shot lead heading into the final round of the last Rise Up Series event into a sizeable three-shot advantage.

Finishing on the par-five ninth hole, it was a magnificent way to end a round which up till then had been more solid than spectacular. On a cooler day which meant Van Tonder could not bomb the ball quite as far, the hottest golfer in South Africa was four-under-par for his round, enough when combined with his superb 63 on the first day to take him to 13-under overall, one shot ahead of Jacques Blaauw.

But the eagle saw him finish with a six-under-par 66, taking him out to 15-under for the tournament. Even for a man who operates as clinically as Van Tonder, it was a spectacular strike at just the right time.

“I hit a good drive and I had 175 to the pin, so I hit an eight-iron as hard as I can and it finished pin-high, but I was left with a 40-foot snake of a putt. I didn’t really think about my lead, tomorrow [Friday] will just be another round in which I try and shoot less than 70. If I hit fairways and make putts for 18 holes then it will be like matchplay and with pars and birdies it will be hard to beat me.

“I just need to play the golf course and try to birdie everything I can. It’s easy, just grip it and hit it and trust yourself. I played well today [Thursday] but missed a couple of birdies. But at least I gave myself chances so I am still happy, the ones I missed just rolled over the lips of the holes and I knew sooner or later I would make one. I was never really getting into trouble,” Van Tonder said after his round.

Blaauw was able to hop up the leaderboard with an impressive five-under-par 67 and led for much of the day on 12-under before Van Tonder overtook him late in the day. An excellent round with the putter meant the four-time Sunshine Tour winner was confident he could secure his first trophy since winning the Sishen Vodacom Origins event four years ago.

“I’m working hard for the win and I can’t really point the finger at something in particular that is stopping me. But rolling in some putts today made a difference, I’m hitting the ball good and my caddy is reading the greens well, he just tells me where to hit it. So I’m confident and I just need to stick to what I know best. There’s a lot that could still happen,” Blaauw told The Citizen.

Promising rookie Malcolm Mitchell and veteran Adilson da Silva, who fired a brilliant bogey-free 64 on Thursday, are on 11-under and also have the potential to challenge Van Tonder as he goes for his third Rise Up Series title.

Anton Haig shot the round of the day in the second round with a 63, that included two eagles, to go to 10-under, giving himself a chance of his first professional win  since 2013, along with Jaco Ahlers, who is clearly in good touch after back-to-back 67s, and Louis de Jager, who slipped back a bit with a 70 on Thursday.

Talented youngsters Clayton Mansfield (67), Gideon van der Vyver (64) and Ruan Korb (66) are also on 10-under.

Q: What were the reasons for your decision to join Bayonne on a two-year contract?

TvJ – It was a good opportunity for me to get a start in France and I’m looking forward to learning a lot there, especially with Yannick Bru, the former France hooker who has been coaching at Toulose, now in charge at Bayonne. We learn from each other in this game and in France there are different focus points, like the scrum and set-pieces, they are more technical there, while in South Africa we are concentrating more on playing quicker rugby. The biggest thing is that you still need the hard buggers up front to do the hard work in France, and that’s what makes their rugby so competitive. I’m definitely looking at really improving my play as a tight forward over there.

Q: Having been born in Namibia and playing most of your rugby with the Mpumalanga Pumas and the Free State Cheetahs, are you looking forward to the change of culture that you will experience in south-west France?

TvJ – Yes, my parents still farm in Namibia and it’s obviously a very different lifestyle there. But I’m looking forward to living in France, I’m going to learn the language and it’s a new culture. I love a good braai [barbecue] and my Namibia team-mate PJ van Lill tells me that they still do a lot of braaing in Bayonne! That’s how you bond, especially as tight forwards. So I’m looking forward to socialising, having a few beers with mates, and hopefully doing a bit of hunting as well.

Q: Although you were born in Namibia, your education was in South Africa. Tell us about your journey as a professional rugby player?

TvJ – After school in Pretoria, I was at the academy at the University of Pretoria for one-and-a-half years, playing for the first XV and studying sports science, but then I got into pro rugby with the Pumas. That was hard graft because they are a small union, and now I’ve had five good years at the Free State Cheetahs. They have treated me really well but now it is time to move on to my next chapter.

Q: Having impressed in South African rugby and playing for a South African Barbarians side, were you tempted to try and play for the Springboks rather than your native Namibia?

TvJ – It’s always a difficult decision whether to play for Namibia or wait for South Africa to select you, which you can never be sure is going to happen. I felt I was banging on the door for four or five years but I was never invited to any Springbok camp or anything. So in 2014 I accepted a call-up from Namibia and it was an amazing experience to play for them in the 2015 World Cup, especially to play against the All Blacks. Just to gain that experience at that level was fantastic.

Q: How are Namibia’s prospects looking going into the build-up for the Gold Cup, which is Africa’s qualifier for the 2019 World Cup in Japan?

TvJ – The boys are looking really well, there are more and more Namibian-born players in the Varsity Cup, so things are brewing there. We’re definitely able to qualify for the World Cup again, if we work hard and have our best talent available. We’re looking strong. Unfortunately I won’t be playing in the Gold Cup because I have a lot of admin to do for my move to France and I’ve also been playing one-and-a-half years of continuous, extremely tough rugby, so I need a break before I start in France in July. But I will be available for the two Namibia Tests in August.

Q: Your one-and-a-half years of continuous rugby is because the Free State Cheetahs went straight from SuperRugby into the Currie Cup and then into the Pro14; how different is the Pro14 to playing in SuperRugby?

TvJ – The Pro14 is more technical, there’s a lot more focus on your exit game. It’s more like Test rugby in terms of structure and teams don’t take so many risks, you don’t see sides running the ball out of their 22 as an exit play so often, they would much rather kick. So there’s more of a Test mindset in Pro14 and sometimes the weather plays a role in that as well. But it’s been fun, even getting stuck in the mud sometimes!

Q: That sounds like the sort of rugby made for big, heavy tight forwards but do you think being a mobile hooker who has also played flank will be an advantage for you?

TvJ – Yes, I also had offers from Scotland but I believe playing in France will be a bigger grower of my career. It will be good to play in wet weather, in France they have very big packs and heavy runners and it will be good to see if I can play against that. PJ van Lill is also a heavyweight and he’s done okay!