Ken Borland

After sensationally bursting on the scene last year, 2020 has undoubtedly been a year of great frustration for Herschel Jantjies, but the 24-year-old scrumhalf has decided whatever time he has in the Springbok camp over the next couple of months will be a time of investment in making him an even better player.

Jantjies began 2019 not even sure of his spot as the Stormers No.1 scrumhalf, but his Super Rugby campaign was so outstanding that he was chosen for the Springbok squad, practically out of nowhere. His rapid ascension continued when he scored two tries on his Test debut in the 35-17 win against Australia at Ellis Park, and he ended the year as a Rugby Championship and World Cup winner, back-up to Faf de Klerk and with a nomination for World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year.

But then came 2020 and Jantjies’ woes started well before the Lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. His own form was as inconsistent as the Stormers’, and then he fractured his leg in their last game before Lockdown, against the Sharks in Durban. But the timing has been perfect for the Kylemore product and now that rugby has resumed, he is raring to go, as evidenced by his dynamic display last weekend against the Lions at Loftus Versfeld.

“It was actually a blessing in disguise having a fractured leg going into Lockdown. It meant I had the time to recover, it took six to seven weeks for the fracture to heal and then there was all the rehab and getting match fit. And now I’m really excited to be back and really looking forward to this week with the Springboks. In this week with the Gold squad, I’m just going to take in as much as I can because there’s a lot I can still improve on.

“It took quite a bit of time, but I was ready exactly when we planned – when we started full-on contact – and I just can’t wait to play some full-on rugby. In the meantime you’re never too old or too young to learn and I am still in the phase of my career when I am learning a lot. Then I just have to apply it to my game so I become a better player,” Jantjies said on Tuesday from Cape Town, where the Green and Gold squads are preparing for the Springbok Showdown at Newlands on Saturday.

Youngsters Damian Willemse and Curwin Bosch are the two flyhalves in the Gold squad and Herschel’s namesake but no relation, Elton Jantjies, is now the senior No.10 in the Springbok squad after Handre Pollard’s serious knee injury, and is intent on helping the less experienced wannabes along.

“It’s a big week for us because we want to get the alignment right between the old and new faces. It’s about being warriors, aligning with the group and having discipline. It’s really tough to lose Handre because he was starting to play really good, consistent rugby, and we helped each other. But if it’s my opportunity to fill that role then I’m definitely ready.

“In the meantime I just want to help the younger guys in the team to feel comfortable in the environment so that they can come out on Saturday and execute their skills. Until the Rugby Championship is confirmed, our main focus is on the Currie Cup/Super Rugby. But I’m sure we will be physically prepared and mentally as well,” Elton Jantjies said.

Legendary South African paceman Dale Steyn said on Tuesday that if bowlers were banned from using saliva and sweat on the field of play then it would just be another blow to bowlers in their attempts to maintain the balance of the game as bats just get bigger and better in unrelenting fashion.

As cricket prepares to return to action, the International Cricket Council is devising medical regulations to ensure it is safe to play in this age of Covid-19. Their own cricket committee recommended that saliva be banned from being used on the ball, while the safety of using sweat to shine the ball is not certain.

“It’s just a habit using saliva and I use it more than sweat because as a child that’s what I saw on TV; it’s like deciding what guard to take, I guess I just saw bowlers licking their lips and fingers and then putting it on the ball. But if we’re only allowed to use sweat then it’s just another stupid rule taking away from the bowlers. It would be good to be playing back in the mid-2000s with the juicy mints they had back then!

“The thing with sweat is that you don’t really want it to touch the ball if you’re trying to get reverse swing, the key is to keep the ball dry. But I guess in the greater scheme of things it’s not a big deal whether you use sweat or saliva, except in terms of trying to break habits. If neither are allowed then they really should give the umpire a can of polish that the bowlers can use. Why not? And then I’ll start a business selling the polish!” Steyn told The Citizen on Tuesday.

Apart from safety measures on the field and the players being isolated inside a bio-bubble, there will also be no spectators allowed when cricket resumes. But Steyn said crowd support was not really one of the major ingredients for his own tremendous success.

“I’d probably bowl better with no crowd because I grew up in Phalaborwa and there were no crowds watching me play cricket there! Also when someone like AB de Villiers has just smoked you for 24 runs in an over, you can go down to fine leg and not have the spectators abusing you, you can just drink your water and regather your thoughts.

“But cricket is made for people and entertainment, so it would be sad not to have crowds, but we just have to roll with it. In the IPL, whether you’re playing in front of 70 000 or nobody, you’re still going to have 200 people in the hotel reception. I guess I’ll just wave and give a peace sign from a hundred metres away. It just boils down to personal responsibility, not shaking hands and not getting in others’ personal space,” Steyn said.

