Ken Borland

Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula will no doubt call them “a bunch of losers”, while many cricket followers, judging by the comments I’ve seen, would want even harsher punishment meted out to the South African U19 team after their dismal display in the ICC junior world cup.

I would normally feel sorry for a group of young men with such expectation heaped on their shoulders to go and perform in a strange land like Bangladesh, especially since their predecessors, the special team led by Ray Jennings, Aiden Markram and Kagiso Rabada, claimed the title in the last tournament two years ago.

But when any South African team loses to Namibia and someone close to the squad slams them for their arrogance and lack of discipline and accuses some of them of just wanting to bolster their CVs before heading overseas, then I begin to wonder whether being charitable is the right response or should they face the music?

Coach Lawrence Mahatlane has come in for brutal criticism, but then he is an easy target. Being Black African, his appointment was immediately greeted with a chorus of “quota appointment”; having not played first-class cricket also counted against him.

I have had many private discussions about cricket with Mahatlane and, in fact, I have played in teams coached by him. Although the level of play and the pressures were obviously vastly different, I can assure sceptics that Mahatlane is as passionate about the game as anyone, including Jennings, and is immensely knowledgeable.

From what I have heard in private from people surrounding the squad, Mahatlane may have been on a hiding to nothing. The health of our U19 cricket always fluctuates, there has been a cycle of great sides and more mediocre ones for decades.

But while one can forgive players for maybe not having as much talent as some of their predecessors, there is absolutely no excuse for a lack of work ethic nor for an attitude that suggests “we have already made it”.

I would describe Mahatlane as someone who cares for his players, but perhaps, behind the scenes, they did not have the necessary respect for their coach, for whatever reason, be it his skin colour or his lack of a playing record.

Jennings was a master of getting such destructive attitudes out in the open and removing them from the set-up, but he also boasted healthy experience as a coach.

With the shocking results of the U19 team coming at the same time as the senior side were struggling against England, alarming questions bordering on panic were asked about the health of the game in South Africa in general.

We should take care not to lose sight of the bigger picture and the context in which these results have occurred. There is an awful amount of negativity feeding into cricket at the moment and this was undoubtedly partly to blame for the disaster in Bangladesh. If players already have it in their heads to emigrate and play for another country, how is the team going to perform, no matter how inspiring the management was?

For those blaming quotas, there was only a pair of Black African players in the loss to Namibia.

To counter-balance that, Namibia played in the CocaCola Khaya Majola Week – the U19 interprovincial – and their performance was underwhelming. They beat Limpopo and North-West on first innings, but lost to Western Province and Northern Cape and were thrashed by 192 runs by Easterns.

Those results perhaps show that there was something seriously wrong with the selection of the national U19 team.

Mahatlane’s position is probably untenable but I hope a place is found for him somewhere else in the pipeline because he has a lot to offer. In the meantime, South Africa have lost a top-class coach in Pierre de Bruyn, who would have been an ideal fit for the Junior Proteas, but is off to take up a lucrative contract in county cricket.

As Mahatlane pointed out, though, one of the key facets of U19 cricket is learning and improving as players, and hopefully the current South African squad has learnt some brutal lessons.

The minutes of the University of Pretoria cricket club AGM after the 2015/16 season will show that they lost their inspirational coach Pierre de Bruyn after six trophy-filled years, but the former Titans and Dolphins all-rounder’s departure for Leicestershire is a blow for South African cricket as a whole.

De Bruyn confirmed on Wednesday that he will be taking up a post as skills coach and second XI head coach with English county Leicestershire in the new year, therefore ending an association with the Tuks cricket team that saw them win five successive Northerns Premier League titles, three National Club Championships, three University Sports South Africa crowns, the inaugural Varsity Cup for cricket and, just last weekend, they defended their title in the Red Bull Campus Cricket Finals, the world cup of student cricket.

“I cannot thank the University of Pretoria more for the foundation they have given me, they’ve played a massive role in my life in terms of my growth end education. They gave me all the tools I needed for a very successful six years, and they have moulded the person I am.

“But as a young coach, I want to go to the next level, my long-term aim is to be an international coach, and a great opportunity has come my way at Leicestershire. It’s a full-time, permanent position, so I’m moving the whole family. It’s a chance to get into the very powerful structure of county cricket and try and help Leicestershire get back on track. There’s been a lot of change there and I hope I have a massive role to play,” De Bruyn told The Citizen on Wednesday.

