Ken Borland

Springbok fullback Willie le Roux may be 34 years old and a double World Cup winner, but he says he is having no thoughts of retirement, his love for the game of rugby keeping him motivated.

Le Roux began another international season in South Africa’s thrilling 27-20 win against Ireland at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night, the same Pretoria stadium where he played a key role for the Bulls in reaching the United Rugby Championship final.

This year has marked a return to South Africa for Le Roux, who previously played for Wasps in England (2017-2019) and Toyota Verblitz in Japan (2019-2023). But he is at pains to stress that he has not returned home for a couple of years of easy paycheques and then retirement.

“I’m not going to say I’m going to be done this year or the next, I’ll just take it season for season, but the one thing I can guarantee is that it won’t be soon,” Le Roux says of hanging up the boots that have made such an impact in the tactical kicking strategies of the Springboks.

“I look at guys like Willem Alberts and Ruan Pienaar, who still played in their 40^th year. That motivates me, why not try and get there too? It’s definitely my love for the game that keeps me going, I’m not ready to watch from the sidelines yet. I’m still just always learning and trying to get better.

“I was a bit nervous coming back to South Africa because I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. When you sign for a union like the Bulls, there are expectations and I didn’t want people to say I’ve just come to Pretoria to retire. That’s definitely not me.

“There are a lot of young, good players at the Bulls and the Springboks and they can learn from me and I learn from them because they bring a different energy and they see the game differently. Your age and the number of caps you have don’t matter, you can always still learn,” Le Roux says.

The scorer of 15 Test tries for the Springboks is also closing in on two significant milestones and he admits they are in the back of his mind. Le Roux played his 94^th Test against Ireland and he should become South Africa’s eighth centurion later this year.

He is also just four Tests away from breaking the record for the Springboks’ most-capped starting fullback, currently held by 2007 World Cup hero Percy Montgomery (80).

“I know I’m close to those milestones, but that sort of thing can also catch you out. You don’t want to think about it too much because you might get injured or not play well. You must still perform to get there, so I’m not focused on that, just on playing as well as I can,” Le Roux says.

The URC ended in frustration for Le Roux and the Bulls. Having produced a majestic 56 minutes in the semi-final win over Leinster, Le Roux then suffered a concussion and was forced to endure watching from the sidelines as the Bulls faded to defeat in the final against the Glasgow Warriors at Loftus Versfeld.

“It was very sad after the previous weekend and having worked so hard the whole season, to lose a home final. And I couldn’t play, I had to watch in the stands. I don’t enjoy watching rugby because you can’t do anything about what happens on the field.

“But I can’t see myself doing something other than rugby once I finish playing, so I’ll have to sort that out. Coaching is something I’ll look into, do the courses in the meantime because you don’t want to think about finishing playing, but you have to be sorted for life after playing rugby,” Le Roux says.

It’s been one heck of a journey for the ex-Boland, Free State and Griquas player and Le Roux spoke candidly about how he had to deal with rejection early on in his career, including from current Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus. That’s despite his obvious talent and the fact he was born in Stellenbosch and educated at Paul Roos Gymnasium, two of the heartlands of South African rugby.

“I made it from a totally different route, playing for teams like Griquas and Boland. It’s tough to hear that you’re not going to get picked, that you’re not good enough. But you just have to keep knocking that door down. You can change people’s minds if you get that opportunity.

“I remember those early days when I went to Western Province and Rassie was director of rugby and he would not sign me. He said lots of things to me … but now that I’ve done what I’ve done, he tells everyone about his mistake. And I’ll always be grateful to Rassie for giving me another opportunity with the Springboks in 2018, after I had been left out the previous year and he came and saw me play at Wasps,” Le Roux says.

Once he is retired from the game he has graced at professional level since 2010, Le Roux can feel pride at the resilience he has shown, often in the face of a critical South African public ever-keen for scapegoats. But one imagines he will derive more pleasure from the many dazzling moves he has pulled off on the rugby field.

“I’ve always just wanted to express myself, experience the same joy I had as a kid playing next to the field. Andre Joubert was definitely a hero of mine and I used to love Brent Russell and the way he just accelerated into the game. And Carlos Spencer, the way he played – passing through the legs, banana kicks, crosskicks – I love to try those things.

“When you start playing, you want to attack from everywhere. When you chip-and-chase and it comes off, it looks cool, but there is always an error-rate attached to that sort of play. If it’s coming off 1/10 times then you must obviously not do it anymore, but if it works 7/10 times then you know you can have a go. One can always improve on one’s decision-making and I like to play more attacking rugby, but when it’s on,” Le Roux says with the tempered wisdom of a master of his craft.

It’s been an SA20 campaign of some angst for the Pretoria Capitals and their new coach Jonathan Trott, but a change of captain and bringing in a handful of fresh players saw them ease to an assured bonus point victory over the Joburg Super Kings at Centurion on Tuesday night, which will provide a considerable confidence-boost as the playoffs loom.

The Capitals came into this crucial local derby having won just one of their previous seven matches, but two No-Results and a bonus point win meant they weren’t knocked out of contention just yet. But another victory was almost essential and they pulled it off in style, winning by six wickets with fully eight overs to spare.

