Ken Borland

Ruan Nortje is far too polite to ever be accused of frustration, but there is no doubt being passed over for Craven Week created a great hunger in the lock which can still be seen today in his rip-roaring displays for the Bulls.

The Wonderboom High School product only made the Bulls team for the U18 Academy Week in 2016, but he did secure a place in the provincial academy at Tuks. He caught the eye of current Bulls assistant coach Nollis Marais and, from then on he has been destined for greater things, representing the SA U20s and making his Bulls debut in 2018.

Nortje’s rampaging form over the last year saw him win the SuperRugby Unlocked Forward of the Year award at the Bulls’ weekend awards ceremony, but the 22-year-old could just as easily have won the Unsung Hero title if there had been such a category.

“Every time I go on the field it’s just important for me to give my best for the team and play my heart out. It’s a big opportunity for me to play for the Bulls, it was always a big dream of mine and I never gave up on that dream. I was over the moon in matric when I got the opportunity to come here and express what I love doing. I’m here for a reason and I believe the Lord has put me here.

“So I just try to give my all, it’s just my instinct to be as hard and physical as possible. I’ve always looked up to Francois Mostert, I’ve based my game on him and I love the way he plays. He’s not the biggest lock but he always plays hard with a lot of heart and passion. It’s a massive dream of mine now to follow him and play at international level,” Nortje said at the Bulls celebration at Loftus Versfeld.

And there is certainly no affectation – he is just one of the most likeable young players around – when Nortje expresses his gratitude for the mentors who have helped him on his journey.

“I had two awesome coaches at high school in coach Braam Pretorius and Mnr Van Wyk, they had all the confidence in me that I would be good enough at the top level. Also Lood de Jager and RG Snyman, I’ve learnt a lot from them. Lood coached us in the Currie Cup and he had a big impact on me, being one of the best locks in the world. And it’s been a privilege to play with Duane Vermeulen, who has so much rugby wisdom.

“And it’s been easy to play under Jake White because there’s a system in place and it means a lot to me that he had confidence in me and the other younger players, which you don’t often see. And Russell Winter has been the most under-the-radar coach but he deserves the most credit, he means so much to me in terms of lineout play. Russell is very underrated but he’s one of the best forwards coaches,” Nortje said.

Bulls coach Jake White says critics have a tendency to be suspicious about players changing position, but the incredible success story of Cornal Hendricks moving from wing to inside centre and being man of the match in the Currie Cup final shows the tremendous benefits that can be gleaned from such bold decisions.

The 32-year-old Hendricks, barring a couple of seasons in midfield in the early stages of his career at Boland, had played all his rugby before 2020 and all 12 of his Tests for the Springboks on the wing, but White raised eyebrows when he moved the popular Paarl product to centre before his first game in charge at Loftus Versfeld. On Saturday night, after the Bulls’ triumph in the Currie Cup final, White pronounced Hendricks as probably his player of the season.

“Cornal has been phenomenal, probably our best player this season. A lot of guys in that No.12 jersey started on the wing – Ma’a Nonu, Tana Umaga and Caleb Clarke is now establishing himself there as well. It’s about his appreciation for space and it helps having Morne Steyn and Ivan van Zyl inside him. The youngsters have also learnt a lot from Cornal because he is very professional and so dedicated, and a great communicator.

“I started coaching in 1982 and for me it has always been about putting combinations together. Bryan Habana started at centre and became one of the best wings ever, Jean de Villiers played wing and centre, Beauden Barrett plays flyhalf and fullback. One needs to trust the coaching staff and the player. Who knows, one these guys playing wing today might end up at centre as well,” White said.

While Hendricks’ mien is always one of cheerfulness, he has come through numerous tough times in his career, most notably when a heart defect was discovered and he was told n 2015 that he would have to give up rugby. Springbok legend De Villiers, who was Hendricks’ captain in the national team, has high praise for the tenacity of the man.

“When you take Cornal’s whole career in consideration, he’s always been fighting adversity and having to prove himself – from the Sevens circuit to playing for the Cheetahs and then the whole heart thing when no-one wanted to take a risk on him. But he has always adapted and when he moved to centre I almost just expected him to make a success of it.

“And the position has fit like a glove for him, he gets go-forward with the ball and his defence has been very astute. Maybe he doesn’t quite have the pace anymore of his Sevens days, but he still has plenty for an inside centre,” De Villiers told The Citizen.

A new year brings new challenges for the Interim Board of Cricket South Africa with arrangements for the Australian Test tour needing to be made and a new structure for the organisation now being considered by the directors.

Judge Zak Yacoob, the chairman of the Interim Board, said on Thursday that he was confident the incoming tour by Australia would take place, although he did let slip that it is now expected to take place only in April.

