Ken Borland

Siya Kolisi and Bongi Mbonambi will be missing, but the Sharks will still bring six current Springboks and a Wallaby to Ellis Park for their United Rugby Championship match against the Lions on Saturday.

Coach Sean Everitt, in announcing his team on Thursday, revealed that loose forward Kolisi and hooker Mbonambi have been given more time to recover from their exploits for the Springboks at the end of last year.

“Siya and Bongi were not considered for selection because we gave them an extended break in December and they are still in their pre-season training. We thought they’d be better off with one more week of training.

“The rest of the guys returned to training on December 27 and it has been tough for them, working really hard in tough conditions, we’ve had our traditional January/February weather in Durban,” Everitt said.

But the presence of props Ox Nche and Thomas du Toit gives the Sharks a powerful front row and the backline is star-studded with captain Lukhanyo Am at centre, Makazole Mapimpi and Sbu Nkosi on the wings and Aphelele Fassi at fullback.

Partnering Am in midfield will be Ben Tapuai, who will be making his Sharks debut and has seven Test caps for Australia and previously played for Harlequins in the English Premiership.

“Ben was going to start against the Bulls on December 3 but Covid protocols meant he was not able to play,” Everitt said. “He’s a skilful player with a left boot like Andre Esterhuizen.

“He brings an added dimension at inside centre, especially with his confident communication among the backs. We were looking for experience at 12 because our flyhalves are young.

“Grant Williams, Sanele Nohamba and Jaden Hendrikse, our first-choice scrumhalves, are also very young.

“Ben’s different skillset will allow us to play a little differently,” Everitt said.

Openside flank Dylan Richardson, who is now eligible to play in the Six Nations for Scotland, is currently out injured as he recovers from a stress fracture in his leg. James Venter will start in the No.6 jersey with other young talents in Jeandre Labuschagne and Phepsi Buthelezi completing the loose trio.

They will be busy as the Sharks expect an open, running game starting at 3pm at Ellis Park.

Sharks team: Aphelele Fassi, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (c), Ben Tapuai, Makazole Mapimpi, Boeta Chamberlain, Grant Williams, Phepsi Buthelezi, Jeandre Labuschagne, James Venter, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit (v/c), Kerron van Vuuren, Ox Nche. Replacements – Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Khutha Mchunu, Reniel Hugo, Henco Venter, Jaden Hendrikse, Tito Bonilla, Jeremy Ward.

Quinton de Kock said on Thursday that he comes from a mixed-race family and has always believed Black lives matter, and he will now be taking a knee along with the rest of the Proteas team in the remainder of their T20 World Cup campaign in the United Arab Emirates.

De Kock’s turnaround came after he issued a statement strongly denying any racist intent in his refusal to take a knee before this week’s match against the West Indies, as directed by the CSA Board, and his subsequent withdrawal from the game. The wicketkeeper/batsman said he was deeply hurt by people calling him a racist.

The chairman of the CSA Board, Lawson Naidoo, and two other directors also met virtually with the Proteas on Wednesday night to engage with the players and clarify why they wanted a unified stance on Black Lives Matter from the squad and management. According to a CSA statement, De Kock then agreed to follow the directive and issued an apology for his actions on Thursday morning.

“For those who don’t know, I come from a mixed-race family. My half-sisters are Coloured and my step-mom is Black,” De Kock revealed in his statement. “For me, Black lives have mattered since I was born. Not just because there was an international movement.

“I was raised to understand that we all have rights, and they are important. I felt like my rights were taken away when I was told what we had to do in the way that we were told.

“We were previously told we had the choice to do what we felt we wanted to do. … I didn’t understand why I had to prove it with a gesture, when I live and learn and love people from all walks of life every day.

“When you are told what to do, with no discussion, I felt like it takes away the meaning. If I was racist, I could easily have taken the knee and lied, which is wrong and doesn’t build a better society,” De Kock said. 

The key batsman is therefore available for South Africa’s match against Sri Lanka on Saturday and the whole BLM saga, that has rumbled on for over a year, is hopefully now over.

De Kock’s initial defiance is also, however, a warning to the new CSA Board that reactionary leadership and issuing edicts from upon high without properly consulting the players is only going to cause further divisions.