One of South Africa’s most promising coaches and a father of two daughters, De Bruyn will work under elite performance director Andrew McDonald, the former Australia, Delhi Daredevils, Bangalore Royal Challengers and Leicestershire all-rounder, and another South African expat, Nic Pothas, is the new academy director.

“It’s a new page for me and if you look at the IPL, or the likes of Graham Ford at Surrey, Dave Nosworthy at Somerset and all the Aussies, having coaches from all over the world is where cricket has gone. I think I’ve shown I can produce and develop players, and I hope to bring discipline and structure to my work at Leicestershire. After six years of great memories, I just want to make sure I continue changing young people’s lives because that’s what I’m passionate about,” De Bruyn said.

Some of the most talented young South African cricketers – Theunis de Bruyn, Aiden Markram and Graeme van Buuren – have passed through his hands at Tuks.

Former Springbok greats Frik du Preez and Carel du Plessis admit they have concerns after the current team lost to Argentina for the first time ever, but both say one result does not mean that South Africa suddenly have no chance at the World Cup.

The Springboks went down 37-25 to Argentina last weekend in Durban and tonight’s re-match in Buenos Aires is not only a chance to redeem themselves after one of the lowest points in the team’s history but also their last official Test before the World Cup starts on September 18.

“We’re all disappointed by the game against Argentina but let’s be honest, against Australia they played very well and they improved by 60% the next weekend against New Zealand but just lost again. It’s been the first time a Springbok rugby team has been allowed to run the ball from everywhere and they need to get used to this new pattern of play, they’ve never played this type of rugby before. Of course there are going to be mistakes because it is high-risk,” Du Preez, South Africa’s Rugby Player of the 20^th Century, told The Citizen on Friday.

Du Plessis, whose 12 Tests in the 1980s were enough to earn him the nickname ‘Prince of Wings’ and who also coached the Springboks in 1997, agreed with Du Preez.

“I don’t think you can go on just one bad performance, they played well against New Zealand and Australia, but there are obviously some concerns around systemic things like selection and playing guys in different positions. I’m also concerned that we might be overly leaning towards experience, because their performance might not be up to the required intensity,” Du Plessis said.

But Du Plessis’ captain in 1997, Gary Teichmann, said he now worried that the Springboks had lost their way just before the World Cup.

“I thought we were on the right track after we were in position to win the matches against the Wallabies and All Blacks but for a couple of lapses in concentration, but it’s pretty obvious after last Saturday that we’re not. The loss to Argentina threw a big spanner in the works, we just didn’t arrive for the game. That has definitely set us back and I’m worried that we’ll go back to the kick-chase game which won’t win us the World Cup,” Teichmann said.

Du Preez said the Springboks still have the players to win the World Cup for the third time.

“Argentina have done us a great favour because now we’re not one of the favourites for the World Cup, but I still believe we have an outside chance. We have got the guys to surprise everyone, but we have brilliant players who are injured. They’ve been out for months and we don’t know if they can all of a sudden perform. The problems are up front because we have a beautiful backline,” Du Preez said.

Teichmann agreed that the personnel is there, but coach Heyneke Meyer has to keep his nerve.

“We’ve certainly got the players but Heyneke tends to go back to what he knows. We had previously played a good brand of rugby, but then when we didn’t win, Meyer went across to the UK and changed it. When the pressure mounts, he tends to go back to the different style of more kick-chase and less ball-in-hand, which is a concern,” Teichmann said.

Du Plessis said Meyer had really managed the players well up till now and he needed to ensure there were settled combinations at the World Cup.

“He needs to try and settle the team and bed the combinations down as quickly as possible, which is going to be a challenge. His decisions may be unpopular, but he needs to make them earlier rather than later to allow the team to settle down. The leadership also still needs to be determined … ” Du Plessis said.

“People may look at things differently, but now is not the time to make changes. Heyneke’s obviously going to stick to what he believes in and the style of play that has been successful before, trusting his players to deliver is going to give them their best shot.”

Du Plessis said that, in terms of transformation, Meyer had to have given potential black players enough time by now in the team environment for them to be settled and confident at international level.

“There are some good players who should have had a run, but Heyneke has to believe that they will improve his team and it’s a bit late now!”

Englishman Andy Sullivan remained on top of the leaderboard after the second round of the South African Open at Glendower Golf Club on Friday, but there was a new local favourite challenging him as the tournament reached the halfway mark.

Sullivan posted a solid two-under-par 70 to go to eight-under-par overall, but while fellow overnight leader Jbe’ Kruger plummeted down the leaderboard with an 80, Charl Schwartzel came charging through with a 69 that left him just one stroke behind the 28-year-old from Nuneaton, the birthplace of George Eliot.

