Ken Borland

The British and Irish Lions will have to tie down that most dangerous of beasts – a written-off Springbok team – in the first Test in Cape Town on Saturday with South Africa’s hooker, Bongi Mbonambi, saying all the talk about the home team being underdone is merely fuelling their fire.

There was more than a hint of colonial patronisation on Tuesday in some of the questions to Mbonambi from the British media, which were along the lines of “you haven’t played proper rugby for so long, while the Lions have been involved in the wonderful Six Nations, how are you going to cope, you poor dears?”

Let’s not forget that the Springboks were also roundly written off before the World Cup final and most of the team that will play in the first Test beat the tourists in the guise of the SA A team last week. Mbonambi’s parting words, to a question from a South African journalist, were defiant.

“There’s been a lot of talk about us being underdone, and that’s just throwing more fuel on the fire,” Mbonambi growled. “The whole team is really looking forward to Saturday and we know we have to step up and show we are here mentally and physically, there is an intensity we have to match. We have the whole week to get ready for that and we will make sure we pitch up on Saturday.

“We are at a bit of a disadvantage, that’s the reality of Covid, but we plan to make a good start, to start with great intent and get ourselves on the front foot. But it’s an 80-minute game and we need to be on that front foot for the whole 80 minutes. We know where our strengths lie and at training the coaches have been really lifting the intensity,” Mbonambi said.

Even if the Springboks are a bit underdone, it is still not going to be a spa day for the Lions. The Boks showed that by overwhelming England’s much-vaunted pack in the World Cup final and the SA A team exposed cracks in the Lions camp for the first time last week when their unrelenting defensive pressure brought mistakes.

“We’ve been trying to make training harder than the game will be because we know there is a certain intensity we have to match. We know we are representing the whole nation and there is a massive step up to be made. We’ve worked hard on the training pitch and the work has been done on analysis as well,” Mbonambi said.

The 30-year-old Mbonambi was one of the players who tested positive for Covid, but he will start on Saturday with the knowledge that he can go all out and empty his tank because there is quality front row cover on the bench in the form of Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe.

“Because of the quality of front rows we have available to us, we see the props as pairings. Is it more important to be there at the start and sing the anthems or to be on the field for the final whistle? Who knows, but if you are starting there are certain things you have to do and there’s a specific role for those coming off the bench. The players have bought into this,” coach Jacques Nienaber said.

Temba Bavuma is the right man to lead the Proteas because he took the Imperial Lions from being kittens to the roaring, dominant beasts they are now, according to his vice-captain at the franchise, Nicky van den Bergh.

History will be made at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday morning when Bavuma becomes the first Black African to captain the South African cricket team, and for wicketkeeper/batsman Van den Bergh he was the obvious choice as skipper.

“There was obviously a lot of speculation over who the best captain would be, but the Proteas white-ball teams need to win trophies and Temba has managed to do that, really stepping up for the Lions in two or three finals. He has been the most successful franchise captain over the last three years, he has a proven record that no-one can dispute. It’s about time that the Proteas have taken that punt and I think he will do well.

“Sure, he inherited a strong squad at the Lions but we hadn’t won anything. Under him we won five out of eight possible trophies which you can’t argue with. The best captains get a team effort going, there’s no secret, no aces up his sleeve, he just gets the best out of the big players and ensures they step up in the big games. Temba is very confident, he has that presence, that aura, that means he can get the best out of his players,” Van den Bergh told The Citizen on Thursday.

Both Van den Bergh and former Lions coach Geoff Toyana, who first gave the captaincy to Bavuma, spoke on Thursday of his people skills and ability to get the best out of players.

“Temba is a pretty intense character and he leads like that as well. But I feel he got the best out of me and the other players, and now he’s obviously got an even greater calibre of players and more backing. He expects the best out of you as a player and he’s never satisfied with just doing well, he expects you to do better and better. But he lets the guys play, you can see that by how attacking we are.

“That’s the kind of thing that makes the top players stand up and he does it as well, Temba’s not one to back down under pressure. He created a winning culture very quickly at the Lions and the gus now expect to win, we don’t buckle. So for me it was a move the Proteas had to make because of the success he has had at franchise level,” Van den Bergh said.

“Temba is a great leader and a people’s person who leads from the front. He gives his team confidence and backs the players, that’s the main thing that makes sure they do well,” Toyana said.