The triumph was set up in the field after new skipper Kyle Verreynne won the toss and sent Joburg in to bat. The bowlers responded with a superb display of calm discipline – conceding just one leg-bye and one wide as extras epitomised that – and the Capitals were brilliant in the field.

The pressure saw the Super Kings restricted to just 99 for nine in their 20 overs, the lowest SA20 total ever at Centurion.

Two players making their SA20 debuts set the tone with the ball. Australian Thomas Rogers was excellent up front, taking one for 20 in his four overs, while Gideon Peters, from North-West via Border but born in Pretoria, caused great unease in the middle overs with his sheer pace and excellent control. He finished with two for 15 in his four overs, dismissing two of Joburg’s international stars in Devon Conway (9) and Moeen Ali (0). And Peters very much got them out – Conway couldn’t handle the heat from a short delivery and was caught behind, while Moeen was trapped lbw by a searing leg-stump yorker.

The batting line-up also has a fresh look with Will Smeed, Ashton Turner and Keagan Lion-Cachet all in the top six.

Regular captain Rilee Rossouw was unavailable on Tuesday because his wife had given birth in the morning, but Verreynne confirmed after the match that the change of captain will be in place until the end of the tournament.

“We wanted to freshen up the team with new guys and they’ve had an immediate impact. We’ve had five guys sitting on the side who are very hungry and we did really nicely in the field, just keeping it simple,” Verreynne said.

“I thought with both the ball and in the field we were exceptional and we were really ruthless, which is maybe what we have lacked up till now. We just kept putting pressure on the Super Kings and the way we played is very pleasing and important because we’ve spoken about getting momentum to take into the back stretch of the competition.”

The Pretoria Capitals are now just one point behind the fourth-placed Super Kings, with both franchises having two games remaining. The Joburgers host Paarl Royals and Durban Super Giants, while the Capitals play home and away against MI Cape Town, so it is going to be a tense finale to the round-robin stages.

Joburg Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming was upset by his team’s failure to exhibit much tenacity. After their poor batting display, they were scattergun with the ball and sloppy in the field, two catches going down. The most crucial was Marques Ackerman being missed on 0 by Lutho Sipamla at deep backward point when Pretoria were two down inside the first five overs. The left-hander went on to score 39 off 22 balls, which settled the contest in poised fashion.

“It was a really bad one, a poor performance. There’s been a bit of a trend this season that batting first seems a bit more challenging, but the players didn’t have the mindset to work their way out of a tough situation. We were sloppy with the bat, the ball and in the field, so 0/3 of our skills worked, which is a problem,” Fleming said.

“The Capitals were able to extract variable pace and bounce, but we contributed to our own demise, we should have posted 140 but we just gave up too easily. You need to adapt to conditions and get a score on the board, but the modern player doesn’t seem to have that toughness to find a way to do it. It’s mostly mental.”

With the Western Cape teams playing such inspired cricket at the moment, Fleming admitted that it will now take a miracle for the Joburg Super Kings to finish in the top two and earn themselves two chances of making the final.

“We’re probably out of the race for one and two, but there are three teams hunting hard for the other two playoff places. We have our last two games at home, where we are very comfortable. So that’s a positive, but we have to play better,” Fleming said.

The Pretoria Capitals, meanwhile, seem to have found some belated inspiration. The rousing fast bowling of Peters had much to do with that. The 25-year-old was born and schooled in Pretoria and represented the SA U19s in 2018. He played 28 matches for Northerns across all three formats, but for some reason left to play for Border in 2021.

Thankfully for a bowler of his potential, he has been playing for North-West in Division One for the last two seasons.

While Peters may not be known to many, Verreynne had a brief but memorable meeting with him before they became SA20 team-mates.

“I played against him in a T20 match for Western Province last season. The first ball I didn’t see and the second ball got me out. So I knew what he was about and obviously I’ve seen him a lot in training now. He’s a serious talent with the ability to bowl 150km/h-plus, and his ability to bowl at any stage of the innings impresses me. Plus his attitude and hunger is most pleasing,” Verreynne said.

“The future is in our own hands but it is still up to us to put the results on the table,” DP World Lions captain Bjorn Fortuin said as he considered the #PrideOfJozi’s last four matches in the CSA T20 Challenge and the jostle for semi-final places.

The DP World Lions are in action on Sunday again as they host the Auto Investment North-West Dragons and they have dual goals of consolidating second place in the standings, but also closing the gap on the log-leading Warriors.

Following Friday night’s matches, the DP World Lions are nine points behind the Eastern Province team, but three points ahead of the Dolphins with a game in hand, and seven points ahead of fourth-placed Western Province.

Having won their last three matches in a row, our Pride will certainly be taking momentum and confidence into Sunday’s clash at the DP World Wanderers Stadium.

“We have no complaints with how things are going at the moment but we must not get ahead of ourselves. I’ve been part of teams that have won five on the bounce and then it was downhill from there,” Fortuin said.

