Ken Borland

Experienced left-arm spinner Ryan Houbert took three for 22 to lead the Global Gladiators to a 53-run victory over the Nashua Phantoms on the first day of the Northerns Bash at SuperSport Park yesterday, stabbing at the heart of the defending champions’ campaign for a second title in the T20 competition.

Houbert was brought into the attack as early as the third over and removed opener Gerry Pike, to a wonderful, leaping one-handed catch by Ethy Mbhalati at deep mid-on, to immediately undermine the Phantoms’ pursuit of 157 for victory.

The CBC Old Boys 31-year-old then dismissed Jason Brooker (4) and Danie Rossouw  (13) in the 11^th over to leave the Phantoms on 66 for five and well on their way to defeat.

They eventually staggered to 103 all out in 17.2 overs, thanks chiefly to Shaun von Berg scoring 24 not out. Their key batsmen contrived to get themselves out – opener Blake Schraader being run out attempting a crazy second run for 23, Qaasim Adams (10) being bowled by Cobus Pienaar as he swung across the line, and Roelof van der Merwe (8) hoicking Sammy Mofokeng to deep cover.

Medium-pacer Mofokeng was the other bowler to excel for the Gladiators, taking two for 16 in his four overs.

Van der Merwe had earlier produced a superb display of spin bowling at the death to restrict the Gladiators to 156 for five after they had reached 100 for two with seven overs left. The left-arm spinner claimed two for 25 in four overs, while left-arm paceman Rowan Richards grabbed a wicket and was economical, and off-spinner Eden Links also produced a tidy spell of four overs for 27 runs.

A top-class innings of 53 off 51 balls by Ryk Eksteen laid a solid platform for the Gladiators, sharing a second-wicket stand of 54 off 51 deliveries with Lerato Kgoatle (31) and putting on 61 off 43 balls for the third wicket with Farhaan Behardien, who survived a chance on 1 and went on to score 23 off 18.

The second match of the day was also a one-sided affair, with the Tornados beating the Pirates by 51 runs.

Aiden Markram provided the initial momentum up front for the Tornados with his 32 off 19 balls and his fellow Tuks star, Theunis de Bruyn, kept the scoreboard moving with 29 off 20 deliveries.

Titans stars Henry Davids (26) and Mangaliso Mosehle (21) also batted well to take the Tornados to 100 for two after 12 overs, before the innings soured as the Pirates used five spinners to good effect.

Lanky off-spinner Ruben Claassen was the best of the Pirates bowlers as he dismissed Markram, caught behind by Heinrich Klaasen, with his first delivery and conceded just 13 runs in three overs.

David Wiese was also impressive with one for 22 in four overs, but the star of the innings was Graeme van Buuren, who scored 35 not out off 20 balls. He lifted the Tornados from 138 for five at the start of the final over to 162 for five, belting three sixes off wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi.

Fast bowler Gerhard Linde was too much of a handful for the Pirates top-order, removing Jeandre Jumat and Ruan Olivier cheaply, while Corbin Bosch was also impressive with the new ball.

The required run-rate was already over nine when the Pirates’ two best batsman, Klaasen and Wiese, were brought together, and the Tornados bowlers executed their plans well to ensure they could not snatch control away.

Klaasen was dismissed by off-spinner Markram and Wiese was snapped up by Davids, who took two for 10 in three overs to finish the job started by Linde and Bosch.

The Pirates innings eventually closed on 111 for eight.

The Tornados, who boast the strongest batting line-up on paper, now take on the Phantoms, the defending champions who have to win tomorrow to stay in the race.

Scores in brief

Gladiators 156-5 (Lerato Kgoatle 31, Ryk Eksteen 53, Farhaan Behardien 23; Roelof van der Merwe 2-25). Phantoms 103 (Blake Schraader 23, Shaun von Berg 24*; Sammy Mofokeng 2-16, Ryan Houbert 3-22). Gladiators won by 53 runs.

