Ken Borland

Tendai Mtawarira is no doubt today savouring the fact that he became South Africa’s most-capped SuperRugby player last night at Ellis Park, and his mind will probably wander back to the past, starting with when he was summoned to then Sharks head coach Dick Muir’s office back in 2006.

The Beast had arrived at Kings Park the year before, a talented Zimbabwe U19 star given an opportunity at the Sharks Academy. While playing for the provincial U21 side, Mtawarira had already impressed with his work ethic and drive. Having arrived in Durban with basically a suitcase, he initially used to walk to training until he had saved up enough money to buy a bicycle.

But he was a loose forward, occasionally even playing at lock. But Muir, in consultation with Swys de Bruin, now head coach of the Lions team against whom Mtawarira played his record 157^th SuperRugby game last night, and Grant Bashford, his U21 coaches, made a tough call made even harder by how popular Beast was.

Muir felt that Mtawarira was not quick enough to really make it as a loose forward and not tall enough at 1.83 metres to excel at lock. But he recognised the immense power and raw strength of the young man.

“It’s quite funny to think about it now, but it wasn’t very pleasant at the time. I was called into his office in the U21 season in 2006 and I’d been enjoying my rugby in the loose trio. But then Dick presented his case and said he saw me as only becoming a provincial player as a loose forward, if I wanted to become a Springbok then I had to change to prop.

“It was really hard to accept and I was quite upset. I couldn’t believe that so early in my career, my dream to be a professional rugby player was going to end. I was really shook. But some of my mentors said I must go for it, they said I must not be negative about it because it means the head coach is looking at you and has a plan for you,” Mtawarira recalled when talking to Saturday Citizen this week about how his long journey to the top all began.

But as we now know, Mtawarira always meets his challenges head-on and in 2007 he was already proficient enough at loosehead prop to play SuperRugby for the Sharks.

“I was under Balie Swart’s wing and he taught me everything about scrummaging, I decided to take it all on board and make it work. Balie is right at the top in terms of mentors for me, as well as John Plumtree. And then there were fellow Sharks players like Deon Carstens, BJ Botha, Bismarck du Plessis and John Smit who had big input in my career, they guided me into this world of scrummaging.

“There were some tough lessons at the beginning and sometimes I couldn’t feel my neck for a few days! But it changed my life and the Sharks have been a great organisation since I came here as a young boy with a dream and got my first contract. I was underprivileged and came to Durban with nothing, but now I am something, Durban has become who I am, it is home,” Mtawarira said.

Loyalty is another characteristic of Mtawarira that stands out, both to the Sharks and his family. Not many players stay at one union these days, especially when they are amongst the world’s best in their position, but all 157 of those SuperRugby games have been for the Sharks.

“For me it’s about playing the game and focusing on the next job, it’s never been about counting games, just about using every opportunity. I try to stay humble and hungry, take on good criticism and I’ve had good mentors and team-mates at the Sharks. I’m very privileged to be part of this set-up, which I think of as home.

“Durban is a beautiful city, with the beach, and the people are very warm and welcoming. Although my roots are in Zimbabwe, this is home for us – my family, my wife [Kuziva] and kids [daughter Talumba and son Wangu], they go to school here,” Mtawarira said.

Even once he became a Springbok in 2008, putting one of the biggest dents in a legendary prop’s career when he dismantled veteran Phil Vickery at Kings Park in the first Test against the British and Irish Lions in 2009, there were still hard times ahead.

In 2010, he missed the June Tests due to a controversy over his citizenship, and in 2012 he was admitted to hospital with heart palpitations on the eve of a Test in Ireland, which required surgery.

“I’ve had a lot of challenges, the heart scare back in the day and the citizenship issue, but the prayers of my family and my faith have got me through. I’m very outspoken about my faith, it’s my foundation and I give praise to God and try and use rugby as a platform to honour him. Angels are looking after me, but I’m not perfect,” Mtawarira said.

We might not see Beast on a rugby field again after this year and, apart from winning the World Cup with the Springboks, he also has some unfinished business with the Sharks.

“I’d like to pursue the SuperRugby title, I’m disappointed to have not won one yet, I’ve been in three finals but zero titles. That’s been my motivation to stay here and I will give everything to win SuperRugby because this season might be my last one,” Mtawarira said.

Back in 2000 when Anton Ferreira took ownership of the director of coaching role in the then United Cricket Board of South Africa, the national team were desperately trying to hang on to the coat-tails of an Australian side that was fast disappearing over the horizon.

That there has always been great talent within South African cricket is well known, but developing that talent into world-class cricketers requires expert coaching and for that, the coaches need coaching themselves.

Which is where Ferreira’s job was so important and one of the first things the former Northern Transvaal, Warwickshire and South Africa all-rounder did after he retired from playing in 1992 was to go to Australia and do an Australian Cricket Board coaching qualification. He would have been especially pleased with the Proteas’ emphatic series win over Australia at the end of the summer.

It was a great way to sign off as, disappointingly for the numerous people he has touched and influenced, Ferreira retired from his post, renamed manager of coaching and coaching education, this month.