“Our main goal is to catch the Warriors and we also still have a game against them. So our future is in our own hands, but it is still up to us to put the results on the table.

“There have already been a couple of surprise results this season so you can never write anyone off, this format has proven that so many times. Anyone can beat anyone on any day. The Dragons have some seriously dangerous players and they have a lot to play for as a team and individuals have points to prove as well,” Fortuin warned.

But for the DP World Lions it is a case of keep doing what they have been doing so far. They have not relied on a couple of players for their seven wins thus far; the presence of nine different Pride members in the top-20 of the batting and bowling averages indicates how many Lions are chipping in with important contributions.

“We are a seriously talented team and it’s good that we don’t solely rely on one or two players,” Fortuin said. “T20 cricket is quite unpredictable and not every day is going to be yours as a player. But we have always had someone to pick up the slack and that’s what you expect from quality players. We have managed to pull things together.”

A top-class unbeaten half-century by Ryan Rickelton saw the DP World Lions to a crucial weather-shortened win over the Dolphins in their last match, but the Pride have had a tough time with rain-interrupted matches this season.

Fortuin is looking for a more adaptable mindset from his team, but there is also a sense that the DP World Lions are on a steady climb to reach their peak when the knockout stages arrive.

“We won our last game at the DP World Wanderers Stadium, Ryan played an unbelievable innings in tough conditions, but we made it a bit tighter than it should have been. If there are rain delays or odd things happen, hopefully we deal with it much better.

“There are still quite a few games left, so there is time to rectify the couple of things we could have done better in certain situations. We’re not taking anything for granted, but there is a feeling that we are reaching our peak. We’re excited for when it will come, but it can also be frustrating to just inch towards your goal.

“So we have got to be patient. But we know that if we are really on our game, then not many teams can keep up with us,” Fortuin said.

A triumph on the road is always a boost, but what you gain from winning at home and making the DP World Wanderers Stadium a fortress for the #PrideOfJozi is probably even more important, given the length of the CSA T20 Challenge.

So says DP World Lions men’s bowling coach and South African cricket legend Allan Donald, whose own career was linked so massively with the Bullring.

The DP World Lions may have gone down by four wickets in the last over to the Dolphins at Kingsmead in midweek for the first loss of our campaign, but Donald preferred to give credit to the opposition rather than worry about a rare off night for the team in one of the most difficult places in the country for visiting teams.

As such, our Pride, and Donald especially, are really keyed up for two massive home games coming up this weekend, against the Momentum Multiply Titans on Friday evening and the in-form World Sports Betting Western Province team on Sunday afternoon.

“It looked a beautiful pitch in Durban, absolute gun for batting, but then it nipped a little and it was tough to hit down the ground. The Dolphins bowled exceptionally well to use that bit of nip, and for us to get to 155 I thought was really good,” Donald said.

“We took two early wickets but then Bryce Parsons played magnificently and he had really good support at the end, he took his chances against spin. And yet we still managed to take it to the last over against a side that knows how to play there, it’s a tough place, and all credit to them because they were zero-for-two in the competition.

“But this competition is a marathon and you need to be very patient. Now we have two derbies against the Titans and Western Province that are always very closely-contested, and I think they are going to be two absolute crackers based on the pitch we had against the Rocks.

“We’re coming up against two quality teams and home games are massive. I expect a run-fest and whoever defends best will win. It will be a battle of inches and the bravery and execution and skill of the players is going to be tested to the limit,” Donald said.

Rickelton took advantage of an excellent wicket in the DP World Lions’ opening match against Boland to blaze his way to 75 off 39 balls, and his clean striking will again be a key factor at the Wanderers on Friday and Sunday.

But it is a revitalised Temba Bavuma who is top of the national averages after his fluent 53 not out off 40 balls against the Dolphins kept the Pride in the game. Rassie van der Dussen and Reeza Hendricks have also made good runs in the T20 campaign already and Mitchell van Buuren showed his progression in the shortest format in the SA20.

“Temba batted exceptionally well on a slow pitch and Mitchell was batting beautifully too. Winning at home is a massive deal and I’m sure all those guys are going to step up,” Donald said.

With batsmen expected to hold sway, it is perhaps the wicket-taking ability of the attacks that will be vital in stemming the flow of runs. For the DP World Lions, there can be no-one better than the graceful Kagiso Rabada, with the action as smooth as silk but delivering lethal weapons, to lead their attack.

Left-arm quick Kwena Maphaka will be alongside him again and the 17-year-old has made an incredibly smooth transition to senior domestic cricket.

“It’s so nice to see the national team players like KG turning out for us, it really gives the team a boost and they bring a lot of calmness,” Donald said. “And the more I watch Kwena, the more I realise he is just something else. He’s only 17 years old but he’s not scared, he doesn’t take a backwards step.

“It’s going to be great to see how he does and it’s going to be a wonderful festival at the DP World Wanderers this weekend. It won’t be easy to defend, we’ll have to be extremely smart and decision-making is going to come to the fore. When things are really tight, which is likely against two very good teams, that’s when you need to be on the money,” Donald said.