Ken Borland

A few years ago, Proteas all-rounder Sune Luus was in the throes of a terrible time in her career, battling a loss of form and confidence, as well as injury. But now the Pretoria-born star says she is rejuvenated and looking forward to a bright new future with the South African women’s team having a new coach in Mandla Mashimbyi.

Between the summers of 2020 and 2021, Luus scored just 108 runs in eight ODI innings, and in eight T20 knocks in 2021 and 2022, she scored just 88 runs. The leg-spinner also struggled with the ball: In T20s between 2021 and 2023, she bowled just 20 overs, conceding 159 runs and taking only two wickets. From 2023 to the winter of 2024, she did not bowl at all in ODIs.

But her best form has returned as she scored 65 and an epic 109 in the one-off Test against India last year in Chennai and was the dominant batter in one-day cricket in the last domestic season, scoring 359 runs in six innings, at an average of 119, for the Titans. She has also regained confidence in her bowing by switching to off-spin and the 29-year-old was her team’s most economical bowler in the T20 competition.

“You’re always going to get ups-and-downs in your career and it was a tough time. I kinda came to the end of my bowling leg-spin, and it was always very important to me to be able to contribute in all three departments.

“We now have a new national coach in Mandla and he has slotted right in and brought a new energy. I really enjoy that because the way I specifically play my game, I like to play with energy and feed off the youngsters.

“Now that I’m in my 14^th year of international cricket, I’m playing with confidence again. I’m not going to be training as much, for me it’s about keeping in touch with my game and fine-tuning it. You need to back your skills. And when any of the youngsters come to me, hopefully I can add some of that confidence and mental strength to their games,” Luus told kenborland.com in an exclusive interview after she won the Titans Player of the Year award in Centurion.

While the South African women’s team has become much more of a force in world cricket since Luus started playing for the Proteas in 2012, they have not yet been able to win an ICC global event.

They reached the finals of both the 2023 and 2024 T20 World Cups, but lost to Australia and New Zealand respectively. In 2017 they reached the semifinals of the 50-over World Cup for the first time since 2000, and made the last four again in 2022.

“Obviously winning finals is now the next step we want to take as a team in this new era,” Luus said. “We’ve managed to get over our semifinals thing, but fallen short in two finals now. So we’ve managed to get stronger in winning semifinals, and now that we’ve been there in two finals, hopefully we can now win one of those too.

“I believe Mandla will help us get to that next level, winning trophies was one of his strengths when he was the coach of the Titans men’s team. The first T20 final we were in, it was kinda a case of just being chuffed to be there, but the second one we were really gunning for the win, but unfortunately New Zealand were just stronger than us on the day.

“We’ve never made the 50-over World Cup final and it’s now time to rectify that when the next tournament starts in September,” Luus said.

Rugby made the front pages of the celebrity magazines this week with the news that Prince Louis, the three-year-old son of Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, loves playing the sport although his mother is a little concerned with how he always seems to be “in the middle of everything”.

It reminds one of South Africa’s very own modern-day prince of the backline, Lukhanyo Am. But while Prince Louis’ involvement is described as “kamikaze” by his mother, Am’s impact on the rugby field is anything but.

The much-loved Springbok and Sharks centre is a hugely influential player and leader for both teams. But he fulfils both roles with such calm, unflustered assurance that he seems to be gliding around the field, and he is definitely someone who leads by quiet, stellar example rather than by stirring words.

And his own mother, Zukiswa, still features large in his life. As do his siblings.

Now an international star and a certainty for most sensible peoples’ World XV (some even tipped him to be World Player of the Year for 2021), Am is a celebrity in his own right and in his own modest, self-effacing way.

With Sharks CEO Eduard Coetzee confirming that their salary to Am is based on their belief that he is the best outside centre in the world, the 28-year-old could spend his time away from rugby doing any manner of glamourous, exotic pursuits. But in lieu of the bright lights of fame, he returns to family and the values that were inculcated in him from a young age.

“Off the field, I’m very much a family man. My Mom and my siblings, and my extended family, that’s where my heart is,” Am told The Citizen. “Whenever I get a break from rugby, with all the travel we do anyway, I don’t take vacations.