Tornados 162-5 (Henry Davids 26, Aiden Markram 32, Theunis de Bruyn 29, Mangaliso Mosehle 21, Graeme van Buuren 35*). Pirates 111-8 (Shershan Naidoo 33, David Wiese 24; Gerhard Linde 2-13, Henry Davids 2-10). Tornados won by 51 runs.

Springboks defence coach John McFarland said on Tuesday that his team will need to lay down the law early on against Argentina in what he predicts will be two very tough Tests at the start of South Africa’s Rugby Championship campaign.

“I think they’re going to be two very difficult Tests against Argentina and that’s what we’re focusing on because you get the same four points for beating the Pumas as you do for beating the All Blacks.

“Argentina have certainly improved and they have a lot of experience, so we’re going to have to do the hard yards. We have to dominate the collisions and set a defensive line in front of them. As the second Test against Wales showed, when we were maybe too complacent, if you don’t bring your top game into a Test match, you’ll be in trouble,” McFarland said.

Although there have been some protests over too many veteran players being used by Heyneke Meyer, one of the greatest strengths in the current Springbok squad is the considerable experience it contains. Just a year out from the World Cup, it is worth noting that successful campaigns have been built around experience; send a green team and you’re on a hiding to nothing. South Africa’s poor 2003 performance was partly due to their squad only having a combined 397 caps, or 13 per player; in 2007, Jake White assembled a total of 809 caps (an average of 26 per player).

The current 30-man Springbok squad has 964 caps between them. That’s without Victor Matfield’s record 113 appearances, but his replacement, Juan Smith, brings 69 caps himself. Fourie du Preez is a certainty for the World Cup if fit and he has 70 Tests to his name.

For McFarland, players like Smith and Bakkies Botha are crucial for the team dynamic.

“You can’t buy experience, like we saw when Bakkies came back late last year. Guys like him and Juan are inspirational, they never give up and they’re an example to all of us in how to keep going,” McFarland said.

For Smith, his determination has brought the sweet taste of success as he returns to the Springbok squad he holds so dear, the bitterness of his achilles injury that curdled his career for so long a thing of the past.

“It’s been a long road back, I was out for 28 months, I had announced I was finished and I saw no light at the end of the tunnel. I had five operations and they were tough times, it was all very dark times. I felt I had no other choice but to call it a day.

“I had one operation in Bloemfontein and then three in Pretoria. After that I tried everything to fix the achilles but there was no way around it and I was forced to retire. But then a surgeon in Bloemfontein, Dr Johan Kruger, said he could give me a chance of playing again. But for me it wasn’t about playing again, I just wanted to walk without pain. For 25 months I would stand up and go to bed with pain.

“I could immediately feel the difference after that operation, the next morning there was no pain, and I said to my wife that I’m going to try and play again,” Smith said on Tuesday.

Since making a fairytale return to the rugby field for Toulon in September 2013, Smith has dished up consistently brilliant performances in his 28 appearances for the French club, helping them to the dream double of the Heineken Cup and the Top 14 title last season.

While Smith is by no means assured of playing against Argentina – it is hard to see him jumping ahead of Vermeulen, Louw, Alberts and Coetzee in the loose forward queue, while competition at lock is also stiff – there will definitely be a new face in the number 13 jersey against the Pumas.

It is sad that Meyer does not have faith in the obvious abilities of Juan de Jongh and S’Bura Sithole, and it looks likely that the uncapped Damian de Allende, used at inside centre and on the wing by the Stormers, will be pressed into duty as the outside centre to captain Jean de Villiers.

While De Allende is obviously a potent force with ball in hand, it is in defence where teams like New Zealand and Australia can make a fool of anyone in midfield who does not know exactly what they are doing.

McFarland said playing at 13 was all about taking your time when it comes to defence.

“It’s a bit different to playing at 12, where things happen quicker because the flyhalf is on top of you. You have a bit more time at 13 and the important things is not to come too hard, don’t bite the bait,” the defensive guru said.

