Ken Borland

Simon Harmer returned to South African cricket last year with not much more than hope that he would be able to make an international comeback too and be reunited with the precious green cap that was packed away in his debut Proteas kitbag in the Eastern Cape.

And now he is sitting in Christchurch, New Zealand, back in the Proteas camp for the first time since 2015. The prolific off-spinner had to go to some lengths to make sure the same cap he was given on his debut against the West Indies in Cape Town in January 2015 made the trip too.

“I’ve still got all my caps because my brother and I have a pact that we’ll have a beach-house together one day and all my memorabilia will be for the bar,” Harmer explained on Monday.

“My Test cap was in the bag I was given on my Proteas debut, but I was not sure it would ever see the light of day again. I had to get my mother-in-law to post it to Pretoria from Kenton-on-Sea.

“It was very nostalgic to see it again and it’s always something special when you get your new kit, all with the South African badge on it. I was like a kid on Christmas opening all the bags.

“I always aspired to play for South Africa, but being allowed to play cricket at home again, I was trying to keep my head down and focused on the Titans environment, while trying to get back into international cricket,” Harmer said.

The 32-year-old will probably still have to show the sort of patience that he is famous for with ball-in-hand because that long-awaited return to Test cricket is probably not going to happen on a Hagley Oval pitch that is seamer-friendly unless frontline spinner Keshav Maharaj is ruled out for some reason.

“The Hagley Oval is probably the greenest, quickest, best-bouncing pitch in New Zealand, so the chances of us playing two spinners are low,” Harmer admitted. “But I will just make sure that I am ready.

“I see myself as a supporting act to Kesh, who has done extremely well. So I will keep working hard, supporting the team and just trying to contribute however I can, whether that’s by playing good music in the changeroom, throwing balls or giving encouragement.

“I’m under no illusions, Victor Mpitsang [selection convenor] was transparent about how I fit into the whole structure, but I am here now and I will try and show what I’m about.

“I think I’ve matured a lot and I understand now what I need to do and how to go about things. When I first played for the Proteas I put so much pressure on myself, worrying what people thought and whether I was good enough. I’m a lot more comfortable in my skin now,” Harmer said.

Curwin Bosch was considered a mint talent when he arrived at Kings Park in 2016, but is almost a forgotten Springbok these days. The 24-year-old’s latest comeback will happen on Wednesday night as he has been named as the Sharks’ starting flyhalf for their Currie Cup match against Western Province in Durban.

The Eastern Cape prodigy has played two Tests for South Africa, but the last of those was in June 2018. Bosch has not appeared in the United Rugby Championship since the Sharks’ match in Cardiff on October 16.

The rumour mill has been rife with speculation that the Sharks want to offload the bright and still young talent, despite their five-year investment in him, but CEO Eduard Coetzee has denied this.

“Curwin has had a bit of an unfortunate run, he had a hip flexor injury, but he’s back this week,” Coetzee said at the Sharks’ media weekend. “With the British and Irish Lions defeat and the Currie Cup final, he lost a bit of confidence.

“But we are looking to get him back in the team, even though he thinks his future may lie outside of the Sharks. We’ve given him time to get his head right and if he wants to stay with us then that would be cool.

“Curwin is an unbelievable rugby player who has won games for us. But sport is cruel. He’s a great kid though and it’s important that we look after him,” Coetzee said.

The presence of one Elton Jantjies at Kings Park over the weekend – ostensibly to visit his nephew who is at the Sharks Academy – could indicate there is further pressure, however, on Bosch’s future in Durban.

Adding the skills and trickery of Jantjies, all of it done flat to the gainline, to the powerful Sharks backline would be a mouthwatering prospect.

And Coetzee has admitted that they need to bolster their squad in order to challenge for URC honours and beyond.

“We gave away the most penalties at scrum time of any team – 3.8 per game – hence our signing of Globis [Georgian scrum coach Akvsenti Giorgadze] and Bongi Mbonambi.

“We had to ask ourselves, if Thomas du Toit goes down, we have another tighthead? So we are looking to bolster our tight five. I don’t think we’ll be signing any wings …

“It’s a balancing act because there are also transfer fees to consider and we have to wait for the right guy to come up. But by July 1, I’m confident we will have a squad that can win the URC.

“We are a global competitor and we are ambitious. We want to enter the Heineken Champions Cup and win it. We need older heads for that because age is the big difference between our teams and the overseas ones,” Coetzee said.

