Ken Borland

Continuity and consistency has trumped the new blood and bolters that are so beloved of rugby fans in the selection of the Springbok squad for the end-of-year tour of the United Kingdom, with Stormers lock Salmaan Moerat the only player announced on Tuesday who was not part of the extended Rugby Championship squad.

South Africa will play Wales, Scotland and England on successive Saturdays from November 6 and, after that, the Springboks only have 17 Tests before defending their World Cup crown in France in 2023.

And, as coach Jacques Nienaber pointed out, they have already been refreshing the squad with the likes of Ox Nche, Joseph Dweba, Moerat, Jasper Wiese, Aphelele Fassi, Sanele Nohamba, Jaden Hendrikse and Grant Williams all coming into the squad this year.

“We’ve been building a squad since 2018 and there have been young players coming in at every turn, all coming into the mix. So we are continually breeding young players. And we want consistency in selection, keeping experience because we will need that going into the 2023 World Cup. The average age of the squad is 28 but there are still some very experienced players.

“A Northern Hemisphere tour is a big challenge for us, just looking at their squads and the fact we haven’t won all three matches over there since 2013. So we had an eye on that in terms of selection and also that we only probably have 20 Tests left to the World Cup. So the big thing is to build continuity and consistency in selection, because we lost a lot of time in 2020,” Nienaber said after announcing his 32-man squad on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Moerat owes his place to the absence of RG Snyman, who continues to be dogged by injury and has not played a Test since the World Cup final.

Moerat has always had the pedigree of a future Springbok, being captain of both the SA Schools and SA U20 teams. He is big – two metres tall and weighing 111kg – and athletic and has that bit of mongrel that all great locks have. The Paarl Boys High product is a strong defensive presence for the Stormers.

The other players not considered due to injury were scrumhalf Faf de Klerk, prop Frans Malherbe, loose forward Pieter-Steph du Toit, wing Cheslin Kolbe, utility forwards Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Rynhardt Elstadt, and flyhalf Johan Goosen.

Nienaber confirmed that Bulls star Goosen, who has played 13 Tests but last represented the Springboks back in 2016, was on their radar for the tour before he sustained a bad knee injury two weeks ago in Cardiff.

“We were definitely looking at Johan so it is unfortunate he got injured, especially with Morne Steyn retiring from international rugby. We are looking at young flyhalves and there is some nice talent. But a guy like Handre Pollard has played more than 50 Tests but is still relatively young at 27. That’s not a bad age for the next World Cup and no team has won that trophy with a flyhalf younger than 25.

“Elton Jantjies is also 31 and in those positions in the spine you always like experience to handle the pressure at a World Cup. We also wanted more experience with Morne Steyn in the British and Irish Lions series and the Rugby Championship, so with him announcing his retirement there is now a spot open. It would be nice to see some of the younger flyhalves get through a whole season for their franchise, get that continuity in performance,” Nienaber said.

Squad: Willie le Roux, Francois Steyn, Makazole Mapimpi, Lukhanyo Am, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Damian Willemse, Sbu Nkosi, Aphelele Fassi, Handré Pollard, Elton Jantjies, Cobus Reinach, Herschel Jantjies, Grant Williams, Duane Vermeulen, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese, Siya Kolisi (captain), Marco van Staden, Lood de Jager, Franco Mostert, Marvin Orie, Eben Etzebeth, Salmaan Moerat, Trevor Nyakane, Vincent Koch, Thomas du Toit, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Joseph Dweba, Ox Nché, Steven Kitshoff.

Sean Everitt is a coach for whom consistency in selection is important and the Sharks will duly field an unchanged starting line-up in their Rainbow Cup match against the Lions at Kings Park on Saturday.

Although Everitt has put on record his disappointment with the quality of the performance against the Stormers in Cape Town last weekend, the 33-30 victory has nevertheless been rewarded with 21 of the 23-man squad retaining their places for the Lions match.

The only two changes to the group are rotational switches on the bench, with Le Roux Roets replacing JJ van der Mescht as substitute lock and Jaden Hendrikse, having recovered from concussion, now the back-up scrumhalf instead of Sanele Nohamba.

“We fought back well against the Stormers last weekend, the guys generally did well and showed a lot of character. I would like to build some consistency, so there are only two changes on the bench. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves in Cape Town, especially in the first 20 minutes when we slipped some tackles. But in patches, like when Reniel Hugo blitzed his hat-trick, we were absolutely sublime.

“But in terms of the performance not being good, we have set standards and conceding 29 turnovers is just something we cannot do. We want to enjoy our rugby and you can’t do that if you concede that number of turnovers,” Everitt said on Thursday.

Scrumhalf looks set to give Everitt plenty of selection posers through the season because the Sharks certainly have tremendous depth there with current starter Grant Williams, Hendrikse and Nohamba. They are all young, nippy and attack-minded halfbacks that suite the quick tempo with which the Sharks want to play.