But there are few people more passionate about cricket than ‘Yogi’ and he will remain in the game on a consultancy basis. The Africa Cricket Association are the first to benefit from his wisdom and enthusiasm as he has now turned his attention to training their coaches.

Passion is a priceless commodity in sport – consider how it has driven Asian cricket to pre-eminence in the game – but so is humility and, even as he was climbing the ladder both as a player and coach, Ferreira never forgot the lessons of his youth and in particular the tremendous example of his father, who was heavily involved in boxing.

“I am humbled and I can never repay the game for all the wonderful enjoyment it has given me. I learnt, as a young boy, about the importance of sportsmanship and treating everyone with respect from my wonderful father and about the game from Northern Transvaal legends like Denis Lindsay, Jackie Botten and Tiger Lance. They taught me about enjoying the pleasure of risk,” Ferreira said recently when he was honoured by Titans cricket for 40 years of service to cricket in the province and in South Africa.

Ferreira was able to not only develop the cricketing talents but also plant those life-skills in hundreds of South African players; although he has left the formal structures of South African cricket, there is no doubt he will continue to make an impact.

“Yogi has done it all in cricket, he has made an incredible contribution to the game, and was one of the people who laid the foundation for our current success as a franchise. What he has done for cricket in this area and around the country during his 18 years with Cricket South Africa has been phenomenal and his passion for the game is what sets him apart. And it was all done without any tendency for self-promotion, you won’t find a more humble, down-to-earth man,” Titans CEO Jacques Faul said in paying tribute to Ferreira.

From a personal perspective, this legend of the game (he was possibly more appreciated in English county cricket than here) was always approachable, usually smiling and keen to chew the fat over the great game of cricket. Given his marvellous sense of humour, it is always a pleasure to hear Yogi’s tales from a cricket career that has taken him around the globe.

Another former Northern Transvaal all-rounder, Hein Raath, has been a close friend of Ferreira’s dating back to when they both studied and played for the University of Pretoria.

Ferreira then took over the running of the club and, as Raath, a former chairman of Tuks cricket, pointed out, this job is now done by 17 people while Yogi did it all himself back then. Which rather sums up the man.

Winning the series against England and twice showing their ability to bounce back after a really poor outing against Wales is a great credit to the Springbok management team and the senior players.

What was really impressive was the way they did it – not just while fulfilling their transformation goals, which the whole country should celebrate – but also the way they played: they wanted to outscore the opposition, they showed freedom on attack and they wanted to try things.

The way they came back from big deficits showed real guts and character, they showed the ability to accept adversity, not to shy away from it, to grasp the nettle and come back. When teams continually bounce back from those sort of scorelines – 3-24 at Ellis Park and 0-12 in Bloemfontein – then you know something special is brewing.

In contrast, it has been disappointing to see England unravel both on and off the field.

It was not good to see an international coach or Mike Brown interacting with fans. Verbals come with the territory; international rugby produces extreme emotion, not just among the fans but in the players as well because the stakes are high and the pressures are huge.

When England were winning 18 games in a row everything was working well. Now they have lost six in a row and they are under pressure, so we want to see their character emerge in hard times. We want to see fight, but not off the ball, not players pushing and shoving and swearing. We want to see hard hits in the collisions and when clearing out the rucks.

In the first 20 minutes of both Tests, England have played with positive intent but have then just died a death. And you can’t win Test matches if you give away so many penalties; you have no chance if you concede so many set-piece penalties. Those kill you at any level because they give away field-position and push your forwards into a really negative mindset.

One has to credit the Springboks for not showing the same emotions when under pressure. They have stuck their chests out and decided to do something about it, for which one must give credit to the leadership group. What happens on the field is not always about the coaches, they often can’t have an influence sitting a hundred metres away in the stands. Then it’s about your senior players and one has to give credit to Handre Pollard, Duane Vermeulen and Siya Kolisi. They have set the standard in terms of discipline, they have really come through and managed to get the younger guys to follow them and play better.

You have to ask why England’s senior players have not been able to do the same? Their coach bickering with the crowd is a real problem and they are obviously a group in freefall judging by the behaviour of the senior players.

So this weekend in Cape Town could be a defining moment for the England team, they have got to arrest their slide. But hopefully the Springboks will show sufficient intensity, will and attitude to put them away. If they can win the series 3-0 that would be a huge statement. This same England team won so many games in a row, they are a massive scalp, but maybe the Boks have put the final nail in their coffin.

It’s been a fascinating series and at a different level to the Tests between New Zealand and France, and Australia versus Ireland, in terms of intensity and the quality of the rugby, plus sheer excitement and the fever sweeping the country. There is definitely a renaissance brewing, the resurrection of Springbok rugby.

There are obviously things the Springboks still need to correct though, like their backline defence and the way they’ve been exposed any time the ball has been moved wide, but they have been scoring tries.

The way Vermeulen has come back after a huge season in France, playing 80 minutes of every Toulon game, and then producing this sort of form in June shows his commitment to Springbok rugby.