Argentina were destroyed 73-13 by the Springboks in Soweto last year, but they have not played a Test at Loftus Versfeld before. But Pretoria was not a kind place for the South America combined team in the past, with the tourists of 1982 losing 50-18 and their 1984 successors going down 32-15.

The Lions finished their most successful SuperRugby season in style with a 60-25 thrashing of the Cheetahs at Ellis Park on Saturday night to claim seven wins in a campaign for the first time.

“Obviously we’re very pleased and it was good to see everything come together tonight. The players have always been positive, even in those bad patches just before and on tour, so I’m very pleased for them,” Lions coach Johan Ackermann said in the wake of the Lions’ biggest SuperRugby triumph.

It is a wonderful story of the underdog, who everyone expected to be the whipping boys upon their return to SuperRugby, rising above their individual talents and proving that hunger and good coaching can take a team a long way. Although they only finished in 12th place, the Lions had as many wins as the three sides immediately above them on the log – the Stormers, Blues and Bulls.

“We have a good team profile, although maybe we don’t have the biggest guys, but they can run and play. They’ve shown the willingness to work hard, they were asked to play with commitment and pride, and that comes from deep inside. The challenge is to keep that hunger,” Ackermann said.

Even the overwhelming win over the Cheetahs was not achieved without the hard work that has become the hallmark of this Lions side.

The Cheetahs dominated the first quarter to lead 10-3 and the opening exchanges of the second half were fiercely contested as the visitors closed to within seven points.

But the forward dominance of the Lions – especially in the scrums – was tiring the Cheetahs and forcing them to try and cut corners, leading to ill-discipline and yellow cards. Plus the visitors’ defence was once again weak at critical moments.

The Lions seized control from the 52nd minute when the selection of Coenie Oosthuizen at tighthead once again failed and the Springbok was yellow-carded for yet another scrummaging offence under pressure from Schalk van der Merwe. The lineout and rolling maul were set by the Lions, and hooker Robbie Coetzee scored the try that stretched the lead to 34-20 with sharpshooter Elton Jantjies’ conversion.

Things rapidly turned sour for the Cheetahs thereafter as eighthman Warren Whiteley, after wing Anthony Volmink had pounced on a spilt ball by Willie Roux, Andries Coetzee, running the length of the field after an intercept, wing Lionel Mapoe, from turnover ball deep in his own half, and replacement prop Corne’ Fourie, with a thrilling run and dummy, all scored tries.

Apart from the excellence of their front row, the Lions loose trio foraged and attacked like a pack of wild curs, while Jantjies, making a rare start, dished up an accomplished performance at flyhalf, not least of all with the boot as he succeeded with nine of his 10 kicks at goal.

Cheetahs wing Cornal Hendricks did have the pace – and the football skills – to score a breakaway try from his own 22, but it’s clear the Central franchise have serious problems.

“We’re our own worst enemies,” captain Adriaan Strauss admitted. “In the first half we created one or two chances, so we weren’t out of the game from the get-go. But our discipline let us down, we gave them easy exits and let them run at us.

“When you have cards, it messes with the roles and responsibilities of guys in the defensive line. There are guys missing so the opposition attack that space, and when you adjust, they attack other spaces.”

The impressive Lions squad obviously now have a price on their heads, with the other franchises sniffing around at Ellis Park.

“Obviously the players are now being hunted and I hope we can hang on to them. But the core of the squad has already been signed up and we hope to build on that. A new year brings new challenges and you can’t rely on what you did the previous year. The hard work starts all over again,” Ackermann said.

But, as this match graphically illustrated, it’s not how you start but how you finish that counts.

The Cheetahs started brightly, with Le Roux setting up the opening try in the 17th minute as he found Raymond Rhule with a long pass, the wing striding past fullback Coetzee and then passing inside for the Springbok fullback to score.

But the Lions struck back with the first of Mapoe’s hat-trick of tries, a lovely break by Jantjies going a long way to setting him up, and the much-improved scrumhalf Ross Cronje then showed nifty footwork to beat a couple of defenders and score the home side’s second try.