“We have three great scrumhalves and we are able to rotate them. Grant is the oldest at 24 but he hasn’t played much because he’s been unfortunate with a few serious injuries. But he has come good now. Jaden (21) and Sanele (22) are both still relatively young, but they are learning and growing,” Everitt said.

Sharks team: Aphelele Fassi, Sbu Nkosi, Lukhanyo Am (C), Jeremy Ward, Yaw Penxe, Curwin Bosch, Grant Williams, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Henco Venter, Siya Kolisi, Reniel Hugo, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit, Fez Mbatha, Ox Nche. Bench – Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Wiehahn Herbst, Le Roux Roets, Phepsi Buthelezi, Jaden Hendrikse, Manie Libbok, Werner Kok.

Kagiso Rabada is still not going to be there so the Proteas know the consistency of their inexperienced bowling attack is going to be their main area of focus in the second Test against Sri Lanka which starts at the Wanderers on Sunday.

Proteas management confirmed on Saturday that although they were happy with Rabada’s progress after recovering from a groin strain, they are still working on getting his bowling workloads up and they do not want to risk him with tough series against Pakistan and Australia still to come this summer.

It means South Africa will almost certainly go into the second Test with the same attack that played at Centurion and featured their least capped pace quartet since 1993. Given their rawness, it was not surprising that they struggled on the first day, getting carried away with the pace and bounce of the SuperSport Park pitch, struggling with their lines and not sticking to a full enough length. But they improved steadily and their bowling on the final day was spot-on.

“We have a very inexperienced bowling attack with KG not there to lead. Maybe they were trying too hard, they were nervous, and when the batsmen are scoring so quickly, it’s difficult to step back and take your time – that’s where the inexperience comes in. But from the second innings you could see the mindshift. In our language we also tried to give them more confidence.

“It’s all about the character they showed in that second innings. They bowled different lines and lengths and just tried to keep things as simple as possible. It was great to see them stand up and I can tell you that in the two days of practice we’ve had since then, it was some of the best bowling I’ve seen in the nets. The bowling has shown a massive improvement from that second innings,” senior player Dean Elgar said on Saturday.

The Proteas produced a top-class batting performance at Centurion, but Elgar acknowledged that it was against a depleted Sri Lankan attack and Sunday will bring a fresh start at the Wanderers.

“We scored more than 600 and you can’t take that hard work for granted, it was a good effort, but we have to be mindful that their bowling attack was hit by quite a few injuries. Still, we’ll take a lot of confidence from that performance and it was nice that a lot of batsmen got good starts. Scoring more than 600 has been a bit foreign to us of late, but we’ve put a stake in the ground now.

“We’ve been batting well domestically but it was great to do it at international level. A guy like Aiden Markram, who has been away from the team, brought his form of domestic cricket and proved that he’s not just a batsman who can score runs at domestic level, he can do it at this level too. And then it was very important that Faf du Plessis and I put in big performances as leaders and it was lovely to see Kesh Maharaj get runs too,” Elgar said.

Titans fast bowler Junior Dala has ascribed his selection for the South Africa A side’s tour of England later this month to an improved understanding of the physics of his bowling action, which has led to greater control and consistency.

Dala was one of the best bowlers in the country in limited-overs cricket last season, being the joint-highest wicket-taker in the Momentum One-Day Cup with 16 scalps at an average of only 18.68 and an excellent economy rate of just 5.29. He was also outstanding in the CSA T20 Challenge with 11 wickets at 26.63 and he was one of the key performers as the Titans claimed both white-ball titles, where there is huge pressure on bowlers to be more skilful.

“In the last two years I have made a big step up. When I first went to the Titans, I did not really know my action, but Rob Walter and Mandla Mashimbyi really coached me on that, whereas other coaches before that were just happy that I could bowl fast. But I was being found out in franchise cricket, I always felt under pressure because I did not really know what I was doing from ball-to-ball. I would try and bowl a yorker and miss by eight metres!

“But I’ve realised that I can’t just get away with being quick, at times things went horribly wrong in four-day cricket and that has taught me the importance of consistency. I’m a lot more consistent now, Albie Morkel has shown a lot of trust in me and even used me in the powerplay with the new ball. I trust myself 90-95% of the time to hit my mark now,” the unorthodox Dala told The Citizen on Wednesday.

It is a measure of how quick a learner the 27-year-old Dala is that he changed from being mostly an inswing bowler to an away-swinger this last season, simply because he felt batsmen were beginning to read him too easily.

“I sacrificed a little pace but I’m still bowling 140 with more control, and I predominantly shaped the ball away because nobody thought I could do that. Now I’m working on doing all that at 145km/h.

“You have to accept that you’re going to be hit for fours and embrace that, but I have the freedom to express myself at the Titans and then it becomes a lot easier to execute, without that fear of failure.

“I haven’t played in England before so I’m excited for that and I hope it’s a good tour with lots of wickets. Guys are getting reward for their performances in the last six months, whereas before they had to wait two years sometimes. Mark Boucher told me things can happen very quickly at that level and I must just make the most of the opportunity,” Dala, who was born in Lusaka in 1989 as his parents were in exile, said.