“If I want to feel refreshed, I go where I came from – King Williams Town – and just relax with my family.”

While he is in Durban, on duty for the Sharks as he has been since joining the franchise in 2015, Am has similarly calming ways of getting away from rugby.

“The coaches are usually drilling us in training,” Am smiles, “so days off are all about recovery, relaxing and just spending time off the legs. We are very fortunate with the weather here in Durban and having the ocean right here. A good beach walk really helps me to switch off.”

And it’s little wonder that Am needs time to switch off because that astute rugby brain is constantly organising, analysing and adapting to what comes up on the field. Am reads the game so brilliantly that one is reminded of how Naas Botha used to pull the strings for the Bulls and the Springboks back in the day. Am does not use his boot as often, but his vision in terms of defence and attack is second to none.

The fierce focus the De Vos Malan High School product brings to the game applies to both matchday and the training field.

“Now that I’ve managed to establish myself I’m in a really happy space,” Am says. “My focus is on my goals, which are controlling my performance and improving my game each time I am on the field.

“As soon as the season is starting with the Sharks, my focus is on being the best I can be and then transferring that to the national side. But I don’t look too far ahead because of the different challenges we face nowadays and there is always the risk of injuries.

“I just work on being the best I can be. I’ve always been that way, my focus is on my performance and doing the right things right. Making sure everything is in place to do that. That is what has worked really well for me in the past.

“I take it a game at a time, and then focus on the next one. I analyse myself, where I am at in my game and where I want to be. I just try to tick those small boxes,” Am said.

Despite being raised in the troubled, poverty-stricken surrounds of Zwelitsha in the 1990s, Am was a lover of sport from a young age.

“At school, I was a sports fanatic, those are the memories I have of growing up. Playing cricket, watching athletics, the most fun was always on Saturdays.

“I played cricket until the end of high school. It was a 90s thing: cricket, soccer and rugby were everywhere in the township and when I went to high school I was already comfortable in all three sports.

“I was actually very passionate about my cricket, but as I got older, so rugby took over me. I guess because I was strong at a young age,” Am said.

He also has a most mature head on young shoulders, a characteristic which comes through in aspects of his life outside of rugby.

“Relaxing at home, I listen to tunes. But I guess I’m an old soul because I like things like deep house. But I have no specific favourite genre, I’ll pick whatever goes with my emotion at the time.

“Whatever will calm or relax me, whatever is relevant to how I’m feeling at the time, is what I’ll listen to.”

It’s a thoroughly sensible way of looking at the world. But then again, Lukhanyo Am is a thoroughly sensible person; a top-class rugby player and a wonderful human being.

Bulls

Positives – Although they lost three of their four games in the UK, there was no doubting the effort the Bulls put in or their desire to learn. From not learning much back home as they dominated all-comers, the Bulls now have a better idea of what works in Europe. The victory over Cardiff and the unfortunate loss to Edinburgh showed they are on the right track. Their only major injury worry is flyhalf Johan Goosen, and Chris Smith or Morne Steyn will adequately fill the breach.

Failures – Their opponents shone a bright light on the Bulls’ breakdown work and they were found wanting at both defensive and attacking rucks. They were caught out by the pace and accuracy which the European teams bringing to the ruck; the Bulls were too often slow to react and also prone to going off their feet or not allowing the half-back clear access by getting caught on the wrong side. They will hope for a slight easing of the tempo under the hot Pretoria sun. Their scrum was also creaking in the last game against Edinburgh.

Stand-out players – Wings Madosh Tambwe and Kurt-Lee Arendse proved a handful for their opponents whenever they were given some space to work their magic. Tambwe has been based in Johannesburg and Durban before Pretoria, but the consistent excellence of his performances on tour suggest the 24-year-old could be settling down with the Bulls.

Arendse is accustomed to playing in cities all over the world through his time with the Springbok Sevens, and he handled European conditions with aplomb, producing slick attacking play whenever he got the chance.

