Ken Borland

Q: Having lost the first Test in a three-match series, is the pressure now not squarely on the Springboks heading into Saturday’s second Test?

RE – Well if we win this one then the Lions must win the last one. At the World Cup, we lost to the All Blacks and we had to win our next six matches. But we are definitely the team under pressure. We were very focused last week, trying to regain the positive vibe from the World Cup and we did not say too much. The Lions were a bit the opposite. I think this week has been a bit different, our backs are against the wall. Fortunately we only have the one big injury to Ox Nche. We were always going to be a bit underdone because the second Test against Georgia was cancelled. I think with another game behind us now and a 6/2 split on the bench, we will have the wind to go the full 80 minutes. We still have the bulk of the 30 players who won the World Cup available, but in saying that, the Lions have shown they have a really competitive squad, their pack has got grunt, their backs have vision and attacking skill, and there are good touches all over that team.

Q: How tough were your preparations for the first Test with all the Covid cases?

RE – It was important how we integrated the players coming back because they were returning one or two at a time as they were released from isolation; 70-80% of the players we were happy with, but 20-30% needed really good management. Plus we had our defence and attack coaches unavailable. Because the guys who were positive had to spend seven days in their hotel rooms we lost one week of training and one warm-up match. It was disruptive but many coaches have had to go through that in the last 18 months. Even though you don’t go totally to pieces and lose shape in a week, some players just slotted in but others needed more time to get their engines going. We definitely have to manage the mental wellbeing and welfare of our players. The Lions are the big thing for us this season, but from the next weekend after the series we have two Tests against Argentina and then eight weeks in Australasia, three weeks off and then the end-of-year tour to Europe.

Q: What did you make of the British and Irish Lions’ objection to South African Marius Jonker being the TMO?

RE – It’s a difficult one and I was a bit baffled when Marius was appointed, but it could not be helped due to Covid. We are close friends but I made a point of not phoning him before the match because being appointed so suddenly must have been a tough thing for him. But for the Lions to point out that he is South African did not sit well with me. When New Zealand and Australia played each other last year in the Rugby Championship, they had referees from the host country, that’s the way it is with Covid.

If Ben O’Keeffe does not give us a decision we want on Saturday, we would never say it’s because he’s a New Zealander and Warren Gatland also comes from New Zealand. I learnt when I was younger and said a bit too much about referees, it comes back to bite you.

Q: You have posted a few clips to social media of decisions you felt went against you, has the series now become a battle in the media almost as much as on the field?

RE – I’ve also learnt that if you talk in the media too much it also tends to backfire on you. But then Warren Gatland – who is a great guy – spoke a lot about Marius Jonker last week, which was weird going into a Test. We would never say Warren Gatland is a New Zealander and the referee is one as well. The referee has only got one pair of eyes, but if you are analysing things he is supposed to see then you are still upholding his integrity.

Q: On those social media tweets, are you Jaco Johan and why did you go public with the clips?

RE – I’m not Jaco Johan but I do follow him, he’s a big supporter of the Springboks and he feeds us good clips. He’s a really funny guy and I enjoy what he does, he’s often spot-on, like other guys I have followed and retweeted like SquidgeRugby. I just retweeted two or three of his really accurate tweets and sent two of my own tweets. The one was because our medical department and the BokSmart safety programme they run, tells us that the way Cheslin Kolbe was just picked up off the ground when he could have had a serious injury was very dangerous. We teach our primary school players that’s not how you treat players, you leave the guy on the ground. I wouldn’t want our Springboks to be picking up every Lions player that’s lying on the ground.

Q: If you were unhappy with the outcome of the Test, did you complain through the official channels?

RE – No, the Lions deserved to win. We tried to go through official channels on Sunday with some queries about decisions, we sent through clips, but we only got an answer from WorldRugby on Tuesday morning. So that’s disruptive when there are things you are trying to rectify and you want guidance on things you can fix. They said the officiating was the same as in the Six Nations. But we only had one training session left by the time they got back to us, we might still be able to incorporate a couple of things.

Q:This week former England and British and Irish Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward, in his column for the Daily Mail saidyoushould “butt out” because you are“taking over again” and the “confusion at the top and a lack of demarcation between the roles of director of rugby … and … national team coach … is killing the Springboks”. What do you think of those comments?

RE – “I’m not sure Clive Woodward is so important in South Africa, but Jacques Nienaber and I are great mates, we’ve worked a lot together since our days in the military back in 1990. I’m the water-carrier now, so he’s got a higher rank than me now, that makes him my boss at the moment. If we had scored that try in the 71^st minute then people would say the relationship is working perfectly. Jacques’ job is the coaching, my job is to get the structure right, make sure we are given a fair chance, get through the Covid protocols and make sure players are available. I also need to inform people what is going on. And I help with the coaching plan and I carry water. The important thing is that all the players are now back on the park and training every day this week.

Temba Bavuma can complain with righteous indignation over the misfortune that saw him miss the entire Test series against the West Indies, but he can have no complaints over the quality of preparation his T20 side will be getting against a home team packed with giants of the shortened version of the game.

The five-match T20 series starts at St George’s in Grenada on Saturday and the West Indies have T20 legends Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo in their squad. It will be a daunting challenge for Bavuma, who will actually lead his team out on to the field for the first time in a T20, having missed the series against Pakistan due to injury.

That bad luck with injuries followed him to the Caribbean, where he was on the sidelines of the memorable Test triumph due to first a hip problem and then a dislocated finger while training for the second Test. So Bavuma will certainly be eager for the contest.

“As a team we’ve had various discussions on the type of cricket we want to play and now we have a chance to test that against a very strong outfit, the West Indies obviously being one of the favourites for the World Cup later this year. We get the chance to test our skills against their’s and that should give us a clearer picture of what needs to be done.

“It’s going to be a good measure, it will show us where our standard is in our game. We don’t have confirmation yet of where the World Cup will be played, so we are just looking at the challenge against the West Indies now. We want to play our best cricket in these conditions and they might just happen to be similar to what is found on the subcontinent,” Bavuma said on Friday.

Half-a-dozen of the players who no doubt quaffed some celebratory drinks following their leading roles in the Test series triumph are likely to play in the first T20, while Bavuma and spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and George Linde were also part of the Test squad. So there is plenty of feel-good continuity in the Proteas camp.

“The Tests went exceptionally well and the outcome of that was momentum and confidence. Although this is a different format, quite a few of the players were involved in the Tests. It’s only natural that we want to continue as is, carrying the same language through, with most of the guys being the same. The discussions Dean Elgar and I have had about how to take the team forward obviously bore fruit.

“We’ll only finalise our plans after practice today because it has been raining and the weather is a bit of a concern. We haven’t had an opportunity yet to look at the pitch, but it’s fantastic we’ve got options when it comes down to spin, all-rounders or bolstering the batting,” Bavuma said.