The Lions’ penchant for long-range tries was once again on display six minutes before the break as they counter-attacked from their own 22. Practically everyone handled the ball until Mapoe gathered a half-charged grubber from impressive centre Stokkies Hanekom and burst through to score.

Cheetahs mentor Naka Drotske complained of a “19-5 penalty count and four yellow cards” against his team – the actual stats were 12 penalties against 11 and three dismissals – but such spurious outbursts are a clear sign of a coach whose job is in the balance.

Given that the Cheetahs, with several Springboks in their ranks, finished in 14th position, having featured in the playoffs last season, it seems entirely fair that serious questions should be asked about Drotske’s future.

Bulls coach Frans Ludeke hinted at the end of his side’s Vodacom SuperRugby campaign this weekend at Loftus Versfeld that he hopes the squad will be boosted by some “special players” for next year’s campaign.

The Bulls finished on a high by hammering the Rebels 40-7 to end in ninth place on the log, second in the South African Conference, beaten only by the playoffs-bound Sharks. But they are painfully aware that they were just one win short of joining the KwaZulu-Natalians in the knockout rounds.

Before restoring some pride against the Rebels, the Bulls suffered successive defeats to the Lions and Stormers, as well as being beaten by the Cheetahs earlier in the season.

“Although we enjoyed the way we finished, there were some vital games where we didn’t get the result we needed. But for one or two losses, we would have easily made the playoffs. But we haven’t played well enough away from home, it wasn’t good enough and there are no excuses.

“You need special performances to win away from home and the margins are small. We created some big moments and finishing those off is how you win. We have a good squad, some great players who will definitely get better.

“But we are obviously looking at some players. In 80% of the games, nine of the starting line-up had not played SuperRugby before this year. Special players make special things happen, but I think I must stop there,” Ludeke said after the match.

The point about acquiring some marquee players was rammed home, though, by captain Victor Matfield.

“To win this competition, you need two or three players that would make a World XV and five or six Springboks. We have youngsters who can become world-class and we finished within seven points of the Waratahs in Sydney so we’re not that far off,” Matfield said.

The Bulls, beset by the overseas exodus and poor recruitment, tackled this SuperRugby campaign with too many players that were merely of Currie Cup quality. Some of the youngsters are certainly developing rapidly, but the negotiations with Adriaan Strauss should solve a problem at hooker and the management really should be on the phone to a quality openside flank as well.

The areas of strength looking to the future are amongst the backs – the midfield, with Jan Serfontein and JJ Engelbrecht possibly the future Springbok centre pairing and the most exciting young flyhalf in the country in Handre Pollard.

Up front, so much still depends on Matfield and, with fellow lock Paul Willemse heading to France, prop Marcel van der Merwe and injured flank Jacques du Plessis are the only young forwards with genuine international aspirations.

The injury-enforced absence of experienced forwards such as Pierre Spies, Deon Stegmann, Dewald Potgieter, Flip van der Merwe and Arno Botha has also greatly hindered the Bulls.

“We’ve lost a lot of loose forwards this year and half-a-dozen of our players are still U21, so if they come through, we will do well,” Matfield said.

It was also encouraging to see Francois Hougaard shrug off a season of grief for him personally and start to look like his old exuberant self on the left wing, while the Bulls looked a slicker outfit on attack thanks to the service of Piet van Zyl at scrumhalf. Springbok considerations have obviously played a part in Ludeke’s selection at nine this year, but perhaps the Bulls will start 2015 as they ended the 2014 competition.

“The new combination worked well. Francois had a lot of energy and looked for work, he was always sniffing for gaps, and Piet van Zyl played very well too.

“Francois’ first choice is to play nine and Piet was unfortunately injured while we were on tour. Only time will tell, but it’s great to keep both involved and I think it was satisfying seasons for both,” Ludeke said.

If all the young talent can continue to grow and the senior players (boosted by a couple of acquisitions) can stay uninjured, then the time of grieving at Loftus Versfeld may be over very soon.