Ken Borland

Lawyers for various respondents implicated in the Social Justice and Nation-Building Report have stated Cricket South Africa’s board will need to consider “a number of fundamental flaws” in both the process and the findings of ombudsman Dumisa Ntsebeza.

David Becker, the former head of the International Cricket Council’s legal department and the attorney of CSA director of cricket Graeme Smith, issued a statement on Thursday evening on behalf of the lawyers of the respondents, saying there were “concerns about the integrity of the process”.

Smith, through Becker, is going to be fighting the allegations in the report that his appointment as director of cricket was “irregular” and that he was guilty of racial discrimination both in his current position and when he was captain of the Proteas.

“CSA is going to have to consider a number of fundamental flaws in the ombud’s process which have been raised by several respondents,’ Becker said.

“How do you make far-reaching and public findings of racial prejudice … and in the same breath say that they are ‘tentative’ … ? How is CSA expected to implement those findings when the ombudsman has said, by his own admission, that he ‘cannot make definitive findings’ … where the evidence … was not tested.

“Why wasn’t the evidence properly tested? The ombudsman had the opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses … and didn’t take that opportunity,” Becker said.

Ntsebeza was constantly trying to buy himself more time for a process that CSA had already extended from four months to six months, which the organisation said had cost them R7.5 million rather than the budgeted R5 million. And yet Becker criticised the process as still being lacking.

His statement pointed out that certain respondents were not properly informed of the allegations of racism made against them; “if so, this is very serious and the findings against them will ultimately need to be withdrawn,” Becker said.

Significant conflicts of interest were also raised because lawyers Sandile July and Fumisa Ngqele had a dual role of not only advising the ombud but also drafting heads of argument for the complainants. Becker alleged that “over 250 paragraphs of the complainants’ heads of argument have been simply cut and pasted word-for-word directly into the ombudsman’s report”.

Becker also said some of Ntsebeza’s findings were “entirely questionable and without any basis”. He pointed to the finding that Smith’s refusal to work under former CSA CEO Thabang Moroe was evidence of his racial bias as ignoring the fact that the director of cricket has happily worked under acting CEO Pholetsi Moseki and three Black CSA presidents since his appointment.

The SJN Report also largely ignores the 250 pages of evidence submitted by the South African Cricketers’ Association dealing with the allegations against the players’ union.

Becker pointed out that two full days were granted to the four players found guilty in the 2015 matchfixing investigation, with Ntsebeza later describing their evidence as a “red herring”.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt had much to consider when it came to selecting his team for their United Rugby Championship clash against the Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun on Saturday; he needed to look at his side through the lenses of the fast-paced artificial pitch they are playing on, the opposition’s strong lineout, maul and breakdown work, and their powerful presence in the collisions.

In the end Everitt decided to bolster his lineout resources and give his pack more beef for those gainline collisions, moving a lock, Gerbrandt Grobler, to flank and recalling Ruben van Heerden to the starting line-up. Hyron Andrews remains as the lock reserve.

“When we recruited Gerbrandt it was with the dual positions of lock and flank in mind and, from a lineout point of view, he will bring a different dynamic at No.7, and we know Glasgow contest the lineouts very well with Richie Gray there,” Everitt said.

“Hyron and Ruben were our first-choice locks last year in Super Rugby and in the early stages of the Currie Cup, but unfortunately they both got injured. But they were both really good off the bench last week.

“The thing with the artificial pitch is that it makes the people quicker but it does not necessarily mean the game will be quicker. There will be more high-speed running than on grass, but we have trained and adapted well and I don’t see the pace of the game as a threat at all.

“Glasgow were originally coached by Dave Rennie so they play like a Super Rugby side, they bring a high tempo and a high-line defence, and they like to carry a lot. It’s a different threat and we just have to keep them out,” Everitt said.

While Munster were content to “suffocate and strangle” the Sharks last weekend, the Warriors are going to look to quickly counter-attack off every error and the Sharks are going to have to, as ever, improve their discipline and ball-retention.

“Conceding 17 penalties is not acceptable, although we were on the wrong side of a few 50/50s. But we need to adapt in the mauls and breakdowns and it’s a big learning curve.

“The European teams are really disciplined in how they execute their plans. I thought we played really well at times against Munster, but we paid for our errors.

“We are up against international players and if we don’t look after the ball then we will be punished dearly. The penalty count is also important, but that’s not hard to fix.

“We don’t want to be playing between the 10-metre lines, we need to manage the game better and limit our turnovers,” Everitt said.

New Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee might not go so far as to consider Sean Everitt as something akin to an uncle, but the Sharks coach admitted it is going to be tough seeing his former protégé leading the opposition in their decisive Rainbow Cup match in Durban on Saturday.

Coetzee started his professional career with the Sharks, having been schooled at Port Natal High School, and it was Everitt, then in charge of youth rugby at Kings Park, who guided him through the process of being a talented player from an unfashionable rugby school, through age group rugby to being nominated for SA Rugby’s Young Player of the Year award in 2012. Three years later Coetzee made his Springbok debut and he moved to Ulster in 2016, where he established himself as a superstar.

“Marcell will always have a special place in Sharks fans’ hearts and it’s going to be quite sore to see him captain the Bulls after we brought him through from Port Natal. He was magnificent last weekend and he’s been very good for Ulster too. But our guys want to prove themselves against the best and he’s certainly been one of the best in Europe.

“Marcell is motivated every week he puts on a rugby jersey, but he probably sees a bit of a gap in the Springbok set-up with Duane Vermeulen’s injury, and I’m sure there was a lot of disappointment at being left out so I have no doubt he wants to really put his hand up against us,” Everitt said.

Bulls coach Jake White is never shy to milk any sort of psychological advantage he can get and he was not slow to point out the difficulties facing the Sharks as they look to beat the Bulls with a bonus point,  while also denying the visitors any log points, if Everitt is to take his team to Treviso next week for the Rainbow Cup final rather than to Kimberley for their Currie Cup opener.

”The Sharks are a good side, probably the one side that has consistently really pushed us and they play  a solid, certain style of rugby. They will be motivated because they have to beat us comfortably, but in trying to play a bit differently, there’s the risk that they will present us with opportunities if their efforts don’t come off.

“If you try and run everything and you’ve never trained that way, then it could lead to disaster. It’s going to be interesting to see how they adapt to that. We know we just need one point, which we get if we score four tries, so we will also be going flat out for that. It’s like 50-over cricket, you know you can bat through the overs, but you need to score runs as well,” White said.

Europe seems to be the new proving ground where several South African rugby players go to be transformed from boys to men and the squad lists for the four teams that will contest the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals later this month shows Springbok director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has plenty of overseas-based options to consider ahead of the British and Irish Lions tour.

The Champions Cup final at Twickenham on May 22 will be an all-French affair after Toulouse beat Bourdeaux-Begles 21-9 and La Rochelle overcame Leinster 32-23 in the semi-finals at the weekend. The Challenge Cup final will be like a curtain-raiser as it will also be played at Twickenham, on May 21, with Leicester, who beat Ulster 33-24, taking on Montpellier, who were 19-10 victors over Bath.

Amongst the players to have shown their readiness to make the step up are Jasper Wiese, the former Free State player, who has put in numerous storming displays from eighthman for Leicester and the 25-year-old is strongly tipped to be part of the Springbok squad.

There are two other loose forwards who have featured prominently in Europe this season in the shape of Hanro Liebenberg, the former Bulls captain who has also starred for Leicester, and his older brother Wiaan, who has been an effective ball-carrier for La Rochelle.

Nico Janse van Rensburg usually plays lock for Montpellier, but he turned out in the No.6 jersey in their semi-final and is making the most of his chances with the French club.

But it is the players who are already Springboks who will be most keenly watched come finals weekend.

Top of that list will be flyhalf Handre Pollard, who played for the first time in eight months when he came off the bench in the final quarter for Montpellier, and kicked a penalty to ensure victory.

Hooker Bismarck du Plessis, who won a couple of trademark turnovers, and scrumhalf Cobus Reinach also came off the bench for the French club, while Johan Goosen, who is heading for the Bulls at the end of the season, started at outside centre.

Cheslin Kolbe, whose hot-stepping feet dazzled once again in the semi-final, and utility forward Rynhardt Elstadt are the Springboks who have helped Toulouse to the final, while Dillyn Leyds and Raymond Rhule are two almost forgotten Springboks who have been key players in the La Rochelle backline.

South Africans in the European finalists’ squads

Leicester – Jasper Wiese, Cyle Brink, Luan de Bruin, Hanro Liebenberg, Jaco Taute, Kobus van Wyk.

Montpellier – Bismarck du Plessis, Johan Goosen, Henry Immelman, Nico Janse van Rensburg, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Jan Serfontein.

Toulouse – Cheslin Kolbe, Rynhardt Elstadt.

La Rochelle – Dllyn Leyds, Raymond Rhule, Wiaan Liebenberg.