The Stormers were clinical in gobbling up their chances in the first half but looked like being overwhelmed by the Bulls in the second before they staged a late comeback to win 30-26 in their United Rugby Championship match at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Having surrendered an 18-0 lead and trailing 26-18 with 12 minutes remaining, replacement back Warrick Gelant inspired two breakaway tries that saw the Stormers snatch the spoils in the end.

The Stormers had raced into that 18-0 lead with a superb effort, their pack stepping up and dominating and flyhalf Manie Libbok pulling the strings well at flyhalf.

Wing Seabelo Senatla was dished up two tries by deft grubbers from Libbok, who also added two penalties.

With loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff feasting in the scrums, the Stormers were dominating that phase as well. But the momentum turned on a vital scrum decision just before halftime when Kitshoff was penalised for scrumming around the corner, which could have been a 50/50 call.

The Bulls kicked into the corner, piled on the pressure, forced a yellow card on flank Ernst van Rhyn, and then hooker Johan Grobbelaar scored from the rolling maul. Flyhalf Chris Smith’s conversion further ate into the lead as the visitors went into the break 18-7 up.

The second half was a bright affair as the Bulls dominated the third quarter with Morne Steyn coming on at flyhalf and provided a much-needed spark.

A dazzling move off a scrum, with many dummy runners involved, saw Steyn then pass inside to wing Madosh Tambwe, who came knifing through on the angle to score.

The sharp thinking of the veteran former Springbok flyhalf then led to another try just four minutes later. He tapped a penalty and ran, and then put in a big crossfield kick to wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, who fed scrumhalf Embrose Papier, who raced away for the try.

The Bulls were suddenly ahead 21-18 and matters looked even gloomier for the Stormers when Bulls eighthman Elrigh Louw powered through some lacklustre defence to score the home side’s fourth try.

But Gelant had arrived on the scene and began showing his immense talents. Shortly after the restart, he made a great break down the right and then put in a brilliant infield kick for scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies to score.

The Bulls lost Tambwe to a yellow card for an aerial collision just two minutes later, and it was down his wing that the Stormers surged, through Damian Willemse and Gelant, with Senatla also making some yards, before replacement scrumhalf Paul de Wet rounded off the try.

A disappointing display by the Bulls, in which they only really caught fire for 20 minutes, was completed when Steyn, trying another crosskick after the final hooter, put the ball in touch as Tambwe did not have much space, the ball bouncing away from him as the Stormers defence converged.

Scorers

Bulls: Tries – Johan Grobbelaar, Madosh Tambwe, Embrose Papier, Elrigh Louw. Conversions – Chris Smith, Morne Steyn (2).

Stormers: Tries – Seabelo Senatla (2), Herschel Jantjies, Paul de Wet. Conversions – Manie Libbok (2). Penalties – Libbok (2).

Dean Elgar had not had much time to think about his greatest triumph as Proteas captain when he was asked what were the positives, in terms of leadership, that he had taken out of the remarkable series win over India, but he did correctly point out that all 11 players had to be on the same page for them to stage such a dramatic and composed comeback.

Elgar had captained South Africa to a defeat against England at Lord’s in 2017 and victory over Pakistan at the Wanderers in 2019 before being appointed full-time Test captain ahead of the two-match series in the West Indies last June. He has now led the Proteas to five wins and two defeats in his total of seven matches as skipper.

“I still need to reflect on all the good things that happened,” Elgar said. “But my skin is pretty thick when it comes to on-field matters and this team never lied down, they always fought.

“They stayed in the game-plan, never veered off it and that’s a good strength to have. You need to have all 11 guys on the same page and I think I’ve gained some people skills that I lacked before.

“I’m a lot more experienced now, but it’s still something I will work on so that I can use it to the best of my ability as captain. It’s tough sometimes not being able to control anything out there.

“But I’ve had to learn quickly not to show my emotions on camera. I think I’m more calm now and I don’t panic too soon,” Elgar said.

The gutsy left-handed opener said building momentum after the poor display in the first Test at Centurion had been a tough task.

“Momentum is important, you really need it in a tough series and it’s difficult to gain against quality opposition,” Elgar said. “So you need to capitalise when the sniff is there.

“And you also have to make sure you don’t let it slip when you’ve got the momentum. But I thought we played the big moments brilliantly, especially considering we did not have a lot of confidence.

“But we showed India are also humans and they are beatable. There were a few turning points and building up to the second Test we had a tough chat for maybe an hour.

“It helped to get the appreciation for the badge back and chasing 240 at the Wanderers was a massive confidence boost for us,” Elgar said.