Even CSA’s apology for the timing of its directive – on the morning of a key match – is mealy-mouthed, merely saying that they “regret … that the timing … may have been unsettling for the players”.

The one man who is emerging from this week’s crisis with credit, however, is Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma, who De Kock praised in his statement when he said “he is a flipping amazing leader”.

JOHANNESBURG, Gauteng (21 October) – Rupert Kaminski and Riekus Nortje both birdied the par-five 18^th hole to roar into a share of the lead in the first round of the Blair Atholl Championship delivered by The Courier Guy on Thursday.

The Johannesburg-based pair were both off in Group 4 from the first tee and both shot six-under-par 66s to lead Heinrich Bruiners by one stroke in the R1.25 million event.

While Nortje is a relative veteran in his eighth season on the Sunshine Tour, the 25-year-old Kaminski only earned his card in 2019.

And Kaminski actually birdied the par-three 17^th as well, having overcome the frustration of a double-bogey five on the short eighth hole.

The Parkview golfer three-putted from 15 feet after missing the green right and chipping too firmly.

The short stick has been a problem for him lately, but on Thursday it was a rare mis-step on a day when he generally putted superbly.

“The putter was behaving really nicely and I made a lot of birdie putts. The challenge with the Blair Atholl course is that we don’t often play on a course this long,” Kaminski said. “So the par-fives are not necessarily the holes you’re going to score on, so my nine birdies were mostly because of my putter.

“I didn’t hit the ball that great, but I managed my game nicely and hit the ball in the right spots. Game-management is very important here because if you go for the flags and push too hard, you can find yourself in very awkward situations.

“I’ve been playing really nice golf the last two/three months and a low score has been there, but I’ve struggled with my putter. So today will give me a lot of confidence, although the three-putt on eight was really annoying,” Kaminski said.

At 7527 metres long, the Gary Player designed Blair Atholl Golf and Equestrian Estate is a unique challenge when it comes to Highveld courses but Bruiners, the talented 34-year-old from Fancourt, also stamped his mark on the day with his bogey-free 67.

For spectacular finishes though, nothing could beat Kyle Barker.

Blair Atholl is also unusual in that the front ‘nine’ is actually just eight holes and Barker, who started his round on the ninth, aced the 178m par-three with an eight-iron to catapult himself to four-under-par and a share of fourth place with Jared Harvey, Trevor Fisher Jnr, Chris Cannon, Hayden Griffiths and Anton Haig.

Scores – https://sunshinetour.com/report/?tourn=BACH&season=221S&report=tmdraw~season=221S~round=1~#/home

The Sharks expect the Ospreys to bring a strong kicking game and squeeze them up front, and that means turnover ball and territory is going to be crucial for the visitors in their United Rugby Championship match in Swansea on Friday night.

The Ospreys have started their URC campaign with wins over the Cardiff Blues and the Dragons, but coach Toby Booth is looking for more improvement from his side. He has already promised his team will be committed to a high-energy display and bringing set-piece dominance again; and the huge presence of British and Irish Lions captain Alun-Wyn Jones will be involved, either starting or off the bench.

“Ospreys are super-conservative, they give away very few penalties and give you nothing,” Sharks coach Sean Everitt said. “Compared to Glasgow Warriors, who are similar to what we are used to from a Super Rugby side, Ospreys have more of a kicking game and they rely on penalties from the set-piece.

“In their first game, they kicked for more than a thousand metres, so they rely on your mistakes to capitalise on.

“We always look to counter-attack, but you have to get the decision-making right. We enjoy having ball-in-hand and we are very good at it, but unfortunately these teams over here don’t give you turnover ball, they are really disciplined and look after the ball well.

“So we have got to make use of our opportunities and not take for granted that we will get more opportunities. At the same time, you have to be playing in the right part of the field so you don’t put yourself under pressure,” Everitt said.

The Sharks, like all our other South African teams, are at the other end of the log to the fourth-placed Ospreys after losing their opening two matches, but Everitt believes they are heading in the right direction.

“I think our performance has improved immensely over the last two weeks and it’s only a loss if you don’t learn. We have 12 senior players out so we are playing mostly youngsters, but it’s a massive opportunity for them to learn.

“South Africans have to be realistic, our franchises have not had international competition for close on 20 months and it’s very tough over here, they play a different brand of rugby,” Everitt said.