But Sullivan looks a genuine contender for the second oldest national open title, bringing an aggressive approach despite the tightness of the parklands course and the punishing tangle of kikuyu rough that lurks just off the fairway.

Things have only been looking up lately for Sullivan: He and his bride greeted the arrival of baby daughter Ruby in 2013, Sullivan has improved his European Tour order of merit position from 98th in 2013 to 33rd last year; and he will quite literally be rising up in spectacular fashion one of these days after winning a trip into space last September for a hole-in-one at the KLM Open.

Schwartzel surged to within a stroke of Sullivan by finishing birdie-eagle-birdie, but is struggling with a badly bruised toe and a swing that is making progress but is not quite where the 2011 Masters champion would like it to be.

“I’m not that far off, but there’s still a lot of holes left and someone can make up a score very quickly as we saw with my round.

“I was just missing fairways by a little bit, or when I finally hit a good shot I would three-putt, so nothing was really going for me. But any time you finish like that, it turns your day into a much better one and nobody was more surprised than me!

“I’m trying to get an old feeling back in my swing and it’s the same with the putter, I’ve spent quite a few hours on the practice green. I’m just trying to remember what I used to do, even going as far back as my junior days, just trying to be more consistent.

“But my toe was worse today. There’s no real pain when I hit the ball, it’s just the walking that is very painful. But I’m not playing in pain otherwise I would withdraw,” Schwartzel said.

Schwartzel is currently South Africa’s highest-ranked golfer at number 31 but is yet to win his national open. While his dream of putting his name on the same trophy as all the South African greats from Bobby Locke to Gary Player and Ernie Els is still very much alive, Kruger will probably have to wait another year after just scraping into the weekend on the cut-mark of two-over, 10 strokes off the pace.

Kruger spoke on the first day of how everyone in the field respects Sir Ernie so much, but the five-time champion joined him on two-over-par and looked in danger of missing the cut after a disastrous run of bogey, triple-bogey, triple-bogey from the eighth hole.

The absence of tournament host Els from the weekend would have cast a pall over the event, but the heir to Player’s throne pulled himself together and consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th holes brought him to safety before he parred his way in to ensure that he is not totally out of contention on level-par, eight behind the leader.

Sullivan is a jovial, down-to-earth fellow and his approach to the testing Glendower course has been to keep it simple and attack.

He started on the 10th hole and promptly birdied the par-four 11th and 12th holes, but then had the misfortune of being out on the course when a brief squall hit the Edenvale area.

“The first three holes, it was flat calm and perfect for scoring. But then I stepped on to 13 and the wind really got up. Plus it wasn’t so warm so the ball didn’t go as long, so I was happy to get through my first nine holes without a blemish.

“I attacked just as much as in the first round, but the course was a bit tougher today and a couple of poor drives got punished. But I probably played a bit better today. I have nothing to fear, I have a good record in South Africa and I feel that I’m up to the task. I’m just going to go out and enjoy the weekend,” Sullivan said.

While Sullivan mostly used driver off the tee, Schwartzel opted for a mixture of driver, three-wood and two-iron and it worked well for him, particularly on his closing holes.

On the seventh he hit driver a long way, but an overhanging willow tree forced him to hit a low nine-iron for his approach, which finished 12-15 feet short of the hole, but Schwartzel nailed the birdie putt.

On the par-five eighth, a driver and five-iron left him on the front left fringe of the green and he sank a 20-footer for eagle.

Schwartzel went for the two-iron off the tee on the 367-metre ninth hole and a wonderful sand-wedge that spun left-to-right left him with an eight-footer for birdie, which he drained for a thrilling finish to his round.

It will also be a big weekend for JJ Senekal, who fired a 67 to move into a tie for third place on six-under-par with Denmark’s Lasse Jensen and fellow South African Colin Nel.

“It’s a great position to be in. There are a few good names up there and it’s good to see myself up there with the best. It feels good, it’s our biggest event and the one you want to do well in. It’s like our fifth major, not that I’ve played in one.

“This is our prestige tournament and with Ernie being involved and all of the history it’s exactly where you want to be. I watched Trevor Immelman win at Erinvale and walked with him. Back then I was trying to catch golf balls and gloves, now I’m the guy that wants to hand them out, so I’m living the dream. It was my dream and always what I wanted to do. Golf was life from a very young age and I’m happy to be here,” Senekal said.

For Els and Kruger, it’s just a case of being happy to be at Glendower for the weekend.

 http://citizen.co.za/304585/andy-sullivan-remains-top-leaderboard/