The Springboks are definitely a different animal in South Africa as compared to away from home, just as our SuperRugby teams are. Their real challenge is to play as they do in South Africa when they are away from home.

It must have been a really difficult week for Eddie Jones and it’s tough to play the Springboks three weeks in a row in Africa, he must be in a flat spin at the moment. His teams always seem to have the tendency when they lose to go into a deep run of defeats – examples of that are when he coached Australia to seven successive losses in 2005 and the Queensland Reds to nine defeats in a row in 2007. This week is a real test of his character and ability to turn things around.

It is with some sadness that I hear this could be the last Test at Newlands, which is a really special venue. Just the history of the place is amazing and the drive in from the brewery was always quite interesting as a coach of the Bulls! It was certainly far more enjoyable as part of the Springbok coaching team.

I hope the players can feed off the energy of the fans on Saturday and South Africa get the 3-0 whitewash.

John McFarland, the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan, was the Springbok defence coach from 2012 through to the 2015 World Cup, where they conceded the least line-breaks in the tournament and an average of just one try per game. Before that, McFarland won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.

It’s going to be great to see the Springboks back at Newlands on Saturday, especially against the All Blacks.

We always wanted to play them at sea level because we used to think then we had far more chance against them, at altitude the game is just so much faster. It always used to come down to the last 20 minutes of conditioning, and even if we were in front, those lost 20 minutes would always cost us.

But still at sea level we lost by just two points in the World Cup semi-final in London, by four points in Wellington the year before and by 10 points in Dunedin in 2012.

Any team goes on to the pitch looking to win and, apart from last year, the last couple of Tests against New Zealand in South Africa have been decided by less than seven points.

But for the Springboks to beat the All Blacks on Saturday, the lineouts, which were better last weekend (you’re always going to lose a couple at that level) and scrums need to function; if your set-pieces are not stable then you have no chance and the scrums, especially, have to be penalty free.

You have to give Ruan Dreyer time to learn at that level, but the Springboks also need to have their best scrummager on first, you start with your more secure scrummaging option. Impact props are specialists in their own right.

Fortunately the All Blacks tend to not go for the opposition scrum so much, they prefer ball-in and ball-out and to attack through their backs. So our scrums have generally not been a problem against them.

Tendai Mtawarira is in the form of his life, he has been exceptional, and there is obviously such deep respect for him in the team and in world rugby in general. But on the other side of the scrum, if there is any technical deficiency, the opposition will definitely be highlighting that in the referee’s meeting … and that’s where the seeds are planted in the referee’s mind.

And the Springboks will also need to win the battle of the gain-line against the All Blacks, deny them momentum and make sure they get over the gain-line with their attacks. They need to disrupt the All Blacks attack, but they will still score three or four tries, so the Springboks also have to score tries.

It’s hard to do that against the All Blacks because their defensive system is totally reliant on having players on their feet, they’ll have 13 or 14 players on their feet and nobody in the ruck, and that makes it quite hard to engage defenders. So the Springboks really need to get over the advantage line and, if they get given turnover ball, then they must have the positive mindset to make it count, especially from broken field.

The Springboks played some incredibly adventurous rugby against Australia in Bloemfontein, but they just could not finish. There were some really good things in that display and some of the handling and line-running was superb, for example Siya Kolisi’s run from deep that led to Jan Serfontein’s try.

It’s obviously the style Franco Smith and Allister Coetzee have decided to go with and even though I’m not sure it would work in a wet-weather game at Twickenham, it was a very positive way of playing in great conditions in Bloemfontein. And if Elton Jantjies had kicked that last penalty, the Springbok would have won.

At the end of the day, the Springboks played very high-tempo rugby with ball in hand, they didn’t just set up and kick. They tried to play a bit, to bring the wings up and create space, even if they were a bit side-to-side at times. But some of the handling, the offloads and the way they were able to keep the ball alive was really quite special.

It was a cracking Test and I fail to understand why the country was all so disappointed with the national team. Rugby seems to have come full circle: In 2015, people were highly critical of the way we played against New Zealand, and now everyone wants us to play that way against them!

The defence was also really good, except for when Bernard Foley got around Kolisi, but if Courtnall Skosan had just adjusted and turned in to help Siya, then the whole attack would have been nullified because numbers were up on the outside.

They did have problems covering the short kick-offs, but Australia have real height in their backline and Israel Folau is a total nuisance. There will always be space somewhere, which allows him to have a good jump against someone.

The Springboks are trying to get the rush defence right, but if you’re numbers down and very deep, then you have to drift. In midfield you tend to be softer to try and get the opposition towards the touchline and you can’t go rushing off on the short side either.

The rush defence works best when you’re on the edge of the field and a clever team doesn’t really go there either.

The players have also got to be used to a rush defence but none of our unions have really gone down that route; the Bulls are maybe trying it the most.

Every defence coach wants line-speed, but if you’re not winning the collisions then you can’t have it. If you’re making dominant tackles, then you can push the opposition line back.

John McFarland is the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan and was the Springbok defence coach from 2012 through to the 2015 World Cup, where they conceded the least line-breaks in the tournament and an average of just one try per game. Before that, McFarland won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.