What’s next? – Luck’s been against them so far, but the Bulls face a crunch must-win home game against mighty Munster on November 27 and will also be targeting a bonus point win the following weekend against Scarlets. The match against Munster will be particularly appetising because they are now steered by Johann van Graan, who left the Bulls in 2012 as a highly promising young coach.

“It’s not all doom and gloom, the European teams come to South Africa now and historically we have done really well at home. We look forward to playing in the sun at Loftus Versfeld again and we can now put the overseas sides under pressure now that they have to travel,” coach Jake White said.

Sharks

Positives – The Celtic teams are known for their emphasis on forward play and the Sharks pack were hard-working and generally stood up well to the challenge in the tight. Ruan Pienaar is really growing into his role as the team’s new general, Boeta Chamberlain is steadily improving at flyhalf, and, when the Sharks execute their game-plan properly, they remain very difficult to play against.

Failures – The Sharks had their problems at the breakdown – join the club say the Bulls, Stormers and Lions – and it is a vital part of the game-plan the Sharks want to use. Putting aside the vagaries of law interpretations, the Sharks need a more cohesive, focused effort at the rucks. They also need more cohesion in defence, a couple of early blunders that led to soft tries costing them dearly against Cardiff.

Stand-out players – The doors have opened for young Dylan Richardson to represent Scotland, the country of his father’s birth, and little wonder because the flank cum hooker has been a potent force for the Sharks. Defensively stout, he has been their leading tackler, he is tough to keep out at the breakdown and he smashes through players with ball-in-hand.

What’s next? – The Sharks will see their next two games, against 13^th-placed Scarlets and bottom side Zebre Parma, as a direct route into the top half of the URC table. Playing at Kings Park, nothing less than two bonus point wins will do. Coach Sean Everitt was almost licking his lips when he said last weekend “we are really looking forward to November 27 and playing in front of our home fans.”

GQEBERHA, Eastern Cape – The wind that has gusted through Humewood Golf Cub this week was joined by soaking rain on Wednesday to make for pretty miserable conditions in the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series Pro-Am, but at least one golfer – Jacquin Hess – was able to apply the old Monty Python maxim and always look on the bright side.

While the locker-room was full of mutters about the unrelenting wind and the rain just making everything wet and uncomfortable, Hess may have been nodding sympathetically, but inside he is quite happy for the weather to turn foul for when the Vodacom Origins of Golf Series fourth leg tees off at Humewood on Thursday.

“The weather forecast is not looking good and everyone is complaining about it, but I’m actually smiling inside,” Hess said. “I prefer the conditions to be tough, it opens the field up, and most of my best finishes have been on the tough tracks. The more the wind blows, the better for me. Coming from Robertson, there’s always a three-club wind there, and I actually went home to practise a bit.

“This course is always good, I love the place and I was in the mix the last time I was here, so I have a good vibe. You have to play different shots here, keep it low and under the wind, it’s been a two-to-three club wind so far, but I’m comfy hitting my seven-iron from 130. So I’m in a good space mentally, it’s going to be difficult for everyone and sometimes you don’t realise that,” Hess said.

The 30-year-old has missed his last two cuts, at the Vodacom Origins of Golf Mount Edgecombe leg and the Sunshine Tor Invitational, but he is optimistic about the next few weeks on tour because tough courses are hosting the events and he feels like he is slamming it straight and just waiting to capitalise score-wise.

“My game is turning in the right direction and I’ve just got to give myself opportunities, take it one shot at a time. The next five weeks should suit my game because we have tournaments here at Humewood and places like the Wild Coast and Sun City, where I normally play well. You need to hit it straight and low at these places, which I’m doing, and I putted really well in the Pro-Am, even in the difficult wind.

“I saw playing with Alex Haindli when he won at Sishen that you just need to keep the ball in play and par is good. You need to have that sort of even temperament, like cricketers Jacques Kallis or Hashim Amla. You just need to go with the conditions. You need to be the calmest guy on the course,” Hess said.

Judging by the former SA Students golfer’s strong showing in the Pro-Am, Hess has no need to get anxious about what he will face over the next three days at Humewood.