“The Australia tour will go ahead at this stage. A week ago I had a chat with the head of Cricket Australia and we agreed that we would make sure the facilities are as good as necessary. Not that we did anything wrong when England were here because none of their players were affected by Covid. But our learnings on this virus changes all the time, it is unpredictable.

“But we both have doctors and other experts who will lead us through and if they say our facilities are fine then I have no doubt that the tour will go ahead, unless things take a real turn for the worse. But cricket fans must know that if they comply with all the precautions then they are not only doing it for themselves but doing it in the interests of cricket. I know we are looking at April,” Yacoob said.

The Interim Board’s term of office expires on February 15 and Yacoob said their focus in the next three weeks would be on formulating a new structure for the board.

“Our most important consideration now is how to change the structure of CSA to ensure it works better, and that is an independent process because we have no intention of being on any future CSA board. The main objective is to ensure that the Memorandum of Incorporation (MoI) and the Board Charter are changed in accordance with the Nicholson recommendations i.e. the need for an independent board.

“We are trying to work through what the power of the Members Council should be and the one conclusion is that we cannot have two centres of power. We have decided it would be preferable for the Board to be in control of day-to-day operational matters. If the directors are independent then they will have no personal interest in the decisions taken,” Yacoob said.

While one former director – Omphile Ramela, the previous president of the players’ union – has launched court action to overturn his removal from the Board, another – former Easterns president Xolani Vonya – has been reinstated as a director.

The move seems part of a more conciliatory tone towards the Members Council.

“Mr Vonya is back, because the Board decided that may be better. Some of the reasons for his removal were not fully justified, Easterns did not fully justify their very serious allegations against him. On balance, we had a rethink and decided to be more generous towards him.

“We have not yet really engaged the Members Council on the new MoI and I suspect there will be a difference of opinion, which is justifiable. An independent Board does reduce the power of the Members Council but I am certain they will operate in good faith. There will be genuine and bona fide debate over how independent the Board should be.

“One can get carried away and get people who know nothing about the game and you obviously need to avoid that. The Members Council have to appoint us again and if they don’t approve us again then off we go on February 15 unless the Minister of Sport does something. We would have to tell the Minister that we have not finished our work, but I personally would not implore him to intervene, he must make an objective decision,” Yacoob said.

A top-class century by Dean Elgar on a tricky Wanderers pitch has put South Africa in a position of strength in the second Test against Sri Lanka and the gritty left-hander said on Monday that he enjoyed the challenge and being able to cope with the various fluctuations in batting flow that inevitably happen during four hours at the crease.

Elgar’s 127 was the bedrock of the South African first innings of 302 that gave them a commanding lead of 145, but apart from displaying his usual tenacious streak, it was also a fluent innings, coming off just 163 deliveries and featuring 22 boundaries.

“It’s about the ebb and flow of batting in Test cricket and you do go through periods when you have to absorb pressure, and then you’ll have a short window where you can score more freely when the bowlers maybe start searching for a little bit extra. So I went through the gears quite a bit, but that’s the nature of Test cricket – you can’t just have one gear and expect to be consistent.

“It was tough, we know what the Wanderers is like, it was bowler-friendly conditions and there was a lot of movement and in the air too. So the mental aspects of batting are challenged and it’s nice to put yourself through a challenge like that. It’s like coming out the other side of a tunnel and if your team is then in a good position then that’s all you can ask for,” Elgar said after notching the second-fastest of his 13 Test centuries.

While Elgar and Rassie van der Dussen (67) shared a second-wicket stand of 184 – a record both for South Africa against Sri Lanka and in all Wanderers Tests – there was a glaring failure by the rest of the batting line-up to capitalise as the Proteas lost their last nine wickets for 84 runs. Instead of shutting the tourists out of the game through sheer pressure of runs, they gave Sri Lanka a glimmer of hope and the visitors batted gamely, led by captain Dimuth Karunaratne’s 91 not out, to reach 150 for four at stumps.

“It was a well-under-par total especially after the big partnership, but this is not an easy place to bat, especially for the new batsman coming in. There were quite a few very good balls bowled so credit to Sri Lanka, and when you come in you have to really be on form. If you’re able to get through that tough time up front, if you respect the conditions, then you can cash in.

“It was not ideal that I got out and then Rassie straight afterwards, but maybe we relaxed a bit mentally, maybe we need to trust our techniques a bit longer. If you can apply yourself for lengthy periods, leave well and trust your defence, then the conditions will start to flatten out. If you stay in your bubble and not play rash shots, then the pitch does start to do less,” Elgar said.