Shaun Pollock, another South African fast bowling great, told the Following On cricket podcast recently that if players are isolated and tested before going into a bio-bubble then it should not matter what they shine the ball with.

Lee-Anne Pace is South Africa’s most successful women’s golfer since the legendary Sally Little in the 1980s, but despite hitting the ball better than ever, she is without an overseas professional win since October 2014 and if one enquires after the reasons why, the 37-year-old says she is honestly not sure.

It all points to how massively competitive women’s golf has become, especially since Pace moved to the LPGA Tour in America, having pretty much conquered the Ladies European Tour with nine titles and two Player of the Year crowns.

Which is not to suggest Pace is struggling. She is still chugging along on the LPGA Tour, inside the top-100 on the order of merit, as she finished last year, following excellent top-50 positions in 2015 and 2016.

“It hasn’t been a particularly good year, but I’ve been up there a few times and I just haven’t finished the job. I do feel that my golf is getting better and better though, and I’m confident things will turn around soon. The tour has become super-competitive and it gets more difficult to win every year, with the equipment improving all the time.

“In America, most of the time you’re pitching straight towards the pin, it’s more like target golf and then it all comes down to putting. I’m hitting the ball probably the best I ever have, so I’m not sure really where the problem is. But in golf sometimes just a little bit of adjustment can make a massive difference,” Pace says.

The Paarl-born golfer moved from the European Tour to the United States in 2014 and, even though she won as a rookie, claiming the Blue Bay title (the tournament being held in China), she says it was still quite an adjustment to make, even for someone who had enjoyed a successful amateur collegiate career at the Murray State and Tulsa universities.

“The first few years were all about adapting and you have to be longer off the tee here, that was one of the things I had to sort out with just a few adjustments, as well as getting used to the different grass. But I managed to win one in my first year and I’ve had seven top-10 finishes as well. Slowly, slowly I’ve been getting better, making gradual moves upwards,” Pace says.

The psychology graduate is aiming to win a Major before her career is over and playing this weekend in the Scottish Open at Gullane Golf Club, where fellow South African Brandon Stone shot a final-round 60 to win the equivalent men’s event earlier in the month, is going to be great preparation for qualifying next week for the British Women’s Open. Given her strong start in the tournament, however, which has a stellar field co-sanctioned by the LPGA, Pace might not need to play in the qualifier at St Anne’s.

“The top three this weekend also get into the British Open so this is like a mini-qualifier. But I’m always eyeing the win, I had good early tee-times the first two days, so I had fresh greens and not too much wind. But with half the 156 golfers coming from the LPGA and half from the LET, it’s a really good, very strong field.

“Links golf can be quite a beast, all the holes are different and you have to decide whether to be aggressive or lay back. I probably tend to go for the pins more, I like to shape the ball into the flag, but over the next couple of weeks I’ll have to think really carefully about where you land the ball. I love Links golf,” Pace says.

An ever-present smile masks a tigerish competitor, but Pace embodies the true spirit of the game. Her previous Major appearance, at the PGA Championship in Chicago, ended in her disqualifying herself.

In her frustration she bashed her wedge against a hazard stake, not realising at the time that she had damaged the hosel of the club. A few holes later, she spotted the damage and, even though rules officials encouraged her to continue playing pending a review, she knew the rule about changing the condition of a club during play and it’s penalty – disqualification.

Unlike Phil Mickelson a couple of weeks earlier, Pace did the right thing and disqualified herself, saving a lot of time and effort.

Hopefully her reward will be a change in fortunes in the United Kingdom over the next fortnight.

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-gauteng/20180728/282518659300966

Graeme Smith

It’s very difficult to decide between AB and Virat. AB probably has more shots. He started out a bit like Jacques Kallis early on, being very technically correct, but now he hangs back in his crease waiting for the bowlers to come to him. He’s the sort of guy who can get a hundred in 50 balls.

Virat is also always looking to take the bowlers on, mentally he loves a contest – you can see that in how many times he has got India over the line, he has an outstanding fourth-innings record. He seems able to plan exactly how he wants to take a bowler on and he can kill you clinically. They are both outstanding batsmen.

Sunil Gavaskar

AB just seems to have a bit more time and he is so composed, so for me he is just that little bit better.

Virat can get out to what a bowler has done, whereas you see in this series that AB has only got out because of something the pitch did. But there is enormous pressure on Virat and he is a brilliant player with great intensity and understanding of the game. He’s at another level to the rest of his team and makes batting look very simple. He is a great talent.

https://citizen.co.za/sport/south-africa-sport/sa-cricket-sport/1790774/who-is-better-ab-de-villiers-or-virat-kohli/