Ken Borland

Excitement and confidence is what scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse will bring to the Sharks team when he returns to United Rugby Championship action on Saturday against Glasgow Warriors at Kings Park.

Hendrikse enjoyed a wonderful Rugby Championship campaign with the Springboks, mixing it creditably with the Aaron Smiths and Nic Whites of the world, and being heavily involved in some of the team’s best results.

“Last season’s quarterfinal was my last game for the Sharks, so I’m super-excited to get back on the park with them,” Hendrikse said on Wednesday.

“Basically for me it will just be about enjoying every moment. For those of us coming back from the Boks, we just want to fit in as smoothly as possible with the Sharks’ DNA, how they play, and contribute as much as we can.

“From the Rugby Championship, I learnt just to be accurate in everything I do and do my job. There’s a lot of pressure, but if you put in your work, do your detail, then you eliminate that.

“I just want to execute my role on Saturday and play how Jaden plays,” Hendrikse said.

A physical scrumhalf, Hendrikse knows he will have to have a pretty big motor on defence on Saturday, because Glasgow Warriors like to move the ball around quickly.

“The Warriors matched the Bulls physically last weekend, they disrupted their set-piece and lineout, attacked them at the breakdown,” Hendrikse said.

“We are focused on ourselves, and we have to pitch up and play our way, but we do analyse what they will bring to the game and I’ve watched three of their games.

“They have a good transition on attack, a high line and they wait for you to make a mistake and then counter-attack. On attack they play very deep, they want you to come up and then they play short options.

‘They have a good attack and it will be a good challenge. We need to tighten up on our soft moments and our discipline let us down last weekend against Leinster. Our kicking game needs to be more accurate too,” Hendrikse said.

Rilee Rossouw showed his boundary-hitting prowess in a superb unbeaten century and the bowlers then took regular wickets as South Africa bounced back from successive defeats by beating India by 49 runs in the third T20 in Indore on Tuesday.

Rossouw also fought back, from successive ducks, as he battered 100 not out off just 48 balls, with seven fours and eight sixes, as he and Quinton de Kock (68 off 43) added 90 for the second wicket in eight overs. De Kock was back at his fearsome best as he struck six fours and four sixes, and both left-handers targeted the leg-side and played an array of remarkable strokes.

They set a wonderful foundation, and although Tristan Stubbs (23 off 18) did not really get going, he added another 87 in seven overs with Rossouw. And then David Miller came in and blasted 19 not out off just five balls in the final over to boost South Africa to 227/3.

It was another struggle, however, for Temba Bavuma, who scored just 3 off eight balls before skewing his first really attacking stroke to a wide midwicket, and the clamour for Reeza Hendricks to replace him at the top of the order will only get louder as the Proteas T20 side’s next assignment is the World Cup in Australia.

On a tiny field with a good batting pitch, with even mishits flying for six, 228 was by no means out of reach of the explosive Indian batting line-up.

But South Africa made a great start with the ball as Kagiso Rabada bowled captain Rohit Sharma off the inside edge for a second-ball duck.

Left-arm paceman Wayne Parnell then trapped Shreyas Iyer (1) lbw in the second over with a wonderful delivery that straightened back into the right-hander.

Rishabh Pant (27 off 12) and Dinesh Karthik (46 off 21) began to go through the gears though and Pant greeted Lungi Ngidi’s introduction into the attack with two sixes and two fours. Ngidi had been over-pitching, so he switched to around the wicket to the left-hander, bowled shorter and was cut for six, but the next ball saw Pant for some reason hold back on his cut shot, allowing Stubbs to anticipate brilliantly at point, running and diving to take a crucial catch.

Karthik hit Keshav Maharaj (4-0-34-2) for successive sixes, but the class bowler that he is, the left-arm spinner bounced back by bowling him.

Stubbs took another great catch, sprinting in from deep point and diving forward, to catch the in-form Suryakumar Yadav for just eight off Dwaine Pretorius, who finished with 3/26 in 3.3 overs as India were bowled out for 178 in the 19^th over.

Rabada was outstanding with 1/24 in his four overs.

Seeing how a couple of personnel options go and getting the players into peak form ahead of the T20 World Cup are the focus points for Proteas coach Mark Boucher as he leads the team to India for a T20 and ODI series that starts next Wednesday and ends on October 11.

It will be Boucher’s penultimate mission with the national team, after he decided to end his stint with the Proteas after the T20 World Cup that follows the India tour. Boucher will be becoming the Mumbai Indians head coach, but he did not want to talk about that, rather disingenuously saying contractual obligations to both CSA and his new IPL franchise prevented him from speaking about his move.

“It’s a massive tour for us, the tour before the big event, which is the World Cup. It will be very easy to keep the focus on that massive prize and I know the players are very focused too,” Boucher said.

“My personal decisions won’t hamper the players, I’m in this job for them and I will give 100% to them. I want to look at combinations, keep them in touch in terms of form and try get the confidence going.

“We hope to see a couple of options and give opportunities to players, albeit in Indian conditions. We know we will have to play a different brand in Australia, but I know we’ve got the players to push for a great outcome.

“We also don’t want to give away too many of our cards because India are in our World Cup pool as well. So don’t expect us to go at them with our full-frontal team,” Boucher said.

While the 45-year-old often comes across as a stern older brother type rather than a kind, gentle uncle, there is no doubt he backs his players. Whether that be “backing Temba Bavuma 100%” after his shock omission from the SA20 or pumping the tyres of a T20 squad that many see as dark horses for the World Cup title.

“We’ve been the most successful T20 side over the last 25-30 games and we have a lot of special players. I have full confidence that we have lots of ammunition, now it’s about getting the guys to go out and play and be world-beaters.

“We’ll try and get everyone involved and ready in India, there are three T20s and three ODIs to get the guys in form and fit. It’s a massive blow not having Rassie van der Dussen and his whole aura around the team.

“But we are fortunate to have lots of guys pushing for selection, the competition for places is massive. And we can compete in any conditions.

“The nice thing about being together for a long time is that we have continuity, but also some exciting new talent that doesn’t have the scars of the past,” Boucher said.

The decisive third Test between England and South Africa at The Oval will resume on Saturday and will still end on Monday, making it just a three-day match.

The first day of action was completely washed out after England had won the toss and sent the Proteas in to bat, and the second day’s play was cancelled on Friday in a mark of respect for the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

With the series locked at 1-1, there had been hopes that the Test could be extended until Tuesday, but it is believed the Proteas turned that down because they are scheduled to fly home on Tuesday. The extra day is therefore not being added and the deciding Test becomes a de facto three-day match. Although both of the previous Tests at Lord’s and Old Trafford were completed inside three days, the Oval has been a much friendlier batting venue in the past.

The England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Friday afternoon the decision to resume all cricket activities on Saturday, saying it is in line with the Official National Mourning guidelines and the advice they have received from the UK government’s Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

There does seem to be a certain amount of discomfort over the match continuing during the United Kingdom’s period of mourning for the loss of their longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II having reigned for 70 years.

Over and above cricket paying its respects with a minute’s silence being observed and then the national anthem being played before the start of play. all players and coaches wearing black armbands and branded inventory being replaced with messaging paying respects to the queen, the Surrey County Cricket Club sent out a series of tweets on Friday evening noting some differences to their usual hosting arrangements.

There will be a special on-field celebration of the queen’s life half-an-hour before the scheduled start of play and no alcohol will be served before the conclusion of that observance. Fancy dress – a staple of English Test matches – will not be permitted on any of the three remaining days. They urged people to show